CENTENNIAL   OFFERING 


REPUBLICATION   OF  THE 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS 


OF  THE 


REVOLUTION  IN  AMERICA. 


DEDICATED  TO  THE 

YOUNG  MEN  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

FIFTY-FOUR  YEARS  AGO,  BY  THE  LATE 


HEZEKIAH     NILES, 

EDITOR  OF  THE  "WEEKLY  REGISTER." 


A.    S.    BARNES    &    CO.,    PUBLISHERS, 

NEW  YORK,  CHICAGO,  AND  NEW  ORLEANS, 
I  876. 


In  presenting  for  the  consideration  of  the  young  men  of  the  United  States,  during 
this  hundredth  anniversary  of  American  Independence,  the  republication  of  the  "Princi 
ples  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution  in  America"  published  by  the  late  Hezekiah  Nilcs,  Editor 
of  the  "  Weekly  Register"  and  dedicated  by  him  to  their  predecessors  fifty-four  years  ago, 
it  is  with  the  hope  that,  by  the  perusal  of  the  speeches,  orations,  and  proceedings  of  the 
Revolutionary  period  in  the  United  States,  embraced  in  this  volume,  they  may  be 
encouraged,  as  expressed  by  its  Editor,  "  to  adhere  to  the  simplicity'  of  truth,  as  set 
forth  by  the  principles  and  acts  of  their  fathers,  and  emulate  the  noblest  deeds  when 
the  liberties  of  their  country  are  endangered  by  foreign  enemies,  or  domestic  encroach 
ments,  so  that  the  blessings  which  those  patriots  won,  may  descend  to  posterity,  and 
our  Republic  forever  continue  to  be  the  pride  of  humanity,  and  an  asylum  for  the 
oppressed  of  all  nations." 

As  the  work  has  been  out  of  print  for  more  than  a  half  century,  and  its  contents 
being  regarded  as  an  invaluable  addition  to  our  country's  history  during  "  the  time  that 
tried  men's  souls,"  (the  collection  of  speeches,  orations,  and  proceedings,  with  but  few 
exceptions,  not  being  found  in  any  other  compilation),  and  having  been  frequently 
solicited  to  republish  the  work  with  reference  to  its  circulation,  in  the  belief  that  its 
perusal,  during  this  Centennial  Celebration  of  our  Independence,  would  to  some  extent 
result  in  cementing  the  boadsj  u.nftii5g  us  as  a  Nation,  and  "excite  a  love  of  freedom, 
and  lead  the  p'eop'le  td  Vigilaric*e,*as  a  condition  on  which  it  is  granted,"  the  volume  is 
respectfullv.^s.ub^itt^io/thfe^ubl^  wjjth  the  hope  that  the  expectations  of  its  friends 
may  in  part,  at  least,  be  realized. 

SAMUEL  V.  NILES. 
WASHINGTON,  1876. 

NOTE. — The  work  has  been  thoroughly  revised,  with  classification  of  contents  under  the  respective 
Colonies,  and  in  chronological  order. 


COPYRIGHT. 

SAMUEL    V.    NILES. 
1876. 


RECOMMENDATIONS. 


THE  following  letters  have  been  received  from  prominent  statesmen  and 
jurists  of  the  country,  strongly  urging  the  republication  of  this  work,  believing 
that  its  circulation  during  the  Centennial  Year  of  our  Independence,  would  go 
far  toward  fostering  a  feeling  of  national  unity  and  patriotism  : 

From  the  late  HON.  HENRY  WILSON,  Vice  President  of  the  United  States. 

NATICK,  MASS.,  September  30, 1875. 
SAMUEL  V.  NILES,  ESQ.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

DEAR  SIR  :  Your  proposed  publication,  it  seems  to  me,  is  very  important  and  very  opportune,  as  the 
nation  more  than  ever  needs  to  be  carried  back  to  the  "  principles "  of  the  men  who  inaugurated  the 
movement  that  resulted  in  the  formation  of  our  Government,  and  to  a  study  of  the  "acts  which  made  up 
that  great  Revolution."  Surely  our  young  men  can  hardly  go  to  a  higher  or  better  source  for  both  in 
formation  and  inspiration  than  that  you  propose  to  invite  them  to ;  and  I  wish  you  all  success  in  your 
undertaking. 

From  the  HON.  HAMILTON  FISH,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  WASHINGTON,  October  i,  1875. 

For  a  longer  period  than  falls  to  the  lot  of  many  men  to  be  doing  good  to  their  race  and  generation, 
Hezekiah  Niles  was  among  the  most  valuable  contributors  of  valuable  information  to  the  American 
people. 

I  am  very  ,glad  to  learn  that  you  propose  to  publish  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American 
Revolution." 

It  is  well  from  time  to  time  to  examine  the  foundations  of  the  structure  in  which  we  live  ;  and  there 
can  be  no  better  time  than  the  present  to  lay  again  before  the  people  the  honest  inward  heartfelt  thoughts 
and  motives  and  aims  of  the  men  who  aided  in  laying  the  foundation  stones  of  the  Government  under 
which  so  many  live,  thoughtless  and  heedless  of  the  great  principles  essential  to  support  the  structure 
reared  with  such  wisdom  and  such  care. 

No  greater  public  service  can  be  rendered  than  to  inoculate  the  generation  living  at  the  first  Centen 
nial  Anniversary  of  our  national  existence  with  some  of  the  forgotten,  discarded  "  old-fashioned  "  notions 
and  principles  of  simple,  honest,  disinterested  patriotism  which  moved  and  governed  the  men  who 
brought  the  nation  into  existence. 

From  the  HON.  WM.  PINKNEY  WHYTE,  U.  S.  Senator  from  Maryland. 

BALTIMORE,  Sept.  15, 1875. 

I  am  quite  sure  the  publication  afresh  of  the  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American  Revolution  will 
produce  a  most  beneficial  effect  on  the  rising  generation  at  this  period  of  time.  Something  should 
be  done  to  arouse  the  youth  of  the  land  to  the  priceless  heritage  of  liberty,  and  nothing  could  be 
better  calculated  for  that  purpose  than  the  republication  of  the  speeches,  orations,  and  proceedings  of 
the  heroes  of  the  Revolution. 


From  the  HON.  HENRY  C.  CAREY,  Political  Economist,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

PHILADELPHIA,  September  9,  1875. 

I  am  very  glad  to  see  that  you  propose  republishing  your  grandfather's  admirable  collection  of  the 
Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  for  these  reasons :  first,  that  our  young  men  may 
be  enabled  to  study,  and  to  profit  by  the  study  of  the  sayings  and  doings  of  their  predecessors ;  and 
second,  that  they  may  have  matter  to  call  to  mind  my  old  friend,  the  editor,  one  of  the  very  best  and 
most  useful  of  all  the  men  I  have  ever  known.  No  man  who  ever  knew  him  can  do  otherwise  than 
hold  his  memory  in  veneration.  O  r*  ^  ,J  Kt\ 


:/•'*.•.•'     RECOMMENDATIONS. 
From  the  HON.  HENRY  A.  WISE,  late  Representative  in  Congress  and  Governor  of  Virginia,  Richmond,  Va. 

RICHMOND,  VA.,  September  g,  1875. 

I  have  received  and  read  the  title-page  of  the  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American  Revolution,  com 
piled,  &c. 

I  always  had  the  highest  respect  for  "  Niles'  Register,"  as  a  full  and  generally  accurate  source  of 
information.  Hezekiah  Niles,  Esq.,  in  spite  of  strong  political  prejudices,  could  as  well  be  relied  on  for 
statement  of  facts  as  any  other  publisher  I  ever  sought  information  from.  He  was  warm  in  his  Ameri 
can  affections,  and  sought  to  inspire  a  true  republican  patriotism,  and  fortified  the  national  feelings  and 
faith  by  his  Register  and  all  his  works.  I  therefore  confide  much  in  any  compilation  of  his  or  from  his 
Register.  Benjamin  Elliot,  Esq.,  in  his  letter  in  1816  to  him  said :  "  The  present  (1816)  is  a  most  pro 
pitious  period  for  the  compilation — the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  '76  were  never  so  prevalent  as  at  pres 
ent."  This  he  offered  as  a  reason  for  the  compilation.  And  now  at  this  present,  I  urge  the  very  opposite 
reason  for  the  republication  :  that  never  were  the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  '76  less  prevalent  than  now. 
What  with  the  immense  mass  of  immigrant  population,  naturally  ignorant  of  our  institutions  and  history ; 
what  with  the  feelings  embittered  by  the  late  civil  war;  and  what  with  what  is  called  "Young  America" 
and  its  tendency  and  influence — there  has  been  an  awful  chasm  cleft  between  '76  and  this  present  time, 
and,  not  like  the  slip  in  mining,  the  veins  of  formation  don't  continue  in  the  same  direction.  We  are 
departing  from  republicanism,  forgetful  and  ignorant  of  the  safeguards  of  liberty,  regulated  by  organic 
and  statute  law,  and  we  are  rapidly  tending  to  the  concentration  of  all  power  in  the  hands  of  one  man, 
or  an  oligarchy  in  Congress.  Even  at  a  sacrifice  of  some  pecuniary  loss,  I  beg  you  to  republish  and  cir 
culate  this  work.  It  will  not  be  read  by  a  large  majority  in  this  generation,  but  it  will  be  a  magazine 
for  a  few  republican  patriots,  and  if  fitted  for  the  schools  and  colleges  will  go  far  and  do  much  to  revive 
the  sentiments  and  feelings  of  '76  in  the  next  generation.  We  need  a  revival  of  "  political  religion." 
Patriotism  is  a  religion,  sacred  and  holy — the  amor patria,  founded  on  the  amor  loci,  which  broods  like 
a  dove  over  cradles,  hearths,  altars,  and  graves  of  home.  It  has  its  country,  it  has  its  fathers,  it  has  its 
faith,  it  has  its  hope  and  love,  and  then  it  has  its  permanence  and  perpetuity.  Revive  us,  O  Lord ; 
revive  us,  I  pray. 

From  the  HON.  THOMAS  A.  HENDRICKS,  Governor  of  Indiana. 

INDIANAPOLIS,  INDIANA,  September  10,  1875. 

I  am  gratified  to  learn  that  you  intend  to  republish  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American  Revo 
lution,"  being  a  compilation  of  speeches,  orations,  and  interesting  articles  of  the  revolutionary  period, 
prepared  and  originally  published  by  your  grandfather,  Hezekiah  Niles.  I  suppose  he  was  more  gener 
ally  known  to  American  readers  as  the  editor  and  publisher  of  "  Niles'  Register,"  a  periodical  at  one 
time  universally,  and,  now,  generally  known,  and  highly  appreciated  for  its  varied  and  reliable  informa 
tion. 

In  this  enterprise,  you  will  make  a  valuable  and  very  interesting  contribution  to  the  literature  of  1876. 

I  cannot  doubt  that  it  will  be  received  by  the  young  men  whose  patriotism  will  be  stimulated  by  the 
Centennial  Celebration  of  our  Independence,  in  the  spirit  and  beautiful  sentiment  in  which  it  was  dedi 
cated  to  the  young  men  of  the  United  States  in  1822. 


From  the  HON.  EDWARDS  PIERREPONT,  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States. 

DEPARTMENT  OK  JUSTICE,  WASHINGTON,  September  15,  1875. 

I  have  read  your  preface  to  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution."  I  believe  it  would  be  a 
great  advantage,  not  only  to  the  young  men,  but  to  all  men  of  the  country,  to  have  the  work  repub- 
lished  for  the  Centennial  Anniversary. 

From  the  HON.  REVERDY  JOHNSON,  Baltimore,  Md.,  late  Attorney  General  and  Senator  of  the  United 

States. 

BALTIMORE,  MD.,  September  9,  1875. 

Your  note  of  yesterday  is  received.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  contemplate  republishing  the  "  Prin 
ciples  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution  "  compiled  by  your  grandfather,  the  late  Hezekiah  Niles.  The  work, 
when  it  first  appeared,  was  justly  esteemed  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  political  history  of  our  country. 
Its  revival  now  cannot  fail  to  be  most  advantageous.  The  men  whose  thoughts  are  there  embodied 
were  patriots  of  the  purest  type,  and  the  principles  they  inculcated  must  find  a  ready  response  from  the 
hearts  of  all  their  descendants  who  are  true  and  enlightened  lovers  of  liberty.  This  work,  together  with 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  cannot  be  but  highly  cherished  by  the  immense  multitude  who  will  be 
assembled  on  the  fourth  of  July,  1876,  to  celebrate  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  our  existence  as  a 
free  and  independent  nation. 


RECOMMENDATIONS.  5 

From  General  and  Ex-Representative  BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER. 

BOSTON,  September  25,  1875. 

If  every  body  had  the  same  views  of  the  publication  of  "  Niles'  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American 
Revolution,"  of  which  you  send  me  the  preface,  that  I  have,  there  would  be  no  doubt  of  the  propriety 
and  necessity  for  the  public  good  of  its  publication.  I  hope  you  will  go  on  with  your  enterprise,  and 
bid  you  God  speed  in  your  work. 

From  the  HON.  JOHN  LETCHER,  late  Representative  and  Ex-Governor  of  Virginia, 

LEXINGTON,  VA.,  Sept.  16,  1875. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  cordially  to  commend  your  publication  to  public  favor.  The  time  for  its 
appearance  is  most  judiciously  selected. 

The  only  complete  copy  I  have  ever  seen  was  owned  by  the  venerable  Andrew  Alexander,  now  de 
ceased,  and  was  purchased  by  myself  at  the  sale  of  his  property.  The  facts  embodied  in  it  were  of  the 
most  valuable  and  interesting  character,  and  I  am  gratified  that  you  propose  to  reproduce  them  in  a 
shape  for  permanent  preservation. 

From  JUSTICE  W.  STRONG,  U,  S.  Supreme  Court. 

WASHINGTON,  Sept.  17,  1875. 

I  learn  with  much  pleasure  that  you  contemplate  a  republication  in  1876  of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts 
of  the  American  Revolution,"  compiled  and  published  in  1822  by  your  grandfather,  Hezekiah  Niles. 
The  work  was  invaluable  when  it  was  first  published,  and  its  republication  will  be  doubly  valuable  in 
our  Centennial  year.  What  every  true  patriot  must  ardently  desire  is  a  new  birth  of  the  spirit  which 
prevailed  in  the  days  of  the  Revolution.  What  that  spirit  was,  and  what  were  the  feelings  that  con 
trolled  the  action  of  the  revolutionary  fathers,  we  can  best  gather  from  the  few  remains  that  are  left  of 
their  speeches  and  acts.  Your  grandfather  was  a  most  industrious  and  accurate  compiler,  and  the  work 
which  he  published  in  1822,  long  since  out  of  print,  more  than  any  single  book  with  which  I  am 
acquainted,  may  be  expected  to  reveal  the  revolutionary  spirit,  and  awaken  in  the  hearts  of  young  men 
the  love  of  constitutional  freedom  and  an  attachment  to  those  principles  which  are  essential  to  its 
preservation.  I  hope  nothing  will  deter  you  from  carrying  out  your  design. 

From  HON.  JOSEPH  P.  BRADLEY,  Judge  Supreme  Court  United  States. 

STOWE,  VT.,  Sept.  23,  1875. 

The  republication  of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution,"  I  should  think,  would  be  emi 
nently  calculated  to  foster  a  feeling  of  national  unity  and  patriotism. 

From  JUSTICE  NATHAN  CLIFFORD,  United  States  Supreme  Court. 

PORTLAND,  MAINE,  Sept.  18,  1875. 

.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  republication  of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American  Revolution  " 
would  present  a  useful  compilation  to  the  present  generation,  both  young  and  old,  as  tending  to  revive 
the  recollection  of  the  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American  Revolution,  which  ought  to  be  cherished 
and  revered. 


From  the  HON.  M.  C.  KERR,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  Indiana. 

DENVER,  COLORADO,  Sept.  17,  1875. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  learn  that  you  are  about  to  republish  that  very  interesting,  instructive, 
and  useful  work  of  your  patriotic  and  distinguished  grandfather,  Hezekiah  Niles,  entitled  "  Principles 
and  Acts  of  the  Revolution."  It  is  not  creditable  to  the  country  that  it  has  been  suffered  to  go  out  of 
print.  You  have  chosen  a  most  opportune  period  for  its  reproduction — our  Centennial  year.  It  will 
add  profitable  store  to  the  beneficent  and  patriotic  literature  of  that  year. 

From  JUSTICE  N.  H.  SWAYNE,  U.  S.  Supreme  Court. 

WASHINGTON,  Sept.  27,  1875. 

I  am  familiar  with  the  work  entitled  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution  in  America,"  edited  and 
published  by  Hezekiah  Niles.  It  is  a  book  of  high  character  and  great  historic  interest  and  value.  It 
is  out  of  print,  and  in  my  judgment  ought  to  be  republished.  There  can  be  no  more  suitable  time  for 
doing  this  than  now.  The  volume  will  be  an  apt  centennial  offering  to  the  nation. 


From  JUSTICE  DAVID  DAVIS,  U.  S.  Supreme  Court. 

BLOOMINGTON,  ILLINOIS,  Sept.  27,  1875.  "' 

From  an  inspection  of  the  title-page  of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American  Revolution,"  com 
piled  by  your  grandfather  (which  you  were  kind  enough  to  send  me),  I  should  judge  that  their  republi 
cation  at  this  time  would  be  of  advantage  to  the  young  men  of  the  country. 


6  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

From  HON.  GEO.  W.  JONES,  late  U.  S.  Senator,  Iowa. 

DUBUQUE,  IOWA,  Oct.  10, 1875. 

I  am  very  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  a  republication  of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American 
Revolution,"  as  compiled  by  your  distinguished  and  learned  grandfather,  the  late  Hezekiah  Niles,  Esq., 
would  not  only  be  of  advantage  to  the  young,  but  to  old,  and  every  person  in  our  country  who  has  left 
one  spark  of  "  amor  patrise  "  in  his  heart.  Republish  it  by  all  means,  and  set  me  down  for  at  least  one 
copy  for  myself  and  one  for  each  of  my  three  sons. 

From  JAMES  F.  HARRISON,  M.  D.,  Chairman  of  the  Faculty. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  CHAIRMAN'S  OFFICE,  October  8, 1875. 

I  have  read  the  preface  to  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American  Revolution,"  and  I  entertain 
the  opinion  that  the  republication  of  the  work,  and  its  reading  during  the  Centennial  Celebration,  would 
be  highly  advantageous  to  the  rising  generation  of  young  men  of  our  country.  In  fact,  I  do  not  know 
of  a  work  whose  perusal  during  the  time  of  the  Centennial  Anniversary  would  so  largely  contribute  to 
the  advantage  and  benefit  of  our  young  men  generally  as  the  one  in  question. 

From  HON.  W.  W.  CORCORAN. 

WASHINGTON,  September  20, 1875. 

The  proposed  republication  of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American  Revolution,"  compiled  by 
your  grandfather,  in  my  judgment,  will  prove  of  great  advantage  to  the  young  men  of  the  country.  I 
entertain  the  belief  that  the  present,  and,  indeed,  the  next  generation,  would  be  materially  benefited  by 
a  more  extensive  circulation  of  these  valuable  documents. 


From  the  HON.  COLUMBUS  DELANO,  late  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR,  WASHINGTON,  September  18,  1875. 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  I3th  instant,  enclosing  the  title  page 
of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution,"  a  work  dedicated  by  your  grandfather,  Hezekiah  Niles, 
in  1822,  to  the  young  men  of  the  United  States,  which  you  propose  to  republish  during  the  Centennial 
Anniversary  of  our  Independence. 

In  response  to  your  request  for  my  opinion,  touching  the  benefit  that  the  young  men  of  our  country 
would  derive  from  its  perusal,  I  will  remark  that  a  more  familiar  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  Ameri 
can  Revolution  to  be  derived  from  said  publication,  cannot  fail  to  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  class 
of  readers  for  whom  it  is  especially  intended. 

From  the  HON.  JOHN  M.  BRODHEAD,  late  Second  Comptroller,.  U.  S.  Treasury. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  SECOND  COMPTROLLER'S  OFFICE,  Sept.  18,  1875. 

I  have  your  note  of  the  i8th  instant,  enclosing  the  title  page  of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the 
American  Revolution,"  compiled  by  your  honored  grandfather. 

In  my  opinion,  there  is  no  work  connected  with  American  history  the  republication  of  which  would 
be  more  interesting  and  advantageous  to  the  young  men  of  our  country  than  this  production  of  Hezekiah 
Niles,  one  of  the  most  eminent  and  accurate  journalists  of  the  age.  He  was  "  primus  inter  pares :  "  his 
judgment  in  selections,  and  the  careful  way  in  which  he  sifted  facts,  with  his  regard  for  the  exact  truth 
made  his  publications  an  authority  that  did  not  mislead,  as  I  have  had  occasion  to  prove  by  frequent 
reference.  I  hope  the  compilation  may  be  republished  in  time  for  the  Centennial. 

From  the  HON.  SAMUEL  S.  Cox,  Representative  in  Congress  from  New  York. 

NEW  YORK  CITY,  September  17,  1875. 

My  father,  who  was  an  editor  in  the  early  days,  used  Niles'  Register  as  a  mechanic — the  very  tools 
of  his  trade.  As  a  public  man,  anxious  for  truths  and  facts,  I  have  been  familiar  with  its  pages.  Your 
proposition  to  reproduce  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution  "  is  eminently  wise.  I  commend 
it  from  my  limited  standpoint,  and  wish  your  enterprise  success. 

From  the  REV.  W.  PINKNEY,  Bishop  Episcopal  Church,  Maryland. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  16,  1875. 

The  publication  you  propose  would  be  peculiarly  appropriate  at  this  time,  and  I  fully  appreciate  its 
value  to  the  young  men  of  the  country,  who  need  to  be  carried  back  to  the  elder  years  of  the  Republic — 
its  truly  golden  era.  I  shall  hail  the  republication  with  pleasure. 

From  HON.  WARD  HUNT,  Judge  Supreme  Court,  U.  S. 

UTICA,  N.  Y.,  September  25,  1875. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  republication  of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American  Revolution  " 
will  be  wise  and  timely.  I  possess  the  "  Weekly  Register,"  by  Mr.  Niles,  and  should  be  much  pleased 
to  obtain  a  copy  of  the  work  you  propose  to  republish  to  place  beside  it. 


RECOMMENDATIONS.  7 

From  GENERAL  FITZHUGH  LEE,  late  of  the  Confederate  Army. 

RICHLAND,  STAFFORD  Co.,  VA.,  September  25,  1875. 

I  sincerely  hope  you  may  carry  out  your  purpose,  and  republish  your  grandfather's  "  Principles  and 
Acts  of  the  Revolution." 

Mr.  Benjamin  Elliott,  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  in  writing  to  him  in  November,  1816,  used  these  words 
in  urging  its  first  publication  :  "  The  present  is  a  most  propitious  period,  the  feelings  and  solemnities  of 
"76  were  never  so  prevalent  as  at  present.  The  moment  and  opportunity  may  pass  and  not  immediately 
return.  Let  us,  then,  avail  ourselves  of  the  circumstance  to  make  some  deep  impression.  What  better 
impression  can  we  make  than  by  rendering  the  opinions  and  conduct  of  our  fathers  familiar  ?  "  Is  it 
possible  to  do  more  than  to  recall  the  present  applicability  of  Mr.  Elliott's  words  to  the  grandfather  to 
the  grandson  ? 

From  GENERAL  E.  D.  TOWNSEND,  Adjutant  General  United  States  Army. 

WASHINGTON,  September  20,  1875. 

I  take  pleasure  in  saying  I  think  it  highly  desirable  on  many  accounts  that  the  work  should  be  repub- 
lished.  The  people  of  this  country  are  beginning  to  realize  that  we  have  some  antiquity  as  a  nation. 
Great  pains  are  taken  to  collect  and  to  exhibit  any  relics  of  the  past,  and  a  growing  interest  is  centering 
around  such  relics.  Whatever  contributes  to  such  a  taste,  certainly  will  not  diminish  the  love  of  country 
which  just  now  we  are  all  so  anxious  to  develop. 

I  really  think  your  proposed  contribution  to  this  stock  of  relics  will  prove  of  inestimable  value.  It 
is  a  pity  such  a  work  should  be  suffered  to  lie  hidden  from  view. 

From  COMMODORE  SAMUEL  BARRON,  late  Confederate  States  Navy. 

LORETTA,  ESSEX  Co.,  VA.,  Off  n,  1875. 

Your  design  to  republish  the  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution  I  think  most  highly  of,  and  believe 
that  you  could  not  present  a  more  acceptable  offering  to  the  present  and  rising  generation  of  the  country. 


From  the  HON.  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS. 

QuiNCY,  MASS.,  September  23,  1875. 

I  know  of  no  single  volume  (the  "Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution,"  edited  by  your  grand  • 
father  more  than  fifty  years  ago)  which  contains  a  more  curious  and  interesting  collection  of  early  papers 
not  readily  to  be  found  in  these  days  without  much  search  anywhere  else.  For  the  young  people  of  the 
present  generation,  having  their  curiosity  raised  by  the  recurrence  of  the  Centennial  next  year,  I  should 
think  it  a  very  excellent  fund  of  instruction. 

From  HON.  GEORGE  W.  WILLIAMS,  late  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States. 

WASHINGTON,  September  28,  1875. 

Your  proposed  republication  of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution  "  will  be  a  valuable  con 
tribution  to  the  literature  of  the  times.  Our  approaching  Centennial  Anniversary  is  intended,  among 
other  things,  to  revive  for  our  guidance  and  instruction  the  examples  and  events  of  the  early  days  of  the 
Republic.  Your  proposed  work,  in  this  point  of  view,  will  be  interesting  and  useful. 

From  the  HON.  JOSEPH  SEGAR.  late  Member  of  Congress  from  Virginia. 

WASHINGTON,  November  23,  1875. 

I  have  not  a  doubt  that  the  whole  American  people  will  hail  with  lively  satisfaction  the  republica 
tion  of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution,"  gathered  half  a  century  ago  by  your  distinguished 
grandfather,  and  all  must  agree  that  the  Centennial  Anniversary  of  our  Independence  is  the  most  befit 
ting  occasion  for  the  reissue  of  these  liberty-inspiring  productions  of  our  patriot  fathers. 

It  was  an  immortal  sentiment  of  one  of  the  great  statesmen  of  our  revolutionary  era,  George  Mason, 
of  Virginia,  whose  statesmanship  illumines  many  a  page  of  the  volume  proposed  to  be  republished,  that 
*  no  free  government,  or  the  blessings  of  liberty  can  be  preserved  to  any  people  but  by  frequent  recur 
rence  to  fundamental  principles."  If  this  be  so,  how  unexpressibly  valuable  will  be  the  reproduction  of 
the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution  "  you  propose  to  reprint.  Where  else  can  we  find  so  bright 
expositions  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  free  government. 

That  great  people,  the  English,  recur  all  the  time  to  "  Runnymede,"  and  take  counsel  of  the  old 
barons  that  there  laid  down  liberty's  law,  and  announced  to  the  people  of  England  the  fundamental 
principles  of  civil  liberty  ;  and  it  is  this  "  ever  and  anon  "  worship  at  that  holy  altar  that  makes  that 
people  practically  as  free  as  any  on  the  earth,  and  that  renders  it  impossible  for  any  man  or  set  of  men 
to  encroach  a  hair's  breadth  upon  the  liberties  of  England. 

If  we  would  continue  imbued  with  the  genuine  spirit  of  freedom,  and  remain  steadfast  in  our  rever 
ence  of  constitutional  liberty,  we  must  go  back  often  to  the  revolutionary  sources  :  in  the  language  of  your 
patriotic  ancestor,  we  must  "catch  a  spark  from  the  altar  of  '76,  and  enter  into  the  spirit  of  past  times." 


8  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

From  the  HON.  WM.  M.  EVARTS,  late  Attorney  General,  United  States. 

WINDSOR,  VT.,  Sept.  22,  1875. 

It  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  a  timely  contribution  to  the  Centennial  memories  of  the  next  year, 
and  would  have  a  beneficial  and  extensive  influence  upon  the  opinions  and  sentiments  of  the  young  men 
of  the  country,  for  whom  it  was  especially  prepared,  and  to  whom  the  original  publication  was  dedicated. 

From  HON.  MATT.  H.  CARPENTER,  late  U.  S.  Senator  from  Wisconsin. 

MILWAUKEE,  Wis.,  Sept.  18,  1875. 

I  have  received  the  title  page  of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American  Revolution,"  compiled  by 
your  grandfather,  Hezekiah  Niles,  editor  of  the  "  Weekly  Register,"  which  you  propose  to  republish  as  a 
contribution  to  the  Centennial  Celebration  of  that  glorious  event. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  my  satisfaction  at  your  determination  to  publish  this  work.  As  far 
as  reason  excels  physical  force,  so  far  the  "  principles "  of  the  Revolution  ought  to  be  exalted  above  its 
mere  material  events.  The  young  men  of  the  country  cannot  fail  to  derive  benefit  from  perusing  this 
work,  and  they  must  be  dull  indeed  if  they  do  not  draw  therefrom  a  new  inspiration  in  favor  of  liberty 
and  government  founded  upon  free  principles. 


From  the  HON.  GEORGE  M.  ROBESON,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  Sept.  20,  1875. 

•  I  have  received  your  letter  enclosing  the  prospectus  of  your  proposed  work.  I  need  not  say  that  I 
heartily  approve  of  the  idea,  and  am  sure  it  will  be  a  most  valuable  contribution  to  the  literature  of  our 
Centennial  time,  most  instructive  to  the  young,  and  of  interest  to  the  mor«  mature.  It  is  only  by  "fre 
quent  comparison  of  the  opinions  of  the  past  with  the  sentiment  of  the  present  that  we  are  able  to  real 
ize  the  full  extent  to  which  progress  has  come,  and  reminiscences  of  this  character,  at  once  comprehen 
sive  and  unimpeachable,  mark  most  accurately  the  real  path  of  our  history  and  teach  its  lessons  most 
truly. 

From  CHIEF  JUSTICE  WAITE,  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Oct.  19,  1875. 

The  coming  Centennial  ought  to  furnish,  as  it  undoubtedly  will,  many  students  of  the  "  Principles 
and  Acts  of  the  Revolution,"  and  the  republication  now  of  your  grandfather's  book  with  that  title  would 
certainly  be  most  timely.  No  one  could  have  better  opportunities  for  compiling  revolutionary  papers, 
speeches,  etc.,  than  the  editor  of  "  Niles'  Register,"  and  few,  if  any,  have  been  better  fitted  for  such  a  work. 


From  GEN.  S.  V.  BENET,  Chief  of  Ordnance. 

WASHINGTON,  September 30,  1875. 

The  republication  of  the  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  American  Revolution,"  compiled  by  the  distin  ' 
guished  editor  of  the  "  Weekly  Register,"  during  the  Centennial  anniversary  of  our  Independence,  will, 
I  am  sure,  be  received  with  great  satisfaction  by  the  whole  country.  I  am  profoundly  impressed  with 
the  value  of  the  work  as  a  means  of  educating  our  youth  in  the  principles  that  actuated  the  Revolu 
tionary  Fathers,  and  impressing  upon  them  the  necessity  of  so  acting  as  to  perpetuate  the  blessings  we 
enjoy  to  the  latest  posterity. 

From  HON.  D.  W.  VOORHEES,  late  Member  of  Congress  from  Indiana. 

TERRE  HAUTE,  IND.,  December  10,  1875.    : 

I  can  imagine  nothing  more  appropriate,  and  few  things  as  useful  at  this  time,  as  the  publication  you 
contemplate.  I  place  myself  at  your  service  in  any  way  that  I  can  aid  you  in  the  undertaking. 

From  HON.  A.  G.  THURMAN,  United  States  Senator,  Ohio. 

WASHINGTON,  December  18,  1875. 

In  my  opinion,  the  republication  of  Niles'  "  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution  "  would  be  a  very 
valuable  contribution  to  the  public  and  private  libraries  in  the  United  States  ;  and  I  am  glad  to  learn 
that  you  contemplate  such  republication. 

From  GENIRAL  GlO.  WASHINGTON  Cusns   LEE,  President  of  "Washington  and  Lee   University" 

Lexington^  Va. 

PRESIDENT'S  OFFICE,  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  27,  1876. 

I  venture  the  opinion  that  the  republication  of  the  "Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution  in 
America,"  published  in  1822  by  the  late  Hezekiah  Niles,  editor  of  the  "  Weekly  Register,"  and  dedicated 
to  the  young  men  of  the  United  States,  will  prove  a  valuable  and  acceptable  addition  to  the  literary 
productions  of  1816. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS 

OF  THE 


OR;  AN  ATTEMPT  : 

TO  COLLECT  AND  PRESERVE  SOME  OF  THE 


ON 

MEN  AND  THINGS, 

AND  OTHER  FUGITIVE  OR  NEGLECTED  PIECES, 

BELONGING  TO  THE 

REVOLUTIONARY  PEKIOD  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES; 

WHICH,   HAPPILY,   TEKMINATED  IN  THE 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THEIR  LIBERTIES: 

WITH  A  VIEW 

TO  REPRESENT  THE  FEELINGS  THAT  PREVAILED  IN  THE  "TIMES  THAT  TRIED 

MEN'S  SOULS,"  TO  EXCITE  A  LOVE  OF  FREEDOM,  AND  LEAD  THE  PEOPLE 

TO  VIGILANCE,  AS  THE  CONDITION  ON  WHICH  IT  IS  GRANTED. 


DEDICATED  TO  THE 


BY  H.  NILES. 


-"  Collecta  revirescunt" 


BALTIMORE: 

FEINTED  AND  PUBLISHED  FOB  THE  EDITOR,  BT  WILLIAM  OGDEN  NILES. 

1822. 


TO 


OF  THE 


UNITED  STATES, 


THIS  VOLUME  OF 


IS,  RESPECTFULLY,  DEDICATED; 

IN  THE  HOPE 

That  they  may  be  encouraged  to  adhere  to  the  simplicity  of  Truth, 

AS  SET  FORTH  BY  THE 

PEINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OE  THEIE  EATHEES, 

AJJD  EMULATE  THE  NOBLEST  DEEDS  WHEN  THE 

LIBERTIES  OF  THEIR  COUNTRY  ARE  ENDANGERED, 
BY  FOREIGN  ENEMIES  OR  DOMESTIC  ENCROACHMENTS, 

SO  THAT 

THE  BLESSINGS  WHICH  THESE  PATRIOTS  WON 

MAT  DESCEND  TO  POSTERITY, 

And  our  Republic  forever  continue  to  le  the  pride  of  Humanity,  and  an  Asylum  for  the 


BY  THEIR  SINCERE  FRIEND, 


H.  NILES. 


Baltimore,  April,  1832. 


PREFATORY. 


IT  is  with  unaffected  diffidence,  that  the  editor  now  presents  his  long-expected  volume  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  from  an  apprehension  that  its  contents  will  not  accord  with  the 
hopes  entertained  by  those  who  felt  interested  in  the  publication.  Self-love,  or  self-respect, 
seems  to  demand  that  some  account  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  this  work  should  be  submitted, 
that  the  real  merits  or  demerits  of  the  case  may  be  understood. 

On  the  i^d  of  November,  1816,  a  letter  was  published  in  the  WEEKLY  REGISTER  (of  which 
the  editor  of  this  work  is  also  the  editor  and  proprietor),  from  an  anonymous  correspondent,* 
from  which  the  following  is  an  extract : 

"  Among  the  patriots  whose  efforts  have  tended  to  give  stability  to  our  institutions,  no  one  is  more  entitled  to  the 
best  wishes  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  no  one  has  rendered  himself  more  honorably  known,  than  yourself.  The  steady 
zeal  with  which  you  have  prosecuted  your  valuable  work,  has  made  it  as  a  light  to  the  people,  by  which  they  see 
their  true  interests,  and  discover  the  certain  means  of  preserving  and  improving  their  unparalleled  freedom  and  its 
attendant  blessings.  I  am  satisfied  that  you  take  pleasure  in  an  American  offering  you  his  thoughts  on  any  subject  of 
a  public  nature,  however  little  merit  may  be  in  his  suggestions.  I  am,  therefore,  led  to  propose  to  your  consideration 
an  undertaking  which  no  one  is  so  well  qualified  to  accomplish  as  yourself — it  is  to  collect  and  print  handsomely  a 
volume  of  speeches  and  orations  of  our  revolution  :  you  can  make  the  supplement  to  one  of  your  volumes  such  a 
book.  The  present  is  a  most  propitious  period;  the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  '76  were  never  so  prevalent  as  at 
present.  The  moment  and  opportunity  may  pass  and  not  immediately  return  ;  the  events  of  the  late  war  have  im 
parted  a  glow  of  national  feeling  for  every  thing  republican.  Let  us  then  avail  ourselves  of  the  circumstance  to  make 
some  deep  impression.  What  better  impression  can  we  make  than  By  rendering  the  opinions  and  conduct  of  our 
fathers  familiar  f  An  opportunity  for  such  a  work  exists  now — which,  we  know,  is  but  transient,  as  but  six  Amerl 
dans  who  witnessed  the  great  debate  remain.  Now,  can  a  doubt  arise  that  Mr.  Jefferson,  or  Mr.  Adams,  or  Mr, 
Thompson,  would  not  take  delight  in  furnishing  materials  ? — the  speeches  themselves,  and  a  view  of  the  proceeding;, 
and  different  characters  of  the  speakers.-  We  have  one  sefection  of  American  speeches — made  by  a  British  emissary — 
if  such  men  are  to  select  our  political  lessons,  I  need  not  tell  you  what  must  be  the  opinions  of  the  rising  generation, 
nor  of  their  certain  degradation." 

Then  followed  a  promise  to  communicate  sundry  articles,  and  some  hints  of  the  writer  to 
obtain  others. 

This  letter  was  spread  before  the  readers  of  the  REGISTER  to  gather  public  sentiment  on  the 
subject,  and  form  some  opinion,  through  communications  solicited,  of  the  supply  of  materials 
that  could  be  obtained,  with  very  little  prospect,  at  that  time,  of  accomplishing  the  wishes  of  my 
correspondent,  though  there  was  not  any  want  of  zeal  to  satisfy  them.  I  apprehended  that  the 
supply  of  matter  would  be  short — for  I  had,  myself,  been  an  eager  collector  of  such  things  for 
many  years,  and  seemingly  had  some  right  to  judge  of  the  quantity  that  remained  for  edification 
and  improvement,  in  a  recurrence  to  first  principles.  But  it  soon  appeared  that  many  were 
desirous  that  the  collection  should  be  attempted,  and  certain  distinguished  persons  held  out 
flattering  prospects  of  success,  urging  me  forward  by  the  presentation  of  motives  which  they 
were  pleased  to  think  had  an  irresistible  influence  on  my  conduct ;  but  I  still  hesitated,  because 
of  the  deficiency  of  materials,  until  January,  1819,  when  it  was  announced  that  the  volume 
would  be  put  to  press  in  an  address  that  contained  the  annexed  remarks  : 

"  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  very  few  of  the  soul-stirring  orations  and  speeches  of  the  revolutionary  period 
remain  to  claim  the  admiration  of  a  blessed  posterity.  Still,  some  good  things  are  left  to  us, — and,  by  a  liberal 
enlargement  of  the  plan  originally  proposed,  we  feel  pretty  confident  of  presenting  an  acceptable  gift  to  the  American 
people,  by  rescuing  from  oblivion  a  great  variety  of  fleeting,  scattered  articles,  belonging  to  the  history  of  our  country 
anterior  to  the  sublime  epoch  of  the  revolution,  during  its  continuance,  and  immediately  after  its  glorious  termination, 
whilst  its  feelings  were  fresh  upon  the  heart  and  understanding  of  our  heroes  and  sages.  As  heretofore  observed, 
our  collection  of  materials  is  somewhat  extensive,  our  resources  promise  some  rich  additional  supplies, — and  no  effort 
shall  be  left  untried  to  increase  our  store  :  so  that,  on  the  whole,  though  the  collection  will  doubtless  be  defective, 
and,  perhaps,  not  equal  the  expectations  of  some,  we  are  consoled  with  a  belief  that  it  will  not  be  unworthy  of  the 
patronage  of  an  enlightened  public — zealous  to  catch  a  "  spark  from  the  altar  of  "76,"  and  prepared  to  enter  into  the 
spirit  of  past  times. 

*  Since  ascertained  to  be  BENJAMIN  ELLIOT,  Esq.,  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  whose  name  I  take  the  liberty  to  mention 
as  the  projector  of  the  undertaking,  and  the  merit  of  it  belongs  to  him. 


12  PREFATORY. 

"  The  volume  will  be  slowly  printed  as  the  matter  presents  itself,  and  be  concluded  as  soon  as  the  nature  of  things 
will  admit  of— but  shall  not  be  hurried.  Order  in  its  arrangement  can  hardly  be  hoped  for ;  but  it  will  not,  on  that 
account,  suffer  much  depreciation  of  value." 

Still,  it  was  not  until  September  in  the  same  year  that  a  regular  prospectus  was  offered,  for  I 
yet  feared  the  want  of  matter,  as  well  as  the  severe  labor  that  I  was  sensible  would  become 
necessary  to  obtain  it,  if  to  be  obtained  at  all.-  This  prospectus  contained  these  paragraphs  : 

"  Believing,  as  we  do,  that  the  simplicity  of  tht  truth,  as  held  forth  by  those  who  devised  and  executed  the  sever 
ance  of  this  country  from  the  power  of  a  despot,  has  been  widely  departed  from,  no  effort  on  our  part  shall  be  wanting 
to  encourage  a  spirit  to  seek  after  and  hold  en  te  the  principles  which  appear  essential  to  the  preservation  of  tht 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  people  of  the  United  States :  under  an  assurance  that  vigilance  is  the  condition  en  which 
freedom  is  granted  to  us.  But  we  enter  upon  the  undertaking  before  us  with  considerable  diffidence — fearful  of  the 
want  of  a  just  discrimination,  and  also  of  time  for  research  and  reflection  to  do  justice  to  the  weighty  concern.  It 
seemed,  however,  to  be  imposed  on  us  as  a  duty,  and  we  will  execute  the  task  as  well  as  we  can. 

"  The  materials,  though  the  stock  is  pretty  large,  are  not  yet  sufficient  for  the  extensive  work  contemplated.  The 
editor  of  the  REGISTER  has,  for  several  years,  been  a  collector  of  scraps  and  rare  things— several  gentlemen  have  lib 
erally  contributed  articles  which  they  would  not  have  parted  with  except  on  an  occasion  like  this  ;  and  others  have 
promised  us  liberty  to  overhaul  their  neglected  stores  of  old  papers :  but  much  useful  matter  must  be  in  the  hands  of 
those  with  whom  we  have  not  yet  communicated  on  the  subject ;  and  every  patriot  is  invited  to  give  his  aid  to  this 
collection,  designed  to  record  the  feelings  of"  the  times  that  tried  men's  souls."  Letters  may  be  sent  to  the  editor  at 
his  cost  lor  postage,  and  originals  will  be  carefully  returned,  if  requested.  When  copies  from  manuscripts  are  pre 
sented,  it  might  be  well  to  permit  us  to  state  the  source  from  whence  they  were  derived,  if  necessary." 

The  terms  were  also  set  forth — it  was  promised  that  the  volume  should  contain  between  four 
and  five  hundred  pages,  and  cost,  in  sheets,  the  sum  of  three  dollars.  A  view  to  pecuniary 
profit  was  disavowed — it  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  origin  or  progress  of  the  work,  and  if  a 
reasonable  allowance  for  money  and  time  expended  is  afforded  by  its  sale,  it  will  be  as  much  as 
ever  has  been  expected. 

I  had  no  sooner  fairly  committed  myself  than  I  regretted  it — the  patriots  of  the  revolution 
did  not  make  speeches  to  be  unattended  to  by  their  brethren  in  congress  and  fill  up  the  columns 
of  newspapers.*  They  only  spoke  when  they  had  something  to  say,  and  preferred  acting  to 
talking — very  unlike  the  legislators  of  the  present  time.  I  plainly  saw  that  great  difficulties 
would  oppose  themselves  to  the  fulfillment  of  my  promise — I  feared  that  more  was  expected  of 
me  than  any  man  could  do — for  the  facts  that  were  manifest  to  my  mind  could  not  be  appre 
ciated  by  all :  my  pride  (an  honest  one,  I  trust)  was  alarmed,  but,  in  obedience  to  a  fixed  rule 
that  I  have  adopted  for  my  own  conduct,  I  resolved  to  meet  the  difficulty  presented  and  conquer 
it  by  perseverance — if  I  could.  To  give  some  idea  of  the  quantity  of  books  and  papers  that 
•4  have  been  looked  into  to  effect  this  compilation,  I  think  that  I  do  not  exaggerate  when  I  say 
that  they  were  sufficient  to  load  a  cart,  and  hours  on  hours  have  been  spent  in  the  service  with 
out  the  least  profit.  Perhaps,  I  was  unlucky  or  unwise — that  my  attention  was  not  directed  to 
the  proper  sources  ;  it  may  be  so — but  of  this  I  am  satisfied,  that  very  few  of  the  "  soul-stirring  " 
speeches  of  the  revolutionary  period  remain  to  warm  the  hearts  of  a  grateful  posterity :  they 
were  pronounced  to  be  heard,  not  published, 

With  this  brief  narrative,  I  submit  the  work  to  the  liberality  of  my  countrymen,  American 
republicans — in  the  firm  belief  that,  if  I  have  not  accomplished  all  that  was  hoped  for  by  some, 
it  will  appear  that  others  are  agreeably  disappointed  ;  and  I  am  satisfied  that  good  will  result 
from  the  publication  of  this  collection :  it  will  rescue  from  oblivion  many  things  that  were  has 
tening  to  it,  and  lay  the  foundation,  perhaps,  of  a  more  extensive  and  much  more  perfect  work, 
which  I  shall  always  keep  in  my  view. 

In  explanation  it  is  necessary  further  to  observe,  that  the  leading  object  ol  this  volume  was 
to  show  the  feelings  that  prevailed  in  the  revolution,  not  to  give  a  history  of  events  ;  hence,  all 
matters  of  the  latter  class  have  been  rejected,  except  as  immediately  necessary  to  show  the 
effects  of  feeling.  The  volume,  also,  might  have  been  more  acceptable  if  a  greater  degree  of 
order  had  been  observed  as  to  dates,  etc.,  but  it  was  almost  impossible  to  approach  regularity, 
in  this  respect,  as  well  from  the  nature  of  things  as  from  the  occasional  attention,  only,  that  J 
was  able  to  give  to  the  work — but  any  inconvenience  on  this  account  is  obviated  by  the  copious 
index,  or  table  of  contents  prefixed.  Two  articles  have  been,  unfortunately,  inserted  twice — but, 
as  they  are  of  an  excellent  quality,  I  shall  not  be  sorry  for  it,  if  the  error  causes  them  to  be  twice 
read.  Many  notices  of  proceedings,  etc.,  are  given  only  to  indicate  the  general  conduct  of  the 
people  on  such  occasions  as  they  have  reference  to. 

*  The  earl  of  Dartmouth  asked  an  American  in  London  (whose  name  we  cannot  call  to  mind  at  present),  of  how 
many  members  the  congress  consisted  ?  The  reply  was  "  fifty-two."  "  Why  that  is  the  number  of  cards  in  a  pack/' 
said  his  lordship — "  how  many  knaves  are  there  ?  "  Not  one,"  returned  the  republican — "  please  to  recollect  that 
knaves  are  court  cards." 


CONTENTS. 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

PAGE 

Patriotic  Proceedings  of  the  Convention  of  Deputies 
appointed  by  the  several  towns  in  the  Province,  held 
at  Essex,  Jan.  25,  1775,  and  address  to  the  people. .13,  14 


MASSACHUSETTS. 

Reminiscences  relating  to  'the  massacre  of  citizens  of 

Boston  by  British,  troops,  March  5, 1770.15  to  17,  112,  113 
Boston'Orations  delivered  at  the  request  oflthe  inhabi 
tants  of  the  Town  of  Boston  to  commemorate  the 
evening  of  the  sth  of  March,  1770,  when  a  number  of 
citizens  were  killed  by  a  party  of  British  troops 

quartered  among  them  in  time  of  peace 17  to  79 

James  Lovell,  1771,  An  oration  of 17  to  20 

Joseph  Warren,  1772,  1775,  Orations  of. .. 20  to  30.    See  113 
Perez  Morton,  1776,  Oration  delivered  at  the  reinter 
ment  of  Joseph  Warren y>to  32 

Reminiscences  of  General  Warren 32,  33 

Eulogium  on  Warren 33,  34 

Dr.  Benjamin  Church,  1773,  Oration  of 34  to  37 

"ohn  Hancock,  1774,  Oration  of 38  to  42.    See  112 

'eter  Thatcher,  1776,  Oration  of., 43  to  46 

Benjamin  Hickborn,  1777,  Oration  of: 46  to  51 

"ouathan  W.  Austin,  1778,  Oration  of 51  to  56 

Villiam  Tudor,  1779,  Oration  of 56  to  61 

onathan  Mason,  Jr.,  1780,  Oration  of 61  to  67 

Tnomas  Dawes,  Jr.,  1781,  Oration  of. 67  to  72 

George  Richard  Minot,  Jr.,  1782,  Oration  of. 72  to  75 

Dr.  Thomas  Welsh,  1783,  Oration  of 75  to  79 

Important  Letter  of  Gov.  Hutchinson,  July  20,  1770. . .    79 
Speech  of  Gov.  Hutchinson  to  the  Council  and  House 

of  Reps.,  February  16,  1773 T)to  87 

Answer  of  the  House  of  Reps,  to  Gov.  Hutchinson, 

March  2,  1773.... 87  to  94 

Resolutions  Adopted  by  the  House  of  Reps,  1773 94,  95 

Letter  from  the  House  of  Reps,  to  the  Speakers  of  the 
several  Houses  of  Assembly  on  the  Continent,  1773, 


•95,  96 

Destruction  of  tea  in  Boston  Harbor,  Dec.  16,  1773... 96,  97 
Interesting  letter  relating  to  its  destruction  by  the 

Mohawk  Indians _•  •  •    97 

Recollections  of  the  same,  and  song  commemorative 

of  the  destruction  of  tea 97 

Gov.  Hutchinson's  message  to  the  Assemby,  1774... 97, 

Answer  to  same  by  the  House  of  Reps.,  1774 98,  99 

Election  of  Delegates  by  the  General  Court,  1774 99 

Message  from  Provisional  Congress  to  Gen.  Gage... 99,  100 

An  honest  jury 100,  101 

Interesting  correspondence  of  John  Adams,  second 

President  of  the  United  States 101  to  i 

Containing  the  broken  hints  written  by  Major  John 

Hawley,  author   of  the    declaration,  "  We    must 

fight  " 107,  108 

Address  of  the  Provincial  Congress  to  the  inhabitants 

of  Massachusetts,  1774 . ...108  to  no 

Do,  recommending  manufactures,  and  home  industry, 

1774 

The  proscribed  of  Boston,  1774 . ...  in 

Interesting  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  Mass,  to  a  friend 
in  London,  Jan.  21,  1775 in,  112 

Occurrences  at  "  Old  South  Church,"  Boston,  1775, 
112,  n; 

Battle  of  Lexington,  April  19, 1775,  interesting  reminis 
cences  of. 113  to  116 

Female  patriotism,  Battle  o£  Lexington 116,  117 

Address  of  Provincial  Congress  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Great  Britain,  1775 117,  ni 

Resolutions  of  the  Provincial  Congress  deposing  Gen. 
Gage,  1775 118 

Correspondence  between  Gen.  Lee  and  Gen.  Bur- 
goyne,  June,  1775 118  to  122 

Proclamation  of  Gov.  Thomas  Gage,  June  12,  1775,  ex 
cluding  Samuel  Adams  and  John  Hancock  from  the 
benefit  of  pardon 122  to  124 


PACK 

lien.  Horatio  Gates'  instructions  for  recruiting  troops, 
1775 124 

Proclamation  of  thanksgiving,  Nov.  4,  1775. 124, 125 

Proclamation  by  the  great  and  general  Court,  Jan., 
i776 125  to  127 

Declaration  of  resistance  to  the  authority  of  Great 
Britain,  1776 • •  •  I27 

Recollections  of  a  Bostonian  of  the  evacuation  of 
Boston  by  British  troops,  March  17,  1.776 128 

Proclamation  of  Gen.  Washington  on  taking  possession 
of  Boston,  March  21,  1776 128,  129 

Address  of  the  Hon.  Council  and  House  of  Reps,  to 
Gen.  Washington 129, 130 

Reply  of  Gen.  Washington 13°,  *3* 

Degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  conferred  by  Harvard  Col 
lege  on  Gen.  Washington,  April  3,  1776 131 

Instructions  of  the  inhabitants  of  Maiden  to  their 
representatives  in  Congress,  1776 131,  J32 

Do  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  1776 i32>  J33 

Address  of  the  Independent  Sons  in  Massachusetts, 
Boston,  Nov.  14,  1776 133,  *34 

Address  by  the  State  of  Mass.  Bay,  Jan.,  1777,  recom 
mending  that  it  be  read  by  each  Minister  of  the 
Gospel  in  their  respective  churches 134  to  136 

Declaration  addressed  to  all  the  ancient  French  m 
America  by  Count  De  Estaing,  commander  of  the 
French  squadron,  Boston,  Oct.  28,  1778 136,  137 

Interesting  letter  from  Major  Joseph  Hawley,  author 
of  the  declaration,  "  We  must  tight,"  Oct.,  1780.137,  138 

Reminiscences  of  the  olden  time ,  Boston 138  to  140 

RHODE  ISLAND. 

Oath  exacted  by  Gen.  Lee,  of  the  people,  Dec.,  1775--  *4° 
Proceedings  of  a  Court  Martial  held  at  Providence, 

July  24,  1778 I4° 

Interesting  account  of  the  death  of  William  Ellery, 
one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  March,  1820 14' 

CONNECTICUT. 

Domestic  manufactures  recommended,  Feb.  32, 1768..  141 
Letter  from  Gov.  Jonathan  Trumbull  to  Gen.  Gage, 

April  28,  1775 .141,  142 

Reduction  in  value  of  staple  articles,  New  London, 

Aug.,  1776 J42 

Correspondence  between  William  Tryou  and  Gov. 

Trumbull,  1778 142,  *43 

Massacre  of  troops  at  Fort  Griswold,  or  Groton,  by 

the  British,  Sept.  6,  1781 143 

The  traitor  Benedict  Arnold's  connection  with  the 

massacre *44 

Election  Sermon  delivered  by  President  Stiles,  before 

the  Legislature,  May,  1785 J45 

Oration  delivered  by  Joel  Barlow  to  the  Society  of 

Cincinnati,  July  4,  1787 145,  '5° 

Interesting  gathering  of  Revolutionary  Pensioners  at 

Hartford,  Aug.  7,  1820 i5°,  151 

Proceedings  relating  to  same 151,  i52 

Capt.  Nathan  Hale  executed  as  a  spy,  by  the  British.  153 
Tribute  to  his  memory  by  the  late  President  Dwight..  153 
Revolutionary  soldiers,  interesting  reminiscences  of..  154 
Capt.  Ezra  Lee,  interesting  sketch  of  his  attempt  to 

'destroy  the  British  fleet,  then  in  North  River,  New 

York,  by  a  submarine  battery iS4>  'S3 

NEW  YORK. 

Journal  of  the  Stamp  Act  Congress,  held  in  the  City 
of  New  York,  1765 155/0168 

Address  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  to  the  public,  Dec., 
j773 169,  170 

Meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
July  6,  1774 170,171 


CONTENTS. 


PACK 

Letter  from  tne  Committee  of  New  York  City  to  the 
Lord  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Common  Council  of 

London,  June  23,  1775 171,  173 

Pastoral  Letter  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Phila 
delphia,  June  29,  1775 173 

Address  of  Provincial  Congress  to  Gen.  Washington, 

July3,  1775 • 173 

Reply  of  Gen.  Washington 173,  174 

Address  of  the  Mechanics  of  New  York  City  to  the 

Colonial  Congress,  June,  1776 174,  176 

Resignation  of  Militia  Officers,  Aug.,  1776 177 

Proclamation  of  Gen.  Washington,  recommending 
iLie  retirement  of  the  women,  children,  and  infirm 
persons,  from  ,the  City  of  New  York,  on  account  of 
the  expected  bombardment  of  the  city  by  the  British, 

Aug.  17,  1776 177 

Action  of  the  Convention  upon  Gen.  Washington's 

recommendation 177 

Letter  from  Gen.  Robinson,  of  New  York,  to  Gov. 

Livingston,  of  New  Jersey,  1777 177,  178 

Gov.  Livingston's  reply,  1777 177,  178 

Proclamation  of  Gen.  Burgoyne,  Julv  2,  1777 178,  179 

Reply  to  Burgoyne's  Proclamation,  July  10,  1777..  179,  180 
Charge  of  Chief  Justice  Jay,  to  the  Grand  Jury  of  the 

Supreme  Court,  Sept.  9,  1777 180,  182 

Address  of  the  Legislature  to  their  constituents,  March 

13,  1781 182  to  186 

Address  of  the  Citizens  of  New  York  City  who  have 
returned  from  exile,  to  Gen.  Washington  and  Gov. 
George  Clinton,  after  the  evacuation  of  the  city  by 

the  British,  Nov.  25,  1783 187,  188 

Gen.  Washington's  reply  thereto,  Nov.  25,  1783 187 

Address  to  Gov.  Clinton,  and  his  reply  thereto 188 

Interesting  sketch  of  Dr.  Tustin,  of  Long  Island.. 188,  190 

Churches  of  New  York  during  the  Revolution 190 

Middle  Dutch  Church 190 

NEW  JERSEY. 

A  ppropriation  of  money  in  the  Public  Treasury  by  the 
people,  May  23,  1775 191 

Vote  of  censure  on  Gov.  Wm.  Franklin,  by  the  Pro 
vincial  Congress,  June  14,  1776 191 

Address  to  the  Inhabitants  by  the  Provincial  Con 
gress,  June  15,  1775 191 

Speech  of  Gov.  William  Livingston  to  the  Legislature, 
Feb.  25,  1777 193,  195 

Instructions  from  the  Legislature  to  the  delegates  in    , 
Congress,  Dec.  4,  1777 195,  197 

Proposals  presented  Dec.  8,  1777,  for  an  exchange  of 
Gen.  Burgoyne,  after  his  surrender  at  Saratoga.  197,  198 

Correspondence  between  Col.  Charles  Mawhood, 
British  forces,  and  Col.  Elijah  Hand,  American 
militia,  March,  1778 198,  199 

Remarks  on  the  liberty  of  conscience,  by  Gov.  Living 
ston,  1778 200,  201 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Proceedings  of  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  importation  of  tea,  Jan.  3.  1774 201,  203 

Proceedings  of  the  City  and  County  of  Philadelphia 
on  the  Boston  Port  Bill.  June  18,  1774 203,  204 

Address  of  the  County  Committee  to  the  Assembly, 
July  23,  177,1 304,  208 

Action  taken  by  the  Citizens  of  Philadelphia  to  estab 
lish  domestic  manufactures,  March,  1775 208,  211 

Enthusiasm  of  the  people  in  support  of  the  Revolution, 
June,  1775 211 

Interesting  letter  relating  to  same,  July  10,  1775. .  .211,  212 

Patriotic  Sentiments  of  an  American  woman  (Philadel- 
phian)  in  advocacy  of  the  Revolution 212,  213 

Sermon  delivered  in  Christ's  Church  by  the  Rev.  Wm. 
Smith,  D.  D.,  on  the  present  situation  of  American 
Affairs,  June  23,  1775 213,  219 

Act  of  the  Assembly  relative  to  persons  scrupulous  of 
bearing  arms,  Jan.  29,  1775 219,  220 

Memento  to  Americans,  March  17,  1776 220 

Spirited  speech  of  an  honest  and  sensible  farmer  to  his 
neighbors,  May,  1776 220,  222 

Declaration  of  the  Deputies  of  the  State,  met  in  Provin 
cial  Conference,  June  24,  1776 223 

Patriotic  address  of  the  Deputies  to  the  people,  June 
26,  1776 223,  224 

Proceedings  relative  to  the  monopoly  of  salt,  Aug.  24, 
1776 224 

Treason  ;  Ordinance  defining  the  same,  Sept.  5,  1776 
224,  225 

Remonstrance  of  certain  citizens  arrested,  and  confined 
in  the  Free  Masons  Lodge,  Phila,  Sept.  4,  1777.. 225,  227 

Interesting  correspondence  of  Brig.  Gen.  Lacey,  with 
Gen.  Washington  and  others,  1778 227,  229 

Eulogium  by  Judge  Breckenbridg-e,  of  the  brave  men 
who  have  fallen  in  the  contest  with  Great  Britain, 


delivered  July  5,  1779,  in  the    German    Calvinist 
Church,  Phila 


229,  232 


PAGH 

Burning  in  effigy  the  traitor  Benedict  Arnold,  by  the 

citizens  of  Phila.,  Sept.,  1780 332 

Address  delivered  Nov.,  1781,  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  Phila.,  by  the  M.  L'Abbe  Bandole,  during 
the  celebration  ot  divine  service,  and  thanksgiving 

for  the  capture  of  Lord  Cornwallis 232,  233 

Address  by  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  to  the  people  of   the 

United  States.  1787 234,  236 

Patriotic  gifts  cf  'he  citizens 236 

Private  beneficence 237,  238 

Revolutionary  reminiscences  of  Philadelphia 238,  239 

DELAWARE. 

Proceedings  of  the  committee  of  inspection  of  Kent 

County,  in  relation  to  certain  tea,  Jan.  26,  1775 239 

Letter  from  Dr.  James  Tilton  to  Dr.  Elmer  upon  the 

condition  of  affairs  in  the  state,  1775 239,  240 

Petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Kent  County  to  establish 

a  militia,  March,  1775 240 

Recantation  of  an  article  reflecting  upon  the  Patriots 

of  Kent  County,  May,  1775 240,  241 

Action  of  the  committee  of  inspection  in  relation  to 

same,  May  3,  1775 240,  241 

Letters  to  the  committee  of  inspection  of  Kent 
County,  assigning  reasons  for  release  from  military 

service,  June,  1775 241,  242 

Correspondence  upon  the  subject  of  Toryism  in  Suffolk 

County,  Nov.,  1775 243,  243 

Arrest  of  a  member  of  the  Legislature  by  the  Light 
Infantry,  company  of  Dover,  and  the  petition  and 
remonstrance  of  the  company  to  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  March,  1776 243,  344 

Response  of  the  members  of  the  Assembly  to  the  peti 
tion,  March,  1776 244,  245 

Interesting  selections  from  the  correspondence  of  Gen 
eral  Caesar  Rodney  and  Capt.  Thos.  Rodney.  Let 
ter  from  Czsar  to  Thomas  Rodney  relative  to  Stamp 

Act  Congress,  Oct.  20,  1765 245,  246 

Letter  from  Caesar  to  Thos.  Rodney,  Sept.  17,  1774 —  246 

Same,  Sept.  19,  1774 246 

Same,  Sept.  24,  1774 247 

Same,  Oct.,  1775 • 247,  248 

Thomas  to  Caesar  Rodney,  August  30,  1776 248 

Col.  John  Haslett  to  Gen.  Caesar  Rodney,  Oct.  5,  1776  248 

Thos.  Rodney  to  Caesar  Rodney,  Dec.  30,  1776 248,  249 

Interesting  letter  from  Gen.  Washington  to  Gen.  Caesar 

Rodney,  Sept.  34,1777 250 

Gen.  Washington  to  same,  Aug.  26,  1779 251 

Gen.  Washington  to  same,  Dec.  16,  1779 251 

Gen.  Washington  to  same,  Aug.  27,  1780 251,  252 

Thos.  Rodney  to  Caesar  Rodney,  July  20,  1779  —  252,  253 
John  Dickinson,  of  Pennsylvania,  to  Thos.  Rodney, 

July.  22,  1779 253 

Thos.  Rodney  10  Caesar  Rodney,  June  14,  1781 — 253,  254 
Dr.  James  Tilton,  Williamsburg,  Virginia,  Dec.  16, 
1781,  to  Thos.  Rodney,  relating  to  the  American  and 
French  soldiers 254,  255 

MARYLAND. 

Proceedings  of  the  people  assembled  at  Annapolis  re 
specting  the  importation  of  British  goods,  June  29, 
1769 2=5-237 

Proceedings  of  the  merchants  and  others  of  Baltimore 
county,  relative  to  the  importation  of  European 
goods,  Nov.  14,  1769 257,  258 

Action  of  the  people  of  Queen  Anne  county  upon  the 
subject  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  May  30,  1774 258.  259 

Action  of  the  people  of  Baltimore  county  upon  the 
subject  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  May  31,  1774 259 

Action  of  the  people  of  Anne  Arundel  county  upon  the 
subject  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  June  4,  1774 359,  260 

Patriotic  recommendation  of  the  people  assembled  at 
Annapolis  respecting  manufactures  and  home  in 
dustry,  Dec.  15,  1774 260-262, 

Memorial  of  James  Christie  to  the  Provincial  Conven 
tion,  July  37,  1775,  explanatory  of  his  letter  to  Lieut. 
Col.  Gabriel  Christie  of  the  British  forces,  and  dis 
claiming  any  act  of  treason  to  the  colony. 262,  263 

Action  of  the  convention  in  the  case  of  the  said  James 
Christie,  Aug.  7,  1775 263,  264 

Patriotic  letter  from  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  Eng 
land  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  Dec.  20,  1775 264-268 

Patriotic  address  of  the  General  Assembly  to  the 
people  of  the  state,  July  7,  1780 268,  269 

Address  of  the  citizens  of  Baltimore  to  Gen.  La 
Fayette,  Nov.  15,  1781 270 

Reply  of  Gen.  La  Fayette,  Nov.  15,  1781 170 

Address  of  the  merchants  of  Baltimore  to  Count  De 
Rochambeau,  July  20,  1782 270,  271 

Reply  of  Count  De'Rochambeau,  July  30,  1782 271 

Address  of  the  Governor  of  the  State  to  Count  De 
Rochambeau,  Aug.  n,  1782 271,  272 

Reply  of  the  Count  De  Rochambeau,  Aug.  n,  1782...  272 


CONTENTS. 


VIRGINIA. 

FACE 

Patriotic  proceedings  of  Delegates  assembled  at  Will- 
iamsburg,  Aug.  i,  1774 •".,V."372"27S 

Instructions  to  the  Delegates  to  Congress,  Wilhams- 
burg,  1774 275i  276 

Instructions  of  the  Free-holders  of  Cumberland  county 
to  John  Mayo  and  William  Fleming,  their  delegates 
to  the  convention,  March,  1775 276 

Interesting  debate  in  the  Legislature  on  the  motion  of 
Patrick  Henry  to  place  the  colony  in  a  state  of  de 
fence,  March  20,  1775 277-280 

Resolution  of  the  convention  recommending  a  stay  of 
proceedings  in  civil  suits,  March  25,  1775 280,  281 

Resolutions  for  the  encouragement  of  home  manufac 
tures.  March  27,  1775 281,  282 

Patriotic  action  of  the  town  council  of  Fredericksburg, 
April  29,  1775 282 

Important  letters  from  Thomas  Jefferson,  relating  to 
the  causes  resulting  in  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  282-284 

Thomas  Jefferson  to  Dr.  Small,  May  7, 1775 283 

Thomas  Jefferson  to  John  Randolph,  Aug.  25, 1775.283,  284 

Action  of  Common  Council  of  Williamsburg  relative 
to  the  removal  of  arms  belonging  to  the  king,  May 
8,  1775 284 

Proceedings  in  Hanover  county  relative  to  hostilities 
committed  by  the  king's  troops,  May  9,  1775.... 284,  285 

Patriotic  address  of  the  Baptists  to  the  convention, 
and  the  action  taken  thereon,  August  16,  1775. .  .285,  286 

Address  of  the  Free-holders  of  Botetourt  to  Col. 
Andrew  Lewis  and  Mr.  John  Boyer,  Oct.,  1775 286 

Proclamation  of  Lord  Dunmore  offering  freedom  to  the 
slaves  belonging  to  the  Rebels,  Nov.  7,  1775 286,  287 

Letter  from  Lord  Dunmore  to  Gen.  Howe  referring  to 
his  Proclamation  offering  freedom  to  slaves  of  the 
rebels  in  Virginia,  Nov.  30,  1775 287,  288 

Proceedings  in  convention  relating  to  the  Proclamation 
of  Lord  Dunmore,  Jan.  25,  1776 288-290 

Outrages  committed  by  British  troops,  1776 290 

Oath  extorted  from  the  people  of  Norfolk  and  Princess 
Anne,  by  Lord  Dunmore,  1776 290,  291 

Instructions  of  the  convention  to  their  delegates  in 
Congress,  May  15,  1776 291 

Patriotic  demonstrations  of  the  members  of  the  Con 
vention  at  Williamsburg,  toasts  drank,  and  the 
Union  flag  unfurled,  May  15,  1776 292 

Test  oath  prescribed  by  the  committee  of  the  state,  to 
be  taken  by  the  inhabitants  thereof,  1776 292 

Virginia  called  to  arms.  Proclamation  of  Gov.  Patrick 
Henry,  May  14,  1779 292,  293 

Interesting  incidents  relating  to  the  Battle  of  York- 
town,  and  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  Oct.  19,  1781.293-295 

Description  of  surrender 295,  296 

Anecdote  connected  with  surrender  of  same 296 

Effect  of  the  intelligence  of  the  surrender  of  Corn 
wallis,  when  received  in  England,  Nov.,  1781 296-298 

Important  letter  from  Gen.  Washington  bearing  upon 
the  subject,  July  13,  1788 299 

Interesting  sketch  of  the  patriot  George  Mason,  the   . 
author  of  the  celebrated  Bill  of  Rights 300,  301 

Copy  of  the  first  draught  of  the  Declaration  of  Rights 
by  George  Mason,  and  adopted  by  the  convention, 
June  12,  1776 3oi-303 

Interesting  letter  from  George  Mason,  Oct.  2, 1778.303,  304 

Letters  to  his  son,  1781-1783 304,  305,  306 

George  Mason  to  a  friend,  June,  1787 306,  307 

Noble  sentiments  expressed  by  George  Mason  in  his 

last  will  and  testament 307 

Interesting  sketch  of  Gen.  George  Rogers  Clarke 307 

Sketch  of  John  Champe,  who  attempted  the  seizure  of 
the  traitor,  Arnold,  at  the  instance  of  Major  Lee, 

acting  under  orders  from  Gen.  Washington 307-310 

Sketch  of  Gen.  John  Cropper,  a  distinguished  officer 
of  the  Virginia  Continental  Line 310,  311 

NORTH   CAROLINA. 

Address  of  the  Assembly  to  Governor  Josiah  Martin, 

April,  1775 312,  313 

Declaration  of  Independence  declared  by  the  citizens 

of  Mecklenburg  county,  May  20,  1775 313,  314 

Incidents  relating  to  same 314,  3*5 

Statements  as  to  the  authenticity  of  the  same 315,  316 

Address  of  the  Provincial  Congress  to  the  British 

Empire,  Sept.  3,  1775 316,  3*7 

Royal  Proclamation  of  Governor  Josiah  Martin  to  the 

people,  Oct.  3,  1780 3'7,  3*8 

SOUTH   CAROLINA. 

Action  of  the  inhabitants  of  Charleston  to  resist  the 
Stamp  Act,  1775 3*9 

A  ddress  of  the  Provincial  Congress  to  Lord  William 
Campbell,  Governor  of  the  Province,  June  20,  1775.  320 


Resolutions  passed  by  the  Provincial  Congress,  June 

21,  1775 3ZO'  32t 

Association  formed  for  resistance  to  the  aggressions 

of  Great  Britain,  June,  1773 321 

Determination  of  the  people  to  resist  the  aggressions 

of  Great  Britain,  Aug.  5,  1773 321 

Complimentary  Resolutions  of  the  Provincial  to  the 

Continental  Congress,  Feb.  8,  1776 321,  322 

An  Act  to  prevent  sedition  and  punish  insurgents  and 

disturbers  of  the  public  peace,  March  26,  1776 — 322-324 
Address  of  the  Assembly  to  John  Rutledge,  April  3, 


1776. 


325 


Reply  of  John  Rutledge  to  the  address,  April  3,  1776  .  325 

Resolutions  passed  by  the  General  Assembly,  April  6, 
1776 325.  326 

Speech  of  John  Rutledge,  President,  to  the  General 
Assembly,  April  n,  1776 326,  3*7 

Chief  Justice  William  Henry  Drayton.  His  patriotic 
charges  to  the  Grand  Jury,  and  their  presentments 
327-353 

His  charge,  April  23,  1776,  commending  the  constitu 
tion  established  by  Congress,  March  26,  1776 327-334 

Presentments  of  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  General  Ses 
sion  upon  the  charge  of  Judge  Drayton 334,  335 

Charge  delivered  by  Judge  Drayton,  The  rise  of  th« 
American  Empire,  October  15,  1776 336-346 

Presentments  of  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  Courtof  General 
Session  upon  the  charge  of  Judge  Drayton 346,  347 

Charge  delivered  by  Judge  Drayton,  Oct.  21,  1777,  on 
the  political  affairs  of  the  country 347-35* 

Presentments  of  the  Grand  Jury 353 

Judge  Drayton's  address  to  Admiral  Richard  Howe 
and  General  William  Howe,  commanding  his  Britan 
nic  majesty's  forces  in  America,  Oct.  22,  1776  . .  .-.353-357 

Judge  Drayton's  speech  upon  the  Articles  of  Confed 
eration  of  the  United  States  of  America,  Jan.  20, 

1778 357-374 

Oration  of  Dr.  David  Ramsey  on  the  advantages  of 

the  Declaration  of  Independence,  July  4,  1778 374-383 

Oration  delivered  by  Dr.  Ladd,  before  the  Governor 

and  others,  at  Charleston,  July  4,  1785 383-385 

Patriotic  charge  of  Judge  Pendleton  to  the  Grand 
Juries  of  Georgetown,  Chowan,  and  Camden  Dis 
tricts  upon  the  condition  of  society,  1787 385-387 

General  Marion.     Interesting  sketches  relating  to  his 

services i... 387-389 

Marion's  escape  from  the  British  dragoons 389 

Interesting  account  of  the  escape  of  Mr.  Hunter,  of 
Darlington  District,  from  the  Tories 389 ,  390 

GEORGIA. 

Interesting  extracts  from  letters  written  to  the  Home 
Government  by  Sir  James  Wright,  Governor,  and 
Captain  General,  relating  to  the  Revolutionary 
movements  of  the  colonies 390 

Letter  recommending  that  some  concessions  should 
be  made  by  the  people,  looking  to  the  restoration 
of  cordiality  and  harmony  with  the  Home  Govern 
ment,  Aug.  24,  1774 390 

Letter  to  the  Home  Government  transmitting  copy  of 
the  "  Mecklenberg  Declaration  of  Independence," 
June  20,  1775,  which  confirms  the  genuineness  of 
that  Instrument 39<? :  3'3>  N.  C. 

Address  to  Governor  Wright  by  the  Provincial  Con 
gress,  requesting  that  he  appoint  a  day  for  fasting 
and  prayer,  July  8,  1775 391 

Gov.  Wright's  answer  to  the  address,  July  9,  1775 391 

Gov.  Wright  to  the  Home  Government  relative  to  the 

•action  of  the  people  in  sympathy  with  the  Revolu 
tion,  Oct.  14,  1775,  Jan.  3,  1776,  and  March  10,  1776..  391 

Speech  of  Governor  Archibald  Bullock  to  the  Provin 
cial  Congress,  June  20,  1776 • 39 1-393 

Sergeant  jasper.  Interesting  account  of  his  gallant 
deeds  and  signal  service  during  the  Revolution  .393,  394 

CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS. 

An  eloquent  speech  made  by  one  of  the  delegates, 

name  unknown,  in  1775 395>  39^ 

A  day  of  humiliation  and  prayer  ordered,  March  16, 


1776. 


396 


Exciting  debate  upon  the  subject  of  separation  from 
England 397,398 

Eloquent  speech  of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia, 
urging  an  immediate  declaration  of  Independence, 
June  8,  1776 397-400 

John  Dickinson,  of  Pennsylvania,  favoring  a  condition 
of  union  with  England,  July  i,  1776 400-403 

Discussion  for  and  against  retaliation  on  prisoners  of 
war.  Speaker  unknown,  1778 4°a>  4°3 

Resolutions  passed  October  21,  1776,  urging  the  people 
to  retaliation,  and  copy  after  their  enemies,  their 
German,  negro,  and  copper-colored  allies 403 


i6 


PAGE 

Patriotic  manifesto  adopted,  Oct.  30,  1778 404,  405 

Address  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  upon 
the  condition  of  the  country,  urging  united  earnest 
efforts  to'  defeat  their  enemies,  May  26,  1779 405-408 

Proclamation  recommending  to  the  people  the  observ 
ance  of  the  i3th  day  of  December,  1781,  as  a  day  of 
thanksgiving  and  prayer,  October  36,  1781 408,  409 

History  of  the  adoption  of  the  Coat  of  Arms  of  the 
United  States  by  Congress,  June  36,  1783 409,  410 

BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 

Interesting    proceedings,   speeches,  and   discussions 

relating  to  the  American  Colonies 410 

Speech  of  the  Earl  of  Chatham,  March,  1774,  on  the 
declaratory  bill  of  the  sovereignty  of  Great  Britain 

over  the  American  Colonies 410,  411 

Speech  of  Governor  Johnston,  in  the  House  of  Com 
mons,  March,  1774,  on  the  bill  for  blockading  the 

town  of  Boston 41 1-414 

Interesting  debate  in  the  House  of  Commons,  April, 
1774,  on  the  bill  regulating  the  civil  government  of 

Massachusetts  Bay 414-418 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Fuller 414 

"         "   Sir  George  Saville 414 

"         "  Sir  Wilbore  Ellis 415 

"         "   Gen.  Conway 415,416 

"         "   Lord  North 416 

"          u  Gov.  Johnston    416 

"   C.  Jenkinson 416,  417 

**         "  Mr.  Harris 417 

"         "  Sir  Edward  Astley 417 

"         "  Mr.  Ward 417 

"         "   Governor  Pownal.. 417,418 

'•         "  Mr.  Rigty 417 

"         "  Mr.  C.  Fox 418 

"         "  Sir  Gilbert  Elliott 418 

"         "  Sir  Richard  Sutton 418 

Speech  written  by  Rev.  Dr.  Jonathan  Shipley,  late 
Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  1774,  for  delivery  in  the  House 
of  Lords  on  the  bill  for  altering  the  charter  of  Mas 
sachusetts  Bay 419-424 

John  Wilkes,  extract  from  his  speech,  Feb.  6,  1775,  in 
House  of  Commons,  on  Lord  North's  proposition 
to  declare  that  a  rebellion  existed  in  the  colony  of 

Mass 425,  426 

Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  Capt. 

Harvey,  Feb.  6,  1775,  in  reply  to  John  Wilkes. .  .427,  438 
Celebrated  speech  of  Edmund  Burke,  March  22,  1775, 
in  House  of  Commons,  in  moving  his  Resolution  for 

conciliation  with  the  American  Colonies 429-453 

Examination  of  Governor  Penn,  late  of  Pennsylvania, 

by  the  House  of  Lords,  November  n,  1775 453-455 

William  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham.  His  celebrated  speech, 
delivered  in  the  House  of  Lords,  Dec.  30,  1775,  on  a 
motion  for  removal  of  troops  from  Boston.  Mass. 455-459 

His  opinion  on  the  Declaration  of  Independence 459 

His  speech,  delivered  in  the  House  of  Lords,  1777,  in 
opposition  to  the  proposition  of  Lord  Suffolk  to 
employ  Indians  against  the  American  Colonists....  460 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

His  speech  to  Congress  on  accepting  his  Commission 
as  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Continental  Army, 
June  15,  1775 461 

His  address  to  the  inhabitants  of  Canada,  1775 461,  463 

His  correspondence  with  Gen.  Gage,  August,  1775, 
upon  the  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war 462,  463 

His  letter  to  the  Presi.  of  Congress,  Sept.  34,  1776.464-466. 

His  general  orders  to  the  army,  April  18,  1733.. ..466,  467 

His  circular  letter  to  the  Governors  of  the  respective 
States,  June  18, 1783,  announcing  his  retirement  from 
the  army,  and  referring  to  the  future  of  the  country, 
and  the  duty  of  the  people  looking  to  the  mainte 
nance  of  their  liberties 467-473 

Resignation  of  his  commission  as  commander  in  chief 
of  the  army,  to  Congress,  Dec.  23, 1783 473 

His  first  speech  as  President  of  the  United  States  to 
the  ist  Congress,  April  30,  1789 473-474 

BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 

Interesting  letters  written  by  him  from  London  to  a 
friend  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  1761,  1765,  &  1766 474,  475 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  Silas  Deane,  at  Paris  respect 
ing  Dr.  Franklin 476 

Interesting  extract  from  a  letter  written  while  in  Lon 
don,  Nov.  9,  1765,  to  his  son,  William  Franklin.. 475,  476 

His  correspondence  with  Lord  Howe  upon  the  con 
dition  of  affairs  in  the  Colonies,  1775 476-478 

His  address  to  the  People  of  Ireland,  written  while  at 
Versailles,  France,  October  4,  1778 478-480 

Account  of  his  introduction  to  the  Academy  of  France 
and  his  association  with  Voltaire 480,  481 

Interesting-  notice  in  relation  to  him  ;  and  extracts 
from  Articles  printed  by  him  in  London  in  1779  ....  481 


Interesting  account  by  Thomas  Jefferson  (Franklin's 
successor  at  Versailles)  of  the  veneration  and 
esteem  of  the  French  people  for  Dr.  Franklin... 481,  483 

Action  of  the  French  Assembly  on  his  death,  and 
glowing  eulogy  pronounced  by  the  Abbe  Fauchett..  482 

CONTINENTAL  NAVY. 

First  sea  fight.  Action  between  the  Continental  brig 
of  war  Tyrannicide  and  the  British  sloop  of  war  Dis 
patch,  1 776 483,  483 

List  of  naval  forces,  British  and  Continental,  on  Lake 
Champlain,  October,  1776 483 

List  of  seamen  from  the  king's  ships  andvessels  in  the 
River  St.  Lawrence  to  serve  on  LakeChamplain.4S3,  484 

Paul  Janes,     sketch  inrelation  to  his  services 484 

His  letter  to  Lady  Selkirk,  May  8,  1778 484,485 

Sketch  relating  to  the  services  of  Commodore  Samuel 
Tucker,  of  Mass.  Continental  Navy 485,  486,  487 

Letter  from  John  Adams  to  Mr.  Crowninshield,  Sec. 
of  the  Navy,  in  relation  to  his  services,  Jan.iS,  1816.  487 

Anecdote  relating  to  Commodore  Tucker  and  John 
Adams,  in  connection  with  the  engagement  of  the 
Boston  and  the  8ntish  ship  Martha 487 

Commodore  Joshua  Barney,  of  Maryland,  Continental 
Navy.  Account  of  the  capture  of  the  British  sloop  of 
war  Gen.  Monk  by  the  Hyder  Ally,  April  8,  1782.487,  488 

The  General  Monk  :  account  of  her  capture 488 

Naval  power  of  Salem,  Mass.,  from  March  i,  to  Nov.  i, 
1781 489 

The  Marine  Turtle.  A  submarine  battery,  invented 
and  first  used  for  the  destruction  of  British  ships  in 
New  York  harbor 154,  489 

Naval  engagement  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  between  Vir 
ginia  naval  vessels  and  British  barges,  1783 310,  489 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Introductory  notice  of  Boston  Orations,  and  address  of 
Peter  Edes,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  the  original  publisher, 

Jan.,  1785 490 

Recollections  of  a  soldier's  daughter 490-493 

Interesting  account  of  Mrs.  Gannett,  of  Sharon,  Mass., 
who  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Continental  Army. 492,  493 

Estimate  of  the  British  forces  in  America,  1775 493 

Estimate  of  Continental  troops  in  the  field,  May,  1776.  493 
Expense  of  the  American  Continental  Army,  sterling 

money,  May,  1776 494,  495 

Orders  of  Gen.  Wayne,  issued  on  the  evening  previous 

to  the  attack  on  Stony  Point,  July  15,  1779 495,  496 

Gratitude  of  Gen.  Gates 496 

Capt.  Cheeseman.     His  death  at  Quebec 496 

Gallantry  of  Rev.  Mr.  Payson,  of  Chelsea,  Mass.. 496,  497 

Col.  Gardner.     His  death  at  Bunker  Hill 497 

Bravery  at  the  Battle  of  Germantown 497 

Benedict  Arnold.     His   letter  to   Gen.   Washington, 

Sept.  25,  1780,  palliating  his  treason 497 

Ann  Seward  on  the  character  of  Washington  ....497,  498 

History  of  the  origin  of  "Yankee  Doodle    498,  499 

Tarring  and  feathering  originally  a  Yankee  trick 499 

Letter  of  Lord  Effingham  to  the  British  Secretary  of 
War,  resigning  his  commission  in  preference  to 
taking  arms  against  the  American  Colonies,  April 

12,1775 499.  5°o 

The  guild  of  Merchants  of  Dublin,  Ireland,  tendering 

their  thanks  to  Lord  Effingham,  July  17,  1775. ...500,  501 
Resolution  of  thanks  tendered  Lord  Effingham  by  the 

sheriff  and  commoners,  July  31,  1775 501 

Lord  Effingham's  answer,  Aug.  14,  1775 501 

Interesting   letter  from  a  gentleman  in  America  to  a 

member  of  the  British  Parliament,  Dec.  24,  1774.501,  502 
Petition  of  the  Native  Americans  residing  in  London 

to  his  Britannic  Majesty,  1774 502 

Letter  from  a  late   London  paper,  copied  from  the 
Maryland  Gazette  of  date  1776,  ridiculing  th«  idea 
that  manufactures  could  be  carried  on  in  America..  503 
Address  of  American  loyalists  to  the  King  and  Parlia 
ment,  1 782 503-507 

History  of  John  Bull's  children 5°7-5°9 

Case  of  Asgill,  an  officer  in  the  English  Guards,  con 
demned  to  death  by  the  Americans  in  reprisal  for 
the  execution  by  the  British  of  Capt.  Hale  as  a  spy 

509,51° 

Confession    of    Capt.    Wm.    Cunningham,    formerly 

British  Provost  Marshal,  New  York  City 510   511 

Advance  of  Insurance  in  London,  1776 511 

Washington  in  search  of  a  Pen-Knife,  1779 511 

Weight  of  great  characters,  1783 512 

Interesting  incidents  relating  to  Ticonderoga 512 

Independence  of  the  Yankees 513 

Gen.  Putnam  in  the  Colonial  War  with  the  French...  513 

Kulojrium  on  Kosciusko 514-516 

Recollections  of  Gordon's  History  of  the  American 
Revolution 516,  417 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS 


OF    THE 


REVOLUTION  IN  AMERICA 


Principles  and   Acts 


OF  THE 


NEW   HAMPSHIRE. 


PROVINCE  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

PATRIOTIC  PROCEEDINGS  AND  ADDRESS  TO 
THE  PEOPLE,  25TH  DAY  OF  JANUARY,  177$. 

At  the  convention  of  the  deputies  appointed 
by  the  several  towns  in  the  province  aforesaid, 
held  at  Exeter,  on  the  25th  day  of  January, 
1775.  Present  144  members. 

Hon.  JOHN  WENTWORTH,  eaq.,  president. 

Voted  unanimously,  That  we  heartily  ap 
prove  of  the  proceedings  of  the  late  grand  con 
tinental  congress  respecting  the  just  state  of 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  British  colonies ; 
and  of  the  means  recommended  to  restore, 
secure,  and  protect  the  same  ;  and  that  we 
return  our  most  unfeigned  thanks  to  the  late 
members  of  that  congress  in  general,  and  to 
those  of  this  province  in  particular,  for  the 
faithful  discharge  of  the  important  trust  re 
posed  in  them. 

Voted,  That  John  Sullivan,  and  John  Lang- 
don,  esqrs.,  be  delegates  to  represent  this  prov 
ince  in  the  continental  congress,  proposed  to 
be  held  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  tenth  day  of 
May  next,  and  that  they  and  each  of  them  in 
the  absence  of  the  other,  have  full  and  ample 
power,  in  behalf  of  this  province,  to  consent 
and  agree  to  all  measures,  which  said  congress 
shall  deem  necessary  to  obtain  redress  of 
American  grievances. 

Voted,  That  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds, 
lawful  money,  be  raised  for  defraying  the  ex 
penses  of  said  delegates. 

Voted.  That  the  hon.  John  Wentworth,  col. 
Nath.  Folsom,  hon.  Meseach  Weare,  esq.  col. 
Josiah  Bartlet,  col.  Christopher  Toppan,  Eben- 
ezer  Thompson,  and  William  Whipple,  esqrs. 
be  a  committee,  in  behalf  of  this  province,  to 
call  a  provincial  convention  of  deputies,  when 
they  shall  judge  the  exigencies  of  public  affairs 
require  it :  And  that  they,  together  with  Sam 
uel  Cutts  and  John  Pickering,  esqrs.  be  a  com 
mittee  of  correspondence  for  this  province. 

Voted,  the  following  address  : 


To  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  of  New 
Hampshire. 

Brethren — When  we  consider  the  unhappy 
condition  to  which  you  and  your  American 
brethren  are  reduced  !  when  we  reflect  that,  for 
near  ten  months  past,  you  have  been  deprived 
of  any  share  in  your  own  government,  and  of 
those  advantages,  which  flow  to  society  from 
legislative  assemblies  ;  when  we  view  the  low 
ering  clouds,  charged  with  ministerial  ven 
geance,  fast  spreading  over  this  extensive  con 
tinent,  ready  to  burst  on  the  heads  of  its 
inhabitants  and  involve  the  whole  British 
empire  in  one  common  ruin — at  this  alarming 
juncture,  duty  to  Almighty  God,  to  our  country, 
ourselves,  and  posterity,  loudly  demands  our 
most  strenuous  exertions  to  avoid  the  impend 
ing  danger. 

Such  are  the  measures  adopted  by  the 
British  ministry,  for  enslaving  you,  and  with 
such  incessant  vigilance  has  their  plan  been 
prosecuted,  that  tyranny  already  begins  to 
wave  its  banners  in  your  borders,  and  to 
threaten  these  once  happy  regions  with  infa 
mous  and  detestable  slavery  ! 

Shall  we,  knowing  the  value  of  freedom, 
and  nursed  in  the  arms  of  liberty,  make  a 
base  and  ignominious  surrender  of  our  rights, 
thereby  consigning  succeeding  generations  to 
a  condition  of  wretchedness,  from  which  per 
haps,  all  human  efforts  will  be  insufficient  to 
extricate  them  ? 

Duty  to  ourselves,  and  regard  for  our  coun 
try,  should  induce  us  to  defend  our  liberties, 
and  to  transmit  the  fair  inheritance  unimpaired 
to  posterity. 

Should  our  restless  enemies  drive  us  to 
arms  in  defence  of  every  thing  we  hold  dear, 
we  should  be  reduced  to  a  state,  dreadful  even 
in  contemplation ;  for  should  we  prove  victo 
rious,  the  blood  of  our  brethren,  shed  in  the 
unhappy  contest,  would  cause  the  laurels  to 
wither  on  our  brows,  and  make  the  conquerors 
mourn  with  the  vanquished  :  but  should  our 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


enemies  be  successful,  they  will  thereby  rivet 
the  chains  of  slavery  upon  us-and  our  posterity. 

Thus  surroun4ed;  wl.th  dangers  and  dis 
tresses  on  every  side,  it  behoves  us  to  adopt 
and  pursue  such  peaceable  measures  as,  under 
God,  will  be  most  likely  to  prevent  those  dread 
ful  calamities  with  which  we  are  threatened. 

Fully  sensible  that  to  point  out,  with  any  de 
gree  of  certainty,  the  methods  by  which  you  may 
shun  the  threatening  evils,  would  require  more 
than  human  wisdom,  we  can  only  recommend 
such  measures  as  appears  to  us  most  likely  to 
answer  that  desirable  end,  best  calculated  to  re 
store  to  you  that  peace  and  harmony,  so  ardently 
wished  for  byevery  good  and  honest  American. 

We  therefore  earnestly  recommend, 

ist.  That  you  discountenance  and  discour 
age  all  trespasses  and  injuries  against  individ 
uals,  and  their  property,  and  all  disorders  of 
every  kind  ;  and  that  you  cultivate  and  maintain 
peace  and  harmony  among  yourselves. 

2d.  That  you  yield  due  obedience  to  the 
magistrates  within  this  government ;  and  care 
fully  endeavor  to  support  the  laws  thereof. 

3d.  That  you  strictly  adhere  to  the  associa 
tion  of  the  late  continental  congress,  and  deal 
with  the  violators  of  it,  in  the  manner  therein 
recommended. 

4th.  That  you  endeavor  particularly  to 
enforce  the  laws  of  the  province  against 
hawkers,  pedlars,  and  petty  chapmen. 

5th.  That  you  abstain  from  the  use  of  East 
India  tea,  whenever,  and  by  whatever  means  it 
has,  or  may  be  imported. 

6th.  That  you  encourage  and  support  your 
several  committees  of  correspondence  and 
inspection,  in  discharging  the  very  important 
trust  you  have  reposed  in  them. 

7th.  That  in  case  any  inhabitant  of  the 
colonies  should  be  seized,  in  order  to  be 
transported  to  Great  Britain,  or  other  parts 
beyond  seas,  to  be  tried  for  offences  supposed 
to  be  committed  in  America,  you  conduct 
yourselves  agreeable  to  the  advice  of  the  late 
continental  congress. 

8th.  That,  in  your  several  stations  you 
promote  and  encourage  the  manufactures  of 
this  country ;  and  endeavor,  both  by  precept 
and  example,  to  induce  all  under  you,  and  with 
whom  you  are  connected,  to  practice  economy 
and  industry,  and  to  shun  all  kinds  of  extrav 
agance. 

9th.  That  the  officers  of  the  several  regi 
ments  strictly  comply  with  the  laws  of  this 
province  for  regulating  a  militia — And  as  the 


militia  upon  this  continent,  if  properly  disci 
plined,  would-be  able  to  dp  great  service  in  its 
defence,  should  it  ever  be.  invaded  by  his 
majesty's  enemies,  that  you  acquaint  yourselves 
with  the  manual  exercise,  particularly  that 
recommended  and  enjoined  by  the  captain 
general — the  motions  being  natural,  easy,  and 
best  calculated  to  qualify  persons  for  real  action; 
and  also  to  improve  themselves  in  those  evolu 
tions  which  are  necessary  for  infantry  in  time 
of  engagement, 

loth.  That,  as  your  enemies  are  using  every 
art  to  impoverish  and  distress  you,  in  order  to 
induce  submission  to  their  arbitrary  mandates, 
'you/carefully  shun  those  measures  which  may 
have  a  tendency  to  distress  your  brethren  and 
fellow  sufferers,  and  avoid  all  unnecessary  law 
suits,  and  endeavor  to  settle  disputes  between 
you  in  the  most  amicable  and  least  expensive 
manner. — That  all  debtors  exert  themselves  in 
discharging  their  just  debts,  and  creditors 
exercise  such  lenity  as  their  circumstances  will 
admit  of. 

nth.  That  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of 
Boston,  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts-Bay, 
are  now  laboring  under  a  load  of  ministerial 
vengeance,  laid  upon  them  to  enforce  obedience 
to  certain  arbitrary  and  unconstitutional  acts, 
which,  if  once  submitted  to,  must  involve  all 
America  in  slavery  and  ruin  ;  conscious  that  all 
these  colonies  are  largely  indebted  to  the  virtue 
and  fortitude  of  those  patriotic  asserters  of 
freedom,  we  heartily  recommend  a  continuation 
of  your  contributions,  for  the  relief  of  that 
oppressed  people  ;  and  that  you  keep  your 
selves  in  constant  readiness  to  support  them  in 
their  just  opposition,  whenever  necessity  may 
require. 

Lastly,  We  earnestly  entreat  you,  at  this 
time  of  tribulation  and  distress,  when  your 
enemies  are  urging  you  to  despair  ;  when  every 
scene  around  is  full  of  gloom  and  horror ;  that, 
in  imitation  of  your  pious  forefathers,  with  con 
trition  of  spirit,  and  penitence  of  heart,  you 
implore  the  Divine  Being,  who  alone  is  able  to 
deliver  you  from  your  present  unhappy  and  dis 
tressing  situation,  to  espouse  your  righteous 
cause,  secure  your  liberties,  and  fix  them  on  a 
firm  and  lasting  basis.  And  we  fervently  be 
seech  him  to  restore  to  you  and  your  American 
brethren,  that  peace  and  tranquil  ity,  so  ardently 
desired,  and  earnestly  sought  for,  by  every  true 
friend  to  liberty  and  mankind. 

By  order  of  the  convention, 

J.  WENTWORTH,  president. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


MASSACHUSETTS 


REMINISCENCES 

RELATING  TO  THE  MASSACRE  OF  CITIZENS 
OF  BOSTON  BY  BRITISH  TROOPS,  March  5, 
1770. 

In  a  former  communication  we  mentioned 
that  one  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  massacre 
of  the  5th  of  March,  was  the  affray  between 
the  inhabitants  and  the  British  soldiers,  an  ac 
count  of  which  was  related  to  me  shortly  after 
the  event,  by  one  who  was  an  eye  witness. 

At  that  time  there  was  only  one  house  on 
the  east  side  of  what  is  now  called  Pearl 
street,  in  which  then  resided  Charles  Paxton, 
esq.  On  the  west  side  of  the  street,  stood 
four  or  five  rope-walks,  extending  from  the 
upper  to  the  lower  end  of  the  street,  which 
were  all  burnt  in  1794.  On  Saturday  after 
noon,  on  the  3d  March,  1770,  a  British 
soldier  of  the  2pth  regiment,  accosted  a  negro 
who  was  employed  in  one  of  the  rope  walks, 
by  inquiring  "  whether  his  master  wanted  to 
hire  a  man."  (The  soldiers  who  were  mechan 
ics  were  sometimes  hired  as  journeymen). 
The  negro  answered  that  his  "  master  wished 
to  have  the  vault  emptied,  and  that  was  a 
proper  work  for  a  Lobster''  *  This  produced 
a  conflict  between  the  soldier  and  the  negro, 
and,  before  relief  came  to  his  assistance,  the 
negro  was  very  severely  beaten.  Some  rope- 
walk  men,  (among  whom  was  Mr.  Gray,  the 
foreman  of  the  walk),  came  up  and  parted 
them.  Mr.  Gray,  (who  was  a  verys  respecta 
ble  man),  told  the  soldier  that  "  as  he  had  ob 
tained  satisfaction  for  the  insult,  he  had  better 
go  to  his  barracks."  The  soldier  "damned 
him  "  and  said  that  "  for  six-pence  he  would 
drub  him  as  he  had  done  the  negro." — A 
contest  then  took  place  between  them  in 
which  the  soldier  received  a  much  worse  beat 
ing  than  the  negro,  and  went  off  to  his  bar 
racks  over  Fort-hill,  on  Wheelwright's  (now 
Foster's)  wharf  swearing  revenge.  In  about 
half  an  hour  the  soldier  returned  with  about 
seventy  of  his  comrades,  who  came  over  the 
hill  huzzaing,  armed  with  pipe  staves  split  into 
bludgeons,  which  they  obtained  at  a  cooper's 
shop,  and  made  the  attack  with  great  fury. 

*  Lobsters  is  the  usual  term  of  contempt,  expressed  in 
those  days  by  the  citizens  of  Boston,  towards  the  British 
soldiers,  and  the  citizens  of  London,  in  a  late  riot,  at  the 
queen's  funeral,  made  use  of  the  same  epithet. 


Each  party  was  brave  and  intrepid,  but  the 
science  in  this  kind  of  warfare,  which  the  rope- 
walk  men  had  obtained  in  their  "  Pope  Day  " 
battles  gave  them  a  decided  superiority,  and 
in  their  pursuit  of  the  soldiers,  halted  on  Fort- 
hill,  and  gave  three  cheers  in  token  of  victory. 
The  noise  of  the  shouting  and  huzzaing 
resounded  far  around,  and  excited  the  curiosity 
of  those  at  a  distance.     At  that  time  Mr.  Hal- 
lowell,  (grandfather  of  the  present   Admiral 
Hallowell,  in  the  British  navy),  owned  and  re 
sided  in  the  house  in  Battery  March-street,  now 
occupied  by  Mr.  Goodrich,  near  which  he  also 
owned  a  ship  yard,  about  where  now  stands 
the    Commercial  Coffee  House,  in  which  he 
usually    employed   about  fifty  or  sixty  men. 
There  was  a  mast  yard  a  little  south  and  several 
wood  wharfs,  on  all  which  were  also  employed 
hardy  laborers,  who,  together  with  the  black 
smiths,  blockmakers,   and  other  athletic  me 
chanics  in   the  neighborhood,  (whose  brawny 
arms  could  wield  a  club  with  as  much  dexterity 
as   an   Highlander  could  manage  his  broad 
sword),  all  ran  towards  the  scene  of  combat. 
The  bravery  of  the  soldiers  was  not  doubted, 
and  accordingly,  preparations  were  made  to 
repel  another  attack  which  was  expected,  and 
in   which  they   were  not  disappointed. — The 
shouting  of  the  soldiers,  issuing  from  the  bar 
rack-yard,  to  the  number  of  more  than  three 
hundred,  headed  by  the  sergeant-major,  moving 
over  the  hill  towards  Pearl  street,  soon  gave  the 
alarm.     The  soldiers  pulled  down  the  fence  in 
High    street,   then   called   Cow  lane),   which 
inclosed  the  field,  where  now  stands   Quincy 
place.     The  rope-walk  men  pulled  down  the 
fence  on  the  opposite  side  in  Pearl  street,  when 
both  parties  rushed  on  each  other  with  equal 
intrepidity. — But    the   Herculean  strength  of 
virtuous    labor,  united    with  the  activity  and 
science  of  the  Yankees,  soon  obtained  a  triumph 
over  an  idle,  inactive,  enervated,  and  intem 
perate,  though  brave  soldiery. 

The  effect  of  this  rencontre  was  seen  in  the 
countenances  and  conduct  of  the  soldiers  the 
next  and  following  day,  who  looked  vengeance 
on  the  inhabitants,  especially  those  whom  they 
suspected  to  be  concerned  in  the  affray  on 
Saturday ;  and  those  of  them,  who  were 
friendly  to  the  citizens,  advised  them  to  remain 
at  home  on  Monday  evening,  as  revenge  would 
then  be  taken. 


i6 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


The  soldiers  asserted  on  Sunday  morning, 
that  one  of  their  men  had  died  of  his  wounds, 
but  as  the  body  was  never  shewn,  it  was  sup 
posed  to  be  only  a  pretence  to  justify  the  hor 
rid  scene  which  ensued  on  the  Monday 
evening  following. 


So  much  has  been  written  on  the  subject  of 
the  massacre  of  the  5th  of  March,  1770,  that  it 
is  unpleasant  to  repeat  "  ugly  recollections  " 
respecting  that  horrid  scene,  except  when  it  is 
necessary  to  vindicate  our  town  from  slander — 
to  establish  its  reputation  for  virtuous  exertions 
in  the  hour  of  trial — patience  under  sufferings — 
and  forbearance  under  severe  provocation. 

The  threats  of  the  soldiers,  as  mentioned  in 
my  last  communication,  were  put  in  execution 
on  Monday  evening  the  5th  of  March,  1770,  by 
insulting  and  abusing  many  inhabitants  in  vari 
ous  parts  of  the  town,  which  resulted  in  what 
was  called  the  "  horrid  massacre,"  by  which 
four  persons  were  instantly  killed,  one  died  of 
his  wounds  a  few  days  succeeding,  and  about 
seventeen  in  the  total  killed  and  wounded. 

Language  cannot  describe  the  horror  and 
indignation  which  was  excited  through  the 
town  by  this  dreadful  event.  The  bells  rang  a 
terrific  peal,  which  roused  the  whole  popula 
tion.  More  than  five  thousand  citizens  were 
collected  in  State  street  and  its  vicinity.  The 
29th  regt.  was  marched  into  the  same  street. 
The  1 4th  regt.  was  under  arms  at  their  bar 
racks.  What  a  scene  for  contemplation  !  Lieut, 
governor  Hutchinson,  and  the  king's  council, 
were  assembled  in  the  council  chamber,  even 
at  the  solemn  hour  of  midnight !  Many  of  the 
venerable  citizens  repaired  to  them  and  de 
manded  the  surrender  of  the  criminals  to  justice. 
The  high-sheriff  appeared  in  the  balcony  of  the 
state  house,  and  ordered  silence  !  !  !  An  awful 
stillness  ensued — when,  with  a  loud  voice,  he 
declared,  that  he  was  authorized  by  his  honor 
the  lieutenant  governor  and  his  majesty's  coun 
cil,  with  the  consent  of  col.  Dalrymple,  to  say 
that  capt.  Preston,  and  the  men  who  had  com 
mitted  the  outrage,  should  be  immediately 
delivered  to  the  civil  power,  and  requested  the 
citizens  to  retire  peaceably  to  their  dwellings  ; 
which,  after  the  soldiers  had  marched  off,  was 
complied  with. 

The  next  day  a  town  meeting  was  called, 
and  the  lieut.  governor  and  council  assembled, 
the  proceedings  of  which  are  very  eloquently 
described  by  the  venerable  sage  of  Quincy  in 
one  of  his  letters  to,  Mr.  Tudor,  lately  published. 

The  result  of  this  melancholy  affair  was,  that 
all  the  troops  were  ordered  out  of  town,  and 


the  culprits  brought  to  a  trial,  and  acquitted, 
excepting  two  who  were  found  guilty  of  man 
slaughter.  The  trial  was  one  of  the  most  im 
portant  that  had  ever  come  before  an  American 
tribunal,  especially  as  the  public  mind  was 
wrought  up  to  the  highest  tone  of  indignation. 
It  established  the  character  of  the  judiciary  for 
purity  and  independence,  which  had  been  ques 
tioned  by  the  tories.  The  law  was  triumphant, 
but  the  needless  barbarity  of  the  act  never 
doubted. 

The  funeral  of  the  unfortunate  victims  was 
attended  with  great  pomp  and  parade.  Thou 
sands  came  from  the  country  ;  and  the  whole 
number  that  followed  them  to  the  grave,  was 
supposed  to  exceed  ten  thousand  ! 

History  does  not  (perhaps)  record  an  in 
stance,  where  the  moral  and  patriotic  character 
of  a  city  was  ever  more  conspicuous  than  Bos 
ton  exhibited  on  this  occasion. 

It  was  supposed  by  many,  that  the  above 
recited  horrid  event,  did  more  to  effect  an  alie 
nation  of  the  affections  of  the  people  of  New 
England  from  the  British  government,  than 
any  other  whatever. 

When  I  bring  to  my  recollection,  Mr.  Russel, 
that  solemn  and  impressive  scene,  when  the 
high  sheriff  was  delivering  the  governor's  mes 
sage  from  the  balcony  to  the  assembled  thou 
sands,  I  am  irresistibly  drawn  to  a  contempla 
tion  of  what  must  have  been  the  wonder  and 
astonishment  of  any  one  of  that  vast  crowd  of 
citizens,  if  an  angel  had  descended  from  heaven 
and  unfolded  to  him  the  events  of  futurity  : — 
That,  in  less  than  seven  short  years,  we  should 
throw  off  our  allegiance  to  a  beloved  king,  and 
our  connection  with  our  mother  country,  to 
which  we  then  looked  with  solicitude  and  affec 
tion,  and  fondly  called  it  our  home  !  That  to 
establish  our  independence,  would  produce  an 
eight  years'  war,  in  which  all  Europe  would 
be  directly  or  indirectly  engaged  !  That  seven 
young  men,  among  that  populace,  would  array 
themselves  against  their  native  country,  and, 
finally,  become  admirals  and  generals  in  the 
English  service  !  That  one  of  them,  then  only 
an  apprentice  to  a  Cornhill  shop  keeper,  should 
become  distinguished,  not  only  as  a  British 
officer,  but  as  a  general  and  a  count  in  the 
German  empire !  A  philosopher  of  a  new 
school,  which  for  usefulness  would  be  para 
mount  to  all  others,  and  at  his  death,  estab- 
tablish  a  professorship  in  the  university  in  our 
neighborhood. 

That  among  them  were  two  youths,  a  phy 
sician  and  a  bookseller,  who  would  become 
generals  in  the  service  of  their  native  country  ; 
and  one  of  them,  by  his  heroic  exertions  in 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


defending  a  post,  would  call  forth  the  astonish 
ment  of  the  oldest  veterans  and  lose  his  life 
in  the  attempt  !  That  among  them  were  forty 
young  men,  members  of  a  military  company, 
most  of  whom  would  become  officers  of  artillery, 
and  would  distinguish  themselves,  (particularly 
on  one  occasion),  where  they  would  exhibit  so 
much  science  and  adroitness,  as  to  command 
the  admiration  of  their  English  and  German 
foes.  More  wonderful  yet — that  among  the 
principal  officers  of  the  2gth  British  regiment, 
then  arrayed  against  the  inhabitants,  was  one 
who  would  become  an  highly  respected  Ameri 
can  citizen  !  would  hold  important  offices  under 
the  American  government,  become  a  member 
of  her  illustrious  senate,  and,  after  a  peace  of 
thirty  years,  a  strenuous  advocate  for  declara 
tion  of  war  against  his  native  country  ! 

And,  "  tho'  last  not  least  "  among  the  citizens 
was  a  young  barrister  whose  brilliant  talents 
would  place  him  in  the  front  ranks  of  patriotism, 
and  cause  him  to  become  an  ardent  asserter  of 
independence —  an  ambassador  to  England, 
France  and  Holland — the  father  of  a  navy, 
(destined  to  be  the  rival  of  the  mistress  of  the 
sea),  and  finally  the  first  magistrate  of  a  great 
nation.  In  the  council  chamber,  were  many 
in  the  height  of  prosperity  and  honor,  who,  in 
a  few  years,  fell  from  their  elevated  stations  ; 
and  a  governor,  who,  then  basking  in  the  sun 
shine  of  royal  favor,  was  speedily  consigned  to 
infamy  and  ruin,  and,  it  is  said,  died  of  a  bro 
ken  heart. 

Such  are  the  wonderful  vicissitudes  to  which 
the  life  of  man  is  subjected. 


BOSTON   ORATIONS.* 

Delivered  at  the  request  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town  of  Boston,  to  commemorate  the 
evening  of  the  $th  of  March,  1770,  when  a 
number  of  citizens  were  killed  by  a  party  of 
British  troops  quartered  among  them  in  time 
of  peace. 

ORATION,   DELIVERED  AT   BOSTON,   APRIL   2, 
1771, 

BY   JAMES   LOVELL,   A.M. 

Omnes  homines  natura  Libertati  student  conditionem 
Sed  virtutis  oderunt.  CMS. 

— NUKC  ea  petit,   qua  dare   nullo   modo  possumus,   nisi 
prius  volumus  nos  hello  victos  confiteri.  ClC. 

Your  design  in  the  appointment  of  this  cere 
mony,  my  friends  and  fellow-townsmen,  can 
not  fail  to  be  examined  in  quite  different  lights 

*  See  page  490  for  the  original  introductory  notice  to  the 
orations,  inadvertently  omitted  here. 


at  this  season  of  political  dissension.  From 
the  principles  I  profess,  and  in  the  exercise  of 
my  common  right  to  judge  with  others,  I  con 
clude  it  was  decent,  wise,  and  honorable. 

The  certainty  of  being  favored  with  your 
kindest  partiality  and  candor,  in  a  poor  attempt 
to  execute  the  part  to  which  you  have  invited 
me,  has  overcome  the  objection  of  my  inability 
to  perform  it  in  a  proper  manner,  and  I  now 
beg  the  favor  of  your  animating  countenance. 

The  horrid  bloody  scene  we  here  commem 
orate,  whatever  were  the  causes  which  occur 
red  to  bring  it  on  that  dreadful  night,  must 
lead  the  pious  and  humane,  of  every  order,  to 
some  suitable  reflections.  The  pious  will 
adore  the  conduct  of  that  BEING  who  is  un 
searchable  in  all  his  ways,  and  without  whose 
knowledge  not  a  single  sparrow  falls,  in  per 
mitting  an  immortal  soul  to  be  hurried  by  the 
flying  ball,  the  messenger  of  death,  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  to  meet  the  awful  Judge 
of  all  its  secret  actions.  The  humane,  from 
having  often  thought,  with  pleasing  rapture,  on 
the  endearing  scenes  of  social  life,  in  all  its 
amiable  relations,  will  lament,  with  heart  felt 
pangs,  their  sudden  dissolution,  by  indiscretion, 
rage  and  vengeance. 

But  let  us  leave  that  shocking  close  of  one 
continued  course  of  rancor  and  dispute,  from 
the  first  moment  that  the  troops  arrived  in 
town  :  that  course  will  now  be  represented  by 
your  own  reflections  to  a  much  more  solid,  use 
ful  purpose,  than  by  any  artful  language.  I 
hope,  however,  that  heaven  has  yet  in  store 
such  happiness  for  this  afflicted  town  and 
province,  as  will  in  time  wear  out  the  memory 
of  all  your  former  troubles. 

I  sincerely  rejoice  with  you  in  the  happy 
event  of  your  steady  and  united  effort  to  pre 
vent  a  second  tragedy. 

Our  fathers  left  their  native  land,  risqued  all 
the  dangers  of  the  sea,  and  came  to  this  then 
savage  desert,  with  that  true  undaunted  cour 
age  which  is  excited  by  a  confidence  in  GOD. 
They  came  that  they  might  here  enjoy  them 
selves,  and  leave  to  their  posterity  the  best  of 
earthly  portions,  full  English  liberty.  You 
showed  upon  the  alarming  cause  for  trial,  that 
their  brave  spirit  still  exists  in  vigor,  though 
their  legacy  of  right  is  much  impaired.  The 
sympathy  and  active  friendship  of  some  neigh 
boring  towns,  upon  that  sad  occasion,  com 
mands  the  highest  gratitude  of  this. 

We  have  seen  and  felt  the  ill  effects  of  pla 
cing  standing  forces  in  the  midst  of  populous 
ommunities  ;  but  those  are  only  what  individ 
uals  suffer.     Your  vote  directs  me  to  point  out 
the  fatal  tendency  of  placing  such  an  order  in 


i8 


PRINCIPLES   AND  ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


free  cities — fatal  indeed !  Athens  once  was 
free  ;  a  citizen,  a  favorite  of  the  people,  by  an 
artful  story,  gained  a  trifling  guard  of  fifty 
men ;  ambition  taught  him  ways  to  enlarge 
that  number ;  he  destroyed  the  commonwealth 
and  made  himself  the  tyrant  of  the  Athenians. 
Caesar,  by  the  length  of  his  command  in  Gaul, 
got  the  affections  of  his  army,  marched  to 
Rome,  overthrew  the  state,  and  made  himself 
perpetual  dictator.  By  the  same  instruments, 
many  less  republics  have  been  made  to  fall  a 
prey  to  the  devouring  jaws  of  tyrants. — But 
this  is  a  subject  which  should  never  be  dis 
guised  with  figures ;  it  chooses  the  plain  style 
of  dissertation. 

The  true  strength  and  safety  of  every  com 
monwealth  or  limited  monarchy,  is  the  bravery 
of  its  freeholders,  its  militia.  By  brave  militias 
they  rise  to  grandeur ;  and  they  come  to  ruin 
by  a  mercenary  army.  This  is  founded  on  his 
torical  facts,  and  the  same  causes  will,  in  sim 
ilar  circumstances,  forever  produce  the  same 
effects.  Justice  Blackstone,  in  his  inimitably 
clear  commentaries,  tells  us,  that  "  it  is  ex 
tremely  dangerous  in  a  land  of  liberty,  to  make 
a  distinct  order  of  the  profession  of  arms  ; 
that  such  an  order  is  an  object  of  jealousy ; 
and  that  the  laws  and  constitution  of  England 
are  strangers  to  it."  One  article  of  the  bill  of 
rights  is,  that  the  raising  or  keeping  a  standing 
army  within  the  kingdom  in  a  time  of  peace,  un 
less  it  be  with  consent  of  parliament,  is  against 
law.  The  present  army,  therefore,  though 
called  the  peace  establishment  is  kept  up  by 
one  act,  and  governed  by  another ;  both  of 
which  expire  annually.  This  circumstance  is 
valued  as  a  sufficient  check  upon  the  army.  A 
less  body  of  troops  than  is  now  maintained 
has,  on  a  time,  destroyed  a  king,  and  fought 
under  a  parliament  with  great  success  and 
glory  ;  but,  upon  a  motion  to  disband  them, 
they  turned  their  masters  out  of  doors, 
and  fixed  others  in  their  stead.  Such  wild 
things  are  not  again  to  happen,  because  the 
parliament  have  power  to  stop  payment  once  a 
year :  but  arma  tenenti  quis  neget  ?  which 
may  be  easily  interpreted,  "  who  will  bind 
Sampson  with  his  locks  on  ?"  * 

The  bill  which  regulates  the  army,  the  same 
fine  author  I  have  mentioned,  says,  "  is,  in 
many  respects  hastily  penned,  and  reduces  the 
soldier  to  a  state  of  slavery  in  the  midst  of  a 
free  nation.  This  is  impolitic  :  for  slaves  envy 
the  freedom  of  others,  and  take  a  malicious 
pleasure  in  contributing  to  destroy  it." 

By  this  scandalous  bill  a  justice  of  peace  is 
empowered  to  grant,  without  a  previous  oath, 
*  Trenchard. 


from  the  military  officer,  a  warrant  to  break 
open  any  (freeman's)  house,  upon  pretence  of 
searching  for  deserters. 

I  must  not  omit  to  mention  one  more  bad 
tendency  ;  'tis  this — a  standing  force  leads  to 
a  total  neglect  of  militias,  or  tends  greatly  to 
discourage  them. 

You  see  the  danger  of  a  standing  army  to 
the  cause  of  freedom.  If  the  British  parlia 
ment  consents  from  year  to  year  to  be  exposed, 
it  doubtless  has  good  reasons.  But  when  did 
our  assembly  pass  an  act  to  hazard  all  the 
property,  the  liberty  and  lives  of  their  consti 
tuents  ?  what  check  have  -we  upon  a  British 
army  ?  can  -we  disband  it  ?  can  we  stop  its 
pay? 

Our  own  assemblies  in  America  can  raise 
an  army  ;  and  our  monarch,  George  the  3d, 
by  our  constitution,  takes  immediate  command. 
This  army  can  consent  to  leave  their  native 
provinces.  Will  the  royal  chief  commander 
send  them  to  find  barracks  at  Brunswick  or 
Lunenburg,  at  Hanover,  or  the  commodious 
hall  of  Westminster  ?  suppose  the  last — 
suppose  this  army  was  informed,  nay  thought 
the  parliament  in  actual  rebellion,  or  only 
on  the  eve  of  one,  against  their  king,  or 
against  those  who  paid  and  clothed  them — 
for  there  it  pinches: — we  are  rebels  against 
parliament  ; — we  adore  the  king. 

Where,  in  the  case  I  have  stated,  would  be 
the  value  of  the  boasted  English  constitution  ? 

Who  are  a  free  people  ?  not  those  who  do 
not  suffer  actual  oppression  ;  but  those  who 
have  a  constitutional  check  upon  the  power  to 
oppress. 

We  are  slaves  or  freemen  :  if  as  we  are 
called,  the  last,  where  is  our  check  upon  the 
following  powers,  P'rance,  Spain,  the  states 
of  Holland,  or  the  British  parliaments  ?  now  if 
any  one  of  these  (and  it  is  quite  immaterial 
which)  has  right  to  make  the  two  acts  in  ques 
tion  operate  within  this  province,  they  have 
right  to  give  us  up  to  an  unlimited  army,  under 
the  sole  direction  of  one  Saracen  commander. 

Thus  I  have  led  your  thoughts  to  that  upon 
which  I  formed  my  conclusion,  that  the  design 
of  this  ceremony  was  decent,  wise  and  honor 
able.  Make  the  bloody  5th  of  March  the  aera 
of  the  resurrection  of  your  birthrights,  which 
have  been  murdered  by  the  very  strength  that 
nursed  them  in  their  infancy.  I  had  an  eye 
solely  to  parliamentary  supremacy  ;  and  I  hope 
you  will  think  every  other  view  beneath  your 
notice,  in  our  present  most  alarming  situation. 

Chatham,  Camden,  and  others,  Gods  among 
men,  and  the  Farmer,  whom  you  have  ad 
dressed  as  the  friend  of  mankind  ;  all  these 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


have  owned  that  England  has  right  to  exercise 
every  power  over  us,  but  that  of  taking  money 
out  of  our  pockets,  without  our  consent.* 
Though  it  seems  almost  too  bold  therefore  in 
us  to  say  "  we  doubt  in  every  single  instance 
her  legal  rights  over  this  province,"  t  yet  we 
must  assert  it.  Those  I  have  named  are 
mighty  characters,  but  they  wanted  one  advan 
tage  Providence  has  given  us.  The  beam  is 
carried  off  from  our  eyes  by  the  flowing  blood 
of  our  fellow-citizens,  and  now  we  may  be 
allowed  to  attempt  to  remove  the  mote  from 
the  eyes  of  our  exalted  patrons.  The  mote,  we 
think,  is  nothing  but  our  obligation  to  England 
first,  and  afterwards  Great  Britain,  for  con 
stant  kind  protection  of  our  lives  and  birth 
rights  against  foreign  danger.  We  all  ac 
knowledge  that  protection. 

Let  us  once  more  look  into  the  early  history 
of  this  province.  We  find  that  our  English 
ancestors,  disgusted  in  their  native  country  at  a 
legislation,  which  they  saw  was  sacrificing  all 
their  rights,  left  its  jurisdiction,  \  and  sought, 
like  wandering  birds  of  passage,  some  happier 
climate.  Here  at  length  they  settled  down. 
The  king  of  England  was  said  to  be  the  royal  § 
landlord  of  this  territory ;  with  him  they  en 
tered  into  mutual,  sacred  compact,  by  which 
the  price  of  tenure,  and  the  rules  of  man 
agement,  were  fairly  stated.  It  is  in  this 
compact  that  we  find  our  only  true  legislative 
authority. 

I  might  here  enlarge  upon  the  character  of 
those  first  settlers,  men  of  whom  the  world  was 
little  worthy ;  who,  for  a  long  course  of  years, 
assisted  by  no  earthly  power,  defended  their 
liberty,  their  religion,  and  their  lives,  against 
the  greatest  inland  clanger  of  the  savage 
natives  :  but  this  falls  not  within  my  present 
purpose.  They  were  secure  by  sea. 

In  our  infancy,  when  not  an  over  tempting 
jewel  for  the  Bourbon  crown,  the  very  name  of 
England  saved  us  ;  afterwards  her  fleets  and 
armies.  We  wish  not  to  depreciate  the  worth 
of  that  protection.  Of  our  gold,  yea  of  our 

*  Taxation  and  representation  are  inseparable.— Chath. 
Cantbd. 

From  what  in  our  constitution  is  representation  not 
inseparable  ! — multa  a  CRASSO  divinitus  dicta  efferebantur, 
cum  sibi  ilium,  consulem  esse  negaret  cui  senator  ipse  non 
esset.— Cic, 

t  I  confine  myself  to  this  province,  partly  from  igno 
rance  of  other  charters  ;  but  more  from  a  desire  even  to 
vex  some  abler  pen  to  pursue  the  idea  of  Check  ;  which 
an  unchartered  freeman  may  do,  as  well  as  any  other  in 
America. 

\  Hsec  sunt  enim  fundamenta  firmissima  nostrae  liber- 
tatis,  sui  quemque  juris  et  retinendi  et  dknittendi  esse 
dominum. — Cic. 

§  I  choose  to  bury  a  fruitful  subject  for  any  satirical 
genius  of  the  family  of  PENN. 


most  fine  gold,  we  will  freely  give  a  part. 
Our  fathers  would  have  done  the  same.  But 
must  we  fall  down  and  cry  "  let  not  a  stranger 
rob  and  kill  me,  O  my  father  !  let  me  rather  die 
by  the  hand  of  my  brother,  and  let  him  ravish 
all  my  portion  !  "  * 

It  is  said  that  disunited  from  Britain  "  we 
should  bleed  at  every  vein."  I  cannot  see  the 
consequence.  The  states  of  Holland  do  not 
suffer  thus.  But  grant  it  true,  Seneca  would 
prefer  the  lancets  of  France,  Spain,  or  any 
other  power,  to  the  BOWSTRING,  though 
applied  by  the  fair  hand  of  Britannia. 

The  declarative  vote  of  the  British  parlia 
ment  is  the  death-warrant  of  our  birthrights, 
and  wants  only  a  Czarish  king  to  put  it  into 
execution.  Here  then  a  door  of  salvation  is 
open.  Great  Britain  may  raise  her  fleets  and 
armies,  but  it  is  only  our  own  king  that  can 
direct  their  fire  down  upon  our  heads.  He  is 
gracious,  but  not  omniscient.  He  is  ready  to 
hear  our  APPEALS  in  their  proper  course  :  and 
knowing  himself,  though  the  most  powerful 
prince  on  earth,  yet,  a  subject  under  a  divine 
constitution  of  LAW  ;  that  law  he  will  ask  and 
receive  from  the  twelve  judges  of  England. 
These  will  prove  that  the  claim  of  the  British 
parliament  over  us  is  not  only  ILLEGAL  IN 
ITSELF,  BUT  A  DOWN-RIGHT  USURPATION  OF 
HIS  PREROGATIVE  as  king  of  America. 

A  brave  nation  is  always  generous.  Let  us 
appeal,  therefore,  at  the  same  time,  to  the  gen 
erosity  of  the  PEOPLE  of  Great  Britain,  before 
the  tribunalf  of  Europe,  not  to  envy  us  the 
full  enjoyment  of  the  RIGHTS  OF  BRETHREN. 

And  now,  my  friends  and  fellow  townsmen, 
having  declared  myself  an  American  son  of 
liberty  of  true  charter  principles :  having 
shewn  the  critical  and  dangerous  situation  of 
our  birthrights,  and  the  true  course  for  speedy 
redress :  I  shall  take  the  freedom  to  recom 
mend,  with  boldness,  one  previous  step.  Let 
us  show  we  understand  the  true  value  of  what 
we  are  claiming. 

The  patriotic  Farmer  tells  us,  "  the  cause 
of  liberty  is  a  cause  of  too  much  dignity  to  be 
sullied  by  turbulence  and  tumult. — Anger  pro 
duces  anger ;  and  differences,  that  might  be  ac 
commodated  by  kind  and  respectful  behavior, 
may,  by  imprudence,  be  enlarged  to  an  incu 
rable  rage.  In  quarrels  —  risen  to  a  certain 
height,  the  first  cause  of  dissension  is  no 
longer  remembered,  the  minds  of  the  parties 

* — ita  vitam  corpusque  servato,  ita  fortunas,  ita  rem 
farr.il iarem,  ita  haec  posteriora  libertati  ducas, — nee  pro 
his  libertatem,  sed  pro  libertati  haec  projicias,  tanquam 
pignora  injuriae. 

t  I  do  not  think  the  quo  tuarrdnto  against  our  first 
charter,  was  tried  in  a  proper  court- 


20 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


being  wholly  engaged  in  recollecting  and  re 
senting  the  mutual  expressions  of  their  dislike. 
When  feuds  have  reached  that  fatal  point,  con 
siderations  of  reason  and  equity  vanish,  and  a 
blind  fury  governs,  or  rather  confounds  all 
things.  A  people  no  longer  regard  their  in 
terest,  but  a  gratification  of  their  wrath." 

We  know  ourselves  subjects  of  common 
law  :  to  that  and  the  worthy  executors  of  it, 
let  us  pay  a  steady  and  conscientious  regard. 
Past  errors  in  this  point  have  been  written  with 
gall,  by  the  pen  of  malice.  May  our  future 
conduct  be  such  as  to  make  even  that  vile  IMP 
lay  her  pen  aside. 

The  right  which  imposes  duties  upon  us,  is 
in  dispute  ;  but  whether  they  are  managed  by  a 
surveyor  general,  a  board  of  commissioners, 
Turkish  Janizaries  or  Russian  Cossacks,  let 
them  enjoy  during  our  time  of  fair  trial,  the 
common  personal  protection  of  the  laws  of  our 
constitution.  Let  us  shut  our  eyes,  for  the  pre 
sent  to  their  being  executors  of  claims  subver 
sive  of  our  rights. 

Watchful,  hawk-eyed  jealousy,  ever  guards 
the  portal  of  the  temple  of  the  goddess  lib 
erty.  This  is  known  to  those  who  frequent 
her  altars.  Our  whole  conduct  therefore,  I  am 
sure,  will  meet  with  the  utmost  candor  of  her 
votaries :  but  I  am  wishing  we  may  be  able 
to  convert  even  her  basest  apostates. 

We  are  slaves  until  we  obtain  such  redress 
through  the  justice  of  our  king,  as  our  happy 
constitution  leads  us  to  expect.  In  that  condi 
tion,  let  us  behave  with  the  propriety  and 
dignity  of  free  men  and  thus  exhibit  to  the 
world,  a  new  character  of  a  people,  which  no 
history  describes. 

May  the  all-wise  and  beneficent  ruler  of 
the  universe  preserve  our  life  and  health, 
and  prosper  all  our  lawful  endeavors  in  the 
glorious  cause  of  freedom. 


ORATION   DELIVERED   AT   BOSTON,    MARCH 
5.  1772, 

BY  JOSEPH  WARREN. 

Quis  tclliafando, 

Myrmidonum,  Dolopumve,  aut  duri  miles   Ulyssei, 
Temperet  a  lacrymis.  VIRGIL. 

When  we  turn  over  the  historic  page,  and 
trace  the  rise  and  fall  of  states  and  empires,  the 
mighty  revolutions  which  have  so  often  varied 
the  face  of  the  world  strike  our  minds  with 
solemn  surprise,  and  we  are  naturally  led  to 
endeavor  to  search  out  the  causes  of  such 
astonishing  changes. 


That  man  is  formed  for  social  life,  is  an 
observation,  which,  upon  our  first  enquiry, 
presents  itself  immediately  to  our  view,  and 
our  reason  approves  that  wise  and  generous 
principle  which  actuated  the  first  founders  of 
civil  government ;  an  institution  which  hath  its 
origin  in  the  weakness  of  individuals,  and  hath 
for  its  end,  the  strength  and  security  of  all : 
and  so  long  as  the  means  of  effecting  this  im 
portant  end  are  thoroughly  known,  and  reli 
giously  attended  to,  government  is  one  of  the 
richest  blessings  to  mankind,  and  ought  to  be 
held  in  the  highest  veneration. 

In  young  and  new  formed  communities,  the 
grand  design  of  this  institution,  is  most  gene 
rally  understood,  and  the  most  strictly  regarded  ; 
the  motives  which  urged  to  the  social  compact, 
cannot  be  at  once  forgotten,  and  that  equality 
which  is  remembered  to  have  subsisted  so 
lately  among  them,  prevents  those  who  are 
clothed  with  authority  from  attempting  to  in 
vade  the  freedom  of  their  brethren  ;  or  if  such 
an  attempt  is  made,  it  prevents  the  community 
from  suffering  the  offender  to  go  unpunished  : 
every  member  feels  it  to  be  his  interest  and 
knows  it  to  be  his  duty,  to  preserve  inviolate 
the  constitution  on  which  the  public  safety 
depends,  *  and  he  is  equally  ready  to  assist  the 
magistrate  in  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and 
the  subject  in  defence  of  his  right ;  and  so  long 
as  this  noble  attachment  to  a  constitution, 
founded  on  free  and  benevolent  principles,  ex 
ists  in  full  vigor,  in  any  state,  that  state  must 
be  flourishing  and  happy. 

It  was  this  noble  attachment  to  a  free  con 
stitution  which  raised  ancient  Rome,  from  the 
smallest  beginnings,  to  that  bright  summit 
of  happiness  and  glory  to  which  she  arrived  ; 
and  it  was  the  loss  of  this  which  plunged  her 
from  that  summit  into  the  black  gulph  of 
infamy  and  slavery.  It  was  this  attachment 
which  inspired  her  senators  with  wisdom  ;  it 
was  this  which  glowed  in  the  breast  of  her  he 
roes  ;  it  was  this  which  guarded  her  liberties 
and  extended  her  dominions,  gave  peace  at 
home,  and  commanded  respect  abroad :  and 
when  this  decayed,  her  magistrates  lost  their 
reverence  for  justice  and  the  laws,  and  degen 
erated  into  tyrants  and  oppressors — her  sena 
tors,  forgetful  of  their  dignity,  and  seduced  by 
base  corruption,  betrayed  their  country — her 
soldiers,  regardless  of  their  relation  to  the  com 
munity,  and  urged  only  by  the  hopes  of  plunder 
and  rapine,  unfeelingly  committed  the  most 
flagrant  enormities  ;  and  hived  to  the  trade  of 

*  Omnes ordines ad conservandam  rentpublicam^mente^ 
voluntate,  studio^  virtute,  voce,  consentiunt. 

CICERO. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


21 


death,  with  relentless  fury,  they  perpetrated 
the  most  cruel  murders,  whereby  the  streets  of 
imperial  Rome  were  drenched  with  her  noblest 
blood.  Thus  this  empress  of  the  world  lost 
her  dominions  abroad,  and  her  inhabitants, 
dissolute  in  their  manners,  at  length  became 
contented  slaves ;  and  she  stands  to  this  day, 
the  scorn  and  derision  of  nations,  and  a  monu 
ment  of  this  eternal  truth,  that  public  hap 
piness  depends  on  a  virtuous  and  unsha 
ken  attachment  to  a  free  constitution, 

It  was  this  attachment  to  a  constitution, 
founded  on  free  and  benevolent  principles, 
i  which  inspired  the  first  settlers  of  this  country — 
they  saw  with  grief  the  daring  outrages  com 
mitted  on  the  free  constitution  of  their  native 
land — they  knew  nothing  but  a  civil  war  could 
at  that  time  restore  its  pristine  purity.  So  hard 
was  it  to  resolve  to  embrue  their  hands  in  the 
blood  of  their  brethren,  that  they  chose  rather 
to  quit  their  fair  possessions  and  seek  another 
habitation  in  a  distant  clime.  When  they  came 
to  this  new  world,  which  they  fairly  purchased 
of  the  Indian  natives,  the  only  rightful  proprie 
tors,  they  cultivated  the  then  barren  soil,  by 
their  incessant  labor,  and  defended  their  dear- 
bought  possessions  with  the  fortitude  of  the 
Christian,  and  the  bravery  of  the  hero. 

After  various  struggles,  which,  during  the 
tyrannic  reigns  of  the  house  of  Stuart,  were 
constantly  kept  up  between  right  and  wrong, 
between  liberty  and  slavery,  the  connection  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  this  colony  was  settled 
in  the  reign  of  king  William  and  queen  Mary, 
by  a  compact,  the  conditions  of  which  were  ex 
pressed  in  a  charter,  by  which  all  the  liberties 
and  immunities  of  British  subjects,  were  con 
fided  to  this  province,  as  fully  and  as  absolutely 
as  they  possibly  could  be  by  any  human  instru 
ment  which  can  be  devised.  And  it  is  undenia 
bly  true,  that  the  greatest  and  most  important 
right  of  a  British  subject  is,  that  he  shall  be 
governed  by  no  laws  but  those  to  which  he, 
either  in  person  or  by  his  representatives  hath 
given  his  consent :  and  this  I  will  venture  to 
assert,  is  the  great  basis  of  British  freedom  : 
it  is  interwoven  with  the  constitution;  and 
whenever  this  is  lost,  the  constitution  must  be 
destroyed. 

The  British  constitution  (of  which  ours  is  a 
copy)  is  a  happy  compound  of  the  three  forms 
(under  some  of  which  all  governments  may  be 
ranged)  viz.,  monarchy,  aristocracy,  and  de 
mocracy;  of  these  three  the  British  legisla 
ture  is  composed,  and  without  the  consent  of 
each  branch,  nothing  can  carry  with  it  the 
force  of  a  law  ;  but  when  a  law  is  to  be  passed 
for  raising  a  tax,  that  law  can  originate  only 


in  the  democratic  branch,  which  is  the  house 
of  commons  in  Britain,  and  the  house  of  rep 
resentatives  here. — The  reason  is  obvious  : 
they  and  their  constituents  are  to  pay  much 
the  largest  part  of  it ;  but  as  the  aristocratic 
branch,  which,  in  Britain,  is  the  house  of 
lords,  and  in  this  province,  the  council,  are  also 
to  pay  some  part,  their  consent  is  necessary ; 
and  as  the  monarchic  branch,  which  in  Britain 
is  the  king,  and  with  us,  either  the  king  in 
person,  or  the  governor  whom  he  shall  be 
pleased  to  appoint  to  act  in  his  stead,  is  sup 
posed  to  have  a  just  sense  of  his  own  interest, 
which  is  that  of  all  the  subjects  in  general, 
his  consent  is  also  necessary,  and  when  the 
consent  of  these  three  branches  is  obtained, 
the  taxation  is  most  certainly  legal. 

Let  us  now  allow  ourselves  a  few  moments 
to  examine  the  late  acts  of  the  British  parlia 
ment  for  taxing  America — Let  us  with  candor 
judge  whether  they  are  constitutionally  bind 
ing  upon  us  ; — if  they  are,  in  the  name  of 
justice  let  us  submit  to  them,  without  one 
murmuring  word. 

First,  I  would  ask  whether  the  members 
of  the  British  house  of  commons  are  the  de 
mocracy  of  this  province  ?  if  they  are,  they  are 
either  the  people  of  this  province,  or  are  elected 
by  the  people  of  this  province,  to  represent 
them,  and  have  therefore  a  constitutional  right 
to  originate  a  bill  for  taxing  them  ;  it  is  most 
certain  they  are  neither ;  and  therefore  noth 
ing  done  by  them  can  be  said  to  be  done  by 
the  democratic  branch  of  our  constitution.  I 
would  next  ask,  whether  the  lords,  who  com 
pose  the  aristocratic  branch  of  the  legislature, 
are  peers  of  America  ?  I  never  heard  it  was 
(even  in  those  extraordinary  times)  so  much  as 
pretended,  and  if  they  are  not,  certainly  no  act 
of  theirs  can  be  said  to  be  the  act  of  the  aris 
tocratic  branch  of  our  constitution.  The  power 
of  the  monarchic  branch  we,  with  pleasure, 
acknowledge  resides  in  the  king,  who  may  act 
either  in  person  or  by  his  representative  ;  and 
I  freely  confess  that  I  can  see  no  reason 
why  a  proclamation  for  raising  in  America 
issued  by  the  king's  sole  authority  would  not 
be  equally  consistent  with  our  own  constitu 
tion,  and  therefore  equally  binding  upon  us 
with  the  late  acts  of  the  British  parliament 
for  taxing  us ;  for  it  is  plain,  that  if  there  is 
any  validity  in  those  acts,  it  must  arise  alto 
gether  from  the  monarchical  branch  of  the 
legislature ;  and  I  further  think  that  it  would 
be  at  least  as  equitable  ;  for  I  do  not  conceive 
it  to  be  of  the  least  importance  to  us  by  whom 
our  property  is  taken  away,  so  long  as  it  is 
taken  without  our  consent ;  and  I  am  very 


22 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


much  at  a  loss  to  know  by  what  figure  of  rhe 
toric,  the  inhabitants  of  this  province  can  be 
called  free  subjects,  when  they  are  obliged 
to  obey  implicitly,  such  laws  as  are  made  for 
them  by  men  three  thousand  miles  off,  whom 
they  know  not,  and  whom  they  never  empow 
ered  to  act  for  them,  or  how  they  can  be  said 
to  have  property,  when  a  body  of  men,  over 
whom  they  have  not  the  least  control,  and 
who  are  not  in  any  way  accountable  to  them, 
shall  oblige  them  to  deliver  up  any  part,  or  the 
whole  of  their  substance  without  even  asking 
their  consent :  and  yet  whoever  pretends  that 
the  late  acts  of  the  British  parliament  for  tax 
ing  America  ought  to  be  deemed  binding  upon 
us,  must  admit  at  once  that  we  are  absolute 
slaves,  and  have  no  property  of  our  own  ; 
or  else  that  we  may  be  freemen,  and  at  the 
same  time  under  a  necessity  of  obeying  the 
arbitrary  commands  of  those  over  whom  we 
have  no  control  or  influence,  and  that  we  may 
have  property  of  our  own,  which  is  en 
tirely  at  the  disposal  of  another.  Such  gross 
absurdities,  I  believe  will  not  be  relished  in 
this  enlightened  age :  and  it  can  be  no  matter 
of  wonder  that  the  people  quickly  perceived, 
and  seriously  complained  of  the  inroads  which 
these  acts  must  unavoidably  make  upon  their 
liberty,  and  of  the  hazard  to  which  their  whole 
property  is  by  them  exposed  ;  for,  if  they  may 
be  taxed  without  their  consent,  even  in  the 
smallest  trifle,  they  may  also,  without  their  con 
sent,  be  deprived  of  every  thing  they  possess, 
although  never  so  valuable,  never  so  dear. 
Certainly  it  never  entered  the  hearts  of  our 
ancestors,  that  after  so  many  dangers  in  this 
then  desolate  wilderness,  their  hard-earned 
property  should  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  Bri 
tish  parliament ;  and  as  it  was  soon  found  that 
this  taxation  could  not  be  supported  by  reason 
and  argument,  it  seemed  necessary  that  one 
act  of  oppression  should  be  enforced  by  ano 
ther,  and  therefore,  contrary  to  our  just  rights 
as  possessing,  or  at  least  having  a  just  title  to 
possess,  all  the  liberties  and  immunities  of 
British  subjects,  a  standing  army  was  estab 
lished  among  us  in  time  of  peace  ;  and  evi 
dently  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  that,  which 
it  was  one  principal  design  of  the  founders  of 
the  constitution  to  prevent,  (when  they 
declared  a  standing  army  in  a  time  of  peace 
to  be  against  law)  namely,  for  the  enforce 
ment  of  obedience  to  acts  which,  upon  fair 
examination,  appeared  to  be  unjust  and  un 
constitutional. 

The  ruinous  consequences  of  standing  armies 
to  free  communities  may  be  seen  in  the  histo 
ries  of  Syracuse,  Rome,  and  many  other  once 


flourishing  states :  some  of  which  have  now 
scarce  a  name  !  their  baneful  influence  is  most 
suddenly  felt,  when  they  are  placed  in  populous 
cities  ;  for,  by  a  corruption  of  morals,  the  public 
happiness  is  immediately  affected  !  and  that 
this  is  one  of  the  effects  of  quartering  troops  in 
a  populous  city,  is  a  truth,  to  which  many  a 


mourning  parent,  many  a  lost,  despairing  child 
in  this  metropolis  must  bear  a  very  melancholy 
testimony.  Soldiers  are  also  taught  to  consider 
arms  as  the  only  arbiters  by  which  every  dis 
pute  is  to  be  decided  between  contending 
states  ; — they  are  instructed  implicitly  to  obey 
their  commanders,  without  enquiring  into  the 
justice  of  the  cause  they  are  engaged  to  sup 
port  ;  hence  it  is,  that  they  are  ever  to  be  dreaded 
as  the  ready  engines  of  tyranny  and  oppression. 
And  it  is  too  observable  that  they  are  prone  to 
introduce  the  same  mode  of  decision  in  the 
disputes  of  individuals,  and  from  thence  have 
often  arisen  great  animosities  between  them 
and  the  inhabitants,  who,  whilst  in  a  naked, 
defenceless  state,  are  frequently  insulted  and 
abused  by  an  armed  soldiery.  And  this  will 
be  more  especially  the  case,  when  the  troops 
are  informed  that  the  intention  of  their  being 
stationed  in  any  city  is  to  overawe  the  in 
habitants.  That  this  was  the  avowed  design 
of  stationing  an  armed  force  in  this  town  is 
sufficiently  known  ;  and  we,  my  fellow  citizens, 
have  seen,  we  have  felt  the  tragical  effects ! 
—  The  fatal  fifth  of  March,  1770,  can 
never  be  forgotten — The  horrors  of  that 
dreadful  night  are  but  too  deeply  impressed 

on  our  hearts Language   is  too  feeble   to 

paint  the  emotion  of  our  souls,  when  our 
streets  were  stained  with  the  blood  of  our 
brethren — when  our  ears  were  wounded  by 
the  groans  of  the  dying,  and  our  eyes  were 
tormented  with  the  sight  of  the  mangled  bod 
ies  of  the  dead. — When  our  alarmed  imagina 
tion  presented  to  our  view  our  houses  wrapt  in 
flames,  our  children  subjected  to  the  barbarous 
caprice  of  the  raging  soldiery, — our  beauteous 
virgins  exposed  to  all  the  insolence  of  unbri 
dled  passion, — our  virtuous  wives,  endeared  to 
us  by  every  tender  tie,  falling  a  sacrifice  to 
worse  than  brutal  violence,  and  perhaps  like 
the  famed  Lucretia,  distracted  with  anguish 
and  despair,  ending  their  wretched  lives  by 
their  own  fair  hands.  When  we  beheld  the 
authors  of  our  distress  parading  in  our  streets, 
or  drawn  up  in  a  regular  battalia,  as  though  in 
a  hostile  city,  our  hearts  beat  to  arms ;  we 
snatched  our  weapons,  almost  resolved,  by  one 
decisive  stroke,  to  avenge  the  death  of  our 
slaughtered  brethren,  and  to  secure  from 
future  danger,  all  that  we  held  most  dear  :  but 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


propitious  heaven  forbade  the  bloody  carnage, 
and  saved  the  threatened  victims  of  our  too 
keen  resentment,  not  by  their  discipline,  not  by 
their  regular  array, — no,  it  was  royal  George's 
livery  that  proved  their  shield — it  was  that 
which  turned  the  pointed  engines  of  destruc 
tion  from  their  breasts.*  The  thoughts  of 
vengeance  were  soon  buried  in  our  inbred 
affection  to  Great  Britain,  and  calm  reason 
dictated  a  method  of  removing  the  troops  more 
mild  than  an  immediate  resource  to  the  sword. 
With  united  efforts  you  urged  the  immediate 
departure  of  the  troops  from  the  town — you 
urged  it,  with  a  resolution  which  ensured  suc 
cess you  obtained  your  wishes,  and  the 

removal  of  the  troops  was  effected,  with 
out  one  drop  of  their  blood  being  shed  by 
the  inhabitants. 

The  immediate  actors  in  the  tragedy  of  that 

night,  were  surrendered  to  justice. It  is 

not  mine  to  say  how  far  they  were  guilty  ? 
they  have  been  tried  by  the  country  and 
acquitted  of  murder  !  and  they  are  not  to  be 
again  arraigned  at  an  earthly  bar ;  but,  surely 
the  men  who  have  promiscuously  scattered 
death  amidst  the  innocent  inhabitants  of  a 
populous  city,  ought  to  see  well  to  it,  that  they 
be  prepared  to  stand  at  the  bar  of  an  omni 
scient  judge  !  and  all  who  contrived  or  encour 
aged  the  stationing  troops  in  this  place  have  rea 
sons  of  eternal  importance,  to  reflect  with  deep 
contrition,  on  their  base  designs,  and  humbly 
to  repent  of  their  impious  machinations. 

The  infatuation  which  hath  seemed,  for  a 
number  of  years,  to  prevail  in  the  British  coun 
cils,  with  regard  to  us,  is  truly  astonishing  ! 
what  can  be  proposed  by  the  repeated  attacks 
made  upon  our  freedom,  I  really  cannot  sur 
mise  ;  even  leaving  justice  and  humanity  out 
of  question.  I  do  not  know  one  single  advan 
tage  which  can  arise  to  the  British  nation,  from 
our  being  enslaved  : — I  know  not  of  any  gains, 
which  can  be  wrung  from  us  by  oppression, 
which  they  may  not  obtain  from  us  by  our  own 
consent,  in  the  smooth  channel  of  commerce  : 
we  wish  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  Britain  ; 
we  contribute  largely  to  both. '  Doth  what  we 
contribute  lose  all  its  value,  because  it  is  done 
voluntarily  ?  the  amazing  increase  of  riches  to 
Britain,  the  great  rise  of  the  value  of  her 
lands,  the  flourishing  state  of  her  navy,  are 

*  I  have  the  strongest  reason  to  believe  that  I  have 
mentioned  the  only  circumstance  which  saved  the  troops 
from  destruction.  It  was  then,  and  now  is,  the  opinion  of 
those  who  were  best  acquainted  with  the  state  of  affairs  at 
that  time,  that  had  thrice  that  number  of  troops,  belong 
ing  to  any  power  at  open  war  with  us,  been  in  this  town, 
in  the  same  exposed  condition,  scarce  a  man  would  have 
lived  to  have  seen  the  morning  light. 


striking  proofs  of  the  advantages  derived  to  her 
from  her  commerce  with  the  colonies  ;  and  it  is 
our  earnest  desire  that  she  may  still  continue 
to  enjoy  the  same  emoluments,  until  her  streets 
are  paved  with  American  gold ;  only,  let  us 
have  the  pleasure  of  calling  it  our  own,  whilst 
it  is  in  our  own  hands  ;  but  this  it  seems  is  too 
great  a  favor — we  are  to  be  governed  by  the 
absolute  command  of  others  ;  our  property  is 
to  be  taken  away  without  our  consent — if  we 
complain,  our  complaints  are  treated  with  con 
tempt  ;  if  we  assert  our  rights,  that  assertion 
is  deemed  insolence ;  if  we  humbly  offer  to 
submit  the  matter  to  the  impartial  decision  of 
reason,  the  sword  is  judged  the  most  proper 
argument  to  silence  our  murmurs  !  but  this  can 
not  long  be  the  case — surely  the  British  nation 
will  not  suffer  the  reputation  of  their  justice 
and  their  honor,  to  be  thus  sported  away  by  a 
capricious  ministry  ;  no,  they  will  in  a  short  time 
open  their  eyes  to  their  true  interest :  they  nour 
ish  in  their  own  breasts,  a  noble  love  of  liberty  ; 
they  hold  her  dear,  and  they  know  that  all  who 
have  once  possessed  her  charms,  had  rather 
die  than  suffer  her  to  be  torn  from  their  em 
braces — they  are  also  sensible  that  Britain  is  so 
deeply  interested  in  the  prosperity  of  the  colo 
nies  that  she  must  eventually  feel  every  wound 
given  to  their  freedom ;  they  cannot  be  igno 
rant  that  more  dependence  may  be  placed  on 
the  affections  of  a  brother,  than  on  the  forced 
service  of  a  slave  ;  they  must  approve  your 
efforts  for  the  preservation  of  your  rights ; 
from  a  sympathy  of  soul  they  must  pray  for 
your  success :  and  I  doubt  not  but  they  will, 
ere  long,  exert  themselves  effectually,  to  redress 
your  grievances.  Even  in  the  dissolute  reign 
of  king  Charles  II.  when  the  house  of  com 
mons  impeached  the  earl  of  Clarendon  of  high 
treason,  the  first  article  on  which  they  founded 
their  accusation  was,  that  "  he  had  designed  a 
standing  army  to  be  raised,  and  to  govern  the 
kingdom  thereby."  And  the  eighth  article  was, 
that  "  he  had  introduced  an  arbitrary  govern 
ment  into  his  majesty  s  plantation."  A  terri 
fying  example  to  those  who  are  now  forging 
chains  for  this  country. 

You  have,  my  friends  and  countrymen,  frus 
trated  the  designs  of  your  enemies,  by  your 
unanimity  and  fortitude  :  it  was  your  union  and 
determined  spirit  which  expelled  those  troops, 
who  polluted  your  streets  with  innocent 
blood.  You  have  appointed  this  anniversary 
as  a  standard  memorial  of  the  bloody  con 
sequences  of  placing  an  armed  force  in  a 
populous  city,  and  of  your  deliverance  from 
the  dangers  which  then  seemed  to  hang 
over  your  heads  ;  and  I  am  confident  that  you 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


never  will  betray  the  least  want  of  spirit  when 
called  upon  to  guard  your  freedom.  None  but 
they  who  set  a  just  value  upon  the  blessings 
of  liberty  are  worthy  to  enjoy  her — your  illus 
trious  fathers  were  her  zealous  votaries — when 
the  blasting  frowns  of  tyranny  drove  her  from 
public  view,  they  clasped  her  in  their  arms, 
they  cherished  her  in  their  generous  bosoms, 
they  brought  her  safe  over  the  rough  ocean, 
and  fixed  her  seat  in  this  then  dreary  wilder 
ness  ;  they  nursed  her  infant  age  with  the 
most  tender  care  ;  for  her  sake  they  patiently 
bore  the  severest  hardships  ;  for  her  support, 
they  underwent  the  most  rugged  toils  ;  in  her  de 
fence  they  boldly  encountered  the  most  alarm 
ing  dangers  :  neither  the  ravenous  beasts  that 
ranged  the  woods  for  prey,  nor  the  more  furi 
ous  savages  of  the  wilderness,  could  damp 
ardor  ! — Whilst  with  one  hand  they  broke  the 
stubborn  glebe,  with  the  other  they  grasped 
their  weapons,  ever  ready  to  protect  her  from 
danger.  No  sacrifice,  not  even  their  own  blood, 
was  esteemed  too  rich  a  libation  for  her  altar  ! 
God  prospered  their  valor  ;  they  preserved  her 
brilliancy  unsullied  ;  they  enjoyed  her  whilst 
they  lived,  and  dying,  bequeathed  the  dear 
inheritance  to  your  care.  And  as  they  left  you 
this  glorious  legacy,  they  have  undoubtedly 
transmitted  to  you  some  portion  of  their  noble 
spirit,  to  inspire  you  with  virtue  to  merit  her, 
and  courage  to  preserve  her :  you  surely  cannot, 
with  such  examples  before  your  eyes,  as  every 
page  of  the  history  of  this  country  affords,*  suffer 
your  liberties  to  be  ravished  from  you  by  lawless 
force,  or  cajoled  away  by  flattery  and  fraud. 

The  voice  of  your  fathers'  blood  cries  to 
you  from  the  ground,  my  sons  scorn  to  be 
slaves!  in  vain  we  met  the  frowns  of  tyrants 
— in  vain  we  crossed  the  boisterous  ocean, 
found  a  new  world,  and  prepared  it  for  the 
happy  residence  of  liberty — in  vain  we  toiled 
— in  vain  we  fought — we  bled  in  vain,  if  you, 
our  offspring,  want  valor  to  repel  the  assaults 

of  her  invaders  ! Stain  not  the  glory  of 

your  worthy  ancestors,  but  like  them  resolve, 
never  to  part  with  your  birth-right ;  be  wise 
in  your  deliberations,  and  determined  in  your 
exertions  for  the  preservation  of  your  liberties. 
Follow  not  the  dictates  of  passion,  but  enlist 
yourselves  under  the  sacred  banner  of  reason  ; 
use  every  method  in  your  power  to  secure  your 
rights  ;  at  least  prevent  the  curses  of  posterity 
from  being  heaped  upon  your  memories. 

If  you,  with  united  zeal  and  fortitude,  oppose 
the  torrent  of  oppression;  if  you  feel  the  true 
fire  of  patriotism  burning  in  your  breasts  :  if 

*  At  simul  heroum  laudes,  et  facta  parentis 

Jam  legere,  et  quae  sit  poteris  cognoscere  virtus- — VIRG. 


you,  from  your  souls,  despise  the  most  gaudy 
dress  that  slavery  can  wear  ;  if  you  really  pre 
fer  the  lonely  cottage  (whilst  blest  with  lib 
erty)  to  gilded  palaces,  surrounded  with  the, 
ensigns  of  slavery,  you  may  have  the  fullest 
assurance  that  tyranny,  with  her  whole  ac 
cursed  train,  will  hide  their  hideous  heads  in 
confusion,  shame,  and  despair — if  you  perform 
your  part,  you  must  have  the  strongest  confi 
dence  that  the  same  Almighty  Being  who 
protected  your  pious  and  venerable  fore 
fathers — who  enabled  them  to  turn  a  barren 
wilderness  into  a  fruitful  field,  who  so  often 
made  bare  his  arm  for  their  salvation,  will  still 
be  mindful  of  you,  their  offspring. 

May  this  Almighty  Being  graciously  pre 
side  in  all  our  councils.  May  he  direct  us 
to  such  measures  as  he  himself  shall  approve, 
and  be  pleased  to  bless.  May  we  ever  be  a 
people  favored  of  God.  May  our  land  be  a 
land  of  liberty,  the  seat  of  virtue,  the  asylum  ot 
the  oppressed,  a  name  and  a  praise  in  the 
whole  earth,  until  the  last  shock  of  time  shall 
bury  the  empires  of  the  world  in  one  common 
undistinguished  ruin ! 


ORATION     DELIVERED    AT     BOSTON,    MARCH 
5-    1775- 

BY   DR.   JOSEPH   WARREN. 

Tanice  molts  erat,  Romanam  condere gentem. 

VIRGIL'S  JR.JA. 
(?«/,  rnetuens,  vivit,  liber  mihi  non  erit  unqua.m. 

HOR.  EPIS. 

My  ever  Honored  Fellow-Citizens. 

It  is  not  without  the  most  humiliating  con 
viction  of  my  want  of  ability  that  I  now  ap 
pear  before  you :  but  the  sense  I  have  of  the 
obligation  I  am  under  to  obey  the  calls  of  my 
country  at  all  times,  together  with  an  animat 
ing  recollection  of  your  indulgence,  exhibited 
upon  so  many  occasions,  has  induced  me, 
once  more,  undeserving  as  I  am,  to  throw  my 
self  upon  that  candor,  which  looks  with  kind 
ness  on  the  feeblest  efforts  of  an  honest  mind. 

You  will  not  now  expect  the  elegance,  the 
learning,  the  fire,  the  enrapturing  strains  of 
eloquence  which  charmed  you  when  a  Lovell, 
a  Church,  or  a  Hancock  spake;  but  you 
will  permit  me  to  say  that  with  a  sincerity 
equal  to  theirs,  I  mourn  over  my  bleeding 
country:  With  them  I  weep  at  her  distress, 
and  with  them  deeply  resent  the  many  injuries 
she  has  received  from  the  hands  of  cruel  and 
unreasonable  men. 

That  personal  freedom  is  the  natural  right  of 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


every  man,  and  that  property,  or  an  exclusive 
right  to  dispose  of  what  he  has  honestly  acquired 
by  his  own  labor,  necessarily  arises  therefrom, 
are  truths  which  common  sense  has  placed 
beyond  the  reach  of  contradiction.  And  no 
man  or  body  of  men  can,  without  being  guilty 
of  flagrant  injustice,  claim  a  right  to  dispose  of 
the  persons  or  acquisitions  of  any  other  man 
or  body  of  men,  unless  it  can  be  proved  that 
such  a  right  has  arisen  from  some  compact 
between  the  parties  in  which  it  has  been  expli 
citly  and  freely  granted. 

If  I  may  be  indulged  in  taking  a  retrospec 
tive  view  of  the  first  settlement  of  our  country, 
it  will  be  easy  to  determine  with  what  degree 
of  justice  the  late  parliament  of  Great  Britain 
have  assumed  the  power  of  giving  away  that 
property  which  the  Americans  have  earned  by 
their  labor. 

Our  fathers  having  resolved  never  to  wear 
the  yoke  of  despotism,  and  seeing  the  Euro 
pean  world,  at  that  time,  through  indolence 
and  cowardice,  falling  a  prey  to  tyranny,  bravely 
threw  themselves  upon  the  bosom  of  the  ocean, 
determined  to  find  a  place  in  which  to  enjoy 
their  freedom,  or  perish  in  the  glorious  attempt. 
Approving  heaven  beheld  the  favorite  ark  danc 
ing  upon  the  waves,  and  graciously  preserved 
it  until  the  chosen  families  were  brought  in 
safety  to  these  western  regions.  They  found 
the  land  swarming  with  savages,  who  threat 
ened  death  with  every  kind  of  torture.  But 
savages,  and  death  with  torture,  were  far  less 
terrible  than  slavery :  nothing  was  so  much 
the  object  of  their  abhorrence  as  a  tyrant's 
power :  they  knew  it  was  more  safe  to  dwell 
with  man  in  his  most  unpolished  state,  than  in 
a  country  where  arbitrary  power  prevails.  Even 
anarchy  itself,  that  bugbear  held  up  by  the 
tools  of  power  (though  truly  to  be  deprecated) 
is  infinitely  less  dangerous  to  mankind  than 
arbitrary  government.  Anarchy  can  be  but  of 
a  short  duration  ;  for  when  men  are  at  liberty 
to  pursue  that  course  which  is  most  conducive 
to  their  own  happiness,  they  will  soon  come 
into  it,  and  from  the  rudest  state  of  nature 
order  and  good  government  must  soon  arise. 
But  tyranny,  when  once  established,  entails  its 
curses  on  a  nation  to  the  latest  period  of 
time  ;  unless  some  daring  genius,  inspired  by 
heaven,  shall,  unappalled  by  danger,  bravely 
form  and  execute  the  design  of  restoring  liberty 
and  life  to  his  enslaved,  murdered  country. 

The  tools  of  power,  in  every  age,  have  racked 

v      their  inventions  to  justify  the  few  in  sporting 

with  the  happiness  of  the  many  ;  and,  having 

found  their  sophistry  too  weak  to  hold  mankind 

in   bondage,  have   impiously   dared   to   force 


religion,  the  daughter  of  the  king  of  heaven,  to 
become  a  prostitute  in  the  service  of  hell.  They 
taught  that  princes,  honored  with  the  name  of 
Christian,  might  bid  defiance  to  the  founder  of 
their  faith,  might  pillage  Pagan  countries  and 
deluge  them  with  blood,  only  because  they 
boasted  themselves  to  be  the  disciples  of  that 
teacher  who  strictly  charged  his  followers 
to  do  to  others  as  they  would  that  others  should 
do  unto  them. 

This  country  having  been  discovered  by  an 
English  subject,  in  the  year  1620,  was  (accord 
ing  to  the  system  which  the  blind  superstition 
of  those  times  supported)  deemed  the  property 
of  the  crown  of  England.  Our  ancestors' 
when  they  resolved  to  quit  their  native  soil, 
obtained  from  king  James,  a  grant  of  certain 
lands  in  North  America.  This  they  probably 
did  to  silence  the  cavils  of  their  enemies,  for  it 
cannot  be  doubted,  but  that  they  despised  the 
pretended  right  which  he  claimed  thereto. 
Certain  it  is,  that  he  might,  with  equal  pro 
priety  and  justice,  have  made  them  a  grant  of 
the  planet  Jupiter.  And  their  subsequent  con 
duct  plainly  shows  that  they  were  too  well  ac 
quainted  with  humanity,  and  the  principles  of 
natural  equity,  to  suppose  that  the  grant  gave 
them  any  right  to  take  possession  ;  they  there 
fore  entered  into  a  treaty  with  the  natives,  and 
bought  from  them  the  lands ;  nor  have  I  ever 
yet  obtained  any  information  that  our  ancestors 
ever  pleaded,  or  that  the  natives  ever  regarded 
the  grant  from  the  English  crown :  the  busi 
ness  was  transacted  by  the  parties  in  the  same 
independent  manner  that  it  would  have  been, 
had  neither  of  them  ever  known  or  heard  of  the 
island  of  Great  Britain. 

Having  become  the  honest  proprietors  of 
the  soil,  they  immediately  applied  themselves  to 
the  cultivation  of  it,  and  they  soon  beheld  the 
virgin  earth  teeming  with  the  richest  fruits,  a 
grateful  recompense  for  their  unwearied  toil. 
The  fields  began  to  wave  with  ripening  har 
vests,  and  the  late  barren  wilderness  was  seen 
to  blossom  like  the  rose.  The  savage  natives 
saw  with  wonder  the  delightful  change,  and 
quickly  formed  a  scheme  to  obtain  that  by 
fraud  or  force,  which  nature  meant  as  the  re 
ward  of  industry  alone.  But  the  industrious 
emigrants  soon  convinced  the  rude  invaders, 
that  they  were  not  less  ready  to  take  the  field 
for  battle  than  for  labor,  and  the  insidious  foe 
was  driven  from  their  borders  as  often  as  he 
ventured  to  disturb  them.  The  crown  of  Eng 
land  looked  with  indifference  on  the  contest : 
our  ancestors  were  left  alone  to  combat  with 
the  natives.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  be 
lieve,  that  it  was  ever  intended  by  the  one 


26 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


party,  or  expected  by  the  other,  that  the 
grantor  should  defend  and  maintain  the  gran 
tees  in  the  peaceful  possession  of  the  lands 
named  in  the  patents.  And  it  appears  plainly, 
from  the  history  of  those  times,  that  neither 
the  prince  nor  the  people  of  England,  thought 
themselves  much  interested  in  the  matter. 
They  had  not  then  any  idea  of  a  thousandth 
part  of  those  advantages  which  they  since  have 
and  we  are  most  heartily  willing  they  should 
still  continue  to  reap  from  us. 

But  when,  at  an  infinite  expense  of  toil  and 
blood,  this  widely  extended  continent  had  been 
cultivated  and  defended :  when  the  hardy 
adventurers  justly  expected  that  they  and  their 
descendants  should  peaceably  have  enjoyed 
the  harvest  of  those  fields  which  they  had  sown, 
and  the  fruit  of  those  vineyards  which  they 
had  planted,  this  country  was  then  thought 
worthy  the  attention  of  the  British  ministry ; 
and  the  only  justifiable  and  only  successful 
means  of  rendering  the  colonies  serviceable  to 
Britain  were  adopted.  By  an  intercourse  of 
friendly  offices,  the  two  countries  became  so 
united  in  affection,  that  they  thought  not  of 
any  distinct  or  separate  interests,  they  found 
both  countries  flourishing  and  happy.  Britain 
saw  her  commerce  extended,  and  her  wealth 
increased  ;  her  lands  raised  to  an  immense 
value ;  her  fleets  riding  triumphant  on  the 
ocean  ;  the  terror  of  her  arms  spreading  to 
every  quarter  of  the  globe.  The  colonist 
found  himself  free,  and  thought  himself  secure  : 
he  dwelt  under  his  own  vine,  and  under  his 
own  fig-tree  and  had  none  to  make  him  afraid  : 
he  knew  indeed,  that  by  purchasing  the  manu 
factures  of  Great  Britain,  he  contributed  to  its 
greatness :  he  knew  that  all  the  wealth  that 
his  labor  produced  centered  in  Great  Britain  : 
But  that,  far  from  exciting  his  envy,  filled  him 
with  the  highest  pleasure ;  that  thought  sup 
ported  him  in  all  his  toils.  When  the  business 
of  the  day  was  past,  he  solaced  himself  with 
the  contemplation,  or  perhaps  entertained  his 
listening  family  with  the  recital  of  some  great, 
some  glorious  transaction  which  shines  con 
spicuous  in  the  history  of  Britain  :  or,  perhaps, 
his  elevated  fancy  led  him  to  foretel,  with  a 
kind  of  enthusiastic  confidence,  the  glory, 
power,  and  duration  of  an  empire  which  should 
extend  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other: 
he  saw,  or  thought  he  saw,  the  British  nation 
risen  to  a  pitch  of  grandeur  which  cast  a  veil 
over  the  Roman  glory,  and,  ravished  with  the 
pra>view,  boasted  a  race  of  British  kings, 
whose  names  should  echo  through  those 
realms  where  Cyrus,  Alexander,  and  the 
Cassars  were  unknown ;  princes,  for  whom 


millions  of  grateful  subjects  redeemed  from 
slavery  and  Pagan  ignorance,  should,  with 
thankful  tongues,  offer  up  their  prayers  and 
praises  to  that  transcendently  great  and  bene 
ficent  being,  by  whom  kings  reign  and  princes 
decree  justice. 

These  pleasing  connections  might  have 
continued ;  these  delightsome  prospects 
might  have  been  every  day  extended ;  and 
even  the  reveries  of  the  most  warm  imagina 
tion  might  have  been  realized  ;  but,  unhappil) 
for  Britain,  the  madness  of  an  avaricious  min 
ister  of  state,  has  drawn  a  sable  curtain  over 
the  charming  scene,  and  in  its  stead  has 
brought  upon  the  stage,  discord,  envy,  hatred 
and  revenge,  with  civil  war  close  in  their  rear. 

Some  demon,  in  an  evil  hour,  suggested  to 
a  short-sighted  financier,  the  hateful  project 
of  transferring  the  whole  property  of  the  king's 
subjects  in  America,  to  his  subjects  in  Britain. 
The  claim  of  the  British  parliament  to  tax  the 
colonies,  can  never  be  supported  but  by  such 
a  transfer ;  for  the  right  of  the  house  of 
Great  Britain,  to  originate  any  tax  or  grant 
money,  is  altogether  derived  from  their  being 
elected  by  the  people  of  Great  Britain  to  act 
for  them,  and  the  people  of  Great  Britain  can 
not  confer  on  their  representatives  a  right  to 
give  or  grant  anything  which  they  themselves 
have  not  a  right  to  give  or  grant  personally. 
Therefore  it  follows,  that  if  the  members  cho 
sen  by  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  to  repre 
sent  them  in  parliament,  have,  by  virtue  of 
their  being  so  chosen,  any  right  to  give  or  grant 
American  property,  or  to  lay  any  tax  upon  the 
lands  or  persons  of  the  colonists,  it  is  because 
the  lands  and  people  in  the  colonies,  are,  bona 
fide,  owned  by,  and  justly  belonging  to  the 
people  of  Great  Britain.  But  (as  has  been  be 
fore  observed)  every  man  has  a  right  to  per 
sonal  freedom,  consequently  a  right  to  enjoy 
what  is  acquired  by  his  own  labor.  And  it  is 
evident  that  the  property  in  this  country  has 
been  acquired  by  our  own  labor  ;  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  to  produce  some 
compact  in  which  we  have  explicitly  given  up 
to  them  a  right  to  dispose  of  our  persons  or 
property.  Until  this  is  done,  every  attempt 
of  theirs,  or  of  those  whom  they  have  deputed 
to  act  for  them,  to  give  or  grant  any  part  of 
our  property,  is  directly  repugnant  to  every 
principle  of  reason  and  natural  justice. 
But  I  may  boldly  say,  that  such  a  compact 
never  existed,  no,  not  even  in  imagina 
tion.  Nevertheless,  the  representatives  of  a 
nation,  long  famed  for  justice  and  the  ex 
ercise  of  every  noble  virtue,  have  been  pre 
vailed  on  to  adopt  the  fatal  scheme ;  and 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


although  the  dreadful  consequences  of  this 
wicked  policy  have  already  shaken  the  empire 
to  its  centre,  yet  still  it  is  persisted  in.  Regard 
less  of  the  voice  of  reason — deaf  to  the  prayers 
and  supplication — and  unaffected  with  the  flow 
ing  tears  of  suffering  millions,  the  British  min 
istry  still  hug  the  darling  idol ;  and  every 
rolling  year  affords  fresh  instances  of  the  ab 
surd  devotion  with  which  they  worship  it. 
Alas  !  how  has  the  folly,  the  distraction  of  the 
British  councils  blasted  our  swelling  hopes, 
and  spread  a  gloom  over  this  western  hem 
isphere. 

The  hearts  of  Britons  and  Americans,  which 
lately  felt  the  generous  glow  of  mutual  confi 
dence  and  love,  now  burn  with  jealousy  and 
rage.  Though  but  of  yesterday,  I  recollect 
(deeply  affected  at  the  ill-boding  change)  the 
happy  hours  that  past  while  Britain  and 
America  rejoiced  in  the  prosperity  and  great 
ness  of  each  other  (heaven  grant  those  halcyon 
days  may  soon  return).  But  now  the  Briton 
too  often  looks  on  the  American  with  an  en 
vious  eye,  taught  to  consider  his  just  plea  for 
the  enjoyment  of  his  earnings,  as  the  effect  of 
pride  and  stubborn  opposition  to  the  parent 
country.  Whilst  the  American  beholds  the 
Briton,  as  the  ruffian,  ready  first  to  take  away 
his  property,  and  next,  what  is  still  dearer  to 
every  virtuous  man,  the  liberty  of  his  country. 

When  the  measures  of  administration  had 
disgusted  the  colonies  to  the  highest  degree, 
and  the  people  of  Great  Britain  had,  by  arti 
fice  and  falsehood,  been  irritated  against 
America,  an  army  was  sent  over  to  enforce 
submission  to  certain  acts  of  the  British  parlia 
ment,  which  reason  scorned  to  countenance, 
and  which  placemen  and  pensioners  were 
found  unable  to  support. 

Martial  law  and  the  government  of  a  well- 
regulated  city,  are  so  entirely  different,  that  it 
has  always  been  considered  as  improper  to 
quarter  troops  in  populous  cities  ;  frequent  dis 
putes  must  necessarily  arise  between  the  citi 
zen  and  the  soldier,  even  if  no  previous  ani 
mosities  subsist.  And  it  is  further  certain, 
from  a  consideration  of  the  nature  of  mankind 
as  well  as  from  constant  experience,  that 
standing  armies  always  endanger  the  liberty 
of  the  subject.  But  when  the  people  on  the 
one  part,  considered  the  army  as  sent  to  en 
slave  them,  and  the  army  on  the  other,  were 
taught  to  look  on  the  people  as  in  a  state  of 
rebellion,  it  was  but  just  to  fear  the  most  disa 
greeable  consequences.  Our  fears,  we  have 
seen,  were  but  too  well  grounded. 

The  many  injuries  offered  to  the  town,  I 
pass  over  in  silence.  I  cannot  now  mark  out 


the  path  which  led  to  that  unequalled  scene 
of  horror,  the  sad  remembrance  of  which,  takes 
the  full  possession  of  my  soul.  The  sanguinary 
theatre  again  opens  itself  to  view.  The 
baleful  images  of  terror  crowd  around  me — 
and  discontented  ghosts,  with  hollow  groans, 
appear  to  solemnize  the  anniversary  of  the 
fifth  of  March. 

Approach  we  then  the  melancholy  walk  of 
death.  Hither  let  me  call  the  gay  companion  ; 
here  let  him  drop  a  farewell  tear  upon  that 
body  which  so  late  he  saw  vigorous  and  warm 
with  social  mirth — hither  let  me  lead  the  ten 
der  mother  to  weep  over  her  beloved  son — 
come  widowed  mourner,  here  satiate  thy  grief ; 
behold  thy  murdered  husband  gasping  on  the 
ground,  and  to  complete  the  pompous  show  of 
wretchedness,  bring  in  each  hand  thy  infant 
children  to  bewail  their  father's  fate — take 
heed,  ye  orphan  babes,  lest,  whilst  your 
streaming  eyes  are  fixed  upon  the  ghastly 
corpse,  your  feet  slide  on  the  stones  bespat 
tered  •with  your  father's  brains*  Enough  ! 
this  tragedy  need  not  be  heightened  by  an  in 
fant  weltering  in  the  blood  of  him  that  gave  it 
birth.  Nature  reluctant,  shrinks  already  from 
the  view,  and  the  chilled  blood  rolls  slowly 
backward  to  its  fountain.  We  wildly  stare 
about,  and  with  amazement,  ask  who  spread 
this  ruin  round  us  ?  what  wretch  has  dared 
deface  the  image  of  his  God  ?  has  haughty 
France,  or  cruel  Spain,  sent  forth  her  myrmi 
dons  ?  has  the  grim  savage  rushed  again  from 
the  far  distant  wilderness  ?  or  does  some  fiend 
fierce  from  the  depth  of  hell,  with  all  the  ran 
corous  malice  which  the  apostate  damned  can 
feel,  twang  her  destructive  bow,  and  hurl  her 
deadly  arrows  at  our  breast  ?  no  ;  none  of 
these — but,  how  astonishing !  it  is  the  hand  of 
Britain  that  inflicts  the  wound.  The  arms  of 
George,  our  rightful  king,  have  been  employed 
to  shed  that  blood,  when  justice,  or  the  honor 
of  his  crown,  had  called  his  subjects  to  the 
field. 

But  pity,  grief,  astonishment,  with  all  the 
softer  movements  of  the  soul,  must  now  give 
way  to  stronger  passions.  Say,  fellow-citizens 
what  dreadful  thought  now  swells  your  heav 
ing  bosoms — you  fly  to  arms — sharp  indigna 
tion  flashes  from  each  eye — revenge  gnashes 
her  iron  teeth — death  grins  an  hideous  smile, 
secure  to  drench  his  greedy  jaws  in  human 
gore — whilst  hovering  furies  darken  all  the  air. 

But  stop,  my  bold  adventurous  countrymen, 

*  After  Mr.  Gray  had  been  shot  through  the  body, 
and  had  fallen  dead  on  the  ground,  a  bayonet  was  pushed 
through  his  skull;  part  of  the  bone  being  broken,  hi? 
brains  fell  out  upon  the  pavement. 


28 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


stain  not  your  weapons  with  the  blood  of 
Britons.  Attend  to  reason's  voice — humanity 
puts  in  her  claim — and  sues  to  be  again  admit 
ted  to  her  wonted  seat,  the  bosom  of  the 
brave.  Revenge  is  far  beneath  the  noble 
mind.  Many,  perhaps,  compelled  to  rank 
among  the  vile  assassins,  do  from  their  inmost 
souls,  detest  the  barbarous  action.  The 
winged  death,  shot  from  your  arms,  may 
chance  to  pierce  some  breast  that  bleeds  al- 
*  ready  for  your  injured  country. 

The  storm  subsides — a  solemn  pause  ensues 
— you  spare,  upon  condition  they  depart.  They 
go — they  quit  your  city — they  no  more  shall 

give    offence. Thus    closes  the   important 

drama. 

And  could  it  have  been  conceived  that  we 
again  should  have  seen  a  British  army  in  our 
land,  sent  to  enforce  obedience  to  acts  of  parlia 
ment  destructive  of  our  liberty.  But  the  royal 
ear,  far  distant  from  this  western  world,  has 
been  assaulted  by  the  tongue  of  slander ;  and 
villains,  traitorous  alike  to  king  and  country, 
have  prevailed  upon  a  gracious  prince  to  clothe 
his  countenance  with  wrath,  and  to  erect  the 
hostile  banner  against  a  people  ever  affectionate 
and  loyal  to  him  and  his  illustrious  predeces 
sors  of  the  house  of  Hanover.  Our  streets  are 
again  filled  with  armed  men ;  our  harbor  is 
crowded  with  ships  of  war ;  but  these  cannot 
intimidate  us  ;  our  liberty  must  be  preserved  ; 
it  is  far  dearer  than  life,  we  hold  it  even  dear  as 
our  allegiance  ;  we  must  defend  it  against  the 
attacks  of  friends  as  well  as  enemies ;  we  can 
not  suffer  even  Britons  to  ravish  it  from  us. 

No  longer  could  we  reflect  with  generous 
pride  on  the  heroic  actions  of  our  American 
forefathers — no  longer  boast  our  origin  from 
that  far-famed  island  whose  warlike  sons  have 
so  often  drawn  their  well  tried  swords  to  save 
her  from  the  ravages  of  tyranny  ;  could  we 
but  for  a  moment,  entertain  the  thought  of 
giving  up  our  liberty.  The  man  who  meanly 
will  submit  to  wear  a  shackle,  contemns  the 
noblest  gift  of  heaven,  and  impiously  affronts 
the  God  that  made  him  free. 

It  was  a  maxim  of  the  Roman  people,  which 
eminently  conduced  to  the  greatness  of  that 
state,  never  to  despair  of  the  commonwealth. 
The  maxim  may  prove  as  salutary  to  us  now, 
as  it  did  to  them.  Short-sighted  mortals  see 
not  the  numerous  links  of  small  and  gr.eat 
events,  which  form  the  chain  on  which  the  fate 
of  kings  and  nations  is  suspended.  Ease  and 
prosperity  (though  pleasing  for  a  day)  have 
often  sunk  a  people  into  effeminacy  and  sloth. 
Hardships  and  dangers  (tho'  we  forever  strive 
to  shun  them)  have  frequently  called  forth  such 


virtues,  as  have  commanded  the  applause  and 
reverence  of  an  admiring  world.  Our  country 
loudly  calls  you  to  be  circumspect,  vigilant, 
active  and  brave.  Perhaps,  (all  gracious 
heaven  avert  it)  perhaps,  the  power  of  Britain, 
a  nation  great  in  war,  by  some  malignant 
influence,  may  be  employed  to  enslave  you : 
but  let  not  even  this  discourage  you.  Her 
arms,  'tis  true,  have  filled  the  world  with  ter 
ror  :  her  troops  have  reaped  the  laurels  of  the 
field :  her  fleets  have  rode  triumphant  on  th( 
sea — and  when  or  where,  did  you,  my  country 
men,  depart  inglorious  from  the  field  of  fight  !* 
you  too  can  shew  the  trophies  of  your  forefa 
thers'  victories  and  your  own  ;  can  name  the 
fortresses  and  battles  you  have  won ;  and  many 
of  you  count  the  honorable  scars  of  wounds 
received,  whilst  fighting  for  your  king  and 
country. 

Where  justice  is  the  standard,  heaven  is 
the  warrior's  shield  :  but  conscious  guilt  un 
nerves  the  arm  that  lifts  the  sword  against  the 
innocent.  Britain,  united  with  these  colonies, 
by  commerce  and  affection,  by  interest  and 
blood,  may  mock  the  threats  of  France  and 
Spain :  may  be  the  seat  of  universal  empire. 
But  should  America,  either  by  force,  or  those 
more  dangerous  engines,  luxury  and  corrup 
tion,  ever  be  brought  into  a  state  of  vassalage, 
Britain  must  lose  her  freedom  also.  No  lon 
ger  shall  she  sit  the  empress  of  the  sea :  her 
ships  no  more  shall  waft  her  thunders  over  the 
wide  ocean :  the  wreath  shall  wither  on  her 
temples  :  her  weakened  arm  shall  be  unable  to 
defend  her  coasts  :  and  she,  at  last,  must  bow 
her  venerable  head  to  some  proud  foreigner's 
despotic  rule. 

But  if,  from  past  events,  we  may  venture  to 
form  a  judgment  of  the  future,  we  justly  may 

*  The  patience  with  which  this  people  have  borne  the 
repeated  injuries  which  have  been  heaped  upon  them,  and 
their  unwillingness  to  take  any  sanguinary  measures,  has, 
very  injudiciously,  been  ascribed  to  cowardice,  by  per 
sons  both  here  and  in  Great  Britain.  I  most  heartily  wish 
that  an  opinion,  so  erroneous  in  itself,  and  so  fatal  in  its 
consequences,  might  be  utterly  removed  before  it  be  too 
late  :  and  I  think  nothing  further  necessary  to  convince 
every  intelligent  man,  that  the  conduct  of  this  people  is 
owing  to  the  tender  regard  which  they  have  for  their 
fellow-men  and  an  utter  abhorrence  to  the  shedding  of 
human  blood,  than  a  little  attention  to  their  general 
temper  and  disposition,  discovered  when  they  cannot  be 
supposed  to  be  under  any  apprehension  of  danger  to  them 
selves. — I  will  only  mention  the  universal  detestation 
which  they  shew  to  every  act  of  cruelty,  by  whom,  and 
upon  whomsoever  committed  ;the  mild  spirit  of  their  laws; 
the  very  few  crimes  to  which  capital  penalties  are  an 
nexed  ;  and  the  very  great  backwardness  which  both 
courts  and  juries  discover,  in  condemning  persons  charged 
with  capital  crimes.— But  if  any  should  think  this  observa 
tion  not  to  the  purpose,  I  readily  appeal  to  those  gentle 
men  of  the  army  who  have  been  in  the  camp,  or  in  the 
field,  with  the  Americans. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


29 


expect  that  the  devices  of  our  enemies  will  but 
increase  the  triumphs  of  our  country.  I  must 
indulge  a  hope  that  Britain's  liberty,  as 'well 
as  ours,  will  eventually  be  preserved  by  the 
virtue  of  America. 

The  attempt  of  the  British  parliament  to 
raise  a  revenue  from  America,  and  our  denial 
of  their  right  to  do  it,  have  excited  an  almost 
universal  enquiry  into  the  right  of  mankind  in 
general,  and  of  British  subjects  in  particular ; 
the  necessary  result  of  which  must  be  such  a 
liberality  of  sentiment,  and  such  a  jealousy  of 
those  in  power,  as  will,  better  than  an  adaman 
tine  wall,  secure  us  against  the  future  ap 
proaches  of  despotism. 

The  malice  of  the  Boston  port-bill  has  been 
defeated  in  a  very  considerable  degree,  by  giving 
you  an  opportunity  of  deserving,  and  our  breth 
ren  in  this  and  our  sister-colonies  an  oppor 
tunity  of  bestowing,  those  benefactions  which 
have  delighted  your  friends  and  astonished 
your  enemies,  not  only  in  America,  but  in  Eu 
rope  also.  And  what  is  more  valuable  still, 
the  sympathetic  feelings  for  a  brother  in  dis 
tress,  and  the  grateful  emotions  excited  in  the 
breast  of  him  who  finds  relief,  must  forever 
endear  each  to  the  other,  and  form  those  indis 
soluble  bonds  of  friendship  and  affection,  on 
which  the  preservation  of  our  rights  so  evi 
dently  depend. 

The  mutilation  of  our  charter,  has  made 
every  other  colony  jealous  for  its  own  ;  for  this 
if  once  submitted  to  by  us,  would  set  on  float  the 
property  and  government  of  every  British  set 
tlement  upon  the  continent.  If  charters  are 
not  deemed  sacred,  how  miserably  precarious 
is  every  thing  founded  upon  them. 

Even  the  sending  troops  to  put  these  acts 
in  execution,  is  not  without  advantages  to  us. 
The  exactness  and  beauty  of  their  discipline 
inspire  our  youth  with  ardor  in  the  pursuit  of 
military  knowledge.  Charles  the  invincible, 
taught  Peter  the  great,  the  art  of  war.  The 
battle  of  Pultovva  convinced  Charles  of  the 
proficiency  Peter  had  made. 

Our  country  is  in  danger,  but  not  to  be  de 
spaired  of.  Our  enemies  are  numerous  and 
powerful — but  we  have  many  friends — deter 
mining  to  be  free,  and  Heaven  and  earth 
will  aid  the  resolution.  On  you  depend  the 
fortunes  of  America.  You  are  to  decide  the 
important  question,  on  which  rest  the  happi 
ness  and  liberty  of  millions  yet  unborn.  Act 
worthy  of  yourselves.  The  faltering  tongue 
of  hoary  age  calls  on  you  to  support  your  coun 
try.  The  lisping  infant  raises  its  suppliant 
hands,  imploring  defence  against  the  monster 
slavery.  Your  fathers  look  from  their  celestial 


seats  with  smiling  approbation  on  their  sons, 
who  boldly  stand  forth  in  the  cause  of  virtue ; 
but  sternly  frown  upon  the  inhuman  miscreant, 
who,  to  secure  the  loaves  and  fishes  to  him 
self,  would  breed  a  serpent  to  destroy  his 
children. 

But,  pardon  me,  my  fellow-citizens,  I  know 
you  want  not  zeal  or  fortitude.  You  will 
maintain  your  rights  or  perish  in  the  generous 
struggle.  However  difficult  the  combat,  you 
never  will  decline  it  when  freedom  is  the  prize. 
An  independence  of  Great  Britain  is  not  our 
aim.  No,  our  wish  is,  that  Britain  and  the 
colonies  may,  like  the  oak  and  ivy,  grow  and 
increase  in  strength  together.  But  whilst  the 
infatuated  plan  of  making  one  part  of  the 
empire  slaves  to  the  other  is  persisted  in,  the 
interest  and  safety  of  Britain,  as  well  as  the 
colonies,  require  that  the  wise  measures,  recom 
mended  by  the  honorable  the  continental  con 
gress,  be  steadily  pursued ;  whereby  the 
unnatural  contest  between  a  parent  honored, 
and  a  child  beloved,  may  probably  be  brought 
to  such  an  issue,  as  that  the  peace  and  happi 
ness  of  both  may  be  established  upon  a  lasting 
basis.  But  if  these  pacific  measures  are  in 
effectual,  and  it  appears  that  the  only  way  to 
safety,  is  through  fields  of  blood,  I  know  you 
will  not  turn  your  faces  from  your  foes,  but 
will,  undauntedly,  press  forward,  until  tyranny 
is  trodden  under  foot,  and  you  have  fixed  your 
adored  goddess  liberty,  fast  by  a  Brunswick's 
side,  on  the  American  throne. 

You  then,  who  nobly  have  espoused  your 
country's  cause,  who  generously  have  sacrificed 
wealth  and  ease  —  who  have  despised  the 
pomp  and  shew  of  tinseled  greatness — refused 
the  summons  to  the  festive  board — been  deaf 
to  the  alluring  calls  of  luxury  and  mirth — who 
have  forsaken  the  downy  pillow,  to  keep  your 
vigils  by  the  midnight  lamp,  for  the  salvation  of 
your  invaded  country,  that  you  might  break  the 
fowler's  snare,  and  disappoint  the  vulture  of  his 
prey  ;  you  then  will  reap  that  harvest  of  renown 
which  you  so  justly  have  deserved.  Your  coun 
try  shall  pay  her  grateful  tribute  of  applause. 
Even  the  children  of  your  most  inveterate 
enemies,  ashamed  to  tell  from  whom  they 
sprang,  while  they,  in  secret,  curse  their  stupid, 
cruel  parents,  shall  join  the  general  voice  of 
gratitude  to  those  who  broke  the  fetters  which 
their  fathers'  forged. 

Having  redeemed  your  country,  and  secured 
the  blessing  to  future  generations,  who,  fired 
by  your  example,  shall  emulate  your  virtues, 
and  learn  from  you  the  heavenly  art  of  making 
millions  happy ;  with  heart-felt  joy — with 
transports  all  your  own,  you  cry,  the  glorious 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


work  is  done.  Then  drop  the  mantle  to  some 
young  Elisha,  and  take  your  seats  with  kindred 
spirits  in  your  native  skies. 


AN   ORATION, 

Delivered  at  the  King's  Chapel  in  Boston, 
April^>,  1776,  on  the  re-interment  of  there- 
mains  of  the  late  Most  Worshipful  Grand 
master  Joseph  Warren,  Esquire,  President  of 
the  late  Congress  of  this  Colony,  and  Major  Gen 
eral  of  the  Massachusetts  forces,  who  was  slain 
in  the  battle  of  Bunkers-hill,  June  17,  1775. 

BY  PEREZ  MORTON,  M.  M. 

Illustrious  relics! — What  tidings  from  the 
grave  ?  why  hast  thou  left  the  peaceful  man 
sions  of  that  tomb,  to  visit  again  this  troubled 
earth  !  art  thou  the  welcome  messenger  of 
peace  !  art  thou  risen  again  to  exhibit  thy 
glorious  wounds,  and  through  them  proclaim 
salvation  to  thy  country  !  or  art  thou  come  to 
demand  the  last  debt  of  humanity,  to  which 
your  rank  and  merit  have  so  justly  entitled  you 
— but  which  has  been  so  long  ungenerously 
withheld  !  and  art  thou  angry  at  the  barbarous 
usage  ?  be  appeased,  sweet  ghost  !  for  though 
thy  body  has  long  laid  undistinguished  among 
the  vulgar  dead,  scarce  privileged  with  earth 
enough  to  hide  it  from  the  birds  of  prey ; 
though  not  a  friendly  sigh  was  uttered  o'er  thy 
grave  ;  and  though  the  execration  of  an  impious 
foe,  were  all  thy  funeral  knells  ;  yet,  matchless 
patriot  !  thy  memory  has  been  embalmed  in 
the  affections  of  thy  grateful  countrymen  ; 
who,  in  their  breasts,  have  raised  eternal  monu 
ments  to  thy  bravery ! 

But  let  us  leave  the  beloved  remains,  and 
contemplate  for  a  moment,  those  virtues  of  the 
man,  the  exercise  of  which  have  so  deservedly 
endeared  him  to  the  honest  among  the  great, 
and  the  good  among  the  humble. 

In  the  private  walks  of  life,  he  was  a  pattern 
for  mankind. — The  tears  of  her,  to  whom  the 
world  is  indebted  for  so  much  virtue,  are  silent 
heralds  of  his  filial  piety  ;  while  his  tender  off 
spring,  in  lisping  out  their  father's  care,  pro 
claim  his  parental  affection  ;  and  an  Adams 
can  witness  with  how  much  zeal  he  loved, 
where  he  had  formed  the  sacred  connexion  of 
a  friend  : — their  kindred  souls  were  so  closely 
twined,  that  both  felt  one  joy,  both  one  afflic 
tion.  In  conversation  he  had  the  happy  talent 
of  addressing  his  subject  both  to  the  under 
standing  and  the  passions;  from  the  one  he 
forced  conviction,  from  the  other  he  stole  assent. 


He  was  blessed  with  a  complacency  of  dis 
position  and  equanimity  of  temper,  which 
peculiarly  endeared  him  to  his  friends,  and 
which,  added  to  the  deportment  of  the  gentle 
man,  commanded  reverence  and  esteem  even 
from  his  enemies. 

Such  was  the  tender  sensibility  of  his  soul, 
that  he  need  but  see  distress  to  feel  it,  and 
contribute  to  its  relief.  He  was  deaf  to  the 
calls  of  interest  even  in  the  course  of  his  pro 
fession  :  and  wherever  he  beheld  an  indigen 
object,  which  claimed  his  healing  skill,  he  ad 
ministered  it,  without  even  the  hope  of  any 
other  reward  than  that  which  resulted  from 
the  reflection  of  having  so  far  promoted  the 
happiness  of  his  fellow-men. 

In  the  social  departments  of  life,  practising 
upon  the  strength  of  that  doctrine,  he  used  so 
earnestly  to  inculcate  himself,  that  nothing  so 
much  conduced  to  enlighten  mankind,  and 
advance  the  great  end  of  society  at  large,  as 
the  frequent  interchange  of  sentiments,  in 
friendly  meeting  ;  we  find  him  constantly  en 
gaged  in  this  eligible  labor ;  but  on  none  did 
he  place  so  high  a  value,  as  on  that  most  hon 
orable  of  all  detached  societies,  The  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons :  into  this  fraternity 
he  was  early  initiated  ;  and  after  having  given 
repeated  proofs  of  a  rapid  proficiency  in  the 
arts,  and  after  evidencing  by  his  life,  the  pro 
fessions  of  his  lips — finally,  as  the  reward  of 
his  merit,  he  was  commissioned  The  Most 
Worshipful  Grand-Master  of  all  the  ancient 

Masons,  through  North  America. And  you, 

brethren,  are  living  testimonies,  with  how  much 
honor  to  himself,  and  benefit  to  the  craft  uni 
versal,  he  discharged  the  duties  of  his  elevated 
trust ;  with  what  sweetened  accents  he  courted 
your  attention,  while,  with  wisdom,  strength, 
and  beauty,  he  instructed  his  lodges  in  the 
secret  arts  of  Freemasonry  ;  what  perfect  order 
and  decorum  he  preserved  in  the  government  of 
them  ;  and,  in  all  his  conduct,  what  a  bright 
example  he  set  us,  to  live  within  compass  and 
act  upon  the  square. 

With  what  pleasure  did  he  silence  the  wants 
of  poor  and  pennyless  brethren ;  yea,  the 
necessitous  every  where,  though  ignorant  of 
the  mysteries  of  the  craft,  from  his  benefac 
tions,  felt  the  happy  effects  of  that  institution 
which  is  founded  on  faith,  hope  and  charity. 
And  the  world  may  cease  to  wonder,  that  he 
so  readily  offered  up  his  life,  on  the  altar  of 
his  country,  when  they  are  told  that  the  main 
pillar  of  masonry  is  the  love  of  mankind. 

The  fates,  as  though  they  would  reveal,  in 
the  person  of  our  Grand-master,  those  mys 
teries  which  have  so  long  lain  hid  from  the 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


world,  have  suffered  him,  like  the  great  master- 
builder  in  the  temple  of  old,  to  fall  by  the 
hands  of  ruffians,  and  be  again  raised  in 
honor  and  authority  :  we  searched  in  the  field 
for  the  murdered  son  of  a  widow,  and  we 
found  him,  by  the  turf  and  the  twig,  buried  on 
the  brow  of  a  hill,  though  not  in  a  decent 
grave. — And  though  we  must  again  commit 
his  body  to  the  tomb,  yet  our  breasts  shall  be 
the  burying  spot  of  his  masonic  virtues,  and 
there — 

"  An  adamantine  monument  we'll  rear, 

"  With  this  inscription,"  Masonry  "  lies  here."  — 

In  public  life,  the  sole  object  of  his  ambition 
was,  to  acquire  the  conscience  of  virtuous  en 
terprises  ;  amor  patrie  was  the  spring  of  his 
actions,  and  mens  conscia  rectiwas  his  guide. 
And  on  this  security  he  was,  on  every  occa 
sion,  ready  to  sacrifice  his  health,  his  interest, 
and  his  ease,  to  the  sacred  calls  of  his  country. 
When  the  liberties  of  America  were  attacked, 
he  appeared  an  early  champion  in  the  con 
test  :  and  though  his  knowledge  and  abilities 
would  have  insured  riches  and  preferment 
(could  he  have  stooped  to  prostitution)  yet  he 
nobly  withstood  the  fascinating  charm,  tossed 
fortune  back  her  plume,  and  pursued  the  in 
flexible  purpose  of  his  soul,  in  guiltless  com 
petence. 

He  sought  not  the  airy  honors  of  a  name, 
else  many  of  those  publications  which,  in  the 
early  period  of  our  controversy,  served  to  open 
the  minds  of  the  people,  had  not  appeared  an 
onymous.  In  every  time  of  eminent  danger, 
his  fellow-citizens  flew  to  him  for  advice  ;  like 
the  orator  of  Athens,  he  gave  it  and  dispelled 
their  fears  : — twice  did  they  call  him  to  the 
rostrum  to  commemorate  the  massacre  of  their 
brethren  ;  and  from  that  instance,  in  persua 
sive  language  he  taught  them,  not  only  the 
dangerous  tendency,  but  the  actual  mischief, 
of  stationing  a  military  force  in  a  free  city,  in  a 
time  of  peace. — They  learnt  the  profitable 
lesson  and  penned  it  among  their  grievances. 

But  his  abilities  were  too  great,  his  delibera 
tions  too  much  wanted,  to  be  confined  to  the 
limits  of  a  single  city,  and  at  a  time  when  our 
liberties  were  most  critically  in  danger  from  the 
secret  machinations  and  open  assaults  of  our 
enemies,  this  town,  to  their  lasting  honor, 
elected  him  to  take  a  part  in  the  councils  of  the 
state. — And  with  what  faithfulness  he  dis 
charged  the  important  delegation,  the  neglect 
of  his  private  concerns,  and  his  unwearied 
attendance  on  that  betrustment,  will  sufficiently 
testify  ;  and  the  records  of  that  virtuous  as 
sembly  will  remain  the  testimonials  of  his 
accomplishments  as  a  statesman,  and  his 


integrity  and  services  as  a  patriot,  through  all 
posterity. 

The  congress  of  our  colony  could  not  observe 
so  much  virtue  and  greatness  without  honor 
ing  it  with  the  highest  mark  of  their  favor,  and 
by  the  free  suffrages  of  that  uncorrupted  body 
of  freemen,  he  was  soon  called  to  preside  in 
the  senate — where,  by  his  daily  counsels  and 
exertions,  he  was  constantly  promoting  the 
great  cause  of  general  liberty. 

But  when  he  found  the  tools  of  oppression 
were  obstinately  bent  on  violence  ;  when  he 
found  the  vengeance  of  the  British  court  must 
be  glutted  with  blood  ;  he  determined,  that 
what  he  could  not  effect  by  his  eloquence  or 
his  pen,  he  would  bring  to  purpose  by  his 
sword.  And  on  the  memorable  ipth  of  April, 
he  appeared  in  the  field  under  the  united 
characters  of  the  general,  the  soldier,  and  the 
physician.  Here  he  was  seen  animating  his 
countrymen  to  battle,  and  fighting  by  their 
side,  and  there  he  was  found  administering 
healing  comforts  to  the  wounded.  And  when 
he  had  repelled  the  unprovoked  assaults  of  the 
enemy,  and  had  driven  them  back  into  their 
strong-holds,  like  the  virtuous  chief  of  Rome, 
he  returned  to  the  senate,  and  presided  again 
at  the  councils  of  the  fathers. 

When  the  vanquished  foe  had  rallied  their 
disordered  army,  and  by  the  acquisition  of  fresh 
strength,  again  presumed  to  fight  against  free 
men,  our  patriot,  ever  anxious  to  be  where  he 
could  do  the  most  good,  again  put  off  the 
senator,  and,  in  contempt  of  danger,  flew  to 
the  field  of  battle,  where,  after  a  stern,  and 
almost  victorious  resistance,  ah  !  too  soon  for 
his  country  !  he  sealed  his  principles  with  his 
blood — then — 

"  Freedom  wept,  that  merit  could  not  save," 
But  Warren's  manes  "  must  enrich  the  grave." 

Enriched  indeed  !  and  the  heights  of  Charles- 
town  shall  be  more  memorable  for  thy  fall, 
than  the  Plains  of  Abraham  are  for  that  of 
the  hero  of  Britain.  For  while  he  died  con 
tending  for  a  single  country,  you  fell  in  the 
cause  of  virtue  and  mankind. 

The  greatness  of  his  soul  shone  even  in  the 
moment  of  death  ;  for,  if  fame  speaks  true,  in 
his  last  agonies  he  met  the  insults  of  his  bar 
barous  foe  with  his  wonted  magnanimity,  and 
with  the  true  spirit  of  a  soldier,  frowned  at 
their  impotence. 

In  fine,  to  complete  the  great  character — 
like  Harrington  he  wrote — like  Cicero  he 
spoke — like  Hampden  he  lived — and  like  Wolfe 
he  died. 

And  can  we,  my  countrymen,  with  indiffe 
rence  behold  so  much  valor  laid  prostrate  by 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


the  hand  of  British  tyranny !  and  can  we 
ever  grasp  that  hand  in  affection  again  ?  are 
we  not  yet  convinced  "  that  he  who  hunts  the 
woods  for  prey,  the  naked  and  untutored  Indian, 
is  less  a  savage  than  the  king  of  Britain  !  " 
have  we  not  proofs,  wrote  in  blood,  that  the 
corrupted  nation,  from  whence  we  sprang, 
(though  there  may  be  some  traces  of  their  an 
cient  virtue  left)  are  stubbornly  fixed  on  our 
destruction  !  and  shall  we  still  court  a  depen 
dence  on  such  a  state  ?  still  contend  for  a  con 
nexion  with  those  who  have  forfeited  not  only 
every  kindred  claim,  but  even  their  title  to 
humanity  !  forbid  it  the  spirit  of  the  brave 
Montgomery  !  forbid  it  the  spirit  of  immortal 
Warren  !  forbid  it  the  spirits  of  all  our  valiant 
countrymen  !  who  fought,  bled,  and  died  for 
far  different  purposes,  and  who  would  have 
thought  the  purchase  dear  indeed  !  to  have 
paid  their  lives  for  the  paltry  boon  of  displacing 
one  set  of  villains  in  power,  to  make  way  for 
another.  No.  They  contended  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  peace,  liberty,  and  safety  to  their 
country  ;  and  we  are  unworthy  to  be  called 
their  countrymen,  if  we  stop  at  any  acquisition 
short  of  this. 

Now  is  the  happy  season,  to  seize  again 
those  rights,  which,  as  men,  we  are  by  nature 
entitled  to,  and  which,  by  contract,  we  never 
have  and  never  could  have  surrendered : — but 
which  have  been  repeatedly  and  violently  at 
tacked  by  the  king,  lords  and  commons  of 
Britain.  Ought  we  not  then  to  disclaim  for 
ever,  the  forfeited  affinity  ;  and  by  a  timely 
amputation  of  that  rotten  limb  of  the  empire, 
prevent  the  mortification  of  the  whole  ?  ought 
we  not  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  our  slaugh 
tered  brethren,  who  are  now  proclaiming  aloud 
to  their  country — 

Go  tell  the  king,  and  tell  him  from  our  spirits, 

That  you  and  Britons  can  be  friends  no  more ; 

Tell  him,  to  you  all  tyrants  are  the  same  ; 

Or  if  in  bonds,  the  never  conquer'd  soul 

Can  feel  a  pang,  more  keen  than  slavery's  self, 

'Tis  where  the  chains  that  crush  you  into  dust, 

Are  forg'd  by  hands,  from  which  you  hop'd  for  freedom. 

Yes,  we  ought,  and  will — we  will  assert  the 
blood  of  our  murdered  hero  against  thy  hos 
tile  oppressions,  O  shameless  Britain !  and 
when  "  thy  cloud-capped  towers,  thy  gorgeous 
palaces  "  shall,  by  the  teeth  of  pride  and  folly, 
be  levelled  with  the  dust— and  when  thy  glory 
shall  have  faded  like  the  western  sunbeam — the 
name  and  the  virtues  of  Warren  shall  re 
main  immortal. 

GENERAL  WARREN. 

[It  is  well  remembered  that  this  ardent 
patriot  twice  mounted  the  rostrum  to  address 


his  fellow  citizens  on  the  subject  of  the  massa 
cre  of  the  5th  of  March  :  but  the  occasion  of 
his  second  appointment  for  that  purpose  is  not 
generally  known Mr.  Knapp,  in  his  "  bio 
graphical  sketches,"  just  published,  has  given 
the  following  interesting  explanation  of  it,  which 
is  in  concurrence  with  the  daring  spirit  of  the 
man,  who  was  always  foremost  in  danger.] 

"  His  next  oration  was  delivered  March  5th, 
1775.  It  was  at  his  own  solicitation  that  h« 
was  appointed  to  the  duty  a  second  time.  The 
fact  is  illustrative  of  his  character,  and  worthy 
of  remembrance. — Some  British  officers  of  the 
army  then  in  Boston,  had  publicly  declared 
that  it  should  be  at  the  price  of  the  life  of  any 
man  to  speak  of  the  event  of  March  5,  1770,  on 
that  anniversary.  Warren's  soul  took  fire  at 
such  a  threat,  so  openly  made,  and  he  wished 
for  the  honor  of  braving  it.  This  was  readily 
granted,  for  at  such  a  time  a  man  would  proba 
bly  find  but  few  rivals.  Many  who  would  spurn 
the  thought  of  personal  fear,  might  be  appre 
hensive  that  they  would  be  so  far  disconcerted 
as  to  forget  their  discourse.  It  is  easier  to 
fight  bravely,  than  to  think  clearly  or  correctly 
in  danger. — Passion  sometimes  nerves  the  arm 
to  fight,  but  disturbs  the  regular  current  of 
thought.  The  day  came,  and  the  weather  was 
remarkably  fine.  The  Old  South  meeting-house 
was  crowded  at  an  early  hour.  The  British 
officers  occupied  the  aisles,  the  flight  of  steps 
to  the  pulpit,  and  several  of  them  were  within 
it.  It  was  not  precisely  known  whether  this 
was  accident  or  design.  The  orator,  with  the 
assistance  of  his  friends,  made  his  entrance  at 
the  pulpit  window  by  a  ladder.  The  officers, 
seeing  his  coolness  and  intrepidity,  made  way 
for  him  to  advance  and  address  the  audience. 
An  awful  stillness  preceded  his  exordium. 
Each  man  felt  the  palpitation  of  his  own  heart, 
and  saw  the  pale  but  determined  face  of  his 
neighbor.  The  speaker  began  his  oration  in  a 
firm  tone  of  voice,  and  proceeded  with  great 
energy  and  pathos.  Warren  and  his  friends  were 
prepared  to  chastise  contumely,  prevent  dis 
grace,  and  avenge  an  attempt  at  assassination. 

The  scene  was  sublime ;  a  patriot  in  whom 
the  flush  of  youth,  and  the  grace  and  dignity 
of  manhood  were  combined,  stood  armed  in 
the  sanctuary  of  God,  to  animate  and  encourage 
the  sons  of  liberty,  and  to  hurl  defiance  at  their 
oppressors.  The  orator  commenced  with  the 
early  history  of  the  country,  described  the 
tenure  by  which  we  held  our  liberties  and 
property — the  affection  we  had  constantly 
shewn  the  parent  country,  and  boldly  told 
them  how,  and  by  whom  these  blessings  of 
life  had  been  violated.  There  was  in  this 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


33 


appeal  to  Britain — in  this  description  of  suffer 
ing,  agony  and  horror,  a  calm  and  high-souled 
defiance  which  must  have  chilled  the  blood  of 
every  sensible  foe.  Such  another  hour  has  sel 
dom  happened  in  the  history  of  man,  and  is  not 
surpassed  in  the  records  of  nations.  The 
thunders  of  Demosthenes  rolled  at  a  distance 
from  Philip  and  his  host — and  Tully  poured 
the  fiercest  torrent  of  his  invective  when  Cati 
line  was  at  a  distance,  and  his  dagger  no 
longer  to  be  feared  ;  but  Warren's  speech  was 
made  to  proud  oppressors  resting  on  their 
arms,  whose  errand  it  was  to  overawe,  and 
whose  business  it  was  to  fight. 

If  the  deed  of  Brutus  deserved  to  be  commem 
orated  by  history,  poetry,  painting  and  sculp 
ture,  should  not  this  instance  of  patriotism  and 
bravery  be  held  in  lasting  remembrance  ?  If  he 

'  That  struck  the  foremost  man  of  all  this  world,' 
was  hailed  as  the  first  of  freemen,  what  honors 
are  not  due  to  him,  who,  undismayed,  bearded 
the  British  lion,  to  show  the  world  what  his 
countrymen  dared  to  do  in  the  cause  of  liberty  ? 
If  the  statue  of  Brutus  were  placed  among  those 
of  the  gods,  who  were  the  preservers  of  Roman 
freedom,  should  not  that  of  Warren  fill  a  lofty 
niche  in  the  temple  reared  to  perpetuate  the 
remembrance  of  our  birth  as  a  nation  ?  " 


EULOGIUM   ON   WARREN. 

Prom  Bottas  History  of  the  American  war, 
— published,  he  says,  "  in  the  Philadelphia 
papers,"  bttt  we  know  not  when,  or  where,  or 
by  whom,  it  was  delivered,  which  we  should 
have  been  glad  to  have  ascertained. 

"  What  spectacle  more  noble,"  than  this, 
of  a  hero  who  has  given  his  life  for  the  safety 
of  country  !  Approach,  cruel  ministers,  and 
contemplate  the  fruits  of  your  sanguinary 
edicts.  What  reparation  can  you  offer  to  his 
children  for  the  loss  of  such  a  father,  to  the 
king  for  that  of  so  good  a  subject,  to  the  coun 
try  for  that  of  so  devoted  a  citizen  ?  Send 
hither  your  satellites  ;  come  feast  your  vindic 
tive  rage  :  the  most  implacable  enemy  to 
tyrants  is  no  more.  We  conjure  you  respect 
these  his  honored  remains.  Have  compassion 
on  the  fate  of  a  mother  overwhelmed  with 
despair  and  with  age.  Of  him,  nothing  is  left 
that  you  can  still  fear.  His  eloquence  is  mute  ; 
his  arms  are  fallen  from  his  hand  :  then  lay 
down  yours  :  what  more  have  you  to  perpe 
trate,  barbarians  that  you  are  ?  But  while  the 
name  of  American  liberty  shall  live,  that  of 
Wai /en  will  fire  our  breasts,  and  animate  our 
arms,  against  the  pest  of  standing  armies. 


"  Approach,  senators  of  America  !  Come, 
and  deliberate  here,  upon  the  interests  of  the 
united  colonies.  Listen  to  the  voice  of  this 
illustrious  citizen:  he  intreats,  he  exhorts,  he 
implores  you  not  to  disturb  his  present  felicity 
with  the  doubt,  that  he,  perhaps,  has  sacrificed 
his  life  for  a  people  of  slaves. 

"  Come  hither,  ye  soldiers,  ye  champions  of 
American  liberty,  and  contemplate  a  spectacle 
which  should  inflame  your  generous  hearts 
with  even  a  new  motive  to  glory.  Remember, 
his  shade  still  hovers,  unexpiated,  among  us. 
Ten  thousand  ministerial  soldiers  would  not 
suffice  to  compensate  his  death.  Let  ancient 
ties  be  no  restraint :  foes  of  liberty  are  no 
longer  the  brethren  of  freemen.  Give  edge 
to  your  arms,  and  lay  them  not  down,  till 
tyranny  be  expelled  from  the  British  empire,  or 
America,  at  least,  become  the  real  seat  of 
liberty  and  happiness. 

"  Approach  ye  also,  American  fathers  and 
American  mothers  ;  come  hither,  and  contem 
plate  the  first  fruits  of  tyranny :  behold  your 
friend,  the  defender  of  your  liberty,  the  honor, 
the  hope  of  your  country  :  see  this  illustrious 
hero,  pierced  with  wounds  and  bathed  in  his 
own  blood.  But  let  not  your  grief,  let  not  your 
tears  be  steril.  Go,  hasten  to  your  homes,  and 
there  teach  your  children  to  detest  the  deeds 
of  tyranny  ;  lay  before  them  the  horrid  scene 
you  have  beheld  :  let  their  hair  stand  on  end  ; 
let  their  eyes  sparkle  with  fire  :  let  resentment 
kindle  every  feature  ;  let  their  lips  vent  threats 
and  indignation  :  then — then — put  arms  into 
their  hands,  send  them  to  battle,  and  let  your 
last  injunction  be,  to  return  victorious,  or  to 
die,  like  Warren,  in  the  arms  of  liberty  and  of 
glory  ! 

"  And  ye  generations  of  the  future,  you  will 
often  look  back  to  this  memorable  epoch. 
You  will  transfer  the  names  of  traitors  and 
of  rebels  from  the  faithful  people  of  America, 
to  those  who  have  merited  them.  Your  eyes 
will  penetrate  all  the  iniquity  of  this  scheme  of 
despotism,  recently  plotted  by  the  British  gov 
ernment.  You  will  see  good  kings  misled  by 
perfidious  ministers,  and  virtuous  ministers  by 
perfidious  kings.  You  will  perceive  that  if  at 
first  the  sovereigns  of  Great  Britain  shed  tears 
in  commanding  their  subjects  to  accept  atro 
cious  laws,  they  soon  gave  themselves  up  to 
joy  in  the  midst  of  murder,  expecting  to  see  a 
whole  continent  drenched  in  the  blood  of  free 
men.  O,  save  the  human  race  from  the  last 
outrages,  and  render  a  noble  justice  to  the 
American  colonies.  Recall  to  life  the  ancient 
Roman  and  British  eloquence ;  and  be  not 
niggardly  of  merited  praises  towards  those 


34 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


who  have  bequeathed  you  liberty.  It  costs  us 
floods  of  gold  and  of  blood ;  it  costs  us,  alas ! 
the  life  of  Warren." 


ORATION,  DELIVERED   AT  BOSTON,  MARCH  5, 
1773- 

BY  DR.  BENJAMIN  CHURCH. 

Impius  hsec  culta  novalia  miles  habebit  ? 
Barbaras  has  segetes  ?  in  quo  discordia  cives, 
perduxit  miseros  ?  in  queis  consevimus  agros  > 

Virgil,  Eel.  I 
O  !  SOCII 
O  passi  graviora,  dabit  Deus  his  quoque  finem  ; 

revocate  animos,  msestumque  timorem 

mittite,  forsan  et  hsec  olim  meminisse  juvabit. 

Virgil,  JEne.  I. 

From  a  consciousness  of  inability,  my 
friends  and  fellow  countrymen,  I  have  re 
peatedly  declined  the  duties  of  this  anniver 
sary.  Nothing  but  a  firm  attachment  to  the 
tottering  liberties  of  America*  added  to  the 
irresistible  importunity  of  some  valued  friends, 
could  have  induced  me  (especially  with  a 
very  short  notice)  so  far  as  to  mistake  my 
abilities,  as  to  render  the  utmost  extent  of  your 
candor  truly  indispensable. 

When  man  was  unconnected  by  social  obliga 
tions  ;  abhorrent  to  every  idea  of  dependence  ; 
actuated  by  a  savage  ferocity  of  mind,  displayed 
in  the  brutality  of  his  manners,  the  necessary 
exigencies  of  each  individual,  naturally  impelled 
him  to  acts  of  treachery,  violence  and  murder. 

The  miseries  of  mankind  thus  proclaiming 
eternal  war  with  their  species,  led  them,  pro 
bably,  to  consult  certain  measures  to  arrest  the 
current  of  such  outrageous  enormities. 

A  sense  of  their  wants  and  weakness,  in  a 
state  of  nature,  doubtless  inclined  them  to 
such  reciprocal  aids  and  support,  as  eventually 
established  society. 

Men  then  began  to  incorporate  ;  subordina 
tion  succeeded  to  independence ;  order  to 
anarchy  ;  and  passions  were  disarmed  by  civili 
zation  ;  society  lent  its  aid  to  secure  the  weak 
from  oppression,  who  wisely  took  shelter  with 
in  the  sanctuary  of  law. 

Encreasing,  society  afterwards  exacted,  that 
the  tacit  contract  made  with  her  by  each 
individual,  at  the  time  of  his  being  incorporated, 
should  receive  a  more  solemn  form  to  become 
authentic  and  irrefragable  ;  the  main  object 
being  to  add  force  to  the  laws,  proportionate 
to  the  power  and  extent  of  the  body  corporate, 
whose  energy  they  were  to  direct. 

*  Periculosae  plenum  opus  aleae 
Tractas,  incedis  per  ignes 
Suppositos  cineri  doloso. — HORACE. 


Then  society  availed  herself  of  the  sacrifice 
of  that  liberty  and  that  natural  equality  of 
which  we  are  all  conscious :  superiors  and 
magistrates  were  appointed,  and  mankind  sub 
mitted  to  a  civil  and  political  subordination. 
This  is  truly  a  glorious  inspiration  of  reason, 
by  whose  influence,  notwithstanding  the  incli 
nation  we  have  for  independence,  we  accept 
control,  for  the  establishment  of  order. 

Although  unrestrained  power  in  one  person 
may  have  been  the  first  and  most  natural 
recourse  of  mankind,  from  rapine  and  disorder ; 
yet  all  restrictions  of  power,  made  by  laws,  or 
participation  of  sovereignty,  are  apparent  im 
provements  upon  what  began  in  unlimited 
power. 

It  would  shock  humanity,  should  I  attempt 
to  describe  those  barbarous  and  tragic  scenes, 
which  crimson  the  historic  page  of  this 
wretched  and  detestable  constitution,  where 
absolute  dominion  is  lodged  in  pne  person  : 
where  one  makes  the  whole  and  the  whole  is 
nothing.  What  motives,  what  events,  could 
have  been  able  to  subdue  men,  endowed  with 
reason,  to  render  themselves  the  mute  instru 
ments,  and  passive  objects  of  the  caprice  of  an 
individual. 

Mankind,  apprised  of  their  privileges,  in 
being  rational  and  free,  in  prescribing  civil 
laws  to  themselves,  had  surely  no  intention  of 
being  enchained  by  any  of  their  equals  ;  and 
although  they  submitted  voluntary  adherents  to 
certain  laws,  for  the  sake  of  mutual  security  and 
happiness,  they,  no  doubt,  intended  by  the 
original  compact,  a  permanent  exemption  of 
the  subject  body  from  any  claims,  which  were 
not  expressly  surrendered,  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  the  security  and  defence  of  the 
whole.  Can  it  possibly  be  conceived,  that  they 
would  voluntarily  be  enslaved  by  a  power  of 
their  own  creation. 

The  constitution  of  a  magistrate  does  not, 
therefore,  take  away  that  lawful  defence  against 
force  and  injury,  allowed  by  the  law  of  nature  ; 
we  are  not  to  obey  a  prince,  ruling  above  the 
limits  of  the  power  entrusted  to  him  ;  for  the 
commonwealth,  by  constituting  a  head,  does 
not  deprive  itself  of  the  power  of  its  own  pre 
servation.*  Government  and  magistracy,  whe 
ther  supreme  or  subordinate,  is  a  mere  human 
ordinance,  and  the  laws  of  every  nation  are  the 
measure  of  magistratical  power :  and  kings, 
the  servants  of  the  state,  when  they  degenerate 
into  tyrants,  forfeit  their  right  to  government. 

Breach  of  trust  in  a  governor,!  or  attempt 
ing  to  enlarge  a  limited  power,  effectually  ab- 

*  The  celebrated  Mrs.  Macaulayi 
t  Mrs.  Macaulay. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


35 


solves  subjects  from  every  bond  of  covenant 
and  peace  ;  the  crimes  acted  by  a  king  against 
the  people,  are  the  highest  treason  against  the 
highest  law  among  men* 

"  If  the  king  (says  Grotius)  hath  one  part  of 
the  supreme  power,  and  the  other  part  is  in 
the  senate  or  people,  when  such  a  king  shall 
invade  that  part  which  doth  not  belong  to  him, 
it  shall  be  lawful  to  oppose  a  just  force  to  him, 
because  his  power  doth  not  extend  so  far." 

The  question,  in  short,  turns  upon  this  sin 
gle  point,  respecting  the  power  of  the  civil 
magistrate,  is  it  the  end  of  that  office,  that  one 
particular  person  may  do  what  he  will  without 
restraint  ?  or  rather  that  society  should  be 
made  happy  and  secure  ?  the  answer  is  very 
1  obvious — And  it  is  my  firm  opinion  that  the 
equal  justice  of  God,  and  the  natural  freedom 
of  mankind,  must  stand  or  fall  together. 

When  rulers  become  tyrants,  they  cease  to 
'  be  kings :  they  can  no  longer  be  respected  as 
God's  vicegerents,  who  violate  the  laws  they 
were  swom  to  protect.  The  preacher  may  tell 
us  of  passive  obedience,  that  tyrants  are  scour 
ges  in  the  hands  of  a  righteous  GOD  to  chas 
tise  a  sinful  nation,  and  are  to  be  submitted  to 
like  plagues,  famine  and  such  like  judgments : 
such  doctrine  may  serve  to  mislead  ill-judging 
princes  into  a  false  security  :  but  men  are  not 
to  be  harangued  out  of  their  senses  ;  human 
nature  and  self-preservation  will  eternally  arm 
the  brave  and  vigilant,  against  slavery  and  op 
pression. 

As  a  despotic  government  f  is  evidently  pro 
ductive  of  the  most  shocking  calamities,  what 
ever  tends  to  restrain  such  inordinate  power, 
though  in  itself  a  severe  evil,  is  extremely  bene 
ficial  to  society  ;  for  where  a  degrading  servi 
tude  is  the  detestable  alternative,  who  can 
shudder  at  the  reluctant  poignard  of  a  Brutus, 
the  crimsoned  axe  of  a  Cromwell,  or  the  reek 
ing  dagger  of  a  Ravillac. 

To  enjoy  life  as  becomes  rational  creatures, 
to  possess  our  souls  with  pleasure  and  satis 
faction,  we  must  be  careful  to  maintain  that 
inestimable  blessing,  liberty.  By  liberty  I 
would  be  understood,  the  happiness  of  living 
under  laws  of  our  own  making,  by  our  personal 
consent,  or  that  of  our  representatives.  \ 

*  Salus  populi  suprema  lex  est. 

t  The  ingratitude  and  corruption  of  Rome  is,  perhaps, 
in  no  instance,  more  strongly  marked  than  in  her  treat 
ment  of  her  colonies  ;  by  their  labors,  toils,  and  arms, 
she  had  reached  to  that  summit  of  glorious  exaltation,  as 
to  be  like  Britain,  the  wonder  and  dread  of  the  world  ;  but 
by  fatal  experience  those  ruined  colonies  inculcate  this 
serious  lesson,  the  ambition  of  a  despot  is  boundless  ;  his 
rapine  is  insatiable  ;  the  accomplishment  of  his  conquests 
over  his  enemies,  is  but  the  introduction  of  slavery,  with 
her  concomitant  plagues,  to  his  friends. 

J  The  very  idea  of  representative,  deputy  or  trustee, 


Without  this,  the  distinctions  among  man 
kind  are  but  different  degrees  of  misery  ;  for  as 
the  true  estimate  of  a  man's  life  consists  in 
conducting  it  according  to  his  own  just  senti 
ment  and  innocent  inclinations,  his  being  is 
degraded  below  that  of  a  free  agent,  which 
heaven  has  made  him,  when  his  affections  and 
passions  are  no  longer  governed  by  the  dic 
tates  of  his  own  mind,  and  the  interests  of 
human  society,  but  by  the  arbitrary,  unre 
strained  will  of  another. 

I  thank  God  we  live  in  an  age  of  rational 
inquisition,  when  the  unfettered  mind  dares  to 
expatiate  freely  on  every  object  worthy  its  at 
tention,  when  the  privileges  of  mankind  are 
thoroughly  comprehended,  and  the  rights  of 
distinct  societies  are  objects  of  liberal  enquiry. 
The  rod  of  the  tyrant  no  longer  excites  our 
apprehensions,  and  to  the  frown  of  the  despot 
which  made  the  darker  ages  tremble,*  we  dare 
oppose  demands  of  right,  and  appeal  to  that 
constitution,  which  holds  even  kings  in  fetters. 

It  is  easy  to  project  the  subversion  of  a  peo 
ple  when  men  behold  them,  the  ignorant  or 
indolent  victims  of  power ;  but  it  is  difficult  to 
effect  their  ruin  when  they  are  apprised  of  their 
just  claims,  and  are  sensibly  and  seasonably 
affected  with  thoughts  for  their  preservation. 
God  be  thanked  the  alarm  is  gone  forth,t  the 
people  are  universally  informed  of  their  char 
ter  rights  ;  they  esteem  them  to  be  the  ark  of 
God  to  New-England,  and  like  that  of  old, 
may  it  deal  destruction  to  the  profane  hand 
that  shall  dare  to  touch  it. 

In  every  state  or  society  of  men,  personal 
liberty  and  security  must  depend  upon  the  col 
lective  power  of  the  whole,  acting  for  the 

includes  that  of  a  constituent  whose  interest  they  are  or 
dained  and  appointed  to  promote  and  secure  ;  my  unap 
pointed,  self-constituted  agent  in  the  British  parliament, 
has  fraudulently  and  arbitrarily  surrendered  my  best  in 
terest,  without  my  privity,  or  consent ;  I  do  therefore 
hereby  protest  against  all  such  powers  as  he  shall  claim  in 
my  behalf,  and  most  solemnly  discard  him  my  service  foi- 
ever.— See  Locke,  Civil  Government.  Risum  teneatis  amici. 
*  Ceelum  non  animum  -mutant,  qui  trans  mare  cur- 
runt.  The  citizens  of  Rome,  Sparta,  or  Lacedemon,  at 
those  blessed  periods  when  they  were  most  eminent  for 
their  attachment  to  liberty  and  virtue,  could  never  exhibit 
brighter  examples  of  patriotic  zeal,  than  are  to  be  found 
at  this  day  in  America  ;  I  will  not  presume  to  say  that  the 
original  British  spirit  has  improved  by  transplanting  ;  but 
this  I  dare  affirm,  that  should  Britons  stoop  to  oppres 
sion,  the  struggles  of  their  American  brethren,  will  be 
their  eternal  reproach. 

t  The  instituting  a  committee  of  grievances  and  corre 
spondence  by  the  town  of  Boston,  has  served  this  valuable 
purpose  :  The  general  infraction  of  the  rights  of  all  the 
colonies,  must  finally  reduce  the  discordant  provinces,  to 
a  necessary  combination  for  their  mutual  interest  and 
defence  :  Some  future  congress  will  be  the  glorious 
source  of  the  salvation  of  America  :  The  Amphictiones 
of  Greece,  who  formed  the  diet  or  great  council  of  the 
states,  exhibit  an  excellent  model  for  the  rising  Americans 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


general  interest.*  If  this  collective  power  is 
not  of  the  whole,  the  freedom  and  interest  of 
the  whole  is  not  secured :  If  this  confluent 
power  acts  by  a  partial  delegation,  or  for  a 
partial  interest,  its  operation  is  surely  determi- 
nable,  where  its  delegation  ends. 

The  constitution  of  England,  I  revere  to  a 
degree  of  idolatry  ;  but  my  attachment  is  to 
the  common  weal :  The  magistrate  will  ever 
command  my  respect,  by  the  integrity  and 
wisdom  of  his  administrations. 

Junius  well  observes,  "  when  the  constitution 
is  openly  invaded,  when  the  first  original  right 
of  the  people,  from  which  all  laws  derive  their 
authority,  is  directly  attacked,  inferior  grievan 
ces  naturally  lose  their  force,  and  are  suffered 
to  pass  by  without  punishment  or  observation." 

Numberless  have  been  the  attacks  made 
upon  our  free  constitution  ;  numberless  the 
grievances  we  now  resent :  but  the  Hydra  mis 
chief,  is  the  violation  of  my  right,  as  a  British 
American  freeholder,  in  not  being  consulted 
in  framing  those  statutes  I  am  required  to 
obey. 

The  authority  of  the  British  monarch  over 
this  colony  was  established,  and  his  power 
derived  from  the  province  charter;  by  that 
we  are  entitled  to  a  distinct  legislation.  As  in 
every  government  there  must  exist  a  power  su 
perior  to  the  laws,  viz.  the  power  that  makes 
those  laws,  and  from  which  they  derive  their 
authority  :  f  therefore  the  liberty  of  the  people 
is  exactly  proportioned  to  the  share  the  body 
of  the  people  have  in  the  legislature  ;  and  the 
check  placed  in  the  constitution,  on  the  execu 
tive  power.  The  state  only  is  free,  where  the 
people  are  governed  by  laws  which  they  have 
a  share  in  making ;  and  that  country  is  totally 
enslaved,  where  one  single  law  can  be  made 
or  repealed,  without  the  interposition  or  con 
sent  of  the  people. 

That  the  members  of  the  British  parliament 
are  the  representatives  of  the  whole  British 
empire,  expressly  militates  with  their  avowed 
principles :  property  and  residence  within  the 

*  Lord  Chief  Justice  Coke  observes  "  when  any  new 
device  is  moved  in  the  king's  behalf,  for  aid  or  the  like, 
commons  may  answer,  they  dare  not  agree  without  con 
ference  with  their  counties."  The  novel  device  of  fleec 
ing  the  colonies,  was  introduced  in  a  way  the  constitution 
knows  not  of.  and  crammed  down  their  throats,. by  meas 
ures  equally  iniquitous. 

I  will  not  alarm  the  sticklers  for  the  present  measures, 
by  confronting  them  with  more  stale  authorities,  if  they 
will  permit  me  the  following  short  but  express  declaration 
of  Sidney,  which  they  may  chew  at  leisure.  No  MAN 

CAN  GIVE  THAT  WHICH  IS  ANOTHER'S. 

t  Nothing,  continued  the  corporal,  can  be  so  sweet, 
An'  please  your  honor,  as  liberty* 
Nothing,  Trim,  said  my  uncle  Toby,  musing — 
Whilst  a  man  is  free — cried  the  corporal,  giving  a  flourish 
with  his  stick  thus  :  E3^~ — Tristram  Shandy. 


island,  alone  constituting  the  right  of  election  ; 
and  surely  he  is  not  my  delegate  in  whose 
nomination  or  appointment  I  have  no  choice  ; 
but  however  the  futile  and  absurd  claim  of  a 
virtual  representation,  may  comport  with  the 
idea  of  a  political  visionary,  he  must  (if  possi 
ble)  heighten  the  indignation,  or  excite  the 
ridicule  of  a  freeborn  American,  who  by  such 
a  fallacious  pretext  would  despoil  him  of  his 
property. 

An  American  freeholder,  according  to  the 
just  and  judicious  conduct  of  the  present  min 
istry,  has  no  possible  right  to  be  consulted,  in 
the  disposal  of  his  property  :  when  a  lordly, 
though  unlettered  British  elector,  possessed  of 
a  turnip  garden,  with  great  propriety  may  ap 
point  a  legislature,  to  assess  the  ample  do 
mains  of  the  most  sensible,  opulent  American 
planter. 

But  remember,  my  brethren,  when  a  people 
have  once  sold  their  liberties,  it  is  no  act  of 
extraordinary  generosity,  to  throw  their  lives 
and  properties  into  the  bargain,  for  they  are 
poor  indeed  when  enjoyed  at  the  mercy  of  a 
master. 

The  late  conduct  of  Great  Britain,  so  incon 
sistent  with  the  practice  of  former  times,  so 
subversive  of  the  first  principles  of  government, 
is  sufficient  to  excite  the  discontent  of  the  sub 
ject  :  the  Americans  justly  and  decently  urged 
an  exclusive  right  of  taxing  themselves  ;  was 
it  indulgent,  conciliating,  or  parental  conduct 
in  that  state,  to  exaggerate  such  a  claim,  as  a 
concerted  plan  of  rebellion  in  the  wanton 
Americans  ?  and  by  a  rigorous  and  cruel  exer 
cise  of  power  to  enforce  submission,  excite 
such  animosities,  as  at  some  future  period, 
may  produce  a  bitter  repentance  ? 

Can  such  be  called  a  legal  tax  or  free  gift  ? 
it  is  rather  levying  contributions  on  grudging 
enslaved  Americans,  by  virtue  of  an  act  framed 
and  enforced,  not  only  without,  but  against 
their  consent ;  thereby  rendering  the  provincial 
assemblies  an  useless  part  of  the  constitu 
tion. 

Where  laws  are  framed  and  assessments 
laid  without  a  legal  representation,  and  obedi 
ence  to  such  acts  urged  by  force,  the  despair 
ing  people  robbed  of  every  constitutional  means 
of  redress,  and  that  people,  brave  and  virtuous, 
must  become  the  admiration  of  ages,  should 
they  not  appeal  to  those  powers,  which  the 
immutable  laws  of  nature  have  lent  to  all  man 
kind.  Fear  is  a  slender  tie  of  subjection  ;  we 
detest  those  whom  we  fear,  and  wish  destruc 
tion  to  those  we  detest,  but  humanity,  upright 
ness,  and  good  faith,  with  an  apparent  watch 
fulness  for  the  welfare  of  the  people,  constitute 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


37 


the  permanency,  and  are  the  firmest  support 
of  the  sovereign's  authority  ;  for  when  violence 
is  opposed  to  reason  and  justice,  courage  never 
wants  an  arm  for  its  defence. 

What  dignity,  what  respect,  what  authority, 
can  Britain  derive  from  her  obstinate  adhe 
rence  to  error  ?  she  stands  convicted  of  viola 
ting  her  own  principles,  but  perseveres  with  un 
relenting  severity ;  we  implore  for  rights  as  a 
grace — she  aggravates  our  distress,  by  lopping 
away  another  and  another  darling  privilege; 
we  ask  for  freedom  and  she  sends  the 
sword! 

To  the  wisdom,  to  the  justice,  to  the  piety 
of  his  most  sacred  majesty,  I  unite  in  my 
appeal  with  this  unbounded  empire ;  God 
grant  he  may  attend  to  the  reiterated  prayer, 
instead  of  the  murmur  of  discontent,  and  the 
frown  of  louring  disaffection ;  we  would  uni 
versally  hail  him  with  those  effusions  of 
genuine  joy,  and  duteous  veneration,  which 
the  proudest  despot  will  vainly  look  for,  from 
forced  respect  or  ceremonial  homage. 

Parties  and  factions,  since  the  days  of  the 
,  detested  Andross,  have  been  strangers  to  this 
;  land  ;  no  distinctions  of  heart  felt  animosity,  dis 
turbed  the  peace  and  order  of  society  till  the 
,  malignant  folly  of  a  *  late  rancorous  com- 
'mander  in  chief,  conjured  them  from  the  dead  : 
when  shall  this  unhappy  clime  be  purged  of 
its  numerous  plagues  ?  when  will  our  troubles, 
our  feuds,  our  struggles  cease  ?  when  will 
the  locusts  leave  the  land  ?  then,  and  not  till 
then,  peace  and  plenty  shall  smile  around  us  ; 
the  husbandman  will  labor  with  pleasure ; 
and  honest  industry  reap  the  reward  of  its 
toil. 

But  let  us  not  forget  the  distressing  occasion 
of  this  anniversary  :  the  sullen  ghosts  of  mur 
dered  fellow-citizens  haunt  my  imagination 
"  and  harrow  up  my  soul ; "  methinks  the 
tainted  air  is  hung  with  the  dews  of  death, 
while  Ate,  hot  from  hell,  cries  havoc,  and  lets 
slip  the  dogs  of  war.  Hark  !  the  wan  tenants 
of  the  grave  still  shriek  for  vengeance  on  their 
remorseless  butchers :  forgive  us,  Heaven  ! 
should  we  mingle  involuntary  execrations, 
while  hovering  in  idea  over  the  guiltless  dead. 
Where  is  the  amiable,  the  graceful  Maverick  ? 
the  opening  blossom  is  now  withered  in  his 
cheek,  the  sprightly  fire  that  once  lightened  in 
his  eye  is  quenched  in  death  ;f  the  savage 
hands  of  brutal  ruffians  have  crushed  the  un 
suspecting  victim,  and  in  an  evil  hour  snatched 
away  his  gentle  soul. 

*  The  Nettleham  Baronet. 

t • Hie  ubi  barbarus  hostis, 

Ut  fera  plus  vpleant  legibus  anna  facit.— Ovid  de  Ponto. 


Where  is  the  friendly,  the  industrious  Cald- 
well  ?  he  paced  innoxious  through  the  theatre 
of  death,  unconscious  of  design  or  danger, 
when  the  winged  fate  gored  his  bosom,  and 
stript  his  startled  soul  for  the  world  of  spirits. 
Where  are  the  residue  of  active  citizens  that 
were  wont  to  tread  these  sacred  floors  ?  fallen 
by  the  hands  of  the  vindictive  assassins  they 
swell  the  horrors  of  the  sanguinary  scene. 
Loyalty  stands  on  tiptoe  at  the  shocking  recol 
lection,  while  justice,  virtue,  honor,  patriotism 
become  suppliants  for  immoderate  vengeance  : 
the  whole  soul  clamors  for  arms,  and  is  on  fire 
to  attack  the  brutal  banditti ;  we  fly  agonizing 
to  the  horrid  aceldama  ;  we  gaze  on  the  man 
gled  corses  of  our  brethren  and  grinning  furies, 
glotting  o'er  their  carnage,  the  hostile  attitude 
of  the  miscreant  murderers,  redoubles  our  re 
sentment,  and  makes  revenge  a  virtue. 

By  heaven  they  die  !  thus  nature  spoke,  and 
the  swoln  heart  leap'd  to  execute  the  dreadful 
purpose  ;  dire  was  the  interval  of  rage,  fierce 
was  the  conflict  of  the  soul.  In  that  important 
hour,  did  not  the  stalking  ghosts  of  our  stern 
forefathers,  point  us  to  bloody  deeds  of  ven 
geance  ?  did  not  the  consideration  of  our 
expiring  liberties  impel  us  to  remorseless 
havoc  ?  but  hark  !  the  guardian  God  of  New 
England  issues  his  awful  mandate, "  Peace,  be 
still ; "  hush'd  was  the  bursting  war,  the 
pouring  tempest  frowned  its  rage  away.  Con 
fidence  in  that  God,  beneath  whose  wing  we 
shelter  all  our  cares,  that  blessed  confidence 
released  the  dastard,  the  cowering  prey  :  with 
haughty  scorn  we  refused  to  become  their 
executioners,  and  nobly  gave  them  to  the  wrath 
of  heaven  :  but  words  can  poorly  paint  the  hor 
rid  scene  * — defenceless,  prostrate,  bleeding 
countrymen — the  piercing  agonizing  groans — 
the  mingled  moan  of  weeping  relatives  and 
friends — these  best  can  speak,  to  rouse  the 
luke-warm  into  noble  zeal ;  to  fire  the  zealous 
into  manly  rage,  against  the  foul  oppression  of 
quartering  troops,  in  populous  cities,  in  times 
of  peace. 

Thou  who  yon  bloody  walk  shalt  traverse,  there 
Where  troops  of  Britain's  king,  on  Britain's  sons, 
Discharg'd  the  leaden  vengeance  ;  pass  not  on 
Ere  thou  hast  blest  their  memory,  and  paid 
Those  hallowed  tears,  which  sooth  the  virtuous  dead : 
O  stranger  !   stay  thee,  and  the  scene  around 
Contemplate  well  ;  and  if  perchance  thy  home 
Salute  thee  with  a  father's  honor'd  name, 
Go  call  thy  sons— instruct  them  what  a  debt 
They  owe  their  ancestors,  and  make  them  swear 
To  pay  it,  by  transmitting  down  entire, 
Those  sacred  rights,  to  which  themselves  were  born. 

*  Multaque  rubentia  ccede, 

Lubrica  saxa  madent,  nulli  sua   profuit  aetas. — Lucan, 
Lib.  a. 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


ORATION,  DELIVERED  AT  BOSTON,  MARCH 
5.    1774. 

BY   THE   HON.  JOHN   HANCOCK,  ESQ. 

Vendidit  hie  auro,  patriam,  dominumque  potentem 
Imposuit :  fixit  leges  pretio  atque  refixit. 
Non,  mihi  si  linguae  centum  sint,  oraque  centum, 
Ferrea  vox,  omnes  scelerum  :  comprendere  formas, 

— — possim. 

Virg. 

Men,  brethren,  fathers  and  fellow-country 
men. r — The  attentive  gravity,  the  venerable 
appearance  of  this  crowded  audience  ;  the  dig 
nity  which  I  behold  in  the  countenances  of  so 
many  in  this  great  assembly  ;  the  solemnity 
of  the  occasion  upon  which  we  have  met  to 
gether,  joined  to  a  consideration  of  the  part  I 
am  to  take  in  the  important  business  of  this 
day,  fill  me  with  an  awe  hitherto  unknown  :  and 
heighten  the  sense  which  I  have  ever  had,  of 
my  unworthiness  to  fill  this  sacred  desk  ;  but 
allured  by  the  call  of  some  of  my  respected 
fellow-citizens,  with  whose  request  it  is  always 
my  greatest  pleasure  to  comply,  I  almost  forgot 
my  want  of  ability  to  perform  what  they  re 
quired.  In  this  situation  I  find  my  only  sup 
port,  in  assuring  myself  that  a  generous  people 
will  not  severely  censure  what  they  know  was 
well  intended,  though  its  want  of  merit,  should 
prevent  their  being  able  to  applaud  it.  And  I 
pray,  that  my  sincere  attachment  to  the  interest 
of  my  country,  and  hearty  detestation  of  every 
design  formed  against  her  liberties,  may  be 
admitted  as  some  apology,  for  my  appearance 
in  this  place. 

I  have  always,  from  my  earliest  youth,  re 
joiced  in  the  felicity  of  my  fellow-men ;  and 
have  ever  considered  it  as  the  indispensable 
duty  of  every  member  of  society  to  promote, 
as  far  as  in  him  lies,  the  prosperity  of  every 
individual,  but  more  especially  of  the  commu 
nity  to  which  he  belongs  ;  and  also,  as  a  faith 
ful  subject  of  the  state,  to  use  his  utmost 
endeavors  to  detect,  and  having  detected, 
strenuously  to  oppose  every  traitorous  plot 
which  its  enemies  may  devise  for  its  destruc 
tion.  Security  to  the  persons  and  properties 
of  the  governed,  is  so  obviously  the  design  and 
end  of  civil  government,  that  to  attempt  a  logi 
cal  proof  of  it,  would  be  like  burning  tapers  at 
noonday,  to  assist  the  sun  in  enlightening  the 
world  ;  and  it  cannot  be  either  virtuous  or  hon 
orable,  to  attempt  to  support  a  government,  of 
which  this  is  not  the  great  and  principal  basis  ; 
and  it  is  to  the  last  degree  vicious  and  infamous 
to  attempt  to  support  a  government,  which 
manifestly  tends  to  render  the  persons  and 
properties  of  the  governed  insecure.  Some 


boast  of  being  friends  to  government ;  1  am  a 
friend  to  righteous  government  founded  upon 
the  principles  of  reason  and  justice  ;  but  1 
glory  in  publicly  avowing  my  eternal  enmity 
to  tyranny.  Is  the  present  system,  which  the 
British  administration  have  adopted  for  the 
government  of  the  colonies,  a  righteous  go 
vernment  ?  or  is  it  tyranny  ? — Here  suffer  me 
to  ask  (and  would  to  Heaven  there  could  be 
an  answer)  what  tenderness,  what  regard, 
respect  or  consideration  has  Great  Britain 
shewn,  in  their  late  transactions,  for  the  secu 
rity  of  the  persons  or  properties  of  the  inhabi 
tants  of  the  colonies  ?  or  rather,  what  have  they 
omitted  doing  to  destroy  that  security  ?  they 
have  declared  that  they  have,  ever  had,  and  of 
right  ought  ever  to  have,  full  power  to  make 
laws  of  sufficient  validity  to  bind  the  colonies 
in  all  cases  whatever  :  they  have  exercised  this 
pretended  right  by  imposing  a  tax  upon  us  with 
out  our  consent  ;  and  lest  we  should  shew  some 
reluctance  at  parting  with  our  property,  her 
fleets  and  armies  are  sent  to  enforce  their  mad 
pretentions.  The  town  of  Boston,  ever  faith 
ful  to  the  British  crown,  has  been  invested  by 
a  British  fleet  :  the  troops  of  George  the  III. 
have  crossed  the  wide  Atlantic,  not  to  engage 
an  enemy,  but  to  assist  a  band  of  traitors 
in  trampling  on  the  rights  and  liberties  of  his 
most  loyal  subjects  in  America — those  rights 
and  liberties  which,  as  a  father,  he  ought  ever 
to  regard,  and  as  a  king,  he  is  bound,  in  honor, 
to  defend  from  violations,  even  at  the  risk  of 
his  own  life. 

Let  not  the  history  of  the  illustrious  house 
of  Brunswick  inform  posterity,  that  a  king 
descended  from  that  glorious  monarch,  George 
the  II.  once  sent  his  British  subjects  to  con 
quer  and  enslave  his  subjects  in  America,  but 
be  perpetual  infamy  entailed  upon  that  villain 
who  dared  to  advise  his  master  to  such  execra 
ble  measures ;  for  it  was  easy  to  foresee  the 
consequences  which  so  naturally  followed  upon 
sending  troops  into  America,  to  enforce  obe 
dience  to  acts  of  the  British  parliament,  which 
neither  God  nor  man  ever  empowered  them  to 
make.  It  was  reasonable  to  expect  that  troops, 
who  knew  the  errand  they  were  sent  upon, 
would  treat  the  people  whom  they  were  to 
subjugate,  with  a  cruelty  and  haughtiness, 
which  too  often  buries  the  honorable  character 
of  a  soldier  in  the  disgraceful  name  of  an 
unfeeling  ruffian.  The  troops,  upon  their  first 
arrival,  took  possession  of  our  senate-house, 
and  pointed  their  cannon  against  the  judgment 
hall,  and  even  continued  them  there  whilst  the 
supreme  court  of  judicature  for  this  province 
was  actually  sitting  to  decide  upon  the  lives 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


39 


and  fortunes  of  the  king's  subjects.  Our  streets 
nightly  resounded  with  the  noise  of  riot  and 
debauchery  :  our  peaceful  citizens  were  hourly 
exposed  to  shameful  insults,  and  often  felt  the 
effects  of  their  violence  and  outrage. — But  this 
was  not  all :  as  though  they  thought  it  not 
enough  to  violate  our  civil  rights,  they  endea 
vored  to  deprive  us  of  the  enjoyment  of  our  reli 
gious  privileges ;  to  viciate  our  morals,  and 
thereby  render  us  deserving  of  destruction. 
Hence  the  rude  din  of  arms  which  broke  in 
upon  your  solemn  devotions  in  your  temples, 
on  that  day  hallowed  by  heaven,  and  set  apart 
by  God  himself  for  his  peculiar  worship. 
Hence,  impious  oaths  and  blasphemies  so  often 
tortured  your  unaccustomed  ear.  Hence,  all 
the  arts  which  idleness  and  luxury  could  invent, 
were  used  to  betray  our  youth  of  one  sex  into 
extravagance  and  effeminacy,  and  of  the  other 
to  infamy  and  ruin  ;  and  did  they  not  succeed 
but  too  well  ?  did  not  a  reverence  for  religion 
sensibly  decay  ?  did  not  our  infants  almost 
learri  to  lisp  out  curses  before  they  knew  their 
horrid  import  ?  did  not  our  youth  forget  they 
were  Americans,  and  regardless  of  the  admoni 
tions  of  the  wise  and  aged,  servilely  copy  from 
their  tyrants  those  vices  which  finally  must 
overthrow  the  empire  of  Great  Britain  ?  and 
must  I  be  compelled  to  acknowledge,  that  even 
the  noblest,  fairest  part  of  all  the  lower  creation 
did  not  entirely  escape  the  cursed  snare  ?  when 
virtue  has  once  erected  her  throne  within  the 
female  breast,  it  is  upon  so  solid  a  basis  that 
nothing  is  able  to  expel  the  heavenly  inhabi 
tant.  But  have  there  not  been  some,  few 
indeed,  I  hope,  whose  youth  and  inexperience 
have  rendered  them  a  prey  to  wretches, 
whom,  upon  the  least  reflection,  they  would 
have  despised  and  hated  as  foes  to  God  and 
their  country  ?  I  fear  there  have  been  some 
such  unhappy  instances ;  or  why  have  I  seen 
an  honest  father  clothed  with  shame  ;  or  why 
a  virtuous  mother  drowned  in  tears  ? 

But  I  forbear,  and  come  reluctantly  to  the 
transactions  of  that  dismal  night,  when  in  such 
quick  succession  we  felt  the  extremes  of  grief, 
astonishment  and  rage  ;  when  Heaven  in  anger, 
for  a  dreadful  moment  suffered  hell  to  take  the 
reins ;  when  Satan  with  his  chosen  band  opened 
the  sluices  of  New-England's  blood,  and  sacri 
legiously  polluted  our  land  with  the  dead 
bodies  of  her  guiltless  sons.  Let  this  sad  tale 
of  death  never  be  told  without  a  tear  ;  let  not 
the  heaving  bosom  cease  to  burn  with  a  manly 
indignation  at  the  barbarous  story,  through  the 
long  tracts  of  future  time  :  let  every  parent  tell 
the  shameful  story  to  his  listening  children  'til 
tears  of  pity  glisten  in  their  eyes,  and  boiling 


passions  shake  their  tender  frames  ;  and  whilst 
the  anniversary  of  that  ill-fated  night  is  kept  a 
jubilee  in  the  grim  court  of  pandaemonium,  let 
all   America  join   in   one   common   prayer  to 
heaven,  that  the  inhuman,  unprovoked  murders 
of  the  fifth  of  March,  1770,  planned  by  Hills- 
borough,  and  a  knot  of  treacherous  knaves  in 
Boston,  and   executed   by   the   cruel   hand  of 
Preston   and  his   sanguinary   coadjutors,  may 
ever  stand  on  history  without  a  parallel.     But 
what,  my  countrymen,  withheld  the  ready  arm 
of  vengeance  from  executing  instant  justice  on 
the  vile  assassins  ?  perhaps  you  feared  promis 
cuous  carnage  might  ensue,  and  that  the  inno 
cent  might  share  the  fate  of  those  who  had 
performed  the  infernal  deed.     But  were  not  all 
guilty  ?  were  you  not  too  tender  of  the  lives  of 
those  who  came  to  fix  a  yoke  on  your  necks  ? 
but  I    must   not   too   severely  blame   a  fault, 
which  great  souls  only  can  commit.     May  that 
magnificence   of  spirit   which   scorns  the  low 
pursuits  of  malice,  may  that  generous  compas 
sion  which  often  preserves  from  ruin,  even  a 
guilty  villain,  forever  actuate  the  noble  bosoms 
of  Americans  !     But  let  not  the  miscreant  host        \ 
vainly  imagine  that  we  feared  their  arms.     No  ; 
them  we    despised  ;    we    dread    nothing   but 
slavery.     Death  is  the  creature  of  a  poltroon's 
brains  ;  'tis  immortality  to  sacrifice  ourselves 
for  the  salvation  of  our  country.     We  fear  not 
death.     That   gloomy  night,    the    pale    faced 
moon,    and   the  affrighted   stars  that   hurried 
through  the  sky,  can  witness  that  we  fear  not 
death.     Our  hearts  which,  at  the  recollection, 
glow  with  rage  that  four  revolving  years  have 
scarcely  taught  us  to  restrain,  can  witness  that 
we  fear  not  death  ;  and  happy  it  is  for  those 
who  dared  to  insult  us,  that  their  naked  bones 
are  now  piled  up  an  everlasting  monument  of 
Massachusetts'  bravery.     But  they  retired,  they 
fled,  and   in   that  flight  they  found  their  only 
safety.     We   then   expected   that  the  hand  of 
public  justice  would  soon  inflict  that  punish 
ment  upon  the  murderers,  which,  by  the  laws  of 
God  and  man,  they  had  incurred.     But  let  the 
unbiassed  pen  of  a  Robertson,  or  perhaps  of 
some   equally  famed    American,   conduct  this 
trial  before   the  great   tribunal   of  succeeding 
generations.     And  though  the  murderers  may 
escape  the  just  resentment  of  an  enraged  peo 
ple  ;  though  drowsy  justice,  intoxicated  by  the 
poisonous  draught  prepared  for  her  cup,  still 
nods  upon    her   rotten   seat,  yet   be   assured, 
such  complicated  crimes  will   meet  their  due 
reward.     Tell  me,  ye  bloody  butchers  !  ye  vil 
lains  high  and  low  !  ye  wretches  who  contrived, 
as   well   as  you   who   executed   the   inhuman 
deed  !  do  you  not  feel  the  goads  and  stings  of 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


conscious  guilt  pierce  through  your  savage 
bosoms  ?  though  some  of  you  may  think  your 
selves  exalted  to  a  height  that  bids  defiance  to 
human  justice,  and  others  shroud  yourselves 
beneath  the  mask  of  hypocrisy,  and  build  your 
hopes  of  safety  on  the  low  arts  of  cunning, 
chicanery  and  falsehood  ;  yet  do  you  not  some 
times  feel  the  gnawings  of  that  worm  which 
never  dies  ?  do  not  the  injured  shades  of  Mave 
rick,  Gray,  Caldwell,  Attucks  and  Carr,  attend 
you  in  your  solitary  walks,  arrest  you  even  in 
the  midst  of  your  debaucheries,  and  fill  even 
your  dreams  with  terror  ?  but  if  the  unappeased 
manes  of  the  dead  should  not  disturb  their 
murderers,  yet  surely  even  your  obdurate  hearts 
must  shrink,  and  your  guilty  blood  must  chill 
within  your  rigid  veins,  when  you  behold  the 
miserable  Monk,  the  wretched  victim  of  your 
savage  cruelty.  Observe  his  tottering  knees, 
which  scarce  sustain  his  wasted  body  ;  look  on 
his  haggard  eyes  ;  mark  well  the  death-like 
paleness  on  his  fallen  cheek,  and  tell  me,  does 
not  the  sight  plant  daggers  in  your  souls  ?  un 
happy  Monk  !  cut  off  in  the  gay  morn  of  man 
hood,  from  all  the  joys  which  sweeten  life, 
doomed  to  drag  on  a  pitiful  existence,  without 
even  a  hope  to  taste  the  pleasures  of  returning 
health  !  yet  Monk,  thou  livest  not  in  vain ; 
thou  livest  a  warning  to  thy  country,  which 
sympathizes  with  thee  in  thy  sufferings  ;  thou 
livest  an  affecting,  an  alarming  instance  of  the 
unbounded  violence  which  lust  of  power,  as 
sisted  by  a  standing  army,  can  lead  a  traitor 
to  commit. 

For  us  he  bled,  and  now  languishes.  The 
wounds  by  which  he  is  tortured  to  a  lingering 
death,  were  aimed  at  our  country  f  surely  the 
meek-eyed  charity  can  never  behold  such  suf 
ferings  with  indifference.  Nor  can  her  lenient 
hand  forbear  to  pour  oil  and  wine  into  these 
wounds,  and  to  assuage  at  least,  what  it  can 
not  heal. 

Patriotism  is  ever  united  with  humanity  and 
compassion.  This  noble  affection  which  im 
pels  us  to  sacrifice  every  thing  dear,  even  life 
itself,  to  our  country,  involves  in  it  a  common 
sympathy  and  tenderness  for  every  citizen,  and 
must  ever  have  a  particular  feeling  for  one 
who  suffers  in  a  public  cause.  Thoroughly 
persuaded  of  this,  I  need  not  add  a  word  to 
engage  your  compassion  and  bounty  towards 
a  fellow  citizen,  who,  with  long  protracted 
anguish,  falls  a  victim  to  the  relentless  rage  of 
our  common  enemies. 

Ye  dark  designing  knaves,  ye  murderers, 
parricides !  how  dare  you  tread  upon  the  earth, 
which  has  drank  in  the  blood  of  slaughtered 
innocents,  shed  by  your  wicked  hands?  how 


dare  you  breathe  that  air  which  wafted  to  the 
ear  of  heaven,  the  groans  of  those  who  fell  a 
sacrifice  to  your  accursed  ambition?  but  if  the 
laboring  earth  doth  not  expand  her  jaws  ;  if 
the  air  you  breathe  is  not  commissioned  to  be 
the  minister  of  death  yet  hear  it,  and  tremble  ! 
the  eye  of  heaven  penetrates  the  darkest 
chambers  of  the  soul,  traces  the  leading 
clue  through  all  the  labyrinths  which  your 
industrious  folly  has  devised  ;  and  you,  how 
ever  you  may  have  screened  yourselves  from 
human  eyes,  must  be  arraigned,  must  lift  your 
hands,  red  with  the  blood  of  those  whose  death 
you  have  procured,  at  the  tremendous  bar  of 
GOD. 

But  I  gladly  quit  the  gloomy  theme  of  death, 
and  leave  you  to  improve  the  thought  of  that 
important  day,  when  our  naked  souls  must 
stand  before  that  being,  from  whom  nothing 
can  be  hid.  I  would  not  dwell  too  long  upon 
the  horrid  effects  which  have  already  followed 
from  quartering  regular  troops  in  this  town  ; 
let  our  misfortunes  teach  posterity  to  guard 
against  such  evils  for  the  future.  Standing 
armies  are  sometimes  (I  would  by  no  means 
say  generally,  much  less  universally)  composed 
of  persons  who  have  rendered  themselves 
unfit  to  live  in  civil  society ;  who  have  no 
other  motives  of  conduct  than  those  which  a 
desire  of  the  present  gratification  of  their 
passions  suggests ;  who  have  no  property  in 
any  country ;  men  who  have  given  up  their  own 
liberties,  and  envy  those  who  enjoy  liberty  ; 
who  are  equally  indifferent  to  the  glory  of  a 
George  or  a  Louis  ;  who  for  the  addition  of 
one  penny  a  day  to  their  wages,  would  desert 
from  the  Christian  cross,  and  fight  under  the 
crescent  of  the  Turkish  sultan,  from  such  men 
as  these,  what  has  not  a  state  to  fear?  with 
such  as  these,  usurping  Cassar  passed  the 
Rubicon  ;  with  such  as  these  he  humbled 
mighty  Rome,  and  forced  the  mistress  of  the 
world  to  own  a  master  in  a  traitor.  These 
are  the  men  whom  sceptered  robbers  now 
employ  to  frustrate  the  designs  of  God,  and 
render  vain  the  bounties  which  his  gracious 
hand  pours  indiscriminately  upon  his  crea 
tures.  By  these  the  miserable  slaves  in 
Turkey,  Persia,  and  many  other  extensive 
countries,  are  rendered  truly  wretched,  though 
their  air  is  salubrious,  and  their  soil  luxu 
riously  fertile.  By  these,  France  and  Spain, 
though  blessed  by  nature  with  all  that  admin 
isters  to  the  convenience  of  life,  have  been 
reduced  to  that  contemptible  state  in  which 

they  now  appear;  and   by  these  Britain 

but  if  I  was  possessed  of  the  gift 


of  prophecy,  I  dare  not,  except  by  divine  com- 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


mand,  unfold  the  leaves  on  which  the  destiny 
of  that  once  powerful  kingdom  is  inscribed. 

But  since  standing  armies  are  so  hurtful  to 
a  state,  perhaps  my  countrymen  may  demand 
some  substitute,  some  other  means  of  render 
ing  us  secure  against  the  incursions  of  a  for 
eign  enemy.  But  can  you  be  one  moment  at  a 
loss  ?  will  not  a  well  disciplined  militia  afford 
you  ample  security  against  foreign  foes  ?  we 
want  not  courage  ;  it  is  discipline  alone  in 
which  we  are  exceeded  by  the  most  formidable 
troops  that  ever  trod  the  earth.  Surely  our 
hearts  flutter  no  more  at  the  sound  of  war, 
than  did  those  of  the  immortal  band  of  Persia, 
the  Macedonian  phalanx,  the  invincible  Roman 
legions,  the  Turkish  Janissaries,  the  Gens  des 
Armes  of  France,  or  the  well  known  grenadiers 
of  Britain.  A  well  disciplined  militia  is  a 
safe,  an  honorable  guard  to  a  community  like 
this,  whose  inhabitants  are  by  nature  brave, 
and  are  laudably  tenacious  of  that  freedom  in 
which  they  were  born.  From  a  well  regulated 
militia  we  have  nothing  to  fear ;  their  interest 
is  the  same  with  that  of  the  state.  When  a 
country  is  invaded,  the  militia  are  ready  to  ap 
pear  in  its  defence  ;  they  march  into  the  field 
with  that  fortitude  which  a  consciousness  of 
the  justice  of  their  cause  inspires  ;  they  do  not 
jeopard  their  lives  for  a  master  who  considers 
them  only  as  the  instruments  of  his  ambition, 
and  whom  they  regard  only  as  the  daily  dis 
penser  of  the  scanty  pittance  of  bread  and 
water.  No,  they  fight  for  their  houses,  their 
lands,  for  their  wives,  their  children,  for  all 
who  claim  the  tenderest  names,  and  are  held 
dearest  in  their  hearts,  they  fight  pro  aris  et 
foci's,  for  their  liberty,  and  for  themselves,  and 
for  their  God.  And  let  it  not  offend,  if  I  say, 
that  no  militia  ever  appeared  in  more  flourish 
ing  condition,  than  that  of  this  province  now 
doth  ;  and  pardon  me  if  I  say — of  this  town  in 
particular. — I  mean  not  to  boast ;  I  would  not 
excite  envy  but  manly  emulation.  We  have  all 
one  common  cause ;  let  it  therefore  be  our 
only  contest,  who  shall  most  contribute  to  the 
security  of  the  liberties  of  America.  And  may 
the  same  kind  Providence  which  has  watched 
over  this  country  from  her  infant  state,  still 
enable  us  to  defeat  our  enemies.  I  cannot 
here  forbear  noticing  the  signal  manner  in 
which  the  designs  of  those  who  wish  not  well 
to  us  have  been  discovered.  The  dark  deeds 
of  a  treacherous  cabal,  have  been  brought  to 
public  view.  You  now  know  the  serpents  who, 
while  cherished  in  your  bosoms,  were  darting 
their  envenomed  stings  into  the  vitals  of  the 
constitution.  But  the  representatives  of  the 
people  have  fixed  a  mark  on  these  ungrateful 


monsters,  which,  though  it  may  not  make  them 
so  secure  as  Cain  of  old,  yet  renders  them  at 
least  as  infamous.  Indeed  it  would  be  affron- 
tive  to  the  tutelar  deity  of  this  country  even  to 
despair  of  saving  it  from  all  the  snares  which 
human  policy  can  lay. 

True  it  is,  that  the  British  ministry  have 
annexed  a  salary  to  the  office  of  the  governor 
of  this  province,  to  be  paid  out  of  a  revenue, 
raised  in  America  without  our  consent.  They 
have  attempted  to  render  our  courts  of 
justice  the  instruments  of  extending  the  autho 
rity  of  acts  of  the  British  parliament  over  this 
colony,  by  making  the  judges  dependent  on 
the  British  administration  for  their  support. 
But  this  people  will  never  be  enslaved  with  their 
eyes  open.  The  moment  they  knew  that  the 
governor  was  not  such  a  governor  as  the  char 
ter  of  the  province  points  out,  he  lost  his  power 
of  hurting  them.  They  were  alarmed  ;  they 
suspected  him,  have  guarded  against  him,  and 
he  has  found  that  a  wise  and  a  brave  people, 
when  they  know  their  danger,  are  fruitful  in 
expedients  to  escape  it. 

The  courts  of  judicature  also  so  far  lost 
their  dignity,  by  being  supposed  to  be  under  an 
undue  influence,  that  our  representatives 
thought  it  absolutely  necessary  to  resolve  that 
they  were  bound  to  declare  that  they  would 
not  receive  any  other  salary  besides  that  which 
the  general  court  should  grant  them  ;  and  if 
they  did  not  make  this  declaration,  that  it  would 
be  the  duty  of  the  house  to  impeach  them. 

Great  expectations  were  also  formed  from 
the  artful  scheme  of  allowing  the  East  India 
company  to  export  tea  to  America,  upon  their 
own  account.  This  certainly,  had  it  suc 
ceeded,  would  have  effected  the  purpose  of 
the  contrivers,  and  gratified  the  most  sanguine 
wishes  of  our  adversaries.  We  soon  should 
have  found  our  trade  in  the  hands  of  for 
eigners,  and  taxes  imposed  on  every  thing 
which  we  consumed  ;  nor  would  it  have  been 
strange,  if,  in  a  few  years,  a  company  in 
London  should  have  purchased  an  exclusive 
right  of  trading  to  America.  But  their  plot 
was  soon  discovered.  The  people  soon  were 
aware  of  the  poison  which,  with  so  much  craft 
and  subtility,  had  been  concealed  :  loss  and 
disgrace  ensued :  and,  perhaps,  this  long- 
concerted  master-piece  of  policy,  may  issue 
in  the  total  disuse  of  tea,  in  this  country,  which 
will  eventually  be  the  saving  of  the  lives  and 
the  estates  of  thousands — yet  while  we  rejoice 
that  the  adversary  has  not  hitherto  prevailed 
against  us,  let  us  by  no  means  put  off  the 
harness.  Restless  malice,  and  disappointed 
ambition,  will  still  suggest  new  measures  to 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


our  inveterate  enemies.  Therefore  let  us  also 
be  ready  to  take  the  field  whenever  danger 
calls  ;  let  us  be  united  and  strengthen  the 
hands  of  each  other,  by  promoting  a  general 
union  among  us.  Much  has  been  done  by  the 
committees  of  correspondence  for  this  and  the 
other  towns  of  this  province,  towards  uniting 
the  inhabitants  ;  let  them  still  go  on  and  pros 
per.  Much  has  been  done  by  the  committees 
of  correspondence,  for  the  houses  of  assembly, 
in  this  and  our  sister  colonies,  for  uniting  the 
inhabitants  of  the  whole  continent,  for  the 
security  of  their  common  interest.  May  suc 
cess  ever  attend  their  generous  endeavors. 
But  permit  me  here  to  suggest  a  general 
congress  of  deputies,  from  the  several  houses 
of  assembly,  on  the  continent,  as  the  most 
effectual  method  of  establishing  such  an  union, 
as  the  present  posture  of  our  affairs  require. 
At  such  a  congress  a  firm  foundation  may  be 
laid  for  the  security  of  our  rights  and  liberties 
a  system  may  be  formed  for  our  common 
safety,  by  a  strict  adherence  to  which,  we 
shall  be  able  to  frustrate  any  attempts  to  over 
throw  our  constitution ;  restore  peace  and 
harmony  to  America,  and  secure  honor  and 
wealth  to  Great  Britain,  even  against  the  in 
clinations  of  her  ministers,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
study  her  welfare  ;  and  we  shall  also  free 
ourselves  from  those  unmannerly  pillagers 
who  impudently  tell  us,  that  they  are  li 
censed  by  an  act  of  the  British  parliament 
to  thrust  their  dirty  hands  into  the  pockets  of 
every  American.  But  I  trust,  the  happy  time 
will  come,  when  with  the  besom  of  destruc 
tion,  those  noxious  vermin  will  be  swept 
forever  from  the  streets  of  Boston. 

Surely  you  never  will  tamely  suffer  this 
country  to  be  a  den  of  thieves.  Remember, 
my  friends,  from  whom  you  sprang. — Let  not 
a  meanness  of  spirit,  unknown  to  those  whom 
you  boast  of  as  your  fathers,  excite  a  thought 
to  the  dishonor  of  your  mothers.  I  conjure 
you  by  all  that  is  dear,  by  all  that  is  honorable, 
by  all  that  is  sacred,  not  only  that  ye  pray,  but 
that  you  act  ;  that,  if  necessary,  ye  fight,  and 
even  die,  for  the  prosperity  of  our  Jerusalem. 
Break  in  sunder,  with  noble  disdain,  the  bonds 
with  which  the  Philistines  have  bound  you. 
Suffer  not  yourselves  to  be  betrayed  by  the 
soft  arts  of  luxury  and  effeminacy,  into  the  pit 
digged  for  your  destruction.  Despise  the  glare 
of  wealth.  That  people  who  pay  greater  res 
pect  to  a  wealthy  villain,  than  to  an  honest 
upright  man  in  poverty,  almost  deserve  to  be 
enslaved ;  they  plainly  shew  that  Wealth,  how 
ever  it  may  be  acquired,  is  in  their  esteem,  to 
be  preferred  to  virtue. 


But  I  thank  God,  that  America  abounds  in 
men  who  are  superior  to  all  temptation,  whom 
nothing  can  divert  from  a  steady  pursuit  of 
the  interest  of  their  country;  who  are  at  once 
its  ornament  and  safe-guard.  And  sure  I  am, 
I  should  not  incur  your  displeasure,  if  I  paid  a 
respect  so  justly  due  to  their  much  honored 
characters  in  this  place ;  but  when  I  name  an 
Adams,  such  a  numerous  host  of  fellow  pa 
triots  rush  upon  my  mind,  that  I  fear  it  would 
take  up  too  much  of  your  time,  should  I  at 
tempt  to  call  over  the  illustrious  roll  :  but  your 
grateful  hearts  will  point  you  to  the  men  ;  and 
their  revered  names,  in  all  succeeding  times, 
shall  grace  the  annals  of  America.  From 
them,  let  us,  my  friends,  take  example ;  from 
them,  let  us  catch  the  divine  enthusiasm  ;  and 
feel,  each  for  himself,  the  God-like  pleasure  of 
diffusing  happiness  on  all  around  us ;  of  deli 
vering  the  oppressed  from  the  iron  grasp  of 
tyranny  ;  of  changing  the  hoarse  complaints 
and  bitter  moans  of  wretched  slaves,  into  those 
cheerful  songs,  which  freedom  and  content 
ment  must  inspire.  There  is  a  heart-felt  satis 
faction  in  reflecting  on  our  exertions  for  the 
public  weal,  which  all  the  sufferings  an  enraged 
tyrant  can  inflict,  will  never  take  away  ;  which 
the  ingratitude  and  reproaches  of  those  whom 
we  have  saved  from  ruin,  cannot  rob  us  of. 
The  virtuous  asserter  of  the  rights  of  mankind, 
merits  a  reward,  which  even  a  want  of  success 
in  his  endeavors  to  save  his  country,  the 
heaviest  misfortune  which  can  befal  a  genuine 
patriot,  cannot  entirely  prevent  him  from  re 
ceiving. 

I  have  the  most  animating  confidence  that 
the  present  noble  struggle  for  liberty,  will  ter 
minate  gloriously  for  America.  And  let  us 
play  the  man  for  our  God,  and  for  the  cities 
of  our  God  ;  while  we  are  using  the  means  in 
our  power,  let  us  humbly  commit  our  righte 
ous  cause  to  the  great  Lord  of  the  universe, 
who  loveth  righteousness  and  hateth  iniquity. 
And  having  secured  the  approbation  of  our 
hearts,  by  a  faithful  and  unwearied  discharge 
of  our  duty  to  our  country,  let  us  joyfully  leave 
our  concerns  in  the  hands  of  Him  who  raiseth 
up  and  putteth  down  the  empires  and  king 
doms  of  the  world  as  He  pleases  ;  and  with 
cheerful  submission  to  His  sovereign  will, 
devoutly  say, 

"  Although  the  fig  tree  shall  not  blossom, 
neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the  -vines  ;  the  labor  of 
the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  field  shall  yield  no 
meat ;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold, 
and  there  shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls  ;  yet 
we  will  rejoice  in  the  LORD,  we  will  joy  in 
the  GOD  of  our  salvation." 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


43 


ORATION    DELIVERED    AT  WATERTOWN,*  MARCH  5, 
1776. 

BY  PETER  THACHER,  M.  A. 

Asellum  in  prato  timidus  pascebat  senex 
Is,  hostium  clamore  subito  territus, 
Suadebat  afino  fugere,  ne  possent  capi. 
At  ille  lentus :  quseso,  num  binas  mihi, 
Clitellas  impositurum  victorem  putas  ? 
Senex  negavit.    Ergo  quid  refert  mea, 
Cui  serviam  ?  Clitellas  dum  portem  meas. Pheedrus. 

My  friends — When  the  ambition  of  princes 
induces  them  to  break  over  the  sacred  barriers 
of  social  compact,  and  to  violate  those  rights, 
which  it  is  their  duty  to  defend,  they  will 
leave  no  methods  unessayed  to  bring  the  peo 
ple  to  acquiesce  in  their  unjustifiable  encroach 
ments. 

In  this  cause,  the  pens  of  venal  authors  have 
in  every  age,  been  drawn  :  with  Machiavilian 
subtilty,  they  have  labored  to  persuade  man 
kind,  that  their  public  happiness  consisted  in 
being  subject  to  uncontroled  power ;  that  they 
were  incapable  of  judging  concerning  the  mys 
teries  of  government ;  and  that  it  was  their 
interest  to  deliver  their  estates,  their  liberties, 
and  their  lives,  into  the  hands  of  an  absolute 
monarch. 

Mitred  hypocrites,  and  cringing,  base-souled 
priests,  have  impiously  dared  to  enlist  the 
oracles  of  God  into  the  service  of  despotism  ; 
to  assert  that,  by  the  command  of  the  supreme 
law-giver,  we  are  bound  to  surrender  our  rights 
into  the  hands  of  the  first  bold  tyrant  who 
dares  to  seize  them  ;  and  that  when  they  are 
seized,  it  is  rebellion  against  God,  and  treason 
against  the  prince,  for  us  to  attempt  to  resume 
them. 

Depraved  as  is  the  human  understanding,  it 
hath  yet  strength  enough  to  discern  the  ridi 
culous  fallacy  of  these  assertions  :  the  votaries 
of  ignorance  and  superstition  may,  indeed,  be 
imposed  upon  by  them.  When  we  place 
unlimited  confidence  in  our  civil  or  spiritual 
fathers,  we  can  swallow,  with  ease,  the  most 
improbable  dogmas  :  but  there  are  feelings  in 
the  human  heart,  which  compel  men  to  recog 
nize  their  own  rights — to  venerate  the  majesty 
of  the  people — and  to  despise  the  insult  which 
is  offered  to  their  understandings  by  these 
doating  absurdities.  Had  princes  no  other 
methods  to  accomplish  their  purposes,  could 
they  not  establish  their  usurpation,  without 
convincing  men's  judgments  of  their  utility? 
they  would  be  more  harmless  to  mankind  than 
they  have  ever  yet  been.  They  might  be  sur- 

*  Boston  was  at  this  time  garrisoned  by  the  British 
troops,  and  the  inhabitants  were  in  the  country  ;  which 
occasioned  this  oration  to  be  delivered  at  Watertown. 


rounded  with  the  fascinating  gewgaws  of  regal 
pomp ;  a  few  parasites  might  bow  the  knee 
before  these  idols  of  their  own  creating ;  the 
weak  and  the  wicked  might  obey  their  man 
dates  ;  but  the  baneful  influence  which  they 
now  have  upon  the  interests  of  individuals,  and 
of  society,  would  come  to  a  period  :  they  would 
not  revel  in  the  spoils  of  nations,  nor  trample 
upon  the  ruins  of  public  liberty. 

Conscious  of  this,  they  have  used  arguments, 
and  pursued  methods,  entirely  different  from 
these,  to  effect  their  designs  ;  instead  of  con 
vincing  the  understandings,  they  have  ad 
dressed  themselves  to  the  passions  of  men  : 
the  arts  of  bribery  and  corruption  have  been 
tried  with  a  fatal  success :  men,  we  know,  have 
sold  their  children,  their  country,  and  their 
God,  for  a  small  quantity  of  painted  dirt, 
which  will  perish  with  the  using. 

Extensive  as  are  the  revenues  of  princes, 
they  are  still  inadequate  to  the  purpose  of 
bribing  large  communities  to  submit  to  their 
pleasure  ;  corrupting  therefore  a  few,  they  have 
overawed  the  rest ;  from  small  beginnings,  and 
under  specious  pretences,  they  will  raise  a 
standing  military  force,  the  most  successful 
engine  ever  yet  wielded  by  the  hand  of  law 
less  domination. 

With  such  a  force,  it  is  easy  for  an  ambitious 
prince,  possessed  by  nature  of  very  slender  abili 
ties,  to  subvert  every  principle  of  liberty  in  the 
constitution  of  his  government,  and  to  render  his 
people  the  most  abject  of  slaves  :  if  any  indi 
vidual  feels  the  injury  done  to  his  country,  and 
wishes  to  restore  it  to  a  state  of  happinesj, 
with  a  bayonet  at  his  breast,  a  dragoon  will 
compel  him  to  silence  ;  if  the  people,  awakened 
to  see  their  interest  and  their  duty,  assemble 
for  the  same  purpose,  a  military  force  is  at 
hand  to  subdue  them,  and  by  leaden  argu 
ments,  to  convince  them  of  their  error. 

An  easy  task  would  it  be  to  enlarge  upon 
the  fatal  consequences  of  keeping  up  such  a 
standing  army  in  time  of  peace,  and  of  quarter 
ing  a  lawless  body  of  men,  who  despise  the 
just  restraints  of  civil  authority,  in  free  and 
populous  cities  :  that  no  vestige  of  freedom  can 
remain  in  a  state  where  such  a  force  exists  : 
that  the  morals  of  the  people  will  be  gradually 
corrupted  :  that  they  will  contract  such  a  habit 
of  tame  submission,  as  to  become  an  easy  prey 
to  the  brutal  tyrant  who  rules  them,  hath  been 
heretofore  largely  and  plainly  demonstrated,  by 
persons  so  much  more  capable  of  doing  it, 
than  he  who  is  speaking,  that  it  would  be 
presumption  in  him  to  attempt  it  now. 

There  is  no  need  of  recurring  to  the  ancient 
histories  of  Greece  and  Rome  for  instances  of 


44 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


these  truths.  The  British  nation,  once  famous 
for  its  attachment  to  freedom,  and  enthusiasti 
cally  jealous  of  its  rights,  is  now  become  a  great 
tame  beast,  which  fetches  and  carries  for  any 
minister  who  pleases  to  employ  it. 

Englishmen  have  been  wont  to  boast  of  the 
excellence  of  their  constitution  ;  to  boast  that  it 
contained  whatever  was  excellent  in  every  form 
of  government  hitherto,  by  the  wit  of  man, 
devised :  in  their  king,  whose  power  was  limited, 
they  have  asserted  that  they  enjoyed  the  advan 
tages  of  monarchy,  without  fear  of  its  evils : 
while  their  house  of  commons,  chosen  by  the  suf 
frages  of  the  people,  and  dependent  upon  them, 
represented  a  republic,  their  house  of  peers, 
forming  a  balance  of  power  between  the  king 
and  the  people,  gave  them  the  benefit  of  an 
aristocracy.  In  theory,  the  British  constitution 
is,  on  many  accounts,  excellent ;  but  when  we 
observe  it  reduced  to  practice,  when  we  observe 
the  British  government,  as  it  has  been,  for  a 
long  course  of  years  administered,  we  must  be 
convinced  that  its  boasted  advantages  are  not 
real :  the  management  of  the  public  revenue, 
the  appointment  of  civil  and  military  officers, 
are  vested  in  the  king :  improving  these  advan 
tages  which  these  powers  give  him,  he  hath 
found  means  to  corrupt  the  other  branches  of 
the  legislature :  Britons  please  themselves 
with  the  thought  of  being  free  ;  their  tyrant 
suffers  them  to  enjoy  the  shadow,  whilst  he 
himself  grasps  the  substance  of  power.  Impos 
sible  would  it  have  been  for  the  kings  of  England 
to  have  acquired  such  an  exorbitant  power, 
had  they  not  had  a  standing  army  under  their 
command  :  with  the  officers  of  this  army,  they 
have  bribed  men  to  sacrifice  the  rights  of  their 
country  :  having  artfully  got  their  arms  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  people,  with  their  mercenary 
forces  they  have  awed  them  into  submission. 
When  they  have  appeared,  at  any  time,  dis 
posed  to  assert  their  freedom,  these  troops 
have  been  ready  to  obey  the  mandates  of  their 
sovereign,  to  imbrue  their  hands  in  the  blood 
of  their  brethren. 

Having  found  the  efficacy  of  this  method  to 
quell  a  spirit  of  liberty  in  the  people  of  Great 
Britain,  the  righteous  administration  of  the 
righteous  king  George  the  third,  determined 
to  try  the  experiment  upon  the  people  of 
America.  To  fright  us  into  submission  to 
their  unjustifiable  claims,  they  sent  a  military 
force  to  the  town  of  Boston.  This  day  leads 
us  to  reflect  upon  the  fatal  effects  of  the 
measure !  by  their  intercourse  with  troops, 
made  up  in  general  of  the  most  abandoned  of 
men,  the  morals  of  our  youth  were  corrupted  : 
the  temples  and  the  day  of  our  God  were 


scandalously  profaned :  we  experienced  the 
most  provoking  insults ;  and  at  length  saw  the 
streets  of  Boston  strewed  with  the  corpses  of 
five  of  its  inhabitants,  murdered  in  cool  blood, 
by  the  British  mercenaries. 

The  indignant  rage  which  swelled  your  bo 
soms  upon  this  occasion — the  fortitude  and 
humanity  which  you  discovered — the  anguish 
of  the  friends  and  relatives  of  the  dead  and 
wounded,  with  all  the  horrors  of  that  memora 
ble  night,  have  been  painted  in  vivid  colors 
by  an  Hancock  and  a  Warren ;  they  have 
shewn  the  necessity  of  those  exertions  made 
by  the  town,  which  defeated,  at  that  time,  the 
designs  of  the  enemies  to  American  liberty, 
and  preserved  us,  for  the  present,  from  the 
calamities  of  war. 

But  the  past  year  hath  presented  us  with  a 
tragedy  more  striking,  because  more  extensive, 
than  this  :  a  tragedy,  which  more  plainly  proves 
the  fatal  effects  of  keeping  up  standing  armies 
in  time  of  peace,  than  any  arguments  what 
soever:  we  have  seen  the  ground  crimsoned 
with  the  gore  of  hundreds  of  our  fellow-citi 
zens  ; — we  have  seen  the  first  city  in  America, 
for  wealth  and  extent,  depopulated — we  have 
seen  others  destroyed,  and  heard  our  savage 
enemies  breathing  out  thirstings  for  our  blood. 

Finding  their  arts  insufficient  to  flatter,  or 
their  treasures  to  bribe,  the  people  of  America 
out  of  their  freedom,  the  British  government 
determined,  by  force,  to  subjugate  them  to 
their  arbitrary  will  ;  in  consequence  of  this 
determination,  a  large  party  of  their  troops 
marched  from  Boston,  on  the  morning  of  the 
ever  memorable  nineteenth  of  April  last : 
flushed  with  the  hopes  of  certain  victory,  and 
defying  the  armies  of  the  living  God,  they  broke 
through  every  divine  and  political  obligation  ; 
they  wantoned  in  cruelty ;  they  shed  again 
American  blood. 

Aroused  by  the  unprovoked  injury,  like  a 
lion  awaking  from  his  slumber,  we  sprang  to 
arms  !  we  felt  ourselves  inspired  with  the  spirit 
of  our  ancestors ;  we  heard  our  brethren's 
blood  crying  to  us  for  vengeance  ;  we  rushed 
into  the  midst  of  battle :  we  compelled  our 
enemies  to  betake  themselves  to  disgraceful 
flight ;  we  pursued  them  with  avidity,  and 
desisted  not  till  they  took  refuge  in  that  city, 
of  which,  by  fraud  and  treachery,  they  had 
possessed  themselves. 

Trusting  to  the  divine  protection,  from  that 
hour  we  determined  never  to  sheathe  the  sword, 
till  we  had  reparation  for  our  injuries  ;  till  we 
had  secured  our  own  freedom  and  the  freedom  of 
our  posterity :  from  that  hour  the  den  of  enemies 
hath  been  surrounded  by  an  American  army, 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


45 


brave  and  determined  :  although  they  had  before 
boasted  of  their  superiority  to  all  the  troops  in 
the  world,  they  have  scarcely  dared  to  set  their 
ieet  out  of  their  strong  holds  since  that  time, 
and  instead  of  ravaging  the  American  conti 
nent  in  a  single  campaign,  with  a  single  regi 
ment,  they  have  proceeded one  mile 

and  an  half'm  the  conquest  of  it. 

The  heights  of  Charlestown  witnessed  to 
the  world,  that  Americans,  fighting  in  the  cause 
of  freedom,  were  a  formidable  foe  :  although 
they  were  surrounded  by  troops  hitherto 
deemed  invincible  ;  although  they  saw  the  habi 
tations  of  their  countrymen  inveloped  with 
flames ;  although  cannon  roared  on  every  quar 
ter,  and  they  beheld  scenes  of  desolation  and 
bloodshed,  to  which  they  were  entirely  unused, 
yet  they  retired  not  till  they  had  compelled 
their  enemy  twice  to  retreat,  and  had  expended 
the  whole  of  their  ammunition :  the  British 
forces  gained  the  ground,  but  they  lost  the 
flower  of  their  army. 

From  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other, 
a  series  of  successes  hath  attended  the  Ameri 
can  arms  ;  instead  of  having  troops  of  savages 
poured  down  to  our  frontiers  (which  the  mur 
derous  policy  of  the  tyrant  of  Britain  induced 
him  to  attempt)  we  have,  through  the  favor  of 
heaven,  carried  our  victorious  arms  into  the 
very  bowels  of  Canada ;  instead  of  having  our 
stores  and  provisions  cut  off  by  the  enemy,  we 
have  made  important  captures  from  them  : 
success  hath  crowded  our  enterprises,  while 
disappointment  hath  followed  those  who  op 
pose  us. 

That  elation  of  spirit,  which  is  excited  by 
our  victories,  is  damped  by  our  feeling  the 
calamities  of  war.  To  hear  the  expiring  groans 
of  our  beloved  countrymen ;  to  behold  the 
flames  of  our  habitations,  once  the  abodes  of 
peace  and  plenty,  ascending  to  Heaven ;  to  see 
the  ruin  and  desolation  spread  over  our  fruitful 
villages,  must  occasion  sensations  in  the  high 
est  degree  painful. 

This  day,  upon  which  the  gloomy  scene  was 
first  opened,  calls  upon  us  to  mourn  for  the 
heroes  who  have  already  died  in  the  bed  of 
honor,  fighting  for  God  and  their  country. 
Especially,  does  it  lead  us  to  recollect  the  name 
and  the  virtues  of  general  Warren!  the 
kind,  the  humane,  the  benevolent  friend,  in  the 
private  walks  of  life  ;  the  inflexible  patriot,  the 
undaunted  commander  in  his  public  sphere, 
deserves  to  be  recollected  with  gratitude  and 
esteem  !  this  audience,  acquainted,  in  the  most 
intimate  manner,  with  his  numberless  virtues, 
must  feel  his  loss,  and  bemoan  their  beloved, 
their  entrusted  fellow-citizen !  ah  !  my  coun 


trymen,  what  tender,  what  excruciating  sensa 
tions  rush  at  once  upon  our  burdened  minds, 
when  we  recall  his  loved  idea!  when  we  re 
flect  upon  the  manner  of  his  death  ;  when  we 
fancy  that  we  see  his  savage  enemies  exulting 
o'er  his  corpse,  beautiful  even  in  death,  when 
we  remember  that,  destitute  of  the  rites  of 
sepulture,  he  was  cast  into  the  ground,  without 
the  distinction  due  to  his  rank  and  merit ;  we 
cannot  restrain  the  starting  tear,  we  cannot 
repress  the  bursting  sigh  !  we  mourn  thine 
exit,  illustrious  shade,  with  undissembled  grief ; 
we  venerate  thine  exalted  character;  we  will 
erect  a  monument  to  thy  memory  in  each  of 
our  grateful  breasts,  and  to  the  latest  ages,  will 
teach  our  tender  infants  to  lisp  the  name  of 
Warren,  with  veneration  and  applause  ! 

When  we  traverse  the  Canadian  wilds,  and 
come  to  the  plains  of  Abraham,  where  Wolfe 
once  fell,  we  are  there  again  compelled  to  pay 
a  tribute  to  exalted  merit,  and  to  lament  the 
fall  of  the  great  Montgomery  !  warmed  with 
a  spirit  of  patriotism,  too  little  felt  by  his 
venal  countrymen,  he  espoused  the  cause  of 
American  freedom  :  he  left  domestic  ease  and 
affluence :  he  girded  on  the  sword  which  he 
had  long  laid  aside,  and  jeoparded  his  life  in 
the  high  places  of  the  field  :  victory  followed 
his  standard  ;  she  hovered  over  his  head,  and 
crowned  it  with  the  laurel  wreath  ;  she  was 
just  ready  to  hail  him  the  conqueror  of  Canada, 
when  the  fatal  sisters  snapped,  in  a  moment, 
the  thread  of  life,  and  seized,  from  his  eager 
grasp,  the  untasted  conquest !  Americans, 
bear  witness  to  his  humanity  and  his  valor, 
for  he  died  fighting  in  your  cause,  and  the 
cause  of  mankind  !  let  his  memory  live  in  your 
breasts ;  let  it  be  handed  down  to  your  pos 
terity,  that  millions  yet  unborn  may  rise  up  and 
call  him  blessed  ! 

The  tender  feelings  of  the  human  heart  are 
deeply  affected  with  the  fate  of  these  and  the 
other  heroes  who  have  bled  and  died,  that 
their  country  may  be  free ;  but  at  the  same 
time,  sensations  of  indignant  wrath  are  excited 
in  the  breasts  of  every  friend  to  freedom  :  he 
will  listen  to  the  voice  of  their  blood,  which 
cries  aloud  to  heaven  and  to  him,  for  ven 
geance  !  he  will  feel  himself  animated  with  new 
vigor  in  the  glorious  cause :  nothing  daunted 
by  their  untimely  fate,  he  will  rush  into  the 
midst  of  danger,  that  he  may  share  their  glory 
and  avenge  their  death  !  every  idea  which  can 
warm  and  animate  him  to  glorious  deeds,  will 
rush  at  once  upon  his  mind  ;  and,  when  engaged 
in  the  warmest  battle,  he  will  hear  them,  from 
their  heaven,  urging  him  to  action  :  he  will  feel 
their  spirits  transfused  into  his  breast ;  he  will 


46 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


sacrifice  whole  hecatombs  of  their  murderers 
to  their  illustrious  manes  ! 

Indeed,  my  countrymen,  the  people  of  Ameri 
ca  have  every  thing  to  animate  and  encourage 
them  in  the  present  contest.  Formidable  as 
was  once  the  power  of  the  British  lion,  he  hath 
now  lost  his  teeth  ;  universal  dissipation  hath 
taken  place  of  that  simplicity  of  manners,  and 
hardiness  of  integrity,  for  which  the  nation  was 
once  remarkable  :  the  officers  of  the  British 
army,  instead  of  inuring  themselves  to  disci 
pline,  and  seeking  for  glory  in  the  blood-stained 
field,  wish  alone  to  captivate  the  softer  sex, 
and  triumph  over  their  virtue.  The  legisla 
ture  of  Great  Britain  is  totally  corrupt  ;  her 
administration  is  arbitrary  and  tyrannical ;  the 
people  have  lost  their  spirit  of  resentment ; 
and,  like  the  most  contemptible  of  animals,  bow 
the  shoulder  to  bear  and  become  servants  unto 
tribute.  The  national  resources  are  cut  off; 
she  is  loaded  with  an  intolerable  public  debt ; 
she  is  become  the  scorn  of  those  foreigners  to 
whom  she  was  once  terrible,  and  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  her  glory  is  in  the  wane. 

How  different  from  this  is  the  present  state 
of  our  country ;  descended  from  a  race  of 
hardy  ancestors,  who  loved  their  freedom  better 
than  they  loved  their  lives,  the  Americans  are 
jealous  of  the  least  infringement  of  their 
rights  ;  strangers  to  that  luxury,  which  effe 
minates  the  mind  and  body,  they  are  capable 
of  enduring  incredible  hardships  ;  with  eager 
ness  they  rush  into  the  field  of  battle,  and 
brave,  with  coolness,  every  danger ;  they  pos 
sess  a  rich  and  a  fruitful  country,  sufficient  to 
supply  them  with  every  necessary  and  con 
venience  of  life  ;  they  have  inexhaustible  re 
sources  for  carrying  on  war,  and  bid  fair  soon 
to  be  courted  for  their  alliance,  by  the  proudest 
monarchs  of  the  earth.  Their  statesmen  are 
equal  to  the  task  of  forming  and  defending 
a  free  and  extensive  empire  :  their  generals  are 
brave  and  humane,  intrepid  and  prudent. 
When  I  name  a  Washington,  my  audience 
will  feel  the  justice  of  the  remark,  and  acquit 
me  of  the  charge  of  flattery. 

Possessed  of  these  advantages,  we  should  be 
inexcusable  to  God,  to  our  posterity,  to  the 
whole  world,  if  we  hesitated,  a  single  moment, 
in  asserting  our  rights  and  repelling  the  at 
tacks  of  lawless  power.  Freedom  is  offered 
to  us,  she  invites  us  to  accept  her  blessings  ; 
driven  from  the  other  regions  of  the  globe,  she 
wishes  to  find  an  asylum  in  the  wilds  of  Ame 
rica  ;  with  open  arms  let  us  receive  the  perse 
cuted  fair ;  let  us  imitate  the  example  of  our 
venerable  ancestors,  who  loved  and  courted 
her  into  these  desert  climes.  With  deter 


mined  bravery,  let  us  resist  the  attacks  of  her 
imprudent  ravishers  ;  by  resolution  and  firm 
ness  we  may  defend  her  from  their  power,  and 
transmit  her  blessings  to  millions  upon  millions 
of  our  posterity.  Let  us  then  arouse  to  arms  ; 
for,  upon  our  exertions,  under  God,  depends 
their  freedom  ;  upon  our  exertions  depends  the 
important  question,  whether  the  rising  empire 
of  America,  shall  be  an  empire  of  slaves  or  of 
freemen. 

Animated  by  these  considerations,  my  friends 
and  fellow-citizens,  let  us  strain  every  nerve  in 
the  service  of  our  country  !  what  are  our  lives 
when  viewed  in  competition  with  the  happiness 
of  such  an  empire  !  what  is  our  private  interest 
when  opposed  to  that  of  three  millions  of  men  ! 
let  our  bosoms  glow  with  the  warmth  of  pa 
triotism  ;  let  us  sacrifice  our  ease,  our  fortunes, 
and  our  lives,  that  we  may  save  our  country. 

That  a  spirit  of  public  virtue  may  transcend 
every  private  consideration,  you,  the  respected 
inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Boston,  have  plainly 
manifested  :  with  pleasure  you  have  sacrificed 
what  selfish  men  hold  most  dear,  to  save  this 
oppressed  land  !  with  firmness  you  have  re 
sisted  every  attack  of  arbitrary  power  !  like  the 
sturdy  oak,  you  have  stood  unmoved,  and  to 
you,  under  GOD,  will  be  owing  the  salvation  of 
this  extensive  continent. 

We  feel,  my  beloved  friends,  our  obligations 
to  you  !  our  hearts  confess  them  ;  we  cordially 
wish  it  were  in  our  power  to  reward  you  for 
your  patriotism  ;  to  restore  you  to  that  ease 
and  affluence  of  which  for  our  sakes,  you  have  de 
prived  yourselves;  it  is  not.  But  our  morning  and 
evening  petitions  to  the  guardian  God  of  Amer 
ica  shall  be,  that  he  will  bless  and  reward  you. 

With  transport,  my  countrymen,  let  us  look 
forward  to  the  bright  day,  which  shall  hail  us 
a  free  and  independent  state.  With  earnest 
ness  let  us  implore  the  forgiveness  and  the  pa 
tronage  of  the  Being  of  all  beings,  who  holds 
the  fate  of  empires  in  his  hands  !  with  zeal  let 
us  exert  ourselves  in  the  service  of  our  country, 
in  life :  and  when  the  earthly  scene  shall  be 
closing  with  us,  let  us  expire  with  this  prayer 
upon  our  quivering  lips,  O  GOD,  LET  AMERICA 
BE  FREE ! 


ORATION   DELIVERED   AT  BOSTON    MARCH    5, 
1777. 

BY  BENJAMIN   HIGHBORN,  ESQ. 

Turn  vos,  O  Tyrii,  stirpcm  et  genus  omne  futurum 

Exercete  odiis ;  cinerique  h«ec  mittite  nostro 
Munera  :  nullis  amor  populis,  nee  fsedera  sunto. 

—  Virgil. 

Friends  and  countrymen  ! — Leaving  apolo- 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


47 


gies  for  my  inability  to  act  the  part  I  am  to 
take,  in  this  day's  solemnity,  to  those  who 
mtght  have  remedied  the  evil,  by  a  more  suitable 
appointment,  I  shall  offer  my  sentiments  upon 
the  subject  with  the  same  freedom  that  I 
conceived  them. 

The  advantages  of  social  life,  are  the  result 
of  such  e'-iaent  necessity,  so  extensively  diffu 
sive  and  universally  felt,  that  all  mankind  will 
readily  acknowledge  their  existence  without  the 
aid  of  metaphysics  or  history. 

The  right  that  every  individual  has  to  reason 
freely  upon  the  nature  of  that  government  he 
is  called  to  submit  to,  having  nature  for  its 
source,  is  no  less  obvious  and  perceptible — and 
hence,  as  a  necessary  foundation  for  the  exer 
cise  of  this  right,  I  define  civil  liberty  to  be, 
not  "  a  government  by  laws,"  made  agreeable 
to  charters,  bills  of  rights  or  compacts,  but  a 
power  existing  in  the  people  at  large,  at  any 
time,  for  any  cause,  or  for  no  cause,  but  their 
own  sovereign  pleasure,  to  alter  or  annihilate 
both  the  mode  and  essence  of  any  former  gov 
ernment,  and  adopt  a  new  one  in  its  stead. 

Placing  ourselves  then  upon  this  broad  basis 
of  civil  liberty,  founded  on  natural  right,  we 
will,  unawed  by  the  standing  armies  of  any 
tyrant's  tools,*  or  monarch's,  deliberate  freely 
upon  the  nature  of  their  institutions,  and  their 
dangerous  tendency  to  the  rights  of  man. 

Every  military  force  must  necessarily  imply 
a  right  of  exercising  an  arbitrary  power,  so  far 
as  respects  the  objects  against  which  it  is  to 
be  directed ;  and  what  will  be  the  objects, 
against  which  it  will  be  in  constant  exercise,  in 
proportion  to  its  extent,  we  may  collect  from 
the  experience  of  ages,  and  the  well  known 
source  of  human  actions. 

The  page  of  history  seldom  groans  with  the 
calamities  of  mankind,  but  we  may  trace  the 
source  of  their  unhappiness  to  this  engine  of 
oppression. 

Projected  in  the  blackest  principles  of  the 
human  mind,  and  supported  by  ambition  and  a 
lust  of  unbounded  sway,  this  armed  monster 
hath  spread  havoc  and  misery  throughout  the 
world.  We  find  the  bloody  traces  of  its  foot 
steps  through  all  the  ruins  of  greatness  and 
Ireedom,  either  in  ancient  or  modern  times  : 
the  most  free  and  opulent  cities  of  the  world, 
by  conniving  at  its  birth,  have,  at  last,  fallen  a 
prey  to  its  relentless  fury.f 

While  we  are  ravished  with    the  politeness, 

*  The  petty  states  and  princes  who  have  raised  their 
armies  as  a  peasant  would  his  game  cocks,  and  sent  them 
to  market  for  a  price,  are  in  the  most  infamous  sense  of 
the  word,  tools. 

t  Pisistratus  of  Athens,  Dionysius  of  Syracuse,  and 
Caesar  of  Rome,  furnish  a  few  among  numberless  exam 
ples,  that  history  affords. 


wisdom,  and  greatness  of  the  Grecian  states, 
we  can  scarce  believe  that  the  productions  of 
such  art,  refinement,  and  learning,  should  ever 
be  subdued  by  a  power  that  never  could  have 
crept  into  life,  but  through  the  channel  of 
their  indulgence. 

But  alas  !  their  fate  remains  a  standing 
monument  of  this  truth ;  that  .  freedom,  at 
sufferance,  is  a  solecism  in  politics. 

To  avoid  the  pain  that  humanity  must  suffer, 
upon  finding  so  few  instances  of  virtue  that 
have  been  proof  against  the  temptations  to 
prostitute  a  delegated  power,  I  am  inclined  to 
think,  that  the  great  Founder  of  societies  has 
caused  the  curse  of  infatuating  ambition,  and 
relentless  cruelty,  to  be  entailed  on  those 
whose  vanity  may  lead  them  to  assume  his 
prerogative  among  any  of  his  people  as  they 
are  cantoned  about  in  the  world,  and  to  pre 
vent  mankind  from  paying  that  adoration  and 
respect  to  the  most  dignified  mortal,  which  is 
due  only  to  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness,  in 
the  direction  of  almighty  power,  and  therefore 
that  he  alone  is  fit  to  be  a  monarch. 

Were  we  to  traverse  the  whole  field  of 
human  transactions,  and  expect  any  where  to 
find  an  .exemption  from  this  general  charge 
we  should  most  naturally  fix  our  eyes  upon  the 
Romans — but  how  mortified  do  we  find  our 
selves  by  the  survey  ? 

At  the  very  time  this  people  were  most 
famed  for  their  virtue  and  greatness — while 
they  were  regaling  themselves  with  luxurious 
ease  in  the  lap  of  freedom — the  provinces, 
they  obtained  by  fraud  and  violence,  were  suf 
fering  under  every  species  of  the  vilest  servi 
tude,  and  made  to  contribute  to  that  very  ease 
and  luxury  at  the  discretion  of  the  most  merci 
less  unfeeling  task-masters. 

But  they  themselves,  by  the  same  tools  they 
had  armed  to  execute  their  bloody  purposes, 
in  their  turn,  became  the  subjects  of  the  same 
kind  of  oppression  they  so  liberally  dealt  out 
to  others,  and  stand  recorded  in  history  equal 
monuments  of  the  greatness  and  depravity  of 
human  nature. 

Taught  by  the  experience  of  former  ages, 
that  a  general,  at  the  head  of  an  armed  force, 
would  ever  make  himself  superior  to  the  laws, 
Europe,  for  several  centuries,  raised  effectual 
barriers  against  the  danger  (and,  I  may  say, 
the  possibility)  of  their  usurpations;  for  the 
tenure  *  of  their  lands,  though  they  acknow 
ledge  a  superior  lord,  was  upon  conditions  so 
abhorrent  to  the  idea  of  standing  armies,  that 
it  offered  at  once,  both  a  promise  and  a  pledge 
against  them. 

*  The  feudal  tenure. 


48 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


But  to  convince  us  that  no  human  institu 
tions  can  insure  permanent  felicity  to  mankind, 
— security,  the  offspring  of  ease  and  freedom, 
opened  the  door  for  one  enterprising  usurper 
after  another,*  till  the  inhabitants  of  the  whole 
eastern  world  had  but  little  left  of  the  property 
of  their  species  but  what  they  possessed  in 
their  shape. 

Strange  metamorphosis  !  but  is  it  not  much 
stranger  still,  to  see  these  pitiable  wretches 
stript  of  every  enjoyment  that  can  render  life  a 
blessing,  meanly  courting  favor  and  protection 
from  the  tyrants  who  enslaved  them,  and 
easily  mistaking  the  chains  of  servitude  for 
the  garb  of  nature  ? 

The  formalities  of  a  free,  and  the  ends  of  a 
despotic  state  (says  a  modern  writer)  have 
often  subsisted  together ;  Britain  furnishes  a 
most  unhappy  example  of  this  shocking  truth  : 
as  if  the  relish  of  liberty  was  pampered  to 
make  slavery  itself  more  intolerably  loath 
some,  they  feel  all  the  mortifying  consequences 
of  the  basest  servitude,  and  are  left  to  console 
themselves  with  this  consideration,  that  the 
weight  of  their  grievances  can  never  be  in 
creased  while  they  are  complimented,  or  rather 
tantalized  with  the  name  of  freemen.  These 
are  some  of  the  glorious  effects  of  standing 
armies  among  foreign  nations.  Let  us  now 
consider  their  consequences  in  that  part  of 
the  world,  in  whose  affairs  we  take  a  more  in 
teresting  part. 

It  is  easy  to  conceive  that  those  men  who 
would  not  scruple  to  make  use  of  every  artifice 
and  violence  to  reduce  the  very  people  to 
whose  generosity  they  were  indebted  for  their 
splendor,  wealth,  and  greatness,  to  a  state  of 
vassalage,  would  never  hesitate  to  make  their 
conquests  as  extensive  as  their  power  ; — they 
can  feel  the  influence  of  no  law  but  that  of  the 
sword,  and  therefore  (whatever  may  be  their 
pretensions)  you  will,  in  every  case,  find  them 
ultimately  make  an  appeal  to  its  decisions. 

If  such  are  the  governors,  what  must  the 
people  be  ?  having  been  robbed  of  liberty 
themselves,  without  the  faintest  struggle  in  its 
defence.t  they  are  just  fit  to  be  made  the  in 
struments  of  wresting  it  from  others. 

How  can  we  expect  that  they  who  know 
nothing  of  the  happiness  of  freedom  them 
selves  should  feel  any  reluctance  at  reducing 
all  mankind  to  their  own  disgraceful  situation? 
indeed  the  reverse  is  true,  for  we  generally, 

*  Charles  VII.  and  Louis  XI.  of  France,  having  set  the 
example,  all  the  crowned  heads  in  Europe  soon  fol 
lowed  it. 

t  The  murder  of  two  or  three  people  in  St.  George's 
fields,  seems  to  be  all  the  ceremony  attending  the  death 
and  burial  of  Hritish  liberty. 


find  them  taking  an  unnatural  pleasure  in 
stripping  others  of  the  noblest  ornaments  and 
gifts  of  nature,  to  countenance  their  own  de 
formity  and  wretchedness. 

A  trifling  farce,  therefore,  upon  the  question 
of  right  in  parliament,  was  all  the  previous 
parade  that  was  thought  necessary  to  the  intro 
duction  of  a  standing  army,  with  all  the  ensigns 
of  war,  into  the  bowels  of  our  country. 

It  is  needless  to  recount  the  various  preludes 
to  hostilities,  the  fatal  day  we  now  commemo 
rate,  opened  a  scene  that  filled  every  honest 
mind  with  indignation,  and  every  tender  heart 
with  distress.* — It  is  impossible  for  any  one 
who  were  not  witnesses  of  that  shocking  event, 
to  conceive  the  terrors  of  that  dreadful  night, 
and  they  who  were  must  have  images  of  hor 
ror  upon  the  mind  they  never  can  communi 
cate. 

The  variety  of  contending  passions  that 
once  fall  upon  and  distract  the  mind,  upon  the 
arrival  of  such  an  important  crisis,  can  never 
be  realized  but  once. 

To  see  the  peaceful  inhabitants  of  a  city, 
deliberately  murdered  by  the  very  men,  who, 
in  pretence,  were  supported  for  their  protection 
— to  hear  the  piercing  groans — to  see  the  man 
gled  bodies  and  ghastly  visages  of  the  dying 
and  the  dead — to  hear  the  shrieks  and  cries  of 
the  timid,  with  the  promiscuous,  mingling  hor 
rid  sound  of  arms,  execrations,  and  vengeance, 
produced  a  scene  of  confusion  and  wretched 
ness,  so  complicated  and  complete,  that  the 
power  of  the  richest  language  must  ever  fail  in 
describing  it.f 

The  eye  of  pity  is  yet  called  to  drop  a  tear 
at  the  sufferings,  and  patriotism  to  pour  the 
balm  of  charity  over  the  wounds  of  half-mur 
dered  citizens,  dragging  out  a  miserable  life, 
and  fresh  bleeding  with  the  blows  aimed  at 
our  country. 

We  could  dwell,  with  a  melancholy  pleasure, 
on  this  sad  catastrophe,  did  not  a  more  ample 
field  of  violence,  bloodshed,  and  cruelty,  de 
mand  our  attention. 

The  palpable  absurdity  of  making  use  of  the 
name  of  a  king,  to  give  a  sanction  to  those 
very  operations  which  were  carrying  on  against 
him,  has  been  so  sensibly  felt,  through  all 
ranks  of  men,  that  we  have  not  yet  altogether 
got  rid  of  its  disagreeable  effects. 

And  I  must  confess  I  should  blush  at  the 
ludicrous  figure  in  which  this  part  of  our  his- 


-Quis  talia  fando, 


Myrmidonum,  Dolopumve,  aut  duri  miles  Ulyssei, 
Temperet  a  lachrymis.  — Virgil. 
t  Non  mihi  si  linguae  centum  sint,  oraque  centum, 
Ferrea  vox,  omnes  scelerum  comprendere  formas 
possim.      — Virgil. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


49 


tory  must  exhibit  to  view,  in  future  time,  were 
we  not  countenanced  by  the  same,  or  more 
striking  inconsistencies  which  are  to  be  found 
attendant  (and  perhaps  necessarily  so)  upon 
all  important  revolutions. 

We  can  easily  conceive  a  mixture  of  preju 
dice  and  fear,  that  will  excite  such  awful  ideas 
of  the  person,  to  whom  we  have  been  taught 
from  our  cradles,  to  annex  the  properties  of  a 
most  gracious  sovereign,  most  sacred  majesty, 
and  a  train  of  such  God-like  attributes,  as 
would  make  us  feel  conscious  of  a  degree  of 
impiety,  in  calling  a  villain  by  his  proper  name, 
while  shrouded  under  this  garb  of  sanctity. 

But  it  is  exceedingly  diverting  to  view  the 
influence  of  this  chimerical  divinity  in  those 
who  are  made  the  immediate  tools  of  sup 
porting  it — they  will  tell  you  it  is  a  task  most 
ungrateful  to  men  of  their  sensibility  and  refine 
ment,  to  be  made  the  instruments  of  sending 
fire  and  death  indiscriminately  among  the  in 
nocent,  the  helpless,  and  the  fair— but  they 
have  sworn  to  be  faithful  to  their  sovereign, 
and  were  they  ordered  to  scale  the  walls  of  the 
new  Jerusalem,  they  should  not  dare  to  decline 
the  impious  attempt. 

Were  it  not  for  this  ridiculous  faith  in  the 
omnipotence  of  the  tyrant  whom  they  serve, 
we  must  suppose  them  fools  or  madmen : — In 
deed  that  very  faith  would  justify  the  charge 
of  extreme  madness  and  folly  against  all  man 
kind,  who  had  not  been  nurtured  in  this  cradle 
of  infatuation. 

Were  it  not  for  the  indulgence  that  a  gene 
rous  mind  will  always  shew  to  the  weakness 
and  prejudices  of  the  worst  of  men,  many  whom 
the  chance  of  war  has  thrown  into  our  hands, 
must  have  felt  the  severity  and  contempt  of 
a  justly  enraged  people,  while  they,  with  all 
their  vanity  and  ostentation,  remain  the  unhurt 
objects  of  our  pity. 

It  is  surely  rather  a  subject  of  merry  ridi 
cule,  than  deserving  of  serious  resentment,  to 
see  many  of  this  kind  of  gentry  affecting  to 
deny  the  character  of  prisoners,  and  attributing 
that  indulgence  which  is  the  effect  of  unparal 
leled  generosity,  to  the  mean  motive  of  fear  ; 
but  we  will  let  them  know,  that  they  cannot 
provoke  us  even  to  justice  in  the  line  of  punish 
ment,  and  we  leave  them  to  their  own  con 
sciences  and  the  impartial  censures  of  sur 
rounding  nations,  to  make  some  returns  for  the 
unexampled  cruelties  that  many  of  our  friends 
have  suffered  from  their  barbarous  hands  ;  *  in 

*  Captain  Johnson  and  his  crew,  the  prisoners  in  gen 
eral  at  New  York  and  Halifax,  Mr.  Lovell  and  many 
others  in  Boston,  are  instances  sufficient  to  destroy  the 
little  credit  they  ever  had  for  humanity  ;  and  the  sufferings 
of  some  to  which  I  have  myself  been  a  witness,  exposed 


lieu  of  that  severity,  which,  however  just,  hu 
manity  shudders  to  inflict.  But  we  cannot 
think  it  strange  to  find  people  in  the  subordi 
nate  departments  of  life  influenced  by  such 
ridiculous  notions,  while  their  haughty  masters 
seem  to  labor  under  the  misfortune  of  the 
same  infatuation. 

Slaves  always  rate  the  consequence  of  those 
they  serve,  by  the  treatment  they  receive  from 
them  and  wonder  that  others  do  not  feel  the 
weight  of  the  same  importance. 

To  call  men  of  distinguished  rank,  in  any  go 
vernment,  knaves,  fools  and  scoundrels,  how 
ever  they  may  deserve  it,  is  esteemed  neither 
polite  or  decent :  I  am,  therefore,  at  a  loss  for 
names  while  I  am  describing  the  oppressors  of 
my  country.  Who,  without  deserving  these 
reproachful  appellations,  could  have  conceived 
the  horrid  wish  of  decking  his  crown  with  the 
idle  plume  of  foreign  empire  at  the  expense  of 
the  peace,  wealth,  and  very  being  of  a  nation  ; 
and  who  but  a  pompous  blockhead,  in  the  exe 
cution  of  this  impious  design,  could  expect  to 
conquer  a  hardy,  virtuous  set  of  men,  by 
ineffectual  threats  and  empty  promises,  con 
tained  in  a  set  of  proclamations,  he  wanted 
either  courage  or  power  to  disperse  among  the 
people  they  were  designed  to  subdue  ?  t 

Possibly  they  may  conceive  the  length  of 
their  master's  purse,  at  the  rate  of  thirty  crowns 
a  man,  to  be  equal  to  all  the  armed  force  of 
Europe,  and  therefore  they  should  be  able 
ultimately  to  effect  that  by  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  which  they  rather  wished,  than 
expected,  to  obtain  on  any  other  terms. 

Here  let  us  pause,  and  for  the  honor  of  our 
species,  give  a  moment  to  reflection  upon  this 
shocking  idea !  is  it  possible  that  any  race  of 
men  should  be  so  lost  to  a  sense  of  the  rights 
of  nature,  and  the  dignity  of  their  rank  in  the 
chain  of  beings,  as  to  suffer  themselves  (like 
the  horses  which  they  ride)  to  be  tutored  to 
the  field  of  war,  to  have  a  price  set  upon  their 
lives,  which  their  masters  will  receive,  and  then 
be  sold  into  the  service  of  lust,  ambition  and 
avarice,  and  become  the  tools  of  eternal  war 
against  the  lives,  the  properties,  and  freedom 
of  the  rest  of  mankind. 

But,  thanks  to  heaven  !  this  black  combina 
tion  of  passions,  supported  by  the  unmasked 

to  all  the  inconveniences  and  hazards  of  a  languishing 
disease  in  confinement  on  ship  board,  in  view  of  the  per 
sons  and  habitations  of  their  nearest  friends,  and  a  sympa 
thizing  parent  turned  over  the  side  with  reproaches,  for 
attempting  to  speak  to  his  sick,  suffering,  dying  child, 
must  give  the  characters  of  the  polite,  sensible,  humane 
admiral  Graves,  and  his  nephew  Sam,  a  stamp  of  infamy, 
which  the  power  of  time  can  never  wipe  away. 

t  The  generals  Gage  and  Howe,  have  been  playing  this 
warlike  game  ever  since  they  have  been  in  the  country. 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


tyrant  of  Britain,  with  all  the  mercenary  forces 
of  his  powerful  and  extensive  allies,  have 
hitherto  proved  unsuccessful  (and  I  trust  in 
God  they  ever  will)  in  every  effort  to  contami 
nate  the  only  column  of  free  air  in  both  hemis 
pheres  :  however,  one  advantage  we  derive 
from  their  open  attempts,  which  is  to  expect  no 
security  for  ourselves,  but  in  their  ruin  ;  delibe 
rate  murders,  indiscriminate  plunder,  and  the 
most  of  barbarous  violence  upon  the  delicacy 
and  virtue  of  the  fair,  have  marked  the  few 
paces  of  imaginary  conquest  they  have  trod.* 

Methinks  I  see  the  tender  parent,  frantic 
with  rage,  defying  hosts  of  ruffians  armed,  and 
courting  death  in  every  form,  rather  than  live 
the  witness  of  his  daughter's  shame  ; — ah  !  hear 
the  shrieks  of  virgin  innocence  calling  in  vain 
for  succor  from  that  arm  which  oft  defended 
her  !  but  see  the  helpless  victim  of  their  British 
lust,  in  wild  despair,  wringing  her  guiltless 
hands,  with  looks  to  heaven,  as  if,  without  a 
crime,  she  had  lost  her  only  title  to  those  pure 
abodes !  where  is  the  coward  heart  that  does 
not  beat  to  arms,  and  glow  with  unusual  ardor 
for  revenge  ? 

Where  are  friends  to  reconciliation,  with 
these  foes  to  virtue  ?  they  will  tell  us  their 
power  is  formidable,  and  it  is  wise  to  accom 
modate  ourselves  to  the  requisitions  of  superior 
force — as  soon  I'd  tamper  with  the  power  of 
hell!  for, 


-"  Tis  the  worst  of  slavery 


"  Tamely  to  bend  our  necks  beneath  the  yoke 
"  And  suffer  fraud  to  talk  us  out  of  freedom." 

They  wish  not  to  soothe  but  to  destroy  us; 
and  if  this  stale  artifice  of  tyrants  should  suc 
ceed,  we  well  deserve  the  ruin  it  insures. 
They  never  ask  for  what  they  can  demand,  and 
impotence  alone  prevents  a  general  carnage. 

Does  courage  want  a  stimulus  in  the  de 
fence  of  virtue  ?  let  us  cast  our  eyes  on  the 
example  of  our  illustrious  general ;  equally 
beyond  the  reach  of  calumny  and  encomium, 
the  tongue  of  slander  has  never  dared  to 
attack  him,  while  the  ablest  panegyrist  must 
bl'.ish  when  he  is  attempting  to  give  him  half 
the  eu'ogriums  which  are  his  due. 

The  generous  sacrifice  he  has  made  of  pri 
vate  interest,  domestic  felicity,  and  all  the  con 
sequent  refined  enjoyments  of  social  life,  to 
the  exigencies  of  his  country  in  the  field  of 
war : — the  cheerfulness  with  which  he  has 
sustained  all  the  hardships,  anxieties,  and  dis 
appointments  of  two  important  campaigns, 
against  a  formidable  body  of  well  disciplined 
veterans,  with  an  army  composed  of  men  dif- 

*  See  accounts  of  their  proceedings  in  the  Jersies,  and 
general  orders  in  the  orderly  book  taken  at  Trenton. 


ferent  in  their  manners,  and  unused  to  the 
discipline  of  a  camp,  without  exciting  the 
smallest  jealousies  in  the  civil  power  on  the 
one  hand,  or  giving  occasion  for  the  faintest 
murmurs  among  his  soldiers,  on  the  other : 
finally,  when  his  enemies  were  at  the  zenith 
of  their  glory,  and,  in  imagination,  already  in 
possession  of  a  conquered  world  ; — with  the 
remnant  of  his  expiring  army,  to  resume  the 
field,  and  with  this  handful  of  his  chosen  fol 
lowers,  disperse,  destroy,  or  captivate  hosts  of 
foes  must  excite  sentiments  of  affection,  grati 
tude,  and  esteem,  that  border  upon  adoration. 

Did  not  a  life  of  the  most  disinterested  pa 
triotism  and  unremitted  ardor  in  the  cause  of 
virtue  and  mankind,  point  him  out  as  an  excep 
tion  to  the  charge  we  have  so  fully  supported 
against  all  who  lived  before  him,  I  should 
dread  more  from  the  virtues  of  this  great  man, 
than  from  all  the  standing  armies  in  the  world. 

But  so  full  a  confidence  do  I  possess  in  his 
inviolable  attachment  to  the  rights  of  humanity 
and  the  cause  of  freedom,  that  in  some  future 
emergencies  of  the  state  (produced  perhaps 
by  the  shifting  fortune  of  the  war)  to  his  in 
stinctive  goodness  and  eccentric  operations,  I 
would  most  cheerfully  commit  supreme  com 
mand. 

I  will  explain  my  sentiments  upon  this  sub 
ject  by  those  of  a  friend,  in  his  own  words. 

"  'Tis  best  that  reason  govern  man, 

'Tis  calm,  deliberate,  wise, 
Yet  passions  were  not  given  in  vain, 

Here  then  the  difference  lies. 

Reason,  tho'  sure,  too  slow  is  found 

In  great  emergencies, 
While  passion  instant  feels  the  wound, 

As  quick  the  cure  applies. 

Yet  that  must  not  due  bounds  transgress, 

But  move  at  reason's  nod, 
Submit  at  last  to  her  decrees 

And  own  her  for  the  GOD. 

"Twas  thus  the  synod  of  our  land, 

The  reasoning  power  of  state, 
Gave  WASHINGTON  supreme  command 

And  made  his  orders  fate. 

Yet  as  necessity  impelled 

The  step— when  that  is  past 
The  senate  shall  resume  the  field 

And  reign  supreme  at  last." 

In  support  of  such  a  cause,  directed  by  such 
a  leader,  who  would  think  his  life  too  dear  a 
sacrifice  ? — let  the  mean,  base,  groveling  soul, 
that  wishes  for  security  on  any  terms,  through 
fear  forget  he  is  a  man,  cringe  to  the  creature 
he  despises,  smile  on  the  man  he  hates,  alter 
nately  shake  hands  with  vice  and  virtue,  and 
court  protection  from  the  power  he  wishes  to 
destroy! — let  us,  my  friends,  determine  to 
maintain  our  sacred  rights,  or  perish  in  the 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


attempt,  *  with  vigor  urge  the  war,  frown  on 
our  foes  wherever  we  meet  them,  despise 
their  mercy  when  we  feel  power,  and  from  this 
moment  hold  ourselves  beyond  the  reach  of 
pardon. 

ORATION    DELIVERED   AT  BOSTON,  MARCH  5, 
1778. 

BY  JONATHAN   W.   AUSTIN,   ESQ. 

Multaque  rubentia  Caede 

Lubrica  Saxa  madent,  nulli  sua  profuit  ^Etas. 

Lucan,  Lib.  2. 

Hie  ubi  barbarus  hostis, 

Ut  fera  plusvaleant  legibus  arma  facit. — Ovid  de  Ponto. 

Quis  cladem  illius  noctis,  quis  funera  fando 
Explicet  ?   aut  possit  lachrymis  sequare  labores  ? 
Plurima  perque  vias  sternuatur  inertia  passim 
Corpora.—  Virgil  id  AZneid. 

My  friends  and  fellow-citizens. — To  weep 
over  the  tomb  of  the  patriot — to  drop  a  tear 
to  the  memory  of  those  unfortunate  citizens, 
who  fell  the  first  sacrifice  to  tyranny  and  usur 
pation,  is  noble,  generous  and  humane.  Such 
are  the  sentiments  that  influence  you,  my  coun 
trymen,  or  why,  through  successive  periods, 
with  heart-felt  sensations,  have  you  attended 
this  solemn  anniversary,  and  paid  this  sad 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  your  slaughtered 
brethren.  Nor  is  the  circle  contracted — the 
most  amiable  part  of  the  creation  share  the 
grief,  and,  soft  pity  beaming  in  their  coun 
tenances,  like  the  daughters  of  Israel,  annually 
lament  the  fate  of  others,  and  weep  over  the 
miseries  of  their  country.f  Come  then,  my 
friends,  let  us  enter  the  solitary  courts  of  death, 
and,  perhaps,  an  hour  spent  in  such  reflection, 
may  afford  as  solid  improvement  as  nature  in 
her  gayest  scenes. 

To  commemorate  the  deaths  of  those  men 
who  fell  unhappy  victims  to  brutal  violence— to 
show  the  dangerous  tendency  of  standing  ar 
mies  in  populous  cities  in  time  of  peace,  the 
origin  of  this  fatal  catastrophe — to  trace  its 
connection  and  effects,  as  they  have  been,  and 
are  now  displayed,  in  different  parts  of  America, 
I  take  to  be  the  design  of  this  day's  solemnity. 

It  appears  to  me  needless  to  enter  into  the 
nature  and  ends  of  civil  government,  and  to 
evince  that  standing  armies  are  a  solecism  in 
such  a  constitution.  Such  sentiments  are 
founded  in  nature,  and  have,  for  ages,  under 
different  meridians,  been  fully  displayed  by 
men  who  knew  the  rights  of  nature  and  man- 

*  Justum  et  tenacem  propositi  virum, 
Non  civium  ardor,  prava  jubentium 
Non  vultus  instantis  tyranni 

Mente  quatit  solida : 

t  Judges,  xi.  39,  40. 


kind.  The  names  of  Locke,  Sydney  and 
Hampden,  have  long  been  illustrious,  and  my 
countrymen  are  too  well  acquainted  with  their 
writings,  not  to  venerate  their  memories.  Nor 
can  I  forget  the  same  sentiments  which  have 
charmed  you  from  the  lips  of  men,  who  have 
spoken  before  me,  on  the  same  occasion,  whose 
characters  will  be  ever  dear,  and  the  exertions 
of  whose  patriotism  and  virtue,  exhibited  in 
the  most  critical  situations,  posterity  will  ever 
wonder  at  and  revere. 

In  short,  to  confirm  this  point  by  logical 
conclusions,  must  be  an  useless  mispense  of 
time.  Even  a  crown  lawyer,  whose  sentiments 
are  not  always  friendly  to  the  rights  of  man 
kind,  will  tell  us,  "  in  a  land  of  liberty,  it  is  ex 
tremely  dangerous  to  make  a  distinct  order  of 
the  profession  of  arms.  In  absolute  monarchies 
this  is  indeed  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the 
prince,  and  arises  from  the  main  principle  of 
their  constitution,  which  is  governing  by  fear  ; 
but  in  free  states,  the  profession  of  a  soldier, 
taken  singly  and  merely  as  a  profession,  is 
justly  an  object  of  jealousy.  The  laws,  there 
fore,  and  constitution  of  these  kingdoms,  know 
no  such  thing  as  a  perpetual  standing  soldier."  * 

Arguments  existing  in  theory,  however  the 
mind  may  be  captivated,  do  not  always  con 
vince  ;  and  consequences,  traced  from  the  same 
source,  are  seldom  interesting.  But  when  we 
find  the  apprehensions  of  the  greatest  and  best 
of  mankind,  who,  actuated  by  a  principle  of 
benevolence,  felt  for  the  common  interests,  fully 
displayed  in  awful  and  tremendous  effects,  we 
then  start  from  our  lethargy,  and  like  the  sen 
sitive  plant,  shrink  from  approaching  danger  ! 
such  is  the  case  with  respect  to  the  subject 
before  us.  Philosophers  and  statesmen  have 
shewn  how  dangerous  standing  armies  must 
be  in  a  free  state,  and  every  page  in  the  volume 
of  mankind  confirms  the  melancholy  account. 

Speculative  writers  may  indeed  tell  us,  that 
the  seeds  of  dissolution  exist  in  every  body 
politic — that  like  the  body  natural,  it  must  de 
cay  and  die— and  that  the  same  causes,  which 
brought  the  empires  of  Belus  and  Cyrus  to 
destruction,  will  sap  every  other  government 
on  earth.f  Por  my  own  part,  I  am  no  fatalist, 
and  nil  dcsperandum  pro  republica'\s>  to  me  a 
much  preferable,  and  more  generous  motto. 
And  instead  of  enumerating  their  many  vices 
and  corruptions,  as  the  original  cause,  I  think 
a  little  acquaintance  with  history  will  inform 
us,  that  they  are  not  merely  the  original  cause, 
but  consequences  resulting  from  the  fatal 
measures  we  are  considering.  In  absolute 

*  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  vol.  1.  page  407. 
t  See  Belisarius  by  M.  Marmontel. 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


monarchies,  where  the  military  is  the  principal 
engine  of  government,  we  are  not  to  look  for  a 
confirmation  of  this  argument.  But  in  repub 
lics,  'til  the  introduction  of  a  soldiery,  distinct 
from  the  citizens,  we  find  them  as  remote  from 
corruption,  luxury,  and  the  other  black  cata 
logue  of  vices,  as  any  human  system  can  attain 
to :  but  when  standing  troops  were  introduced, 
they  immediately  followed.  Depravity  of  man 
ners — a  dislike  to  virtue  and  manly  sentiment 
— effeminacy,  and  those  grosser  vices  too  in 
delicate  to  be  mentioned  in  this  place,  stalked 
like  demons  through  our  cities.  Witness,  ye 
republics,  that  were  once  great  and  illustrious, 
but  are  now  no  more  !  witness,  O  Boston  !  for 
ye  were  too  well  acquainted  with  the  melan 
choly  truth ! 

We  will  now  confirm  the  sentiment  by  a 
brief  inspection  into  some  parts  of  history. 

The  Greeks  were  a  republic,  that  in  a  short 
flight  of  years,  exhibited  the  most  glorious 
spectacle  that  ever  appeared  to  mankind  ;  and, 
as  one  observes,  the  age  they  lived  in,  seemed 
to  be  the  golden  period  of  human  nature.*  In 
every  branch  of  war  or  peace,  in  every  species 
of  science  they  excelled,  and  were  at  once 
feared,  admired,  and  venerated  by  the  other 
nations  of  the  world  ;  yet  this  heroic  confede 
racy  was  originally  reduced  from  this  glorious 
superiority,  by  the  arts  of  one  manf  under  the 
idea  of  a  guard,  from  an  inconsiderable  num 
ber  of  attendants,  he  increased  to  that  stretch 
of  power  as  proved  the  fatal  stab  to  the  vitals 
of  his  country.  The  bank  thus  broken  down, 
the  tide  swelled  too  rapidly  to  be  stemmed,  and 
virtue,  freedom  and  the  laws,  all  fell  a  sacrifice. 

Similar  was  the  situation  of  the  Romans. 
Although  not  so  universally  distinguished  as 
the  Greeks,  yet  from  the  expulsion  of  their 
kings,  to  the  time  of  Marius,  they  evinced  to 
what  a  prodigious  greatness  mankind  may 
arrive  when  actuated  by  the  principles  of  liberty, 
virtue  and  honor.  Influenced  by  such  motives, 
no  wonder  their  actions  were  conformable  : 
and  while  the  most  rigid  inflexibility  presided 
at  home,  the  Roman  eagle  flew  to  the  remotest 
corner  of  the  globe. 

Can  we  then  suppose,  when  we  view  the 
characters  which  appeared  on  the  stage  at  this 
period — when  we  consider  how  remote  they 
were  from  those  vices  which  have  been  preva 
lent  in  powerful  monarchies,  and  how  carefully 
they  watched  the  sacred  altar  of  freedom,  that 
they  themselves  must  remain  a  standing  monu 
ment  of  the  consequences  of  this  fatal  measure. 
Such  is  the  case.  Marius,  in  new  modelling 
the  legions,  and  replacing  the  citizens  who 
*  Harris  Hermes.  t  Pisistratus. 


served  in  them  with  foreign  mercenaries,  laid 
the  horrid  foundation.  The  door  was  now 
open  for  one  too  powerful  citizen  after  another, 
until  Cassar,  losing  every  check,  and  laughing 
at  the  impotent  anathemas  of  the  senate,  with 
the  distant  legions  marched  to  Rome,  and 
formed  a  new  era  in  their  history.  From  this 
period  we  are  charmed  no  more  with  the  illus 
trious  actions,  and  the  last  remains  of  dignity 
sunk  in  the  Roman  world.  So  true  is  it,  that 
when  a  people  lose  their  liberty,  they  at  once 
become  fit  subjects  of  every  thing  base  and 
infamous. 

We  have  thus  far  produced  instances  of  the 
fatal  effects  of  armies  thus  kept  up,  which  have 
ended  in  the  utter  subversion  of  the  laws  and 
government  of  two  of  the  most  memorable 
republics  in  ancient  story.  We  will  now  shift 
the  scene,  and  while  we  show  their  dangerous 
tendency  in  states  of  a  more  modern  date,  we 
will  exhibit  an  illustrious  example  through 
what  scenes  of  danger,  hardships  and  blood, 
the  determined  spirits  of  honor,  and  attach 
ment  to  freedom,  will  carry  a  people. 

Previous  to  mentioning  the  situation  of  the 
United  Provinces,  I  must  remark  how  very  simi 
lar  their  circumstances  were  to  ours.  We  shall 
ever  find  it  an  unalterable  maxim  of  princes, 
who  in  time  of  peace  kept  up  a  standing  force, 
however  they  may  call  them  the  protectors  of 
law,  the  end  is  to  subvert  those  laws  and 
render  the  constitution  useless.  Such  was  the 
mode  of  conduct  of  Philip  the  Second,  of  Spain, 
to  the  Low  countries,  and  such  the  procedure 
of  a  similar  character,  George  the  Third,  of 
Britain,  influenced  by  a  despicable  ministry. 
The  former,  as  Sir  William  Temple  observes, 
thinking  it  not  agreeing  with  his  greatness," 
(an  army  being  now  in  the  bowels  of  their 
country)  "  to  consider  their  discontents,  or  be 
limited  by  their  ancient  forms  of  government," 
proceeds  to  despise  the  one  and  overturn  the 
other.  New  courts  judicatory  were  appointed, 
new  offices  established,  depending  absolutely 
on  the  king.* 

What  was  the  consequence  ? — could  it  be 
supposed  a  generous  people  would  sit  clown 
tamely,  and  kiss  the  rod  that  lashed  them  ?  a 
different  mode  of  conduct  ensued.  The  duke 
of  Alva  was  sent  with  a  powerful  army,  the 
very  forcible  plea  of  tyrants,  and  the  most 
shocking  cruelties  were  committed.  Here  let 
humanity  spread  her  veil,  nor  let  the  tender 
breast  heave  with  anguish  at  such  scenes. 
But  shocking  as  they  are,  they  flow  as  naturally 
from  this  cursed  engine  of  oppression,  as  beams 

*  Sir  William  Temple's  observations  on  the  United  Pro 
vinces,  Page  21.  33. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


53 


of  light  from  the  sun.  For  as  the  same  sensi 
ble  writer  observes,  "  so  great  antipathy  ever 
appears  between  citizens  and  soldiers  ;  while 
one  pretends  to  be  safe  under  law,  which  the 
other  pretends  shall  be  subject  to  his  sword 
and  his  will."  . 

But  terrible  as  the  many  executions  of  their 
most  illustrious  patriots  appeared  to  them, 
while  the  land  was  drenched  in  its  richest  blood 
— however  affecting  the  sight  of  confiscations, 
imprisonments,  and  the  numberless  cruelties 
that  attended  them,  they  were  not  daunted. 
That  God  who  hateth  oppression,  and  de- 
lighteth  in  the  happiness  of  his  creation,  inspired 
them  with  sentiments  that  carried  them  through 
innumerable  hardships,  till  after  having  ex 
pended  immense  treasures  and  blood  for 
better  than  threescore  years,  they  laid  the  foun 
dation  of  a  rich,  free,  and  flourishing  people : 
Providence  hereby  giving  an  instructive  lesson 
to  posterity  in  every  age,  who  are  contending 
for  all  that  is  dear  and  sacred,  to  pursue  the 
glorious  object  undaunted  ;  knowing  that,  as 
liberty  is  a  plant  transplanted  from  the  garden 
of  heaven,  its  divine  parent  will  still  cherish  it, 
and,  in  spite  of  opposition,  it  will  flourish,  it  will 
live  forever. 

Such,  my  friends,  have  been  the  methods 
used  by  enterprising  men,  in  former  ages,  to 
carry  into  effect  their  ambitious  designs,  and 
found  their  greatness  on  the  ruins  of  their 
country.  But  in  our  day,  these  measures  have 
become  systematical.  They  are  in  fact  part  of 
the  constitution.  To  take  a  view  of  the  differ 
ent  powers  in  Europe,  and  compare  them  with 
the  state  of  ancient  republics,  under  great  and 
wise  legislators,  who  seemed  to  be  raised  up 
for  the  benefit  of  the  age  they  lived  in,  and  the 
admiration  of  posterity,  we  must  drop  the  tear 
of  sensibility  at  the  contrast.  Where  is  the 
kingdom  that  does  not  groan  under  the  calami 
ties  of  military  tyranny  ?  let  us  pause  awhile 
on  the  most  eminent  of  them. 

In  the  large  empire  of  Russia,  the  effects  are 
glaring.  Even  the  shadow  of  liberty  has 
vanished.  Of  so  great  importance  is  the 
military,  that  a  recruiting  officer  can  go  through 
their  villages,  and  pitch  upon  the  ablest  of  the 
inhabitants,  as  he  would  choose  his  cattle. 
And  even  a  father  has  been  imprisoned  in  his 
own  house,  for  the  escape  of  a  child,  while, 
by  order  of  the  officer,  his  own  sons  have  been 
his  jailers.* 

Perhaps  there  is  no  nation  in  any  part  of  the 

world,    more    happy    than    France,    in    every 

luxury   of    life.     But   amid   this   profusion  of 

plenty,  the  farmer  exhibits  the  most  wretched 

*  Vid.  Guthrie's  Grammar. 


spectacle  in  nature.  Supported  by  the  glean 
ings  of  the  field,  the  fruits  of  his  labor  go  to 
the  subsistence  of  the  sold  ery.  Thus  dispirited 
and  depressed,  he  contents  himself  with  the 
refuse  of  his  ground,  while,  after  his  greatest 
exertions,  another  will  reap  the  fruits  of  his 
honest  industry.  The  most  obdurate  breast 
must  melt  at  such  scenes,  and  execrate  the 
effects  of  standing  armies. 

Look  into  the  situation  of  Poland.  Under 
the  direction  of  that  great  man,*  famous  for 
his  victories  against  the  Turks,  they  were  brave 
and  virtuous,  and  proved  the  bulwark  of  Chris 
tendom.  But,  under  the  Saxon  line,  this  spirit 
not  suiting  their  plan  of  government,  was  awed 
by  electoral  troops,  and  totally  decayed.  The 
consequences  are  now  severely  experienced  by 
them  ;  and  while  in  this  depressed  state,  they 
are  an  object  of  desire  to  Turks  and  Russians, 
their  country  is  a  scene  of  bloodshed  and 
misery. 

It  is  needless  to  mention  England,  or  the 
idle  farce  of  an  annual  act  of  parliament,  for 
the  support  of  standing  troops,  which  is  noth 
ing  but  an  insult  on  the  sense  of  that  nation. 
The  more  virtuous  among  them,  if  the  flame  of 
liberty  has  not  entirely  expired,  easily  see 
through  the  guise,  and  in  the  death  of  Allen 
and  others,  wantonly  butchered  by  a  mercenary 
soldiery,  can  too  clearly  read  the  fate  of  them 
selves  and  posterity. 

The  melancholy  part  of  this  subject  must 
give  pain  to  every  humane  breast.  This  is 
natural.  But  these  scenes  more  directly  affect 
other  nations  ;  and  however  we  may  pity  the 
unhappy  sufferer,  there  is  a  kind  of  pleasure 
we  feel  that  we  ourselves  are  not  immediately 
interested.  And  would  to  God,  it  had  ever 
remained  so.  O  my  country  !  with  what  heart 
felt  satisfaction  should  I  rejoice,  if  oppression 
had  never  stretched  her  baleful  wings  to  this 
once  happy  clime  !  that  that  liberty  which  an 
illustrious  set  of  men,  of  whom  the  world  was 
not  worthy,  purchased  at  so  dear  a  rate,  might 
have  descended  unimpaired  to  latest  posterity. 
But  is  this  the  case  ?  has  this  scourge  of  man 
kind,  standing  armies,  never  interrupted  our 
prosperity  ?  if  so,  why  is  this  desk  hung  with 
the  sable  covering  of  death  !  why  am  I  sur 
rounded  by  so  many  of  my  fellow-citizens,  who 
listen  to  the  tale  of  woe  !  yes,  my  countrymen, 
we  ourselves  are  deeply  interested  ;  and  this 
same  engine  of  oppression,  which  has  thrown 
mighty  republics  from  their  foundations,  has 
attempted  and  still  continues  to  spread  the 
same  horrid  consequences  in  America  :  and  in 
its  usual  mode  of  conduct,  has  been  attended 
*  John  Sobieski. 


54 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS   OF    THE   REVOLUTION. 


with  every  species  of  cruelty,  some  of  them 
unheard  of  before ;  but  which  your  freemen 
under  God,  has  hitherto,  and  I  pray  ever  may, 
surmount. 

The  shocking  scene  of  that  dreadful  night, 
the  fatal  effects  of  which  we  are  now  still 
weeping  over,  is  beyond  description.  No  one, 
perhaps,  if  it  is  taken  in  every  view,  that  was  not 
a  spectator,  can  conceive  it.  When  I  consider 
the  many  insults,  abuses,  and  violences,  this 
unhappy  town  was  exposed  to  for  months 
previous  to  this  melancholy  tragedy,  and 
when  the  tumult  of  contrary  passions  was  thus 
naturally  excited,  to  see  a  brutal  soldiery, 
scattering  promiscuous  death  through  a  de 
fenceless,  unarmed  multitude,  till  yonder  street 
was  crimsoned  with  the  blood  of  its  citizens, 
while  a  tender  mother,  frantic  with  grief, 
pours  forth  the  anguish  of  her  heart  over  a 
beloved  son,  now  incapable  of  any  returns  of 
gratitude ;  all  this  exhibits  a  scene  which  the 
distressed  heart  may  painfully  feel,  but  which 
the  tongue  cannot  express.  Let  the  breast 
then,  still  continue  to  beat.  These,  my  friends, 
are  virtuous,  generous  feelings,  and  do  honor 
to  humanity.  May  we  ever  retain  them.— 
May  this  institution,  sacred  to  the  memory  of 
our  murdered  brethren,  be  ever  carefully  pre 
served.  Yes,  ye  injured  shades !  we  will  still 
weep  over  you,  and  if  any  thing  can  be  more 
soothing,  we  will  revenge  you. 

This  glaring  specimen  of  cruelty  roused  the 
citizens,  and  in  convincing  colors  displayed  the 
effects  of  standing  armies  in  time  of  peace. 
But  however  our  exertions  were  then  success 
ful,  however  the  storm  subsided,  it  was  but 
temporary.  While  the  scales  of  justice  were 
held  in  palsied  hands,  and  the  most  shocking 
barbarities  were  the  highest  merit,  an  addi 
tional  force  only  was  necessary.  That  arriving, 
the  mask  was  thrown  off,  and  a  still  greater 
scene  of  carnage  and  destruction  opened  in  our 
adjacent  villages. 

But  such  proceedings,  however  alarming  at 
that  period,  were  soon  lost  in  more  dreadful  and 
distressing  operations.  The  heights  of  Charles- 
town-  too  awfully  convinced  us  of  the  melan 
choly  truth,  and  posterity,  while  with  tears  of 
compassion  they  ponder  the  transactions  of 
that  day,  must  execrate  the  causes  which  pro 
duced  them.  In  any  situation,  the  relics  of 
slaughtered  citizens  are  objects  of  pity,  and 
the  sympathizing  spectator  will  ever  drop  a 
tear  over  them.  But  there  may  be  instances 
when  the  lesser  streams  of  affection  are  ab 
sorbed  in  a  still  greater  sea  of  woe.  Such  are 
the  sentiments  that  strike  every  breast,  when 
we  reflect,  illustrious  Warren,  on  thy  death — 


a  death,  which  whole  hecatombs  of  slaughtered 
enemies,  strowed  around  thy  corpse,  can  never 
repay. — Here,  ye  minions  of  power  !  ye  who 
are  dead  to  the  calls  of  honor  and  public  virtue, 
are  willing  to  wade  to  station  through  the  blood 
of  your  brethren,  here  behold  a  spectacle  that 
must  harrow  your  inmost  soul.  You,  my 
countrymen,  with  the  most  pleasing  sensations 
have  attentively  listened,  while,  like  us,  he  was 
weeping  over  the  unhappy  fate  of  others.  You 
have  kindled  into  rage  while  he  has  set  before 
you  the  dangerous  nature  and  consequences  of 
standing  armies,  and  prophetically  pointed  out 
to  you  still  greater  events.  How  affecting  that 
he,  who  could  lament  the  fate  of  others,  must 
be  himself  deplored  ;  and  that  he  who  could  so 
feelingly  paint  the  effects  of  this  horrid  mea 
sure,  must  himself  fall  one  of  the  first  sacrifices 
to  it. 

But  it  is  not  sufficient  to  drop  a  transient 
tear  to  the  memory  of  departed  heroes,  and  to 
pay  an  eulogy  to  their  characters.  The  happi 
ness  of  such  men  who,  after  having  expired  in 
the  arms  of  liberty  and  virtue,  are  now  sharing 
the  highest  degree  of  felicity,  cannot  be  in 
creased  by  our  praises :  no,  my  friends,  the 
best  way  to  express  our  affections  for  such 
great  and  good  men,  is  to  rouse  and  revenge 
them.  To  hurl  still  fiercer  bolts  of  vengeance 
on  an  inhuman  soldiery,  who  instead  of  affor 
ding  the  last  honors  sacred  to  the  dead,  and 
which  a  generous  enemy  will  ever  regard, — 
after  grinning  with  hellish  pleasure  on  the 
mangled  corpse,  which  alive  could  strike 
terror  into  their  boldest  heart,  lodged  it  in  a 
promiscuous  grave  ;  that  since  they  could  not 
prevent  his  name  and  reputation  being  immor 
tal,  his  remains  might  be  hid  forever.  O 
Britain  !  thou  hast,  and  stilt  shall  weep  tears  of 
blood  for  this ! 

Are  not  such  instances,  my  countrymen,  very 
convincing  proofs  of  the  fatal  effects  of  stand 
ing  armies  in  time  of  peace.  In  such  a  period 
they  originated,  and  from  the  fifth  of  March, 
1770,  through  every  degree  of  violence  and 
barbarity,  to  the  present  day,  it  is  but  one 
connected  scene. 

After  such  exhibitions  of  cruelty  and  carnage, 
what  can  we  suppose  too  brutal,  too  infamous 
for  such  an  army  ?  can  we  wonder  to  see  our 
houses  in  flames,  our  altars  rased  to  the  ground, 
or  converted  to  a  much  more  horrid  use,  than 
the  Jewish  temple  ?  if  possible  they  have  even 
exceeded ;  and  the  armies  of  Britain  seem  to 
be  held  up  as  a  standing  evidence,  how  far  the 
spirit  of  tyranny  and  oppression  can  operate. 

We  shudder  when  the  faithful  page  of  his 
tory  opens  to  our  view  the  conduct  of  armies, 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


55 


flushed  with  victory,  sacking  towns,  burning 
villages,  and  perpetrating  murders,  with  all  the 
other  dreadful  concomitants.  But  if  we  look 
into  the  conduct  of  the  British  army  in  the 
Jerseys,  and  some  part  of  the  state  of  New 
York,  we  shall  find  instances  of  all  these  crimes, 
and,  perhaps,  in  some  places,  instances  beyond 
them.  To  see  the  third  city  in  a  neighboring 
state,  wantonly  consumed  by  an  enemy  who, 
not  having  spirit  or  ability  to  meet  us  in  the 
field,  descend  to  these  little  mean  methods  of 
exciting  terror — to  see  the  ravages  in  the  Jer 
seys,  and  the  garden  of  America  thus  wantonly 
defaced — does  not  the  blood  beat  high  ! — do 
we  not  press  forward  to  exterminate  such  bar 
barians  from  the  face  of  the  earth  !  but  to  men 
tion  '  still  greater  scenes  of  cruelty — does  not 
the  ear  tingle,  when  it  hears  the  shrieks  of 
helpless  virgins,  dreadful  victims  to  lust  and 
barbarity  ;  while  the  grey  hairs  and  expressive 
groans  of  an  aged  parent,  witness  to  his  daugh 
ter's  shame,  plead  in  vain.  Can  any  thing 
swell  this  complicated  scene  of  woe  ?  it  can 
receive  addition.  The  monsters  exceed  even 
the  most  barbarous  nations.  With  them  the 
ashes  of  the  dead  have  ever  been  sacred.  But 
under  the  patronage  of  a  British  tyrant  and 
his  general,  snuffing  the  tainted  gale,  they  have 
ransacked  the  silent  repositories,  and  the 
remains  of  one  that  was  once  amiable  and  cap 
tivating,  flung  about  as  food  for  the  birds  of 
the  air.*  O  God,  where  is  thy  vengeance  !  O 
virtue,  honor,  religion,  humanity,  where,  where 
are  ye  fled  ! 

These,  my  countrymen,  are  not  the  flights  of 
fancy,  not  the  dictates  of  imagination  :  they 
are  solid,  though  very  affecting  realities.  Can 
we  then  wish  a  re-union  with  such  a  people  ? 
can  we  ever  familiarly  shake  hands  with  a 
nation  who,  leaping  every  barrier,  are  thus 
wantonly  sporting  with  our  distresses,  and 
bathing  themselves  in  the  blood  of  our  coun 
trymen  ?  may  America  never  retain  such 
mean,  dastardly  sentiments  !  for  my  own  part, 
if  I  may  be  indulged,  I  would  entreat, 
I  would  conjure  every  one,  who  as  a  parent 
feels  for  the  welfare  of  his  posterity,  to 
imitate  the  example  of  the  renowned  Cartha- 
genian.f  Lead  your  sons,  ye  fathers,  not  to 

*  Delauncy's  Farm. 

t  As  Hannibal,  then  about  nine  years  old,  was  soothing 
with  childish  caresses  his  father,  Hamilcar,  to  take  him 
along  with  him  to  Spain,  whither,  after  finishing  the  war  in 
Africa,  he  was  now  about  to  transport  his  troops,  and  was 
sacrificing  for  success  in  that  expedition,  he  was  led  by 
his  father  to  the  altar,  and  with  his  hand  on  the  victim, 
was  bound  by  this  solemn  oath,  "  that  as  soon  as  he 
should  have  it  in  his  power,  he  would  declare  himself  an 
enemy  to  the  Roman  people.'' 

Livy,  B.  31.  ck.  i. 


the  altar  of  paganism,  and  under  the  tutelage 
of  some  unknown  deity,  but  to  the  sacred  altar 
of  freedom,  and  while  the  guardian  God  of 
America  is  witness  to  the  solemn  obligation, 
make  them  swear  that  they  will  never  be 
friends  to  a  power,  who  are  thus  sacrificing 
their  dearest  privileges.  Ring  in  their  young 
ears  the  dreadful  tale  of  murders,  rapes,  and 
massacres.  Paint  to  them  the  conduct  of  Bri 
tain,  as  displayed  in  her  arms  in  different  parts 
of  America,  till  their  young  breasts  glow  with 
ardor,  and  thus  early  catching  the  flame  of 
patriotism,  they  may,  through  life,  pursue  un 
daunted  so  glorious  an  object.  Pleased  with 
such  an  invocation,  the  shades  of  our  fathers 
will  rejoice  over  their  posterity,  and  the  angels 
of  love  and  purity  will  look  down  delighted. 

No  one,  I  think,  can  suppose  these  thoughts 
proceed  from  rage  or  passion.  They  are  the 
cool  dictates  of  my  heart.  I  love  my  country  ; 
her  distresses  affect  me ;  nor,  from  this  mo 
ment,  do  I  ever  wish  a  reconciliation  with  a 
power,  whose  prosperity  must  be  founded  on 
my  utter  destruction. 

I  have  now,  my  countrymen,  endeavored  to 
exhibit  the  fatal  effects  of  standing  armies  in 
time  of  peace  ;  not  from  abstract  reasoning, 
but  as  they  exist  in  fact,  and  now  prevail  in  our 
distressed  land.  Here  I  would  remark,  that  it 
is  standing  armies  in  time  of  peace,  and  the 
consequences  thence  resulting,  that  we  are 
now  deprecating.  Armies,  in  defence  of  our 
country,  unjustly  invaded,  are  necessary,  and 
in  the  highest  sense  justifiable.  We,  my  friends, 
attacked  by  an  arbitrary  tyrant,  under  the 
sanction  of  a  force,  the  effects  of  which,  we 
have  attempted  to  illustrate,  have  been  obliged 
to  make  the  last  solemn  appeal.  And  I  cannot 
but  feel  a  pleasing  kind  of  transport,  when  I 
see  America,  undaunted  by  the  many  trying 
scenes  that  have  attended  her,  still  baffling  the 
efforts  of  the  most  formidable  power  in  Europe, 
and  exhibiting  an  instance  unknown  in  history. 
To  see  an  army  of  veterans,  who  had  fought 
and  conquered  in  different  quarters  of  the 
globe — headed  by  a  general  tutored  in  the 
field  of  war,  illustrious  by  former  victories,  and 
flushed  with  repeated  successes,  threatening, 
with  all  the  pomp  of  expression,  to  spread  hav 
oc,  desolation,  and  ruin  around  him  ;  to  see 
such  a  soldiery  and  such  a  general,  yielding  to 
an  hardy  race  of  men,  new  to  the  field  of  war  ; 
while  on  the  one  hand  it  exalts  the  character 
of  the  latter,  convincingly  proves  the  folly  of 
those  who,  under  pretence  of  having  a  body  ot 
troops  bred  to  war,  and  ever  ready  for  action, 
adopt  this  dangerous  system,  in  subversion  of 
every  principle  of  lawful  government.  Here 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


if,  after  having  depictured  scenes  of  so  distress 
ing  a  nature,  it  may  not  appear  too  descending 
I  could  not  forbear  smiling  at  the  British  gen 
eral  and  his  troops  who,  not  willing  to  reflect 
on  their  present  humiliating  condition,  affect 
the  air  of  arrogant  superiority.  But  Americans 
have  learnt  them  that  men,  fighting  on  the 
principles  of  freedom  and  honor,  despise  the 
examples  that  have  been  set  them  by  an  ene 
my  ;  and  though,  in  the  field,  they  can  brave 
every  danger  in  defence  of  those  principles,  to 
a  vanquished  enemy  they  know  how  to  be 
generous  ;  but  that  this  is  a  generosity  not 
weak  and  unmeaning,  but  founded  on  just  sen 
timents,  and  if  wantonly  presumed  upon,  will 
never  interfere  with  that  national  justice,  which 
ever  ought,  and  lately  has  been  properly 
exerted. 

But  while,  with  the  warmest  gratitude  to 
heaven,  we  view  our  late  successes,  and  are  at 
a  loss  to  express  our  acknowledgment  to  the 
illustrious  hero,  who  was  the  instrument,  and 
whose  name  to  remotest  ages  will  be  ever 
dear  to  these  New  England  states,  let  us  not 
forget  our  situation.  There  is  an  army,  and  a 
very  powerful  one,  still  existing  in  the  heart  of 
America.  Methinks  the  reputation  of  past 
successes  should  animate  every  inhabitant  of 
America  to  fly  to  arms  ;  and  by  one  general 
exertion  utterly  expel  this  last,  this  only  re 
maining  power  of  Great  Britain  on  the  con 
tinent.  Ye,  to  whom  the  saqred,  the  important 
system  of  government  is  committed — ye  men 
of  sense  and  virtue — ye  patriots,  who  feel  an 
affection  for  your  country  and  posterity,  let  me 
conjure  you  to  seize  the  present  opportunity, 
happier  than  we  could  ever  have  expected,  and 
which  once  omitted  may  never  be  again  in  our 
power. 

I  would  not  pretend  to  insinuate,  that  this  is 
the  only  point  which  ought  to  be  under  imme 
diate  consideration,  by  a  wise  people  or  their 
delegates.  But  this  I  will  venture  to  affirm, 
that  unless  this  is  the  governing  sentiment,  in 
every  deliberation,  every  other  thing  is  super 
fluous.  Let  us  then  rise  superior  to  every  pri 
vate  local  attachment.  As  we  are  embarked 
on  one  broad  bottom  of  universal  freedom,  let 
us  attend  to  this  most  pressing  occasion  ;  an 
occasion  providentially  offered  for  future  secu 
rity  and  happiness.  If  a  royal  army,  though 
weak  in  its  number,  can  thus  insult  us  un 
punished,  the  most  slender  imagination  can 
easily  foresee  what  must  be  the  effects  of  a 
still  greater  force.  I  wish  that  the  present 
generation,  I  wish  that  posterity  may  not  feel 
ingly  reproach  our  inactivity. 

Shall    the    frequent  calls    of    our  exalted 


general,  who  seems  to  have  been  raised  up  by 
heaven,  to  show  to  what  an  height  humanity 
may  soar  ;  who  generously  sacrificing  affluence 
and  domestic  ease,  wishes  to  share  with  you 
in  every  danger  and  distress,  shall  his  frequent 
calls  be  in  vain  ?  remember,  my  countrymen, 
the  eyes  of  the  good  and  great,  in  every  clime, 
are  upon  the  present  contest.  Liberty,  dis 
gusted  at  scenes  of  cruelty  and  oppression, 
has  left  her  ancient  altars,  and  is  now  hovering 
to  fix  her  last  residence  in  America.  Our  ex 
ertions  have  hitherto  been  great  and  success 
ful.  Let  not  the  ashes  of  Warren,  Mont 
gomery,  and  the  illustrious  roll  of  heroes,  who 
died  for  freedom,  reproach  our  inactivity  and 
want  of  spirit,  in  not  completing  this  grand 
superstructure  ;  the  pillars  of  which  have  been 
cemented  with  the  richest  blood  of  America. 
May  that  same  ardor,  which  has  rendered 
America  famous,  still  continue,  and  looking 
forward  to  those  happy  days  of  liberty  and 
peace,  which  our  posterity  shall  enjoy,  let  us 
exult  at  the  thought,  that  future  generations, 
while  they  reap  the  glorious  fruits  of  our 
struggles,  will  rise  up  and  call  us  blessed. 


ORATION   DELIVERED   AT   BOSTON,   MARCH 
5.     1779- 

BY  WILLIAM   TUDOR,  ESQ. 


-Sed  et  ilia  propago 


Contemptrix  superum  saevseque  avidissima  csedis 
Et  violenta  fuit.  Ov.  M.  L.  I.  F.  5. 

Whatever  secondary  props  may  rise 

"From  poli tics,  to  build  the  public  peace, 

The  basis  is,  the  manners  of  the  land. — YOUNG. 

Fathers,  countrymen, friends. — "That  man 
was  born  to  delude  and  be  deluded  ;  to  believe 
whatever  is  taught,  and  bear  whatsoever  is 
imposed,"  are  political  dogmas  which  have 
long  afforded  matter  for  exultation  and  security 
to  dignified  villains,  from  the  sceptered  tyrant, 
to  the  meanest  minion  of  power.  But  however 
confirmed  they  may  have  been  by  the  passive 
conduct  of  the  greatest  part  of  mankind,  you, 
my  fellow-citizens,  thank  God,  you  are  an 
exception  to  their  truth.  The  numerous,  the 
respectable  assembly  which  now  crowd  this 
hallowed  temple,  are  an  exalted  exception  to 
maxims  as  disgraceful  as  they  are  general. 
Ever  vigilantly  attentive  to  the  sacred,  inalien 
able  rights  of  man ;  equally  studious  in  the 
glorious  principles  of  liberty,  as  intrepidly 
determined  to  preserve  inviolate  the  inesti 
mable  privileges  she  bestows  ;  you  are  now  con 
vened  not  merely  to  commemorate  this  anni 
versary,  but  solemnly  to  renew  the  resolves, 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


57 


which  freedom,  wisdom,  virtue,  honor  inspire  ; 
and  not  barely  resolve,  but  I  trust,  steadily  to 
pursue  the  execution  of  resolutions  which  have 
resulted  from  deliberate  investigation  and  full 
conviction. 

To  so  intelligent,  so  well  informed  an  audi 
tory,  it  must  be  unnecessary  to  deduce  the 
origin  of  civil  society,  which,  founded  in  recip 
rocal  advantage,  and  springing  from  social 
virtue,  on  the  combined  necessities  and  assist 
ance  of  individuals,  built  the  general  happiness 
— a  happiness  thus  instituted,  nothing  but 
public  spirit,  and  a  union  of  force  and  of  coun 
cil  can  preserve :  I  must  therefore  request 
your  indulgence,  whilst  I  rather  point  out  those 
evils  which  the  concurrent  experience  of  ages 
and  nations  prove  to  be  subversive  of  every 
good  proposed  from  civil  compact.  Little 
solicitous  of  rhetorical  applause,  I  shall  offer 
you  my  sentiments  as  they  arise  warm  from  a 
heart  devoted  to  the  interests  of  this  my  parent 
country,  in  language  that  becomes  a  freeman 
to  use  when  addressing  a  free  assembly. 

Similar  causes  will  forever  operate  like  effects 
in  the  political,  moral,  and  physical  world: 
those  vices  which  ruined  the  illustrious  repub 
lics  of  Greece,  and  the  mighty  commonwealth 
of  Rome,  and  which  are  now  ruining  Great 
Britain,  so  late  the  first  kingdom  of  Europe, 
must  eventually  overturn  every  state,  where 
their  deleterious  influence  is  suffered  to  prevail. 
Need  I  add  that  luxury,  corruption,  and  stand 
ing  armies  are  those  destructive  efficients  ? 

Luxury  no  sooner  finds  admittance  into  a 
state  than  she  becomes  the  parent  of  innumer 
able  evils,  public  and  domestic  ;  her  contagious 
influence  is  soon  felt  in  society,  and  her  bane 
ful  effects  discovered  by  a  general  dissipation 
of  manners,  and  a  declension  of  private  virtue, 
which  begets  effeminate  habits,  and  by  a  natu 
ral  gradation,  a  base  pliability  of  spirit. 

Luxury  is  ever  the  foe  of  independence,  for 
at  the  same  time  that  it  creates  artificial  wants 
it  precludes  the  means  of  satisfying  them.  It 
first  makes  men  necessitous,  and  then  depend 
ent.  It  first  unfits  men  for  patriotic  energies, 
and  soon  teaches  them  to  consider  public  virtue 
as  a  public  jest. 

At  such  a  period,  corruption  finds  an  easy 
access  to  men's  hearts.  To  the  promotion  of 
interested  pursuits,  and  the  gratification  of 
voluptuous  wishes,  a  ready  sacrifice  is  made 
of  the  general  good  at  the  shrine  of  power. 
Then  slumbers  that  virtuous  jealousy  of  public 
men  and  public  measures,  which  was  wont  to 
scrutinize  not  only  actions  but  motives :  then 
nods  that  active  zeal,  which,  with  eagle  eye 
watched,  and  with  nervous  arm  defended  the 


constitution.  Every  day  new  inroads  are  made 
upon  public  liberty,  while  encroachments,  like 
temptations,  grow  more  frequent  and  more 
dangerous  in  proportion  as  the  power  of  resist 
ance  decreases.  Thus,  before  a  nation  is  com 
pletely  deprived  of  freedom,  she  must  be  fitted 
for  slavery  by  her  vices. 

Generally,  but  not  always,  for  we  have  known 
a  people  ruled  by  a  despot,  who,  from  a  private 
station,  rose  to  uncontrolled  dominion,  at  a 
time  when  they  were  sternly  virtuous.  And 
this  mode  of  introducing  bondage  is  ever  to  be 
apprehended  at  the  close  of  a  successful  strugr 
gle  for  liberty,  when  a  triumphant  army,  elated 
with  victories,  and  headed  by  a  popular  general 
may  become  more  formidable  than  the  tyrant 
that  has  been  expelled.  Witness  the  last  cen 
tury  in  the  English  history !  witness  the  aspir 
ing  Cromwell! 

This  audacious  citizen,  entrusted  by  his 
country  with  the  command  of  her  armies,  to 
chastise  the  man  whom  previous  folly*  had 
enthroned,  and  who  soon  presumed  to  treat  his 
subjects,  as  all  kings  are  wont  to  do,  with  con 
tempt  and  injury,  had  no  sooner  despatched 
the  foolish,  imperious  monarch,  than  he  at 
tempted  to  succeed  him  :  with  a  little  manage 
ment,  he  soon  found  his  army  as  disposed  to 
regify  him,  as  they  had  been  to  depose  Charles. 
With  these  mercenary  associates  at  his  heels, 
he  appeared  in  the  synod  of  the  state,  and 
dared  with  force  displace  the  most  glorious 
band  of  patriots  that  ever  led  a  tyrant  from  his 
throne  to  a  scaffold.  Not  content  with  this 
enormous  outrage  upon  the  constitution,  this 
annihilating  stroke  upon  the  tottering  liberties 
of  his  country,  for  a  time  to  keep  up  the  form 
of  a  popular  government  and  to  bring  parlia 
ment  into  contempt,  he  convened  an  house  of 
commons,  constituted  entirely  of  his  own 
creatures.  They  met,  and  in  a  few  months 
discovered  that  they  were  utterly  unequal  to 
the  posts  they  were  raised  to,  they  therefore 
petitioned  their  master  to  dissolve  them. 
Cromwell  granted  their  request,  and  became 
sole  tyrant  of  three  kingdoms.  Tyrant — for  of 
what  consequence  is  it  by  what  style  or  under 
what  modification  despotism  operates  to  the 
public  wrong — dictator,  king,  protector,  it  is 
not  the  appellation  we  reprobate,  though  even 
that  we  should  guard  against,  but  the  thing. 

*  If  a  man  in  private  life  finds  his  oldest  son  an  idiot  or 
a  rascal,  he  may  dispose  of  his  estate  among  his  other 
children-:  but  if  the  heir  apparent  (in  hereditary  monarch 
ies)  to  a  crown,  an  inheritance  in  which  millions  are  inter 
ested,  turns  to  be  a  blockhead  or  a  villain,  still  he  must  be 
the  king,  because  such  is  the  line  of  succession  established 
by  law. — Hence  the  few  princes  who  have  not  been 
either  the  scourge  or  disgrace  of  the  kingdoms  they  have 
ruled. 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


Who  but  must  own  that  Cromwell,  under  the 
name  of  protector,  was  as  absolute  a  despot  as 
he  could  have  been  with  any  other  title  ? 

The  first  Caesar  affords  us  another  instance 
among  the  thousands  which  history  holds  up 
to  our  view,  to  teach  us  what  bold  and  unprin 
cipled  spirits  have  effected  by  the  aid  of  armies. 
This  ambitious  subject,  having  been  for  several 
years  engaged  in  the  humane,  the  soldierly 
employment,  of  slaughtering  his  fellow-men, 
and  in  extending  his  conquests  over  countries 
which  he  had  not  even  a  pretence  to  invade ; 
this  Caesar,  who  boasted  that  he  had  slain  a 
million  of  men,*  was  at  length  ordered  home 
by  the  senate  to  answer  to  some  charges  against 
his  conduct.  He  knew  that  at  such  an  interview 
his  sword  would  be  his  ablest  advocate.  He 
therefore  led  his  veteran  legions,  "  nothing 
loth,"  against  his  country ;  passed  the  Rubicon  ; 
fought  his  way  to  Rome  ;  plunged  a  dagger  in 
her  vitals  ;  impiously  trampled  on  her  dearest 
rights  ;  and  seized  on  empire  crimsoned,  execra 
ble  parricade  !  crimsoned  with  the  richest 
blood  of  Rome's  best  citizens  ! 

Too  late  the  patriot  poignard  reached  the 
traitor's  heart.  Cassar  fell — alas  !  the  republic 
had  fallen  before,  Rome  changed  her  govern 
ors,  but  the  tyranny  remained.  The  same 
army  that  had  enabled  Julius  to  triumph  over 
the  liberties  of  his  country,  led  the  cars  of 
Octavius,  Anthony  and  Lepidus,  through  seas 
of  Roman  blood,  and  bade  the  cursed  trium 
virate  divide  an  enslaved  world  ! 

If  Rome  could  have  been  saved,  Brutus 
and  his  virtuous  associates  would  have  saved 
her ;  but  a  standing  army,  and  a  perpetual 
dictator,  were,  and  ever  will,  prove  too  hard 
for  the  patriotic  few.  Learn  hence,  my  coun 
trymen,  that  a  state  may  sink  so  low  in  slavery 
that  even  virtue  itself  cannot  retrieve  her. 
From  these  examples,  prudence  dictates — 
resist  beginnings.  A  free  and  wise  people  will 
never  suffer  any  citizen  to  become  too  popular — 
much  less  too  powerful.  A  man  may  be  for 
midable  to  the  constitution  even  by  his  virtues. 

But  why  do  I  keep  your  attention  fixed  on 
remote  transactions !  our  own  times  furnish 
additional  and  convincing  proofs  of  the  destruc 
tive  consequences  of  practical  corruption,  and 
mercenary  armies. 

Sweden,  the  bravest,  hardiest,  freest  nation 
of  the  north — Sweden,  in  one  hour,  was  plunged 
from  the  distinguished  heights  of  liberty  into 
abject  vassalage.  What  ties  can  bind  a  king  ? 

*  Plutarch  says  that  Caesar  could  boast,  that  he  had 
slain  a  million  of  men,  gave  a  million  their  liberty,  and 
made  a  million  prisoners. 

Vid.  Plut.  in  vit.  Cassar. 


Scarce  had  Gustavus  the  Third  ascended  the 
throne  of  limited  monarchy  ;  scarce  had  the 
roofs  of  the  senate  house  ceased  to  reverbe 
rate  the  insidious  accents  of  his  inauguration 
speech,*  whilst  yet  the  venerable  representa 
tives  of  their  country  were  fondly  anticipating 
the  blessings  that  would  arise  from  the  reign 
of  so  wise,  so  gracious  a  king.  The  unblushing 
parricide  surrounded  with  an  armed  host,  the 
temple  in  which  the  senate  was  assembled, 
planted  his  cannon  against  the  gates,  and  with 
the  swords  of  his  guards  at  the  throats  of  the 

*  This  speech  is  inserted  at  large,  not  only  because  it  is 
fraught  with  excellent  advice,  but  also  to  shew  how  little 
reliance  ought  to  be  placed  on  coronation  speeches. 

The  king  of  Sweden's  speech  to  the  states  on  the  ist  of 
June,  1772- 

"  You  are  this  day  assembled,  in  order  to  confirm  in  the 
manner  of  your  ancestors,  the  band  of  union  which  ties 
you  to  me,  and  me  to  you,  and  both  to  the  whole  com 
monwealth  ;  we  must  therefore  remember,  with  the  most 
sensible  gratitude,  the  benevolence  of  the  Almighty,  who 
has  ordered  things  so,  that  this  very  ancient  kingdom  of 
the  Swedes  and  Goths  is  still  existing,  after  so  many 
foreign,  as  well  as  natural  shocks,  and  that  I,  in  the 
throne  of  my  ancestors,  can  yet  address  free  and  indepen 
dent  states. 

Assured  of  your  hearts,  most  sincerely  proposing  to 
merit  them,  and  to  fix  my  throne  upon  your  love  and 
felicity,  the  public  engagement  which  you  are  going  to 
enter  into,  would,  in  my  opinion,  be  needless,  if  ancient 
custom  and  the  law  of  Sweden  did  not  require  it  of  you. 
Unhappy  the  king  who  wants  the  tie  of  oaths  to  secure 
himself  on  the  throne,  and  who,  not  assured  of  the  hearts 
of  his  subjects,  is  constrained  to  reign  only  by  the  force 
of  laws,  when  he  cannot  by  the  love  of  his  subjects  ! 

I  need  not  put  you  in  mind  of  the  weightiness  of  the 
engagement  you  are  going  to  take  ;  the  states  of  Sweden 
know  best  the  extreme  of  their  duty  to  themselves  and  the 
commonwealth  ;  may  concord  and  harmony  ever  unite 
your  hearts  ;  may  foreign  views  and  private  gain  ever  be 
sacrificed  to  public  interest ;  may  this  alone  be  a  perpetual 
bond  of  union  amongst  you  ;  and  may  the  ambition  of  any 
part  of  you,  never  raise  any  such  disturbances  as  may 
endanger  the  freedom  and  independency  of  the  whole 
commonwealth  ! 

Gentlemen  of  the  house  of  nobles, 

Preserve  always  the  honor  and  intrepidity  of  your  an 
cestors  ;  be  an  example  to  your  fellow-citizens  ;  and,  as 
you  are  the  first  order  of  the  kingdom,  be  also  the  first  in 
virtue  and  love  of  your  country. 

Good  men  of  the  reverend  order  of  clergy, 

May  mutual  friendship  and  peace,  obedience  to  the 
laws,  reverence  to  God  and  the  king,  bear  witness  to  me 
and  the  country,  of  your  zeal  in  the  execution  of  the  sa 
cred  office,  with  which  you  are  entrusted  ! 

Good  men  of  the  respectable  order  of  burghers, 

Strive  always  with  your  fellow-subjects  who  shall  con 
tribute  the  most  to  the  public  good  ;  may  the  fruits  of  the 
extensive  share  which  belongs  to  you,  be  general  credit 
and  confidence,  useful  institutions,  frugal  living,  and 
moderate  gain,  which  lead  to  sure  and  certain  wealth. 
Good  men  of  the  worthy  order  of  peasants, 

May  piety,  diligence,  temperance,  and  old  Swedish 
faith  and  modesty,  be  the  strongest  confirmation  of  the 
honor  always  due  to  that  order  which  gives  subsistence 
to  all  the  others  ;  an  honor  which  the  Swedish  peasants 
have  at  all  times  attained. 

This  is  all  I  ask  of  you,  when  you  observe  this,  you  per 
form  in  the  best  manner,  that  duty  to  me,  and  your  coun 
try,  which  according  to  the  Swedish  laws,  I  now  call 
upon  you  to  confirm  by  oath  " 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


59 


senators,  demanded  immediate  absolution  from 
his  coronation  oath,  by  which  he  had  most 
sacredly  bound  himself  to  preserve  inviolate  the 
laws  and  liberties  of  the  Swedes  !  astonishing 
that  a  stripling,  whose  language  breathed  the 
glowing  sentiments  of  enthusiastic  generosity, 
so  natural  to  youth,  could,  with  such  facility, 
set  at  defiance  all  that  is  held  sacred,  honora 
ble  and  obligatory  among  men  !  but  the  lust  of 
domination,  so  natural  to  human  nature,  will 
ever  prove  too  hard  for  the  checks  of  con 
science  and  the  dictates  of  right,  when  a  favo 
rable  opportunity  presents  to  gratify  it.  Gus- 
tavus,  knowing  that  the  army  were  ready  to 
assist  his  iniquitous  designs  (as  all  standing 
armies  are  to  promote  despotism,  because 
under  such  a  system  of  rule,  soldiers  must  be 
necessary  and  consequently  favored)  the  bar 
riers  raised  by  justice  and  his  plighted  faith  to 
Sweden,  became  slight  indeed.  Force  backed 
inclination,  and  Gustavus  changed  circum 
scribed  authority,  for  unconfined  sovereignty.* 

Let  us  now  turn  our  eyes  to  that  nation 
whom  we  once  did  love,  and  with  whom  we 
had  yet  been  friends,  had  not  an  unparalleled 
series  of  folly  and  cruelty,  compelled  us  to  re 
nounce  the  pleasing  relationship.  A  short 
retrospect  of  whose  public  conduct,  subsequent 
to  the  last  war,  will  afford  many  and  important 
instructions. 

In  1763  peace  was  restored  after  a  war  of 
seven  years,  successfully  waged  in  every  quar 
ter  of  the  globe.  At  that  period  what  an  un 
rivalled  figure  did  Great  Britain  stand  amongst 
the  nations  !  great  beyond  all  former  example, 
in  arms,  in  commerce,  and  in  wealth.  Not  a 
corner  of  the  earth  but  had  witnessed  her 
achievements.  Wheresoever  she  directed  her 
armies,  victory  and  conquest  attended  ;  while 
her  irresistible  navy,  thundering  over  every 
ocean,  not  only  subdued,  but  annihilated  the 
fleets  of  her  enemies. 

Triumphant  in  war,  not  less  distinguished 
in  peace.  In  many  of  the  polite,  in  most  of 
the  useful  arts  and  sciences,  superior  to  her 
neighbors.  In  commerce  unequalled  ;  not  a 
sea  but  bore,  not  a  wind  but  wafted  her  count 
less  ships  laden  with  the  riches  of  the  earth, 
and  made  her  crowded  ports  the  marts  of  the 
world.  Late  glorious  nation,  how  art  thou 
fallen,  how  lost !  from  so  envied,  so  stupendous 
an  height,  by  the  perverted  will  of  thy  in 
fatuated  monarch,  and  the  pernicious  counsels 

*  For  an  historical  account  of  this  revolution,  vid. 
Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1772,  page  397,  &c.  For  the 
Swedish  constitution,  vid.  the  abbot  Vertot. 

For  a  complete  system  of  despotism,  see  the  lex  regia 
of  Denmark,  constituted  by  Frederick  3d,  in  1665,  and 
published  by  Christian  sth,  in  1683. 


of  his  nefarious  ministers.  Driven  to  the  fear 
ful  edge  of  ruin,  we  now  behold  thee  tottering 
o'er  the  gulf  of  annihilation,  whilst  France  and 
her  allies  urge  thee  over  the  irremediable  steep  ! 

When  we  consider  the  capital  defects  in  the 
English  constitution  —  the  character  of  her 
present  weak  and  ambitious  monarch  —the 
luxury,  dissipation  and  venality  of  her  influen 
tial  men,  we  shall  cease  to  wonder  at  her  de 
clension  and  present  circumstances. 

In  a  limited  monarchy,  where  the  prince,  as 
supreme  executive  magistrate,  and  first  branch 
of  the  legislature,  is  invested  with  the  important 
prerogative  of  making  peace  and  war,  is  con 
stituted  the  sole  fountain  of  honor,  and  be 
comes  the  exclusive  disposer  of  every  lucrative 
and  honorable  appointment,  civil,  ecclesiastic, 
and  military,  his  influence  becomes  too  enor 
mous  to  be  compatible  with  the  public  liberty : 
but  if  to  such  extravagant  powers  (by  a  fatal 
error  in  the  constitution,  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  prince)  he  should  superadd  a  detestable 
system  of  corruption  to  bribe  the  representa 
tives  of  the  people  (a  system  which,  during  the 
reign  of  his  present  Britannic  majesty,  hath 
been  urged  to  its  utmost  possible  extent)  the 
worst  species  of  vassalage  must  ensue.  That 
equipoise  between  the  respective  branches  of 
the  legislature  (in  which  the  seeming  theoretic 
excellence  of  the  English  constitution  consists) 
will  be  totally  destroyed  ;  the  executive  will 
involve  the  powers  of  the  legislative,  and  whilst 
the  letter  and  formalities  of  the  constitution 
are  retained,  its  spirit  and  intendment  will  be 
totally  lost.  An  absolutely  arbitrary,  with  the 
forms  of  a  free  government  (that  worst  and 
surest  of  all  tyrannies)  will  gradually  succeed, 
and  be  finally  established,  unless  a  total  revolu 
tion  is  happily  effected  by  timely  exertions  of 
the  people,  before  the  despot  has  strengthened 
himself  with  a  mercenary  army,  and  forever 
closed  their  chains. 

But  this  tyranny  is  already  established  in 
Great  Britain  :  for  what  hopes  can  Britons  en 
tertain  of  effecting  a  revolution,  whilst  the  crown, 
by  the  multiplicity  of  gifts  in  its  power,  can 
maintain  an  infamous  majority  in  each  house 
of  parliament  to  legalize,  and  a  standing  army 
to  enforce,  its  projects,  however  imperious,  in 
human  or  unjust.  In  vain,  a  few  wise  and 
virtuous  men  see  and  lament  their  dishonorable 
situation — an  army  of  forty  thousand  soldiers, 
in  time  of  peace,  and  a  still  more  numerous 
band  of  placemen  and  pensioners,  properly 
disposed  throughout  the  kingdom,  effectually 
stifle  in  their  birth  every  effort  of  patriotism 
to  restore  the  constitution  to  its  primeval 
principles. 


6o 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


Such  is  the  boasted  constitution,  such  the 
prince,  and  such  the  present  condition  of  the 
people  of  Britain.  Unhappy  nation,  thus  con 
stitutionally  enslaved — thus  legally  undone  !  un 
worthy  descendants  of  illustrious  ancestors — 
thus  to  suffer  your  most  essential  rights  to  be 
bartered  away,  your  government  not  only  cor 
rupted,  but  perverted  to  purposes  diametrically 
opposite  to  its  original  intention.  An  house  of 
commons,  at  first  constituted  to  watch  over 
and  preserve  your  rights  and  immunities  from 
the  encroaching  steps  of  ambitious  princes, 
you  have  permitted  to  become  an  engine  in  the 
hands  of  royalty,  the  more  effectually  to  abridge 
or  nullify  those  rights.  A  parliament,  consti 
tuted  the  stewards  of  your  property,  who, 
instead  of  guarding  it  from  the  insatiable  grasp 
of  royal  avidity,  you  patiently  see  lavishingly 
indulging  the  utmost  extravagance  of  regal 
profusion  ;  granting  enormous  sums  for  effect 
ing  the  most  pernicious  purposes,  traitorously 
leaguing  with  the  servants  of  the  crown  in 
loading  you  with  intolerable  taxes,  and,  sharers 
in  the  spoil,  prodigally  complying  with  the 
most  unbounded  demands  of  ministerial  rapa 
city,  while  they,  at  the  same  time,  treacherously 
unite  to  screen  the  most  infamous  defaulters 
of  the  public  money  Instead  of  bravely  draw 
ing  your  swords  in  defence  of  your  freedom 
and  national  honor,  you  first  tamely  acquiesced 
in  an  insidious  and  ignominious  law,*  by 
which  you  were  basely  disarmed,  like  slaves, 
and  then  from  necessity,  submitted  to  keeping 
on  foot,  in  time  of  peace,  a  standing  army, 
that,  in  time  of  war,  had  been  raised  profes 
sedly  for  the  defence  of  the  national  territories 
from  foreign  attacks — an  army  which  you  now 
behold  without  shame  and  without  regret, 
spreading  devastation  and  horror  over  a  late 
peaceful  and  happy  country ;  and  having  at 
length  dismembered  the  empire,  are  now  at 
tempting  to  reduce  us  to  the  most  infamous 
and  most  miserable  of  all  conditions,  that  of 
being  the  conquered  vassals  of  your  weak,  vin 
dictive,  despotic  monarch. 

Degenerate  sons  of  mighty  fathers  !  how 
poor  is  the  consolation  for  the  loss  of  essential 
rights,  that  you  still  retain  the  empty  privilege 
of  pasquinading  your  king  and  his  ministers, 
whilst  you  are  destitute  of  that  public  spirit 
and  solid  virtue  which  should  purge  your  cor 
rupted  government  and  reform  your  wretched 
constitution. 

From  subjection  to  a  government,  thus  de 
fective  and  corrupt,  and  thus  vilely  adminis- 

*  Vid.  Statutes  at  large — Particularly  2  Geo.  3d.  ch.  29, 
and  ioth  Geo.  3d.  ch.  19  and  Black.  Com.  B.  a.  ch.  37. — 
For  the  game  and  forest  laws 


tered,  what  freeman  would  not  struggle  for  an 
emancipation  ?  but  if  there  is  an  American 
present,  who  can  yet  secretly  wish  for  a  re 
union  with  this  nation,  and  a  share  in  her  ideal 
privileges,  let  him  for  a  moment  consider  the 
innumerable  indignities  which,  for  fifteen  years 
back,  have  been  offered  us  by  this  haughty 
power,  added  to  the  savage  barbarities  which 
they  have  exercised  in  every  part  of  America 
where  their  army  have  made  any  progress,  and 
he  must  blush  at  the  spiritless,  the  ignoble, 
sentiment. 

In  1764  the  plan  for  raising  a  revenue  from 
this  country  was  resolved  on  by  the  British 
ministry,  and  their  obsequious  parliament  were 
instructed  to  pass  an  act  for  that  purpose. 
Not  content  with  having  for  a  century  directed 
the  entire  commerce  of  America,  and  centered 
its  profits  in  their  own  island,  thereby  deriving 
from  the  colonies  every  substantial  advantage 
which  the  situation  and  transmarine  distance 
of  the  country  could  afford  them  :  not  content 
with  appointing  the  principal  officers  in  the  dif 
ferent  governments,  while  the  king  had  a  nega 
tive  upon  every  law  that  was  enacted :  not 
content  with  our  supporting  the  whole  charge 
of  our  municipal  establishments,  although  their 
own  creatures  held  the  chief  posts  therein 
not  content  with  laying  external  duties  upon 
our  mutilated  and  shackled  commerce,  they, 
by  this  statute,  attempted  to  rob  us  of  even  the 
curtailed  property,  the  hard-earned  peculium 
which  still  remained  to  us — to  create  a  revenue 
for  the  support  of  a  fleet  and  army,  in  reality 
to  overawe  and  secure  our  subjection,  not  (as 
they  insidiously  pretended)  to  protect  our  trade, 
or  defend  our  frontiers ;  the  first  of  which  they 
annoyed,  and  the  latter  deserted. 

After  repealing  this  imperious  edict,  not 
because  it  was  unjust  in  principle,  but  inexpedi 
ent  in  exercise,  they  proceeded  to  declare,  by  a 
public  act  of  the  whole  legislature,  that  we  had 
no  property  but  what  was  at  their  disposal,  and 
that  Americans,  in  future,  were  to  hold  their 
privileges  and  lives  solely  on  the  tenure  of  the 
good  will  and  pleasure  of  a  British  parliament. 
Acts  soon  followed  correspondent  to  this  un 
righteous  determination,  which,  not  quadrating 
with  American  ideas  of  right,  justice  and 
reason,  a  fleet  and  army  were  sent  to  give 
them  that  force  which  laws  receive  when  pro 
mulgated  from  the  mouths  of  cannon,  or  at  the 
points  of  bayonets. 

We  then  first  saw  our  harbor  crowded  with 
hostile  ships,  our  streets  with  soldiers — soldiers 
accustomed  to  consider  military  prowess  as  the 
standard  of  excellence,  and  vain  of  the  splendid 
pomp  attendant  on  regular  armies,  they  con- 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


61 


temptuously  looked  down  on  our  peaceful 
orders  of  citizens.  Conceiving  themselves 
more  powerful,  they  assumed  a  superiority 
which  they  did  not  feel ;  and  whom  they  could 
not  but  envy,  they  affected  to  despise.  Per 
haps,  knowing  they  were  sent,  and  believing 
they  were  able  to  subdue  us,  they  thought  it 
was  not  longer  necessary  to  observe  any  meas 
ures  with  slaves — hence  that  arrogance  in  the 
carriage  of  the  officers — hence  that  licentious 
ness  and  brutality  in  the  common  soldiers, 
which  at  length  broke  out  with  insufferable 
violence,  and  proceeding  to  personal  insults  and 
outrageous  assaults  on  the  inhabitants,  soon 
roused  them  to  resentment,  and  produced  the 
catastrophe  which  we  now  commemorate.  The 
immediate  horrors  of  that  distressful  night* 
have  been  so  often  and  so  strikingly  painted, 
that  I  shall  not  again  wring  your  feeling 
bosoms  with  the  affecting  recital :  to  the  faith 
ful  pen  of  history  I  leave  them  to  be  repre 
sented  as  the  horrid  prelude  to  those  more 
extensive  tragedies  which,  under  the  direction 
of  a  most  obdurate  and  sanguinary  prince,  have 
since  been  acted  in  every  corner  of  America 
where  his  armies  have  been  able  to  pene 
trate. 

Our  citizens  who  fell  on  that  memorable 
night,  falling  bequeathed  us  this  salutary  les 
son,  written  indelibly  with  their  blood.  Con 
tusion,  murders,  and  misery  must  ever  be  the 
consequence  of  mercenary  standing  armies 
cantoned  in  free  cities. t 

My  countrymen,  suffer  not  the  slaughtered 
brethren  we  now  lament  to  have  bled  in  vain  ; 
let  us  forever  retain  the  important  lesson,  and 
they  will  not  have  ineffectually  fallen.  Security 
shall  spring  from  their  tombs,  and  their  deaths 
preserve  the  lives  of  citizens  yet  unborn.  Suc 
ceeding  generations  shall  celebrate  the  era  of 
this  anniversary  as  the  epoch  of  American 
triumph,  not  as  a  day  of  sadness  ;  and  future 
patriots  nobly  envy  the  death  of  those,  who 
dying  taught  their  countrymen  experimental 
wisdom. 


-Hecaten  vocat  altera,  saevam 


AlteraTisiphonen  serpentes,  atque  videres 
Infernas  errare  Canes  ;  Lunamque  rubentem 
Ne  foret  his  Testis  post  magna  latere  sepulchra. 

Hor.  L.  I.  S. 


-Et  aids  urbibus  ultimo 


Stetere  Causse  cur  perirent 
Funditus  imprimeretque  muris 
Hostile  aratrum  Exercitus  insolens. 

Hor.  Lib.  I.  Car.  16. 


ORATION  DELIVERED   AT   BOSTON,   MARCH    5, 
1780. 

BY  MR.  JONATHAN  MASON,  JUN. 

"  Devotion  to  the  public.    Glorious  flame  ! 
Celestial  ardor  !  in  what  unknown  worlds 
Hast  thou  been  blessing  myriads  since  in  Rome, 
Old  virtuous  Rome,  so  many  deathless  names 
From  thee  their  lustre  drew  ?  since  taught  by  thee 
Their  poverty  put  splendor  to  the  blush, 
Pain  grew  luxurious,  and  even  death  delight." 

Thomson,  vol.  I.  p.  336. 

"  Unblest  by  virtue,  government  and  league 
Becomes  a  circling  junto  of  the  great 

To  rob  by  law 

What  are  without  it  senates,  save  a  face 

Of  consultation  deep  and  reason  free, 

While  the  determin'd  voice  and  heart  are  sold? 

What  boasted  freedom,  save  a  sounding  name  ? 

And  what  election,  but  a  market  vile 

Of  slavery  self-barter'd  ?  "—Id.  p.  3. 

My  friends  and  fellow  citizens. — That  the 
greatness  and  prosperity  of  a  people  depend 
upon  the  proportion  of  public  spirit  and  the 
love  of  virtue  which  is  found  to  exist  among 
them,  seems  to  be  a  maxim  established  by  the 
universal  consent,  and  I  may  say,  experience 
of  all  ages. 

Man  is  formed  with  a  constitution  wonder 
fully  adapted  for  social  converse  and  connec 
tion.  Scarcely  ushered  into  the  world,  but  his 
wants  teach  him  his  inability,  of  himself,  to 
provide  for  them.  Wrapt  in  astonishment, 
with  an  anxiety  inexpressible,  the  solitary  exist 
ent  looks  around  for  the  aid  of  some  friendly 
neighbor,  and  should  he  perchance  meet  the 
desired  object ;  should  he  find  one,  endowed 
with  intellectual  faculties,  beset  with  the  same 
wants  and  weaknesses,  and  in  all  respects  the 
very  image  of  himself ;  should  he  find  him  with 
a  heart  open  to  mutual  kind  offices,  and  a  hand 
stretched  out  to  bestow  a  proportion  of  his 
labor,  with  a  bosom  glowing  with  gratitude,  his 
soul  is  on  the  wing  to  express  the  sense  he 
entertains  of  the  generous  obligation. 

A  confidence  is  established  between  him  and 
his  benefactor,  they  swear  perpetual  friendship, 
and  a  compact  for  mutual  protection  and  assist 
ance  becomes  imperceptibly  consented  to. 
Thus  doubly  armed,  together  they  pursue  their 
morning  route  to  satisfy  those  demands  only 
which  nature  reminds  them  of.  and  while  the 
ingenuity  of  the  one  is  exercised  to  ensnare, 
the  strength  of  the  other  is,  perhaps,  employed 
to  subdue  their  vigorous  opponent. 

Their  little  family  soon  increases  ;  and  as 
their  social  ring  becomes  gradually  enlarged, 
their  obligations  to  each  other  are  equally  cir 
cular.  Honest  industry  early  teaches  them, 
that  a  part  only  is  sufficient  to  provide  for  the 
whole,  and  that  a  portion  of  their  time  may  be 


62 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


spared  to  cull  the  conveniences  as  well  as 
appease  the  wants  of.  nature.  Property  and 
personal  security  appear  to  be  among  the  first 
objects  of  their  attention,  and  acknowledged 
merit  receives  the  unanimous  suffrage  to  pre 
side  guardian  over  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
their  infant  society.  The  advantages  derived 
are  in  a  moment  experienced.  Their  little 
policy,  erected  upon  the  broad  basis  of  equality, 
they  know  of  no  superiority  but  that  which 
virtue  and  the  love  of  the  whole  demands ; 
and  while,  with  cheerfulness,  they  entrust  to 
his  care  a  certain  part  of  their  natural  rights, 
to  secure  the  remainder,  the  agreement  is 
mutual,  and  the  obligation  upon  his  part 
equally  solemn  and  binding  to  resign  them 
back,  either  at  the  instance  and  request  of  their 
sovereign  pleasure,  or  whensoever  the  end 
should  be  perverted  for  which  he  received 
them. 

Integrity  of  heart,  benevolence  of  disposition, 
the  love  of  freedom  and  public  spirit,  are  con 
spicuous  excellencies  in  this  select  neighbor 
hood.  Lawless  ambition  is  without  a  friend, 
and  the  insinuating  professional  pleas  of 
tyrants,  ever  accompanied  by  the  magnificence 
and  splendor  of  luxury,*  are  unheard  of  among 
them ;  but  simple  in  their  manners,  and 
honest  in  their  intentions,  their  regulations  are 
but  few  and  those  expressive,  and  without  the 
aid  of  extreme  refinement.!  by  a  universal  ad 
herence  to  the  spirit  of  their  constitution,  and 
to  those  glorious  principles  from  which  that 
spirit  originated,  we  find  them  attaining  real 
glory — we  find  them  crowned  with  every  bles 
sing  that  human  nature  hath  ever  known  of — 
we  find  them  in  the  possession  of  that  summit 
of  solid  happiness  that  universal  depravity  will 
admit  of. 

Patriotism  is  essential  to  the  preservation 
and  well  being  of  every  free  government.  To 
love  one's  country  J  has  ever  been  esteemed 
honorable ;  and  under  the  influence  of  this 

*  A  mode  of  living  above  a  man's  annual  income 
weakens  the  state,  by  reducing  to  poverty  not  only  the 
squanderers  themselves,  but  many  innocent  and  industri 
ous  persons  connected  with  them.  Luxury  is  above  all 
pernicious  in  a  commercial  state.  Small  profits  satisfy  the 
frugal  and  industrious,  but  the  luxurious  despise  almost 
every  branch  of  trade  but  what  returns  great  profits. 

Home's  Hist,  of  Man,  vol.  i. p.  113. 

In  the  savage  state  man  is  almost  all  body  with  a  very 
•>mall  proportion  of  mind.  In  the  maturity  of  civil  society, 
he  is  complete  both  in  mind  and  body.  In  a  state  of  de 
generacy  by  luxury  and  voluptuousness,  he  has  neither 
mind  nor  body.  Id.  114. 

t  There  are  very  few  laws  which  are  not  good  while 
ihe  state  retains  its  principles.  Montesq.  6.  8.  6.  13. 

%  The  amor  patrise,  or  patriotism,  stands  at  the  head  of 
social  affections,  and  so  high  in  our  esteem,  that  no 
actions,  but  what  proceed  from  it,  are  termed  grand  or 
heroic.  It  triumphs  over  every  selfish  motive,  is  a  firm 


noble  passion,  every  social  virtue  is  cultivated, 
freedom  prevails  through  the  whole,  and  the 
public  good  is  the  object  of  every  one's  con 
cern.  A  constitution,  built  upon  such  princi 
ples,  and  put  in  execution  by  men  possessed 
with  the  love  of  virtue  and  their  fellow-men, 
must  always  ensure  happiness  to  its  members. 
The  industry  of  the  citizen  will  receive  encour 
agement,  and  magnanimity,  heroism  and 
benevolence  will  be  esteemed  the  admired 
qualifications  of  the  age.  Every,  the  least  in 
vasion  on  the  public  liberty,  is  considered  as 
an  infringement  on  that  of  the  subject ;  and 
feeling  himself  roused  at  the  appearance  of 
oppression,  with  a  divine  enthusiasm,  he  flies 
to  obey  the  summons  of  his  country,  and  does 
she  but  request,  with  zeal  he  resigns  the  life 
of  the  individual  for  the  preservation  of  the 
whole. 

Without  some  portion  of  this  generous  prin 
ciple,  anarchy  and  confusion  would  immediately 
ensue,  the  jarring  interests  of  individuals,  re 
garding  themselves  only,  and  indifferent  to  the 
welfare  of  others,  would  still  further  heighten 
the  distressing  scene,  and  with  the  assistance 
of  the  selfish  passions,  it  would  end  in  the  ruin 
and  subversion  of  the  state.  But  where  patri 
otism  is  the  leading  principle,  unanimity  is 
conspicuous  in  public  and  private  councils. 
The  constitution  receives  for  its  stability  the 
united  efforts  of  every  individual,  and  revered 
for  its  justice,  admired  for  its  principle,  and 
formidable  for  its  strength,  its  fame  reaches  to 
the  skies. 

Should  we  look  into  the  history  of  the  ancient 
republics,  we  shall  find  them  a  striking  example 
of  what  I  have  asserted,  and  in  no  part  of  their 
progress  to  greatness,  producing  so  many 
illustrious  actions,  and  advancing  so  rapidly  in 
the  road  to  glory,  as  when  actuated  by  public 
spirit  and  the  love  of  their  country.  The 
Greeks  in  particular  ever  held  such  sentiments 
as  these  in  the  highest  veneration,  and  with 
such  sentiments  as  these  alone  they  established 
their  freedom,  and  finally  conquered  the  in 
numerable  armies  of  the  east. 

When  Xerxes,*  the  ambitious  prince  of 
Persia,  vainly  thinking  that  nature  and  the 
very  elements  were  subject  to  his  control, 
inflamed  with  the  thoughts  of  conquest,  threat 
ening  the  seas,  should  they  resist,  with  his  dis 
pleasure,  and  the  mountains,  should  they  oppose 
his  progress  :  when,  after  having  collected  the 
armies  of  the  then  known  world  under  his 


support  to  every    virtue,  and  wherever  it  prevails  the 
morals  of  the   people  are  found  to  be    pure  and  cor 
rect.  Elements  of  Criticism. 
*  Herod,  C.  F.  C.  55.  QQ.  and  Rollin  An.  His 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


banners,  he  entered  the  bowels  of  Greece,  lead 
ing  forth  his  millions,  resolutely  bent  upon  the 
destruction  and  extirpation  of  this  small  but 
free  people,  what  do  we  perceive  to  be  their 
conduct  upon  so  alarming  an  occasion  ?  do  they 
tamely  submit  without  a  struggle  ?  do  they 
abandon  the  property,  their  liberties,  and 
their  country,  to  the  fury  of  these  merciless 
invaders  ?  do  they  meanly  supplicate  the  favor, 
or  intreat  the  humanity  of  this  haughty  prince? 
no  !  sensible  of  the  justice  of  their  cause,  and 
that  valor  is  oftentimes  superior  to  numbers ; 
undaunted  by  the  appearance  of  this  innumer 
able  host,  and  fired  with  the  glorious  zeal,  they, 
with  one  voice,  resolve  to  establish  their  liber 
ties,  or  perish  in  the  attempt. 

View  them  at  the  moment  when  the  armies 
of  their  enemies,  like  an  inundation,  overspread 
their  whole  Grecian  territory  ;  when  oppression 
seemed  as  though  collecting  its  mighty  force, 
and  liberty  lay  fettered  at  the  shrine  of  ambi 
tion  ;  then  shone  forth  the  heavenly  principle, 
then  flamed  the  spirit  of  the  patriot,  and  laying 
aside  all  sentiments  of  jealousy,  as  though 
favored  with  the  prophetic  wisdom  of  heaven, 
with  bravery  unexampled,  they  charge  their  foe, 
and  fighting  in  defence  of  their  country,  success 
crowns  virtuous  attempt.  With  three  hun 
dred  Lacedemonians,*  one  only  of  whom  was 
left  to  tell  the  fate  of  these  intrepid  men  to  their 
weeping  country,  they  conquered  the  combined 
force  of  the  whole  eastern  world. 

The  privileges  and  immunities  of  the  states 
of  Holland, t  after  a  contest  of  forty  years,  in 
which  they  withstood  the  exertions  of  their 
powerful  neighbors,  being  established  by  the 
force  of  this  single  principle,  which  appears  to 
prevail  both  in  the  senate  and  the  field,  might 
also  be  adduced  in  support  of  what  I  have 
advanced  ;  but,  my  fellow-countrymen,  we  can 
not  want  additional  proofs ;  the  living  history 
of  our  own  times,  will  carry  conviction  to  the 
latest  posterity,  that  no  state,  that  no  community, 
I.  may  say  that  no  family,  nay  even  that  no 
individual  can  possibly  flourish  and  be  happy 
without  some  portion  of  this  sacred  fire.  It 
was  this  that  raised  America  from  being  the 
haunt  of  the  savage,  and  the  dwelling-place  of 

*  These  brave  Lacedemonians  thought  it  became  them 
who  were  the  choicest  soldiers  of  the  chief  people  of 
Greece,  to  devote  themselves  to  certain  death,  in  order  to 
make  the  Persians  sensible  how  difficult  it  is  to  reduce 
freemen  to  slavery,  and  to  teach  the  rest  of  Greece,  by 
tlieir  example,  either  to  vanquish  or  to  perish.  A  monu 
ment  was  afterwards  erected  to  the  memory  of  Leonidas 
and  those  who  fell  with  him  at  Thermopylae  ;  upon  which 
was  this  inscription  : 

Die  hospes,  Spartanis  te  hie  vidisse  jacentus 
Dum,  sanctis  patriae  legibus  obsequimur. — Rollin. 
i  Temple's  Observation. 


the  beast,  to  her  present  state  of  civilization 
and  opulence  :  it  was  this  that  hath  supported 
her  under  the  severest  trials :  it  was  this  that 
taught  her  sons  to  fight,  to  conquer  and  to  die 
in  support  of  freedom  and  its  blessings ;  and 
what  is  it,  but  this  ardent  love  of  liberty,  that 
has  induced  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  to  attend 
on  this  solemn  occasion,  again  to  encourage 
the  streams  of  sensibility,  and  to  listen  with  so 
much  attention  and  candor  to  one  of  the 
youngest  of  your  fellow-citizens,  whose  youth 
and  inability  plead  powerfully  against  him, 
while  the  annual  tribute  is  paid  to  the  memory 
of  those  departed  citizens,  who  fell  the  first 
sacrifices  to  arbitrary  power.  Check  not  such 
generous  feelings.  They  are  the  fruits  of  virtue 
and  humanity,  and  while  the  obligations  you 
remain  under  to  those  unhappy  men,  lead  you 
to  shed  the  sympathetic  tear,  to  dwell  with 
pleasure  upon  their  memories,  and  execrate 
the  causes  of  their  death,  remember  that  you 
can  never  repay  them.  Ever  bear  it  in  your 
minds,  that  so  implicit  was  the  confidence  you 
willingly  placed  in  that  country,  that  owed  to 
you  her  affection,  that,  notwithstanding  the 
introduction  of  that  inhuman  weapon  of  tyrants 
into  the  very  heart  of  your  peaceful  villages, 
you  still  would  fain  rely  on  their  deceitful  asser 
tions,  and  paint  the  deformed  monster  to 
your  imaginations  as  the  minister  of  peace  and 
protection.  Men,  born  in  the  bosom  of  liberty, 
in  the  exercise  of  the  social  affections  in  their 
full  vigor,  having  once  fixed  them  upon  partic 
ular  objects,  they  are  not  hastily  eradicated. 
Unaccustomed  to  sport  with,  and  wantonly 
sacrifice  these  sensible  overflowings  of  the 
heart,  to  run  the  career  of  passion  and  blinded 
lust,  to  be  familiar  with  vice,  and  sneer  at 
virtue,  to  surprise  innocence  by  deceitful  cun 
ning  and  assume  the  shape  of  friendship  to  con 
ceal  the  greater  enmity,  you  could  not  at  once 
realize  the  fixed  the  deliberate  intention  of 
those  from  whom  you  expected  freedom,  to 
load  you  with  slavery  and  chains,  and  not  till 
insult  repeated  upon  insult ;  not  till  oppression 
stalked  at  noon-day  through  every  avenue  in 
your  cities :  nay,  not  till  the  blood  of  your 
peaceful  brethren  flowed  through  your  streets, 
was  the  envenomed  serpent  to  be  discovered  in 
the  bushes  :  not  till  a  general  trespass  had  been 
made  upon  the  keenest  feelings  of  human 
nature,  and  the  widowed  mother  was  summoned 
to  entomb  the  cold  remains  of  her  affectionate 
son ;  the  virtuous  bosom  to  resign  its  tender 
partner,  and  social  circles  their  nearest  friends  , 
could  you  possibly  convince  yourselves  that  you 
and  Britain  were  to  be  friends  no  more. 
Thrice  happy  day  !  the  consequences  of  which 


64 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


have  taught  the  sons  of  America,  that  a  pro 
per  exercise  of  public  spirit  and  the  love  of 
virtue  hath  been  able  to  surprise  and  baffle  the 
most  formidable  and  most  powerful  tyranny  on 
earth. 

Patriotism  is  a  virtue  which  will  ever  be 
universally  admired,  even  by  those  incapable 
of  possessing  it.  Its  happy  effects  are  equally 
visible  in  individuals  as  in  states,  and  if  we 
bestow  a  moment's  reflection  upon  the  heroes 
of  antiquity,  who  have  been  deservedly  cele 
brated  by  succeeding  generations,  both  for 
their  abilities  and  conduct,  we  shall  find  that 
the  true  source  of  their  greatness  was  this 
spirit  of  freedom,  and  their  inviolable  attach 
ment  to  the  interest  of  their  country. 

With  an  attentive  silence  we  listen  to  the 
historian  while  he  relates  to  us  the  integrity  of 
conduct,  the  invincible  courage,  the  earnest 
glow  of  soul,  and  the  ardent  love  of  liberty 
which  was  exhibited  in  the  lives  of  those  illus 
trious  men,  and  so  great  were  their  virtues  that 
we  are  scarce  able  to  credit  them,  but  as  the 
dreams  of  fancy,  or  the  fictions  of  the  in 
genious. 

It  is  recorded  of  the  celebrated  Timoleon,* 
general  of  Corinth,  that  notwithstanding  he 
was  blest  with  a  temper  singularly  humane, 
and  with  feelings  that  were  ever  roused  at  the 
miseries  of  his  fellow-men,  he  loved  his  country 
so  passionately,  that  after  making  use  of  every 
argument  in  his  power  to  convince  an  elder 
brother  of  his  error,  for  attempting  to  become 
the  tyrant  of  it,  he  devoted  him  to  death  ;  a 
brother  on  whom  he  had  previously  placed  his 
affection,  and  whose  life  being  exposed  to  the 
fire  of  the  enemy  in  a  severe  battle,  he  had 
before  saved  at  the  great  risk  of  his  own. 
Even  in  old  age,  after  a  period  of  rigid  retire 
ment  for  twenty  years,  we  are  attracted  by  the 
disinterested  conduct  of  this  exalted  patriot. 

When  the  Syracusians,  groaning  under  every 
species  of  cruelty,  which  lust,  avarice  and  ambi 
tion  could  inflict,  supplicated  their  generous 
neighbors  for  assistance  to  alleviate  those 
miseries  they  themselves  had  been  exposed  to, 
Timoleon,  urged  to  accept  the  command  of  the 
Corinthian  auxiliaries,  at  first  hesitated,  his 
age,  his  manners,  his  private  happiness  and 
the  endearments  of  his  family  forbade  it ;  but 
sensible  that  he  was  but  a  member  of  the 
community,  and  stung  by  the  cries  of  inno 
cence,  his  inclinations  were  of  but  trivial 
moment  in  competition  with  his  duty. 

View  him  at  the  head  of  his  chosen  army, 
assembled    to   plead   the   cause    of    suffering 
virtue.     In  possession  of  arms  and  of  power, 
*  Rollin. 


if  inclined  to  pervert  them,  are  his  principles 
changed  with  his  station  ?  are  his  thoughts 
bent  on  conquest  or  on  death  ?  or  does  he 
entertain  a  secret  wish  to  seize  the  moment  of 
confidence,  or  build  his  greatness  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  distressed,  or  to  remove  one 
tyrant  to  reinstate  another  ?  no !  but  fired 
with  a  generous  glow  of  soul,  fired  with  the 
manly  sentiments  of  freedom,  with  an  implaca 
ble  hatred  to  oppression  of  all  kinds,  he 
marches  his  troops  to  the  deliverance  of  his 
afflicted  people,  and  with  a  firmness  becoming 
soldiers  fighting  under  the  standard  of  liberty, 
after  a  series  of  fatigue  and  toil,  harassing 
marches  and  fierce  conflicts,  he  dethrones  the 
tyrant,  and  is  proclaimed  the  deliverer  of  Syra 
cuse.  Having  restored  tranquillity  to  this 
unhappy  country,  repeopled  their  cities,  revived 
their  laws,  and  dispensed  justice  to  all  ranks 
and  classes,  he  resigned  his  command,  and 
retreated  once  again  to  the  private  walks  of 
life,  accompanied  with  the  grateful  acknowledg 
ments  of  millions,  as  the- patron  of  their  liberty 
and  the  savior  of  their  country.  Happy  man  ! 
endowed  with  such  a  noble  soul,  prone  to  feel 
for  the  misfortunes,  and  rejoice  in  the  happi 
ness  of  his  fellow-creatures. 

But  why  need  we  resort  to  distant  ages  to 
furnish  us  with  instances  of  the  effects  of 
patriotism  upon  individuals  ?  will  not  the 
present  clay  afford  at  least  one  illustrious 
example  to  our  purpose?  yes,  my  fellow-coun 
trymen,  America,  young  America  too,  can 
boast  her  patriots  and  heroes,  men  who  have 
saved  their  country  by  their  virtues,  whose 
characters  posterity  will  admire,  and  with  a 
pleased  attention,  listen  on  tiptoe  to  the  story 
of  their  glorious  exertions.  Let  us  pause  a 
moment  only  upon  the  select  catalogue,  and 
take  the  first  upon  the  list. 

View  him  in  his  private  station,  and  here,  as 
though  Providence  for  his  excellencies  had 
selected  him  for  her  own  from  the  extensive 
circle  of  humanity,  we  perceive  him  enjoying 
her  richest  dispensations.  By  an  affluent  for 
tune,  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  poverty  or 
dependence,  blessed  with  the  social  circle  of 
friends,  and  happily  connected  by  yet  more 
endearing  ties,  peaceful  reflections  are  his 
companions  through  the  day,  and  the  soothing 
slumbers  of  innocence  hover  over  his  couch; 
charity  presides  steward  of  his  household, 
and  the  distressed  are  ever  sure  to  receive 
from  his  bosom  that  sigh  which  never  fails  to 
console,  and  from  his  cheek  the  alleviating  tear 
of  sympathy.  Having  reached  the  summit  of 
human  felicity,  beyond  even  the  picture  of  his 
most  sanguine  expectations,  it  is  indifferent  to 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


him,  as  an  individual,  whether  prince  or  people 
rule  the  state,  but  nurtured  in  the  bosom  of 
freedom,  endowed  with  a  greatness  of  soul, 
swallowed  up  with  public  spirit  and  the  love  of 
mankind,  does  oppression  scatter  her  baleful 
prejudices,  does  ambition  rear  its  guilty  crest, 
friends,*  relations  and  fortunes  are  like  the 
dust  of  the  balance.  The  pleas  of  nature  give 
way  to  those  of  his  country,  and  urged  on  by 
heavenly  motives,  he  flies  instantly  to  her 
relief.  See  him,  while  grief  distracts  his  bosom 
at  the  effusion  of  human  blood,  grasp  the  sword 
of  justice  and  buckle  on  the  harness  of  the  war 
rior.  See  him,  with  fortitude  unparalleled,  with 
perseverance  indefatigable,  deaf  to  pleasure  and 
despising  corruption,  cheerfully  encountering 
the  severest  tasks  of  duty,  and  the  hardest 
toils  of  a  military  life.  Modest  in  prosperity, 
and  shining  like  a  meteor  in  adversity,  we 
behold  this  patriotic  hero,  with  a  small  army 
of  determined  freemen,  attacking,  fighting  and 
conquering  an  army  composed  of  the  bravest 
veteran  troops  of  Britain. 

And  shall  we,  my  countrymen,  stop  the  cur 
rent  of  gratitude  ?  and  can  we  forbear  testi 
fying  our  joy  upon  the  success  of  such  singular 
exertions  ?  shall  we  seal  his  death  before  we 
thank  him  for  his  services?  by  no  means. — Our 
acknowledgments  will  irresistibly  flow  from  us 
to  this  deserved  object  of  admiration,  and  his 
very  actions  will  sting  the  soul  of  the  ungrateful 
wretch,  until  he  is  forced  to  admire  their  lustre, 
and  confess  his  inability  to  equal  them. 

Some  there  are  who,  Roman-like,  would 
banish  him  for  his  good  conduct ;  but  while  we 
copy  the  spirit  of  this  great  people,  let  us  not 
be  as  diligent  to  catch  their  vices.  Such  con 
duct  is  inconsistent  with  the  sentiments  of 
freemen,  and  surely  we  cannot  forget  that  he 
has  saved  our  country. 

Rewards!  and  punishments  are  in  the  hands 
of  the  public,  and  it  is  equally  consistent  with 
generosity  and  humanity  to  bestow  the  one. 
as  inflict  the  other.  We  cannot  be  too  cautious 
in  the  objects  of  our  gratitude  ;  let  merit,  con 
spicuous  merit,  be  the  standard  to  which  our 
praises  shall  resort,  and  it  will  excite  a  noble 
emulation  in  others,  and  let  us  rather  forbear 
that  respect,  which  is  too  often  found  attendant 

*  Cari  sunt  parentes,  cari  liberi,  propinqui,  familiares, 
sed  omnes  omnium  caritates  patrise  unae  complexa  est, 
pro  qua  quis  bonus  dubitet  mortem  oppetere  ?  Cic. 

t  One  method  of  preventing  crimes  is  to  reward  virtue. 
If  the  rewards  for  the  discovering  of  useful  truths  have 
increased  our  knowledge  and  multiplied  good  books,  is  it 
not  probable  that  rewards,  distributed  by  the  beneficent 
hand  of  a  sovereign,  would  also  multiply  virtuous  actions  ? 
The  coin  of  honor  is  inexhaustible,  and  is  abundantly 
fruitful  in  the  hands  of  a  prince  who  distributes  it  wisely. 

Marq.  of  Becoa. 


upon  the  rich,  though  their  wealth  has  been 
amassed  with  the  ruin  of  their  country. 

But  the  praises  of  us  are  not  the  patriot's 
only  reward  ;  with  an  approving  conscience 
sweetening  the  declivity  of  life,  his  invitation  is 
to  the  skies,  there  to  receive  a  far  more  pre 
cious  reward,  for  the  establishment  of  that 
principle  to  which,  since  the  origin  of  mankind, 
heaven  hath  paid  an  immediate  attention. 

"  Where  the  brave  youth  with  love  of  glory  fired, 
Who  greatly  in  his  country's  cause  expired, 
Shall  know  he  conquered.    The  firm  patriot  there, 
Who  made  the  welfare  of  mankind  his  care, 
Though  still  by  faction,  vice,  and  fortune  crost. 
Shall  find  his  generous  labor  was  not  lost."  — Cato. 

Such  is  the  progress  of  public  spirit  and  the 
love  of  virtue,  and  it  is  the  only  pillar  upon 
which  can  safely  be  erected  the  happiness  of 
mankind.  Without  some  play  of  the  social 
affections  in  every  society,  without  some  barrier 
to  oppose  the  stormy  passions  of  individuals, 
without  some  general  attachment  to  the  public 
welfare,  a  door  is  open  to  ambition  and  politi 
cal  corruption  ;  *  luxury  and  selfishness  become 
fashionable  vices,  and  the  spirit  of  the  govern 
ment  is  perverted  ;  the  public  good  is  neglected, 
the  riches  of  the  state  insecure,  the  liberty  of 
the  subject  slighted,  and  the  attempt  of  the 
tyrant  made  successful  by  the  follies  of  the 
people. 

What  but  the  want  of  patriotism,  that  hath 
buried  in  ruins  the  mighty  empires  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  that  standing  armies,  the  scourge 
of  the  innocent,  prevail  throughout  all  Europe, 
that  the  pages  of  history  present  to  our  view 
so  melancholy  a  picture  of  the  human  species, 
and  that  America  and  Britain  are  not  at  this 
day  running  the  road  to  greatness  and  glory 
in  concert ;  and  what  is  it  but  the  want  of  pa 
triotism  that  could  induce  that  haughty  nation, 
divested  of  every  public  virtue,  of  every  bosom 
feeling,  of  every  pretension  to  humanity,  without 
apology  or  pretext,  to  usher  a  standing  army, 
composed  of  vagrants,  criminals,  and  mercena 
ries,  into  our  peaceful  country. 

O  my  countrymen,  it  is  the  want  of  pa 
triotism  that  we  are  at  this  time  called  to  weep 
over  the  wanton  massacre  of  innocent  men  ; 
that  this  is  not  the  only  house  of  mourning; 
that  the  fields  of  America  have  become  devoted 
to  war,  and  scenes  of  slaughter  familiar  to  her 
sons  ;  that  our  oppressors  yet  persist  in  their 
destructive  system  of  tyranny,  and  if  their 

*  The  Assyrian,  the  Persian  and  Craesian,  the  three 
first  universal  monarchies,  finally  sunk  under  luxury  and 
corruption  ;  and  it  is  well  known  that  the  Romans  did  not 
preserve  their  liberties  for  half  a  century  after  being  de 
bauched  by  the  luxury  of  Asia,  but  fell  a  prey  to  its  vices  ; 
and  was  at  length  divided  by  the  Goths  and  Vandals. 


66 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS   OF   THE    REVOLUTION. 


power  was  equal  to  their  thirst  of  blood,  with 
the  spirit  of  ambition  by  which  they  are  now 
directed,  would  lead  them  to  destroy  and  extir 
pate  the  whole  human  race.  But  thanks  be  to 
heaven,  that  by  the  force  of  those  virtues  which 
they  have  discarded,  we  have  nobly  resisted 
the  attempts  of  these  cruel  men,  and  the 
miseries  they  have  so  profusely  dealt  out  to  us, 
are  returning,  with  additional  vengeance,  upon 
their  own  heads.  The  danger  of  the  issue  is 
now  past,  and  if  we  but  retain  the  same  pa 
triotic  ardor,  with  which  we  first  defended  our 
rights  from  the  grasp  of  our  enemies,  they  are 
every  day  in  our  power.  We  have  every  thing 
to  hope ;  they  on  the  other  hand  have  every 
thing  to  fear.  Youth,  vigor,  and  the  invincible 
arm  of  justice,  are  on  our  side : — The  genius 
of  liberty  also  is  our  advocate,  who,  though 
persecuted,  hath  never  been  conquered. 

In  our  day  we  are  called  to  see  a  happy 
country  laid  waste  at  the  shrine  of  ambition  ; 
to  experience  those  scenes  of  distress  which 
history  is  filled  with  :  but  experience  rivets  its 
lessons  upon  the  mind,  and  if  we  resolve  with 
deliberation,  and  execute  with  vigor,  we  may 
yet  be  a  free  and  flourishing  people.  Repine 
not  too  much  at  the  ravages  of  war,  nor  mur 
mur  at  the  dispensations  of  Providence.  We 
oftentimes  rate  our  blessings  in  proportion  to 
the  difficulty  in  attaining  them,  and  if,  without 
a  struggle,  we  had  secured  our  liberties,  per 
haps  we  should  have  been  less  sensible  of  their 
value.  Chastisements  in  youth  are  not  without 
their  advantages ;  blessings  most  commonly 
spring  from  them  in  old  age.  They  lead  us  to 
reflect  seriously  in  the  hour  of  retirement,  and 
to  cherish  those  qualifications  which  are  fre 
quently  lost  in  the  glare  of  prosperity. 

The  important  prophecy  is  nearly  accom 
plished.  The  rising  glory  of  this  western 
hemisphere  is  already  announced,  and  she  is 
summoned  to  her  seat  among  the  nations. 
We  have  publicly  declared  ourselves  convinced 
of  the  destructive  tendency  of  standing  armies  : 
we  have  acknowledged  the  necessity  of  public 
spirit  and  the  love  of  virtue  to  the  happiness  of 
any  people,  and  we  profess  to  be  sensible  of 
the  great  blessings  that  flow  from  them.  Let 
us  not  then  act  unworthy  of  the  reputable 
character  we  now  sustain  :  like  the  nation  we 
have  abandoned,  be  content  with  freedom  in 
form  and  tyranny  in  substance,  profess  virtue 
and  practice  vice,  and  convince  an  attentive 
world  that  in  this  glorious  struggle  for  our 
lives  and  properties,  the  only  men  capable  of 
prizing  such  exalted  privileges,  were  an  illus 
trious  set  of  heroes,  who  have  sealed  their 
principles  with  their  blood.  Dwell,  my  fellow- 


citizens,  upon  the  present  situation  of  your 
country.  Remember  that  though  our  enemies 
have  dispensed  with  the  hopes  of  conquering, 
our  land  is  not  entirely  freed  of  them,  and 
should  our  resistance  prove  unsuccessful  by 
our  own  inattention  and  inactivity,  death  will 
be  far  preferable  to  the  yoke  of  bondage. 

Let  us  therefore  be  still  vigilant  over  our 
enemies — instil  into  our  armies  the  righteous 
cause  they  protect  and  support,  and  let  not  the 
soldier  and  citizen  be  distinct  characters  among 
us.  By  our  conduct  let  us  convince  them,  * 
that  it  is  for  the  preservation  of  themselves  and 
their  country  they  are  now  fighting  ;  that  they, 
equally  with  us,  are  interested  in  the  event, 
and  abandon  them  not  to  the  insatiable  ra 
pacity  of  the  greedy  executioner. 

As  a  reward  for  our  exertions  in  the  great 
cause  of  freedom,  we  are  now  in  the  possession 
of  those  rights  and  privileges  attendant  upon 
the  original  state  of  nature,  with  the  opportu 
nity  of  establishing  a  government  t  for  ourselves, 
independent  upon  any  nation  or  any  people 
upon  the  earth.  We  have  the  experience  of 
ages  to  copy  from,  advantages  that  have  been 
denied  to  any  that  have  gone  before  us.  Let 
us  then,  my  fellow-citizens,  learn  to  value  the 
blessing.  Let  integrity  of  heart,  the  spirit  of 
freedom  and  rigid  virtue  be  seen  to  actuate 
every  member  of  the  commonwealth.  Let  not 
party  rage,  private  animosities,  or  self  in 
terested  motives,  succeed  that  religious  attach 
ment  to  the  public  weal  which  has  brought  us 
successfully  thus  far ;  for  vain  are  all  the 
boasted  charms  of  liberty  if  her  greatest  vo 
taries  are  guided  by  such  base  passions.  The 
trial  of  our  patriotism  is  yet  before  us,  and  we 
have  reason  to  thank  heaven  that  its  principles 
are  so  well  known  and  diffused.  Exercise  to 
wards  each  other  the  benevolent  feelings  of 
friendship,  and  let  that  unity  of  sentiment, 
which  has  shone  in  the  field,  be  equally  ani 
mating  in  our  councils. 

Remember  that  prosperity  is  dangerous : 
that  though  successful,  we  are  not  infallible  : 
that  like  the  rest  of  mankind  we  are  capable  of 
erring.  The  line  of  our  happiness  may  be 
traced  with  exactness,  and  still  there  may  be  a 
difficulty  in  pursuing  it.  Let  us  not  forget 
that  our  enemies  have  other  arts  in  store  for 
our  destruction  ;  that  they  are  tempting  us  into 

*  It  has  ever  been  thought  inconsistent  with  good  policy 
and  common  sense  to  commit  the  defence  of  a  country 
to  men  who  have  no  interest  in  its  preservation. 

Diod.  Lib.  i./.  67. 

t  The  true  definition  of  a  free  state  is  where  the  legis 
lature  adheres  strictly  to  the  laws  of  nature,  and  calculates 
every  one  of  its  regulations  for  improving  society  and  for 
promoting  industry  and  honesty  among  the  people. 

Home's  Hist,  vol.  2.  /.  132. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


those  snares  which,  after  successful  struggles, 
proved  the  ruin  of  the  empires  of  the  east ;  and 
let  this  sacred  maxim  receive  the  deepest  im 
pression  upon  our  minds,  that  if  avarice,  if 
extortion,  if  luxury  and  political  corruption,  are 
suffered  to  become  popular  among  us,  civil 
discord  and  the  ruin  of  our  country  will  be  the 
speedy  consequence  of  such  fatal  vices  ;  but 
while  patriotism  is  the  leading  principle,  and 
our  laws  are  contrived  with  wisdom,  and  exe 
cuted  with  vigor,  while  industry,  frugality  and 
temperance,  are  held  in  estimation,  and  we 
depend  upon  public  spirit  and  the  love  of  vir 
tue  for  our  social  happiness,  peace  and  afflu 
ence  will  throw  their  smiles  upon  the  brow  of 
the  individual,  our  commonwealth  will  flourish, 
our  land  become  the  land  of  liberty,  and 
AMERICA  an  asylum  for  the  oppressed. 


ORATION   DELIVERED   AT  BOSTON,  MARCH    5, 
i;8l. 

BY  THOMAS   DAWES,   JUN. 

"  Patria  cara — carior  Libertas  !  " 

Fathers,  friends  and  citizens — Avoiding 
apology,  even  at  a  time  when  uncommon  pro 
priety  might  justify  it,  and  trusting  rather  to  a 
continuance  of  the  same  liberality  which  has 
ever  noted  my  countrymen,  I  attempt  the 
duties  of  this  solemn  anniversary. 

And  it  is  conceived  that  we  shall,  in  some 
measure,  perform  those  duties,  if  we  sketch 
out  some  general  traits  of  liberty,  and  mark 
the  lines  of  her  progress  in  particular  nations, 
if  we  paint  the  wounds  she  has  suffered  from 
corruption  and  despotic  force,  and  from  the 
whole  deduce  such  sentiments  as  become  a 
brave  and  free,  though  injured  people. 

Numerous  as  the  descriptions  are  of  prime 
val  man,  the  reflective  eye  is  not  yet  weary. 
We  still  feel  an  interest  in  that  Arcadian  state 
which  so  well  imitated  the  world  we  are  look 
ing  for.  And  we  shall  continue  to  feel  it  so 
long  as  nature  is  pleasing  and  the  heart  retains 
a  feature  of  innocence.  Like  the  gods,*  our 
first  fathers  had  but  few  desires,  and  those  to 
be  satisfied  by  the  works  of  virtue.  Their 
passions  were  as  the  gales  of  their  own  Eden — 
enough  to  give  a  spring  to  good  actions — to 
keep  the  waters  of  life  in  motion  without  in 
ducing  storm  and  whirlwind.f  Conversing 

*  It.  was  represented  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  that  in  imita 
ting  the  gods,  his  study  was  to  have  as  few  wants  as 
possible.  Vid.  Spectator  No.  634. 

t  The  passions  of  every  kind,  under  proper  restraints, 
are  the  gentle  breezes  which  keep  life  from  stagnation;  but, 
let  loose,  they  are  the  storms  and  whirlwinds  which  tear 
up  all  before  them.  Mrs.  Brooke. 


with  divinities,  liberty,  sent  from  aoove,  was 
their  peculiar  inmate :  that  liberty,  whose 
spirit,  mingling  with  the  nature  of  man  at  his 
formation,  taught  him,  unlike  the  other  ani 
mals,  to  look  upward  and  hope  for  a  throne 
above  the  stars  :  *  that  liberty  who  taught  him 
to  pluck,  with  confidence,  the  fruits  of  nature ; 
to  pursue  the  direction  of  reason  upon  his 
heart,  and,  under  that  direction,  to  acquire, 
secure  and  enjoy  all  possible  happiness,  not 
impeding,  but  assisting  others  in  the  same 
privilege.!  When  families,  and  consequently  , 
human  wants  were  afterward  multiplied,  it 
was  this  same  liberty  who,  joined  with  justice, 
led  the  patriarchs  to  some  aged  oak.  There, 
in  the  copious  shade,  misunderstandings  were 
explained,  and  charity  and  peace  embraced 
each  other. — Such  was  the  morning  of  man  ! 

But  misunderstandings  are  quarrels  in  em 
bryo.  Satisfaction  of  one  want  originated  ano 
ther.  Depravity  grew  enraptured  with  strife. 
The  wind  was  up.  Passion  raged.  Brother's 
blood  then  smoked  from  the  ground  and 
cried  for  vengeance.  Nimrod  commenced  his 
prelude  to  tyranny,  and  Fame  was  clamorous 
with  the  deeds  of  death.—  Liberty  heard  and 
trembled — considered  herself  an  outcast,  and 
has,  on  many  times  since,  travelled  up  and 
down  the  world  forlorn,  forsaken,  majesty,  in 
rags.  Nor  will  she,  perhaps,  until  the  millen 
nium  comes,  if  America  does  not  now  retain 
her,  ever  command  that  complete  and  perma 
nent  homage  which  is  suitable  to  her  nature. 
The  old  republics  may  have  been  the  most  per 
fect  seats  of  her  residence  while  they  lasted. 
and  are  often  mustered  up  from  the  tomb  of 
empire  to  witness  the  adoration  which  they 
paid  her.  But  even  there  she  received  so  fre 
quent  violence  that  the  continuance  of  her 
reign  was  for  the  most  part  precarious ;  and 
when  even  at  the  summit  of  her  glory,  she 
was  only  elevated  that  her  fall  might  be  more 
astonishing.  Having  passed  all  the  degrees 
of  fortune,  thank  God  she  has  found  her  way 
to  these  remote  shores,  and,  if  from  effects  we 
may  judge,  she  is  well  pleased  with  her  new 
abode.  O  cherish  the  divine  inhabitant!  O 
let  her  not  return  to  the  courts  above  with  a 
story  that  shall  fire  the  heavens  against 
us— that  she  had  blessings  for  us,  but  that  we 
were  not  prepared  to  receive  them — that  she 
could  find  among  us  no  lasting  habitation ; 
but  that,  like  the  dove  after  the  deluge,  she 

*  Pronaque  cum  spectent  animalia  caetera  terrain, 
Is  homina  sublime  dedit,  cselumque  tueri 
Jussit.  -Ovid,  Met. 

t  No  man's  social  liberty  is  lessened  by  another's  eu- 
ioying  the  same. — Bollan. 


68 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


was  scarce  favored  with  the  top  of  some 
friendly  mountain  for  a  melancholy  mo 
ment. 

Liberty,  my  friends,  is  a  palladium  to  the 
place  of  her  dwelling,  a  rock  and  a  sure  de 
fence.  Wherever  she  is,  every  man  has  some 
thing  to  protect.  He  knows  what  are  his 
riches,  and  that  while  he  liveth  himself  shall 
gather  them.  He  views,  with  conscious  joy, 
his  circumstances.  His  social  affections  shoot 
out  and  flourish.  Even  his  prejudices  are  a 
source  of  satisfaction,  and  among  them  local 
attachment,  a  fault  which  leads  to  the  side  of 
patriotism. 

Supported  by,  and  tenacious  of  these  fruits 
of  liberty,  some  little  free  states,  which  the 
geographer  in  his  map  and  otherways  never 
noticed,  have  long  stood  uninjured  by  change, 
and  some  of  them  inaccessible  by  the  greatest 
efforts  of  power.  There  is  now,  in  a  distant 
quarter  of  the  globe,  a  living  illustration  of  this 
remark.  Situate  upon  a  venerable  pile  of  rocks, 
in  Italy,  stands  the  commonwealth  of  St. 
Marino.  It  was  founded  by  a  holy  man  whose 
name  it  bears,  and  who  fled  to  this  romantic 
fairy-land  to  enjoy  religion  and  free  air  unpur- 
sued  by  power  and  the  restless  spirit  of  the 
world.  His  example  was  followed  by  the 
pious,  the  humane,  and  the  lovers  of  freedom. 
And  these,  a  favorite  few,  who  were  before 
scattered  up  and  down  through  other  parts  of 
Italy ;  who  had  lived  all  their  days  under  arbi 
trary  rule,  and  whom  nature  had  secretly, 
taught  that  there  was  somewhere  a  happier 
institution  for  man— these  hurried  away  to  the 
snowy  top  of  St.  Marino  ;  and  having  there  first 
tasted  those  rights  which  come  down  from 
God,  made  it  their  life's  labor  to  support  and 
hand  them  down  in  purity.  There  every  man 
finds  his  prosperity  in  submitting  to  those  laws 
which  diffuse  equality.  There  every  man  feels 
himself  happily  liable  to  be  called  to  the  senate 
or  the  field  :  every  man  divides  his  day  be 
tween  alternate  labor  and  the  use  of  arms — on 
tip-toe,  ready  to  start  for  the  prize,  the  mark 
of  universal  emulation — the  common  weal  ; 
officious  to  promote  that  interest  which  is  at 
once  the  public's  and  his  own.  So  stands  a 
constitution  informed  with  the  very  essence  of 
liberty.  It  has  so  stood,  while  other  neigh 
boring  states  have  been  blackened  and  defaced 
with  frequent  revolution.  And  we  prophesy 
that  till  the  approach  of  some  unforeseen  vice 
— till  some  degeneracy  unknown  to  the  sires 
creep  upon  the  sons,  St.  Marino  must  stand 
admired  :  as,  in  its  present  circumstance,  no 
prince  or  potentate,  after  sitting  down  and 
counting  the  cost,  will  ever  attempt  the  im 


penetrable  union  of  so  much  prudence  and 
virtue.* 

The  name  of  Venice  now  occurs  to  memory 
as  another  modern  example  of  genuine  great 
ness.  The  ascendency  gained  by  that  single 
city  over  the  whole  Ottoman  power — the  uni 
versal  panic  that  struck  and  pervaded  all 
orders  of  the  Turks  when  routed  at  Darda 
nelles,  and  the  reasonable  fear  of  approaching 
dissolution  that  reached  even  to  the  throne  and 
blasted  the  heart  and  withered  the  nerves  of  a 
despot :  these,  amazing  at  first,  nevertheless 
appear,  when  their  springs  are  laid  open,  the 
natural  issues  of  a  contest  between  free  agents 
and  slaves.! 

A  more  ancient  and  perhaps  still  more  bril 
liant  proof  of  the  proportionate  powers  of  dif 
ferent  degrees  of  liberty,  may  be  gathered  from 
the  annals  of  the  city  of  Tyre.  The  Lybian 
madman  J  who  thought  he  had  conquered  all 
and  wept  that  he  had  no  more  to  conquer  § — 
the  invincible  son  of  Jove,  before  whom  princi 
palities  and  powers  had  bowed  down  their 
heads  as  a  bulrush — behold  him,  with  his 
phalanx,  puzzled  and  Confounded  at  the  walls 
of  Tyre.  To  overrun  Asia  cost  him  less  labor, 
enterprise  and  valor,  than  the  reduction  of  this 
one  favorite  haunt  of  liberty. |  And  perhaps 
he  had  never  reduced  her  but  for  her  own  fall 
ing  off  from  her  pristine  wisdom.  Her  liberty 
was  not  in  first  full  vigor,  but  had  received  a 
shock  from  corruption  introduced  with  riches. 
Bribery,  pride,  and  oppression  followed  close 
behind.  She  was  then  cast  out  as  profane 
from  the  mountain  of  God  .IT  Tyre  is  become 
like  the  top  of  a  rock — a  place  to  spread  nets 
upon. 

Let  us  consider  the  story  of  Tyre  as  a  monu 
ment  which  upon  one  side  shews  the  force  of 
excellence,  and  upon  the  other  the  baneful 
influence  of  vice ;  a  memento  that  every  state 
below  the  sun  has,  like  Achilles  of  old,  some 
vulnerable  part.  As  not  a  nation  is  exempted  ; 
and  lest,  in  a  fond  prejudice,  we  might  exclude 
our  own  America,  and  so  induce  a  fatal  secu 
rity,  even  America  has  received  a  caveat  from 
heaven,  and  in  her  youthful  purity  has  been 

*  Many  of  the  facts  here  mentioned  of  St.  Marino  may 
be  seen  in  Addison's  more  complete  accounts  of  that 
republic. 

t  This  alludes  only  to  a  particular  era  in  the  Venetian 
history. 

$  And  the  horned  head  belied  the  Lybian  god. 

Pope. 

§  Alexander,  after  all  his  conquests,  complained  that 
he  had  no  more  worlds  to  subdue. 

Seneca  on  a  Hapfy  Life. 

\  For  an  illustration  of  this  see  ancient  universal  history 
vol.  ii.  page  75  and  on  ;  also — that  part  of  Newton  on  the 
prophecies  which  relate  to  Tyre,  vol.  i. 

^  Ezekiel,  xxxiii.  16. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


69 


tempted  by  her  enemies.  With  what  sort  of 
success  tempted  we  need  but  remember  the 
machinations  and  flight  of  the  most  infamous 
Arnold,  and  the  affecting,  though  just  separa 
tion  of  the  unfortunate  Andre. 

Happy  the  nation  that,  apprised  of  the  whole 
truth,  impartially  weighs  its  own  alloy,  and 
bars,  with  tenfold  adamant,  its  gate  of  danger. 
— But  to  return. 

I  had  cherished  some  aversion  to  names 
grown  trite  by  repetition,  and  had,  on  that 
account,  evaded  the  ancient  republics.  But  I 
find  the  observation  just,. that  "  half  our  learn 
ing  is  their  epitaph."  I  conceive  that  the 
"  moss-grown  "  columns  and  broken  arches  of 
those  once-renowned  empires  are  full  with 
instruction  as  were  the  groves  of  Lyceum  or 
the  school  of  Plato.  Let  Greece  then  be  the 
subject  of  a  moment's  reflection.  When  liberty 
fled  from  the  gloom  of  Egypt,  she  sought  out 
and  settled  at  infant  Greece — there  dissemi 
nated  the  seeds  of  greatness — there  laid  the 
ground-work  of  republican  glory.  Simplicity 
of  manners,  piety  to  the  gods,  generosity  and 
courage  were  her  earliest  character.  "  Human 
nature  shot  wild  and  free."  *  Penetrated  with 
a  spirit  of  industry,  her  sons  scarcely  knew  of 
relaxation ;  even  their  sports  were  heroic. 
Hence  that  elevated,  independent  soul,  that 
contempt  of  danger,  that  laudable  bias  to  their 
country  and  its  manners.  Upon  the  banks  of 
Eurota  flourished  her  principal  state.  Frugal 
ity  of  living  and  an  avarice  of  time  were  of  the 
riches  of  Lacedaemon.  Her  maxims  were 
drawn  from  nature,  and  one  was  "  that  nothing 
which  bore  the  name  of  Greek  was  born  for 
slavery."  From  this  idea  flowed  an  assistance 
to  her  sister  states.  From  a  like  idea  in  her  sis 
ter  states  that  friendship  was  returned  in  grate 
ful  measure.  This,  had  it  continued,  would 
have  formed  the  link  of  empire,  the  charm  that 
would  have  united  and  made  Greece  invulner 
able.  While  it  lasted,  the  joint  efforts  of  her 
states  rendered  her  a  name  and  a  praise  through 
the  whole  earth.  And  here,  was  it  not  for  the 
sake  of  a  lesson  to  my  country,  I  would  not 
only  drop  my  eulogium  of  Greece,  but  draw  an 
impervious  veil  over  her  remaining  history.  Her 
tenfold  lustre  might  at  this  day  have  blazed  to 
heaven,  had  the  union  t  of  her  states  been  held 

*  From  Dr.  Blair's  dissertation  upon  the  works  of 
Ossian. 

t  Accuracy  has  been  offended  that  this  example  is  em 
ployed  for  the  American  states — which  resemble  each 
other  in  constitution  and  are  united  in  their  last  resort ; 
whereas  the  Grecian  were  unlike  among  themselves  and 
professedly  separate.  But  attention  to  the  history  of 
Greece  will  discover  in  the  causes  of  her  fall  a  lesson 
sufficiently  apposite  to  our  purpose.  The  anonymous 
translator  of  Tourreil  writes  as  follows :  "  When  Persia, 


more  sacred.  But  that  union  of  her  states, 
that  cement  of  her  existence  once  impaired 
— hear  the  consequence  !  the  fury  of  civil- 
war  blows  her  accursed  clarion.  The  banners 
late  of  conquering  freedom  now  adorn  the 
triumphs  of  oppression.  Those  states  which 
lately  stood  in  mighty  concert,  invincible,  now 
breathe  mutual  jealousy  and  fall  piecemeal  a 
prey  to  the  common  enemy.  Attic  wisdom, 
Theban  hardihood,  Spartan  valor,  would  not 
combine  to  save  her.  That  very  army,  which 
Greece  had  bred  and  nourished  to  reduce  the 
oriental  pride,  is  turned  vulture  upon  her  own 
vitals — a  damnable  parricide,  the  faction  of  a 
tyrant.  Behold  the  great  and  God-like  Greece, 
with  all  her  battlements  and  towers  about  her, 
borne  headlong  from  her  giddy  height — the 
shame,  the  pity  of  the  world. 

Having  attempted  some  general  sketches  of 
liberty,  from  the  dawn  of  social  life  to  the  fall 
of  national  glory,  I  would  be  somewhat  more 
particular  upon  those  qualities  to  which  her 
triumphs  are  chiefly  indebted. 

In  the  vile  economy  of  depraved  man,  there 
appears  an  inclination  to  bestow  upon  one  part 
power  and  affluence,  and  to  impose  upon  the 
other  debility  and  woe.  When  that  inclination 
is  gratified,  the  majority  being  slaves,  the  re 
mains  of  freedom  are  shared  among  the  great ; 
like  the  triumphal  bridge  at  the  Archipelago, 
so  strangely  dignified,  that,  by  a  decree  of  the 
senate,  none  of  the  vulgar  were  suffered  to 
enjoy  it.  When  that  inclination  is  counter 
balanced  by  the  laws ;  when  the  true  interests 
of  both  those  parts  are  reconciled ;  when  socie 
ty  is  considered  as  "  a  public  combination  for 
private  protection,"* — and  the  governed  find 
their  happiness  in  their  submission — there  is 
the  essence  of  all  powerful  liberty.  Not  to 
wire-draw  a  sentiment  already  graven  upon  the 
hearts  of  this  audience,  it  is  such  a  liberty,  as 
that  every  man  who  has  once  tasted  it,  becomes 
a  temporary  soldier  as  soon  as  it  is  invaded,  and 

so  often  vanquished  by  the  Grecians,  despaired  of  subdu 
ing  them,  her  last  shift  was  to  divide  them  ;  to  which 
their  prosperity  opened  her  a  means.  Spirits  naturally 
quick  and  too  licentious,  blown  up  with  their  frequent 
victories,  could  not  contain  themselves  or  govern  their 
good  fortune  ;  they  abandoned  themselves  to  jealousies 
and  ambition.— These  divisions  ended,  at  last  in  a  general 
slavery." 

Thomson  most  beautifully  speaks  the  truth  upon  the 
same  occasion — 

When  Greece  with  Greece, 
Embroil'd  with  foul  contention,  fought  no  more 
For  common  glory  and  for  common  weal  : 
But,  false  to  freedom,  sought  to  quell  the  free  ; 
Broke  the  firm  band  of  peace^  and  sacred  love, 
That  lent  the  whole  irrefragable  force  ; 
And  as  around  the  partial  trophy  blush'd, 
Prepared  the  way  for  total  overflow. 
*  Earl  of  Abingdon. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


resents  any  violence  offered  it,  as  an  attack 
upon  his  life — hence  it  is  that,  in  free  states,  as 
such,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  perpetual 
standing  army.  For  the  whole  body  of  the 
people,  ever  ready,  flock  to  the  general  stand 
ard  upon  emergency,  and  so  preclude  the  use 
of  that  infernal  engine.  I  say  infernal  engine, 
for  the  tongue  "  labors,  and  is  at  a  loss  to  ex 
press,"  the  hideous  and  frightful  consequences 
that  flow  wherever  the  powers  of  hell  have  pro 
cured  its  introduction.  Turkey  and  Algiers 
are  the  delight  of  its  vengeance.  Denmark, 
once  over-swarmed  with  the  brave  inhabitants 
of  the  north,  has  suffered  depopulation,  poverty 
and  the  heaviest  bondage  from  the  quartering 
troops  amongst  their  peasants  in  time  of  peace  : 
if  it  can  be  called  peace,  when  robbery,  confla 
gration  and  murder  are  let  loose  upon  the  sons 
of  men.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  no  nation  ever 
kept  up  an  army  in  time  of  peace  that  did  not 
lose  its  liberties.  I  believe  it.  Athens,  Corinth, 
Syracuse,  and  Greece  in  general  were  all  over 
turned  by  that  tremendous  power:  and  the 
same  power  has  been  long  operating  with  other 
causes  to  humble  the  crest  of  Britain.  Let 
us  hear  a  passage  from  Davenant;  "If  (says 
he,  speaking  of  standing  armies)  they  who 
believed  this  eagle  in  the  air  frighted  all 
motions  towards  liberty  ;  if  they  who  heretofore 
thought  armies  in  times  of  peace  and  our  free 
dom  inconsistent ;  if  the  same  men  should 
throw  off  a  whig  principle  so  fundamental,  and 
thus  come  to  clothe  themselves  with  the 
detested  garments  of  the  tories,  and  if  all  that 
has  been  here  discoursed  on  should  happen, 
then  will  the  constitution  of  this  country  be 
utterly  subverted."*  It  would  exceed  the 
limits  of  the  present  occasion  to  expatiate  upon 
all  the  instances  wherein  the  liberties  of 
Britain  have  in  fact  suffered  according  to  the 
views  of  Davenant.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  a 
standing  army  has  been,  long  since,  virtually 
engrafted  a  limb  upon  her  constitution,  has 
frequently  overawed  her  parliament,  sometimes 
her  elections.t  and  has  carried  distraction  and 
massacre  J  into  different  parts  of  her  empire. 

That  standing  mercenary  troops  must  sooner 
or  later  entail  servitude  and  misery  upon  their 
employers,  is  an  eternal  truth  that  appears 

*  For  the  whole  passage,  which  was  too  lengthy  for  our 
purpose,  vid.  the  works  of  Dr.  Davenant,  corrected  by 
Whitworth,  vol.  ii.  p.  333. — Edition  1771. 

t  The  election  of  the  Scotch  Peers  in  the  year  1735,  and 
the  misconduct  of  Blackerby  and  others,  at  the  election  of 
the  Westminster  members  in  the  year  1741,  are  instances 
well  known. — Vid.  Burgh's  Politic  Disq.  2d  vol.  p.  444 
and  473. 

t  The  affair  of  Capt.  Porteus  at  Edinburgh  (vid.  London 
Magazine  for  1737,  in  a  variety  of  pages)  and  of  Capt. 
Preston,  at  Boston,  are  of  themselves  sufficient  examples. 


from  the  nature  of  things.  On  the  one  hand 
behold  an  inspired  yeomanry,  all  sinew  and 
soul,  having  stepped  out  and  defended  their 
ancient  altars,  their  wives  and  children,  return 
ing  in  peace  to  till  those  fields  which  their  own 
arms  have  rescued.  Such  are  the  troops  of 
every  free  people.*  Such  were  the  troops  who, 
led  on  by  the  patriot  Warren,  gave  the  first 
home-blow  to  our  oppressors.  Such  were  the 
troops  who,  fired  by  Gates  in  the  northern 
woods,  almost  decided  the  fate  of  nations. 
Such  were  the  troops  who,  under  the  great  and 
amiable  Lincoln,  sustained  a  siege  in  circum 
stances  that  rank  him  and  them  with  the 
captains  and  soldiers  of  antiquity.  Such,  we 
trust,  are  the  troops  who,  inferior  in  number, 
though  headed  indeed  by  the  gallant  and 
judicious  Morgan,  lately  vanquished  a  chosen 
veteran  band  long  dedicated  to  Mars  and  dis 
ciplined  in  blood.  And  such,  we  doubt  not, 
are  the  troops  who  beat  the  British  legions 
from  the  Jerseys,  and  have  ever  since  preserved 
their  country,  under  the  conduct  of  that  superior 
man  who  combines  in  quality  the  unshaken 
constancy  of  Cato,  the  triumphant  delay  of 
Fabius,  and  upon  proper  occasions  the  enter 
prising  spirit  of  Hannibal. 

May  the  name  of  Washington  continue 
steeled,  as  it  ever  has  been,  to  the  dark  slander 
ous  arrow  that  flies  in  secret.  As  it  ever  has 
been  !  for  who  have  offered  to  eclipse  his  glory, 
but  have  afterward  sunk  away  diminished,  and 
"  shorn  of  their  own  beams." 

Justice  to  other  characters  forbids  our  stop 
ping  to  gaze  at  this  constellation  of  heroes,  and 
would  fain  draw  forth  an  eulogium  upon  all 
who  have  gathered  true  laurels  from  the  fields 
of  America. 

"  Thousands— the  tribute  of  our  praise 
Demand  ;  but  who  can  count  the  stars  of  heaven  ? 
Who  speak  their  influence  on  this  lower  world." 

Thomson. 

Whither  has  our  gratitude  borne  us  ?  let  us 
behold  a  contrast — the  army  of  an  absolute 
prince —  a  profession  distinct  from  the  citizen 
and  in  a  different  interest — a  haughty  phalanx, 
whose  object  of  warfare  is  pay,  and  who,  the 
battle  over,  and  if  perchance  they  conquer,  re 
turn  to  slaughter  the  sons  of  peace.  This  is  a 
hard  saying.  But  does  not  all  history  press 
forward  to  assert  its  justice  ?  do  not  the  pra2- 

*  "That  the  yeomanry  are  the  bulwark  of  a  free  people  " 
— was,  if  memory  serves,  in  a  celebrated  extempore  speech 
of  the  honorable  Samuel  Adams,  made  in  the  year  1773. 
The  steadiness  of  that  great  republican  to  his  political 
creed,  evinces  that  sentiments  grounded  upon  just  data 
will  not  easily  bend  to  a  partial  interest,  or  accommodate 
to  the  changes  of  popular  opinion. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


torian  bands  of  tottering  Rome  now  crowd 
upon  the  affrighted  memory  ?  do  not  the  em 
bodied  guards  from  Petersburg  and  Constantino 
ple  stalk  horrid  the  tools  of  revolution  and  mur 
der?  to  come  nearer  home  for  an  example,  do 
we  not  see  the  darkened  spring  of  1770,  like  the 
moon  in  a  thick  atmosphere,  rising  in  blood  and 
ushered  in  by  the  figure  of  Britain  plunging  her 
poignard  in  the  young  bosom  of  America  ?  Oh, 
our  bleeding  country  !  was  it  for  this  our  hoary 
sires  sought  thee  through  all  the  elements,  * 
and  having  found  thee  sheltering  away  from  the 
western  waye,  disconsolate,  cheered  thy  sad 
face,  and  decked  thee  out  like  the  garden  of 
God  ?  Time  was  when  we  could  all  affirm  to 
this  gloomy  question — when  we  were  ready  to 
cry  out  that  our  fathers  had  done  a  vain  thing. 
— I  mean  upon  that  unnatural  night  which  we 
now  commemorate  ;  when  the  fire  of  Brutus 
was  on  many  a  heart — when  the  strain  of  Grac 
chus  was  on  many  a  tongue.  "  Wretch  that  I 
am,  whither  shall  I  retreat?  whither  shall  I 
turn  me  ?  to  the  capitol  ?  the  capitol  swims  in 
my  brother's  blood.  To  my  family?  there 
must  I  see  a  wretched,  a  mournful  and  afflicted 
mother  ?  "  t — Misery  loves  to  brood  over  its  own 
woes  :  and  so  peculiar  were  the  woes  of  that 
night,  so  expressive  the  pictures  of  despair,  so 
various  the  face  of  death,]:  that  not  all  the  grand 
tragedies  which  have  been  since  acted,  can 
crowd  from  our  minds  that  era  of  the  human 
passions,  that  preface  to  the  general  conflict 
that  now  rages.  May  we  never  forget  to  offer 
a  sacrifice  to  the  manes  of  our  brethren  who 
bled  so  early  at  the  foot  of  liberty.  Hitherto 
we  have  nobly  avenged  their  fall :  but  as  ages 
cannot  expunge  the  debt,  their  melancholy 
ghosts  still  rise  at  a  stated  season,  and  will  for 
ever  wander  in  the  night  of  this  noted  anni 
versary.  Let  us  then  be  frequent  pilgrims  at 
their  tombs — there  let  us  profit  of  all  our  feel 
ings  ;  and,  while  the  senses  are  "  struck  deep 
with  woe,"  give  wing  to  the  imagination. 
Hark  !  even  now  in  the  hollow  wind  I  hear  the 
voice  of  the  departed.  O  ye,  who  listen  to  wis 
dom  and  aspire  to  immortality,  as  ye  have 
avenged  our  blood,  thrice  blessed  !  as  ye  still 
war  against  the  mighty  hunters  of  the  earth, 
your  names  are  recorded  in  heaven  ! 

Such  are  the  suggestions  of  fancy :  and  hav 
ing  given  them  their  due  scope ;  having  de 
scribed  the  memorable  fifth  of  March  as  a  sea 
son  of  disaster,  it  would  be  an  impiety  not  to 
consider  it  in  its  other  relation.  For  the  rising 
honors  of  these  states  are  distant  issues,  as  it 


* elementa  per  omnia  quserunt. — Juv. 

t  Guthrie's  Cicero  de  Oratore. 
t  "  Plurima  mortis  imago." 


were,  from  the  intricate  *  though  all-wise  Divinity 
which  presided  upon  that  night.  Strike  that  night 
out  of  time,  and  we  quench  the  first  ardor  of  a 
resentment  which  has  been  ever  since  increas 
ing,  and  now  accelerates  the  fall  of  tyranny. 
The  provocations  of  that  night  must  be  num 
bered  among  the  master-springs  which  gave  the 
first  motion  to  a  vast  machinery,  a  noble  and 
comprehensive  system  of  national  independence. 
"The  independence  of  America,"  says  the 
writer,  under  the  signature  of  Common  Sense, 
"  should  have  been  considered  as  dating  its  era 
from  the  first  musket  that  was  fired  against 
her."  Be  it  so  !  but  Massachusetts  may  cer 
tainly  date  many  of  its  blessings  from  the  Bos 
ton  massacre — a  dark  hour  in  itself,  but  from 
which  a  marvellous  light  has  arisen.  From 
that  night  revolution  became  inevitable,  and  the 
occasion  commenced  of  the  present  most  beau 
tiful  form  of  government.  We  often  read  of 
the  original  contract,  and  of  mankind,  in  the 
early  ages,,  passing  from  a  state  of  nature  to 
immediate  civilization.  But  what  eye  could 
penetrate  through  gothic  night  and  barbarous 
fable  to  that  remote  period.  Such  an  eye,  per 
haps,  was  present,  when  the  Deity  conceived 
the  universe  and  fixed  his  compass  upon  the 
great  deep. t 

And  yet  the  people  of  Massachusetts  have 
reduced  to  practice  the  wonderful  theory.  A 
numerous  people  have  convened  in  a  state  of 
nature,  and,  like  our  ideas  of  the  patriarchs, 
have  deputed  a  few  fathers  of  the  land  to  draw 
for  them  a  glorious  covenant.  It  has  been 
drawn.  The  people  have  signed  it  with  rap 
ture,  and  have,  thereby,  bartered,  among 
themselves,  an  easy  degree  of  obedience  for 
the  highest  possible  civil  happiness.  To 
render  that  covenant  eternal,  patriotism  and 
political  virtue  must  forever  blaze — must  blaze 
at  the  present  day  with  superlative  lustre  ; 
being  watched,  from  different  motives,  by  the 
eyes  of  all  mankind.  Nor  must  that  patriotism 
be  contracted  to  a  single  commonwealth.  A 
combination  of  the  states  is  requisite  to  support 
them  individually.  "  Unite  or  die "  is  our 
indispensable  motto.  Every  step  from  it  is  a 
step  nearer  to  the  region  of  death.  This  idea 
was  never  more  occasional  than  at  the  present 

*  "  The  ways  of  he»ven  are  dark  and  intricate." 

Addison 's  Cato. 

t  Not  that  we  can  believe,  with  some  theoretical  writers, 
that  individuals  met  together  in  a  large  plain,  entered  into 
an  original  contract,  etc. 

But  though  society  had  not  its  formal  beginning  from 
any  convention  of  individuals,  etc.  And  this  is  what  we 
mean  by  the  original  contract  of  society  ;  which  though 
perhaps,  in  no  instance  it  has  been  formally  expressed,  at 
the  first  institution  of  a  state,  yet,  etc. — 

ist  Blackstone's  Cotn.ji.  47,  vid.  the  whole  passage. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


crisis— a  crisis  pregnant  with  fate  and  ready  to 
burst  with  calamity.  I  allude  to  that  languor 
which,  like  a  low  hung  cloud,  overshadows  a 
great  part  of  the  thirteen  states.  That  the 
young,  enterprising  America,  who  stepped  out 
in  the  cause  of  human  kind,  and  no  other  arm 
daring,  lopped  the  branches  of  wide  despotic 
empire — that  the  same  America  should  now 
suffer  a  few  insolent  bands  to  ravage  her 
borders  with  impunity — that  her  now  tardy 
hand  should  suspend  the  finishing  stroke  of 
resentment,  and  leave  to  her  generous  allies  a 
labor  which  her  own  vigor  ought  to  effect ;  this 
must  disturb  those,  illustrious,  who  fell  in  her 
infant  exertions ;  this  must  stab  the  peace  of 
the  dead,  however  it  may  affect  the  hearts  of 
the  living.  Oh  could  I  bear  a  part  among  the 
means  of  awakening  virtue — oh  could  I  call 
strength  to  these  feeble  lungs  and  borrow  that 
note  which  shook  the  throne  of  Julius  !  vain 
wish  !  if  the  silent  suggestions  of  truth — if  the 
secret  whispers  of  reason  are  not  sufficient — 
the  efforts  of  human  eloquence  might  be  futile, 
her  loudest  bolt  might  roll  unheeded ! 

This  is  not  intended  to  inspire  gloom  ;  but 
only  to  persuade  to  those  exertions  which  are 
necessary  to  life  and  independence.  Let  jus 
tice  then  be  done  to  our  country — let  justice  be 
done  to  our  great  leader  ;  and,  the  only  means 
under  heaven  of  our  salvation,  let  his  army  be 
replenished.  That  grand  duty  over,  we  will 
once  more  adopt  an  enthusiasm  sublime  in  itself 
but  still  more  so  as  coming  from  the  lips  of  a 
first  patriot — the  chief  magistrate  of  this  com 
monwealth.  "  I  have,  said  he,  a  most  animat 
ing  confidence  that  the  present  noble  struggle 
for  liberty  will  terminate  gloriously  for  Ameri 
ca."  Aspiring  to  such  a  confidence, 

I  see  the  expressive  leaves  of  fate  thrown  wide  ; 

Of  future  times  I  see  the  mighty  tide. 

And  borne  triumphant  on  its  buoyant  wave, 

A  god-like  number  of  the  great  and  brave. 

The  bright,  wide  ranks  of  martyrs — here  they  rise — 

Heroes  and  patriots  move  before  my  eyes  : 

These  crown'd  with  olive,  those  with  laurel  come, 

Like  the  first  fathers  of  immortal  Rome. 

Fly  time  !  oh  lash  thy  fiery  steeds  away — 

Roll  rapid  wheels  and  bring  the  smiling  day,* 

When  these  blest  states,  another  promis'd  land, 

Chosen  out  and  foster'd  by  the  Almighty  hand, 

Supreme  shall  rise their  crowded  shores  shall  be 

The  fix'd  abodes  of  empire  and  of  liberty. 

*  Sun  gallop  down  the  western  skies, 
Gang  soon  to  bed  and  quickly  rise  ; 
O  lash  your  steeds,  post  time  away, 
And  haste  about  the  bleezing  day. 

Allan  Ramsay. 


ORATION   DELIVERED   AT   BOSTON,  MARCH 
1782, 

BY  GEORGE  RICHARDS  MINOT. 

Quid  tantum  insano  juvat  indulgere  dolori  ? 

non  haec  sine  numine  divum. 

Virg.  SEn.  id,  776. 


Eveniunt 

Inde  genus  durum  sumus,  experiensque  laborum  ; 
Et  documenta  damus,  qua  sinus  origine  nati. 

Ovid  Metatn.  Lib.  i,  414. 

Fathers,  friends,  and  fellow  citizens — When 
I  consider  the  important  occasion  from  which 
this  anniversary  derives  its  origin,  and  the 
respectable  characters  that  have  exerted  them 
selves  to  perpetuate  its  history,  I  confess  there 
is  an  unusual  security  in  my  feelings :  since  no 
mistaken  effort  of  mine  can  injure  an  institution 
founded  on  so  memorable  an  event,  and  sup 
ported  by  names  so  justly  claiming  the  applause 
of  posterity. 

While  I  rely,  then,  upon  that  honesty  of  in 
tention,  which  is  itself  the  best  apology  for  its 
errors,  permit  me  to  employ  the  present  hour, 
which  your  united  voices  have  annually  made 
sacred  to  the  commemoration  of  our  country's 
wrongs,  in  recapitulating  the  most  injurious  of 
her  sufferings,  among  which  that  on  the  tragi 
cal  fifth  of  March  is  by  no  means  the  least,  and 
in  recounting  the  blessings  which  have  followed 
from  measures  as  really  disgraceful  to  those 
who  adopted  them,  as  they  were  intentionally 
destructive  to  those  against  whom  they  were 
levelled. 

A  nation  falling  from  those  great  principles 
of  justice  and  virtue  which  had  made  her 
respectable;  subverting  the  boasted  improve 
ments  of  her  arts  to  the  savage  purposes  of 
revenge ;  with  venality  and  corruption  en 
trenched  on  her  cabinet,  affords  a  spectacle  too 
serious  for  the  amusement  of  the  beholder. 
He  turns  for  relief  to  the  annals  of  those  people 
whose  masculine  virtues  have  obstinately,  will 
he  not  say  wisely,  resisted  the  refinement  of  a 
civilized  world.  But  from  the  misfortunes  of 
such  a  nation,  much  is  to  be  learned.  As  she 
is  hurried  onwards  by  the  vortex  of  that  im 
measurable  gulf,  in  which  empires  sink  to 
rise  no  more,  let  her  serve  us  as  a  signal  to 
avoid  the  first  impulse  of  its  resistless  tide. 

To  trace  Great  Britain  through  the  whole 
progress  of  her  ambition  in  this  country,  would 
be  to  step  back  to  a  very  early  period  ;  for, 
long  before  she  avowed  her  system  of  colonial 
slavery  in  the  stamp-act,  the  liberties  of  our 
ancestors  had  endured  the  most  alarming  inno 
vation  from  her  throne.  Without  cause,  and 
without  notice,  she  had  invalidated  their 
charters ;  laid  impositions  upon  their  trade ; 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


73 


attempted  a  most  dangerous  influence  over 
their  internal  government,  by  endeavoring  to 
make  it  independent  of  the  people  ; — and  all 
this  with  the  same  confidence,  as  though  her 
policy  and  foresight,  and  not  her  persecutions, 
had  settled  them  on  this  side  the  Atlantic. 

But  the  full  display  of  her  despotic  policy- 
was  reserved  to  add  accumulated  disgrace  to 
the  inglorious  reign  of  the  third  George.  Then, 
intoxicated  with  America,  she  slumbered  upon 
the  tottering  pillars  of  her  own  constitution  ; 
the  hand  of  slavery  rocked  her  as  she  lay  on 
the  giddy  height ;  falsehood  gilded  her  visions 
and  bound  her  senses  with  the  enchantment 
of  success ;  while  her  blind  ambition  alone 
remained  awake,  to  misdirect  the  ordinary 
assistance  of  fortune,  and  to  make  her  fall 
equally  certain  and  complete. 

The  genius  of  Britain  once  interred,  the  first 
spectre  which  shot  from  its  tomb  was  the 
stamp-act.  This  promulgation  of  a  scheme  so 
repugnant  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
late  English  constitution,  announced  the  fall,  but 
did  not  obliterate  the  memory  of  that  much  re 
spected  system,  in  this  country.  America  saw 
that  the  act  bore  not  a  single  feature  of  its 
reputed  parent,  and  having  detected  its  illegiti 
macy,  effectually  resisted  its  operation.  But, 
as  though  conviction  must  ever  be  productive 
of  obstinacy,  Britain  desisted  not  to  rend  in 
pieces  the  charters  of  her  colonies,  which  served 
to  remind  her  of  the  violence  she  committed 
on  her  own.  Her  administration  affecting  to 
realize  the  fables*  of  its  minions,  whose  very 
fears  were  as  subservient  to  its  purposes,  as 
their  hopes  were  dependent  on  its  venality, 
and  making  pretence  of  trespasses,  which,  if 
real,  the  laws  were  open  to  punish,  unmasked 
its  true  designs,  by  quartering  an  armed  force 
in  this  metropolis  in  a  time  of  peace. 

Where  was  the  citizen  whose  indignation 
did  not  flash  at  this  undisguised  attack  on  his 
liberties  ?  the  soldier's  pride  too  grew  sanguin 
ary  at  the  idea  of  contempt  from  the  people  he 
himself  had  been  taught  to  despise  ;  and,  as 
though  heaven  designed  to  effect  its  greatest 
purposes  by  the  sacrifice  of  what  men  conceive 
to  be  the  dearest  objects  of  its  guardianship, 
the  lives  and  rights  of  citizens  were  delivered 
over  to  the  scourge  of  military  rancor. 

Venerable  f  patrons  of  freedom,  wherever 
your  country  may  lie  !  boast  not  that  the  rea 
son  and  speculative  truths  of  this  our  common 

*  For  some  of  these  fanciful  misrepresentations,  see  a 
vindication  of  the  town  of  Boston,  from  many  false  and 
malicious  aspersions,  contained  in  certain  letters  written 
by  Governor  Bernard  and  others,  published  by  order  of 
the  town,  1769. 

t  See  Abbe  Raynal's  Hist.  American  Revolution,  p.  65. 


cause,  armed  an  extensive  world  in  support  of 
its  justice.  Turn  to  the  tragedy  we  commemo 
rate,  as  imprinted  by  the  bloody  hand  of  the 
tyrant,  and  view  the  highest  outrage  his  power 
could  commit,  or  the  forbearance  of  humanity 
sustain.  There  hecatombs  of  slaughtered  citi 
zens  were  offered  at  the  shrine  of  cursed 
ambition. — What  can  we  add  to  their  memories 
through  whose  wounds  their  country  bled  ; 
whose  names  are  handed  round  the  globe  with 
the  great  occasion  on  which  they  fell ;  and 
whose  tombs  shall  ever  stand  a  basis  to  the 
stateliest  pillar  in  the  temple  of  freedom  ? 
heaven  has  avenged  their  fall  by  realizing  the 
prophecy  of  the  indignant  American,  as  he 
vented  his  anguish  over  their  rankling  blood. 
"These  are  indeed  my  country's  wounds,*  but 
oh !  said  he,  the  deep  and  tremendous  restitu 
tions  are  at  hand  ;  I  see  them  with  a  prophetic 
eye  this  moment  before  me.  Horrors  shall  be 
repaid  with  accumulation  of  horror.  The 
wounds  in  America  shall  be  succeeded  by 
deep-mouthed  gashes  in  the  heart  of  Britain  ! 
the  chain  of  solemn  consequences  is  now 
advancing.  Yet,  yet  my  friends,  a  little  while, 
and  the  poor,  forlorn  one,  who  has  fought  and 
fallen  at  the  gate  of  her  proper  habitation,  for 
freedom,  for  the  common  privileges  of  life,  for 
all  the  sweet  and  binding  principles  in  human 
ity,  for  father,  son,  and  brother,  for  the  cradled 
infant,  the  wailing  widow,  and  the  weeping 
maid  ;  yet,  yet  and  she  shall  find  an  avenger. 
Indignant  nations  shall  arm  in  her  defence. 
Thrones  and  principalities  shall  make  her 
cause  their  own,  and  the  fountains  of  blood 
that  have  run  from  her  exhausted  veins  shall  be 
answered  by  a  yet  fuller  measure  of  the  horri 
ble  effusion — blood  for  blood  ;  and  desolation 
for  desolation  ;  O  my  injured  country  !  my 
massacred  America !  " 

Melancholy  scene  !  the  fatal,  but  we  trust 
the  last  effect  in  our  country,  of  a  standing 
army  quartered  in  populous  cities  in  a  time  of 
peace. 

Britain  having  thus  violated  the  greatest  law 
nations  or  individuals  can  be  held  by,  to  use 
the  language  of  the  ancients,  threw  a  veil  over 
the  altars  of  her  gods  whom  she  was  too 
haughty  to  appease.  Would  to  heaven,  for  her 
sake,  we  too  had  a  veil  to  hide  from  the  eye  of 
justice,  the  ashes  of  our  desolated  towns,  and 
the  tracks  which  her  ravages  have  imprinted 
through  every  quarter  of  our  once  peaceful 
land. 

Iff  "every  act  of  authority  of  one  person 
over  another,  for  which  there  is  not  an  absolute 

*  Anonymous. 

t  Becaeria  on  Crimes  and  Punishments,  p.  10. 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


necessity,  is  tyrannical,"  and  if  tyranny  justifies 
resistance,  to  have  remained  inactive,  under 
these  injuries,  had  been  a  kind  of  political 
stoicism,  equally  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of 
nature  and  society.  On  such  principles  arose 
the  memorable  declaration  of  July,  1776. — A 
declaration  which  at  once  gave  life  and  freedom 
to  a  nation  ;  dissolved  a  monopoly  unnatural  as 
unjust ;  and  extended  the  embraces  of  our 
country  to  the  universe. — A  declaration  which 
heaven  has  since  ratified  by  the  successful 
event  of  her  arms.  For,  when  we  consider  the 
number  of  her  victories ;  the  disadvantages 
under  which  they  were  obtained  ;  the  chain  of 
important  consequences  which  depended  upon 
the  very  moment  of  their  decision,  who  but 
must  acknowledge,  after  allowing  to  our  mili 
tary  actors  every  thing  heroism  can  claim,  that 
there  appeared  peculiar  marks  of  more  than 
human  assistance  ?  the  surrender  of  entire  ar 
mies  to  a  power  which  they  affected  to  look 
upon  rather  as  an  object  of  their  chains  than 
of  their  swords,  was  a  degree  of  glory  of  which 
no  enemy  that  ever  passed  the  Roman  yoke 
afforded  to  that  republic.  Hapless  Britain  !  for 
even  those  whom  you  injure  must  pity  you, 
how  has  fortune  added  acrimony  to  her  fickle 
ness,  in  choosing  for  a  scene  of  your  dis 
grace,  that  climate  where,  in  a  late  war,  she 
so  loudly  vaunted  the  invincibility  of  your 
arms  ! 

America  once  unfettered,  nobly  relied  upon 
the  uprightness  of  her  cause  and  the  bravery 
of  her  sons.  But,  as  though  the  virtues  of  one 
crown  were  to  apologize  for  the  merciless 
cruelty  of  another,  a  monarch,  equally  wise  in 
council»as  brilliant  and  powerful  in  arms,  met 
her  in  alliance  which  must  ever  enliven  her 
gratitude  ;  exalt  the  honor  of  France,  and  we 
trust  too,  promote  the  interests  of  both. 

Among  the  advantages  which  have  risen 
from  these  great  events  to  the  people  of  Massa 
chusetts,  that  of  securing  their  lives,  their 
liberties,  and  property,  the  great  object  of  all 
civil  government,  by  a  constitution  of  their  own 
framing,  is  not  to  be  accounted  the  least. 
Dismembered  from  a  government,  which  had 
long  stood  by  the  exactest  balance  of  its  powers, 
even  against  the  corruption  of  its  ministers, 
they  found  themselves  accustomed  to  princi 
ples,  which  age  had  stamped  with  authority, 
and  patriots  sealed  with  their  blood.  The 
cause  of  their  separation  had  taught  them  the 
avenues  through  which  despotism  insinuates 
itself  into  the  community,  and  pointed  out  the 
means  of  excluding  it.  Under  these  circum 
stances  they  produced  a  system  which,  we 
trust,  experience  will  evince  to  be  an  improve 


ment*  upon  the  best  mankind  have  hitherto 
admired.  The  quick  return  of  all  delegated 
power  to  the  people,  .from  which  it  is  made  to 
spring,  and  the  check  which  each  part  of  the 
government  has  upon  the  excesses  of  the  other, 
seem  to  warrant  us  in  placing  on  it  all  the 
confidence  human  laws  can  deserve.  But, 

Let  us  not  trust  laws  :  an  uncorrupted  peo 
ple  can  exist  without  them  ;  a  corrupted  people 
cannot  long  exist  with  them,  or  any  other  hu 
man  assistance.  They  are  remedies  which  at 
best  always  disclose  and  confess  our  evils. 
The  body  politic,  once  distempered,  they  may 
indeed  be  used  as  a  crutch  to  support  it  a 
while,  but  they  can  never  heal  it.  Rome,  when 
her  bravery  conquered  the  neighboring  nations, 
and  united  them  to  her  own  empire,  was  free 
from  all  danger  within,  because  her  armies, 
being  urged  on  by  a  love  for  their  country, 
would  as  readily  suppress  an  internal  as  an  ex 
ternal  enemy.  In  those  times  she  made  no 
scruple  to  throw  out  her  kings  who  had  abused 
their  power.  But  when  her  subjects  fought 
not  for  the  advantage  of  the  commonwealth  ; 
when  they  thronged  to  the  Asiatic  wars  for  the 
spoils  they  produced,  and  preferred  prostituting 
the  rights  of  citizenship  upon  any  barbarian 
that  demanded  them,  to  meeting  him  in  the 
field  for  their  support,  then  Rome  grew  too 
modest  to  accept  from  the  hands  of  a  dictator 
those  rights,  which  she  ought  to  have  impaled 
him  for  daring  to  invade.  No  alteration  in  her 
laws  merely,  could  have  effected  this.  Had 
she  remained  virtuous  she  might  as  well  have 
expelled  her  dictators  as  her  kings.  But  what 
laws  can  save  a  people  who,  for  the  very  pur 
pose  of  enslaving  themselves,  choose  to  con 
sider  them  rather  as  councils  which  they  may 
accept  or  refuse,  than  as  precepts  which  they 
are  bound  to  obey  ?  t  with  such  a  people  they 
must  ever  want  a  sanction  and  be  contemned. 
— |  Virtue  and  long  life  seem  to  be  as  inti 
mately  allied  in  the  political  as  in  the  moral 
world  :  she  is  the  guard  which  providence  has 
set  at  the  gate  of  freedom. 

True  it  is,  when  the  nature  and  principles  of  a 
government  are  pure,  we  have  a  right  to  suppose 
it  at  the  farthest  possible  distance  from  falling. 

*  Is  it  not  so  in  the  equality  of  representation  and  mode 
of  election  ? 

t  A  conscience  more  scrupulous,  than  it  is  probable 
Sylla  ever  hadt  would  be  apt  to  imagine  this  general  dis 
position  of  the  people  wiped  away  the  guilt  of  enslaving 
them  from  any  hand  that  effected  it.  If  in  any  case, 'tis  in 
this  that  we  may  apply  the  maxim  volenti  non  fit  in- 
juria. 

+  Virtue,  in  a  republic,  is  a  most  single  thing,  it  is  a 
love  for  the  republic  ;  it  is  a  sensation,  and  not  a  conse 
quence  of  acquired  knowledge  :  a  sensation  that  may  be 
felt  by  the  meanest  as  well  as  by  the  highest  person  in  the 
state.  Spirit  of  Laws ^  Book  5^6,  chap,  ad. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


75 


But  when  we  consider  that  those  countries* 
in  which  the  wisest  institutions  of  republican 
governments  have  been  established,  now 
exhibit  the  strongest  instances  of  apostacy,  we 
cannot  but  see  the  necessity  of  vigilance. 
Commerce,  which  makes,  perhaps,  the  greatest 
distinction  between  the  old  world  and  the 
modern,  having  raised  new  objects  for  our 
curiosity,  habitual  indulgence  hath  at  length 
made  them  necessary  to  our  infirmities.  Thus 
effeminated,  can  we  hope  to  exceed  the  rigor 
of  their  principles,  who  even  forbade  the  men 
tioning  of  a  foreign  custom,  and  whose  sump 
tuary  laws  are  held  up  in  our  age  as  objects  of 
astonishment  ?  Such  nations  have  mouldered 
away,  an  uncontrovertible  proof,  that  the  best 
constructed  human  governments,  like  the 
human  body,  tend  to  corruption ;  but  as  with 
that  too,  there  are  not  wanting  remedies  to 
procrastinate  their  final  decay. 

Among  the  causes  of  their  fall  there  are 
none  more  common  or  less  natural  than  that 
of  their  own  strength.  Continual  wars  making 
a  military  force  necessary,  the  habit  of  conquest 
once  acquired  and  other  objects  being  wanting, 
history  is  not  without  t  instances  of  its  turning 
itself  inwards,  and  gnawing  as  it  were,  upon 
its  own  bowels.  Happy  are  we  in  the  frequent 
change  of  our  soldiery.J  This  seems  to  be  the 
best  antidote  against  such  an  evil.  It  prevents 
that  lethargy  which  would  be  a  symptom  of 
death  in  the  citizen  at  home  :  and  checks  that 
immoderation  in  the  soldier  which  is  apt  to 
mislead  his  virtues  in  the  field.  By  this  ex 
change  of  their  qualities  they  mutually  warrant 
happiness  to  each  other,  and  freedom  to  their 
country. 

America  once  guarded  against  herself,  what 
has  she  to  fear?  her  natural  situation  may  well 
inspire  her  with  confidence.  Her  rocks  and 
her  mountains  are  the  chosen  temples  of  liberty. 
The  extent  of  her  climate,  and  the  variety  of  its 
produce,  throw  the  means  of  her  greatness  into 
her  own  hands,  and  insure  her  the  traffic  of  the 
world.  Navies  shall  launch  from  her  forests, 

*  The  politic  Greeks  who  lived  under  a  popular  govern 
ment,  who  knew  no  other  support  but  virtue.  The  modern 
inhabitants  of  that  country  are  entirely  taken  up  with 
manufactures,  commerce,  finances,  riches,  and  luxuries. 
Spirit  of  Laws,  Book  -$d.  chap  yi. 

t  For  a  complete  collection  of  these,  I  beg  leave  to  refer 
to  the  3d  book  of  the  political  disquisitions. 

\  The  design  of  society  being  to  protect  the  weak 
against  the  more  powerful,  whatever  tends  to  taking  away 
the  distinction  between  them,  and  to  putting  all  its  mem 
bers  upon  the  same  level,  must  be  consonant  to  its  first 
principles.  This  was  an  object  with  the  old  republics  ; 
Rome  obliged  her  citizens  to  serve  in  the  field  ten  years, 
between  the  age  of  sixteen  years  and  forty-seven.  Vid. 
Reflections  on  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  Rom.  Emp.  c.  10. 
last  note. 


and  her  bosom  be  found  stored  with  the  most 
precious  treasures  of  nature.  May  the  industry 
of  her  people  be  a  still  surer  pledge  of  her 
wealth.  The  union  of  her  states  too  is  founded 
upon  the  most  durable  principles :  the  simi 
larity  of  the  manners,  religion,  and  laws  of 
their  inhabitants,  must  ever  support  the  mea 
sure  which  their  common  injuries  originated. 
Her  government,  while  it  is  restrained  from 
violating  the  rights  of  the  subject,  is  not  dis 
armed  against  the  public  foe. 

Could  Junius  Brutus,  and  his  colleagues, 
have  beheld  her  republic  erecting  itself  on  this 
disjointed  neck  of  tyranny,  how  would  they 
have  wreathed  a  laurel  for  her  temples  as  eter 
nal  as  their  own  memories  !  America !  fairest 
copy  of  such  great  originals  !  be  virtuous,  and 
thy  reign  shall  be  as  happy  as  durable,  and  as 
durable  as  the  pillars  of  the  world  you  have 
enfranchised. 


ORATION  DELIVERED   AT   BOSTON,  MARCH   5, 
1783. 

BY  DR.  THOMAS  WELSH. 

Non  tali  auxilio,  nee  defensoribus  istis 
Tempus  eget :     Virgil  JEneid*  Lib.  2.  line  521. 

Friends  and  fellow-citizens — Invited  to  this 
place  by  your  choice,  and  recollecting  your  well 
known  indulgence,  I  feel  myself  already  pos 
sessed  of  your  candor,  while  I  "  impress  upon 
your  minds,  the  ruinous  tendency  of  standing 
armies  being  placed  in  free  and  populous  cities 
in  a  time  of  peace." 

A  field  here  presents,  annually  traversed  by 
those  who,  by  their  sagacity  have  discovered, 
and  by  their  voices  declared,  in  strains  of 
manly  eloquence,  the  source  from  whence 
those  fatal  streams  originate,  which  like  the 
destroying  pestilence,  have  depopulated  king 
doms  and  laid  waste  the  fairest  empires. 

In  prosecution  of  the  subject,  I  presume  I 
shall  not  offend  a  respectable  part  of  my  audi 
ence,  I  mean  the  gentlemen  of  the  American 
patriot  army  * — an  army  whose  glory  and  vir 
tues  have  been  long  since  recorded  in  the  tem 
ple  of  fame — her  trumpet  has  sounded  their 
praises  to  distant  nations — her  wing  shall  bear 
them  to  latest  ages. 

When  the  daring  spirit  of  ambition,  or  the 
boundless  lust  of  domination,  has  prompted 

*  I  should  not  have  neglected  so  favorable  an  opening 
to  have  shewn  my  poor  respects  to  the  character  of  the 
commander  in  chief  of  the  American  army,  but  from  a 
consciousness  of  inability  to  add  to  a  name,  more  durable 
than  marble,  which  will  outlive  the  assaults  of  envy  and 
the  ravages  of  time. 


76 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


men  to  invade  the  *  natural  peaceful  state  of 
society,  it  is  among  the  first  emotions  of  the 
heart,  to  repel  the  bold  invader.  Men,  assem 
bled  from  such  motives,  having  expelled  the 
enemy  from  their  borders,  re-assuming  the 
pruning  hook  and  the  spade,  for  the  sword  and 
the  spear,  have,  in  all  ages,  been  called  the 
saviours  of  their  country. 

A  militia  is  the  most  natural  defence  of  a 
free  state*  from  invasion  and  tyranny :  they 
who  compose  the  militia,  are  the  proprietors 
of  the  soil ;  and  who  are  so  likely  to  defend  it, 
as  they  who  have  received  it  from  their  ances 
tors — acquired  it  by  their  labor — or  obtained 
it  by  their  valor  ?  every  free  man  has  within  his 
breast  the  great  essentials  of  a  soldier,  and 
having  made  the  use  of  arms  familiar,  is  ever 
ready  for  the  field.  And  where  is  the  tyrant 
who  has  not  reason  to  dread  an  army  of 
freemen  ? 

In  the  battle  of  Naseby.t  in  the  days  of 
Cromwell,  the  number  of  forces  was  equal  on 
both  sides  ;  and  all  circumstances  equal.  In 
the  parliament's  army  only  nine  officers  had 
ever  seen  actual  service  and  most  of  the  sol 
diers  were  London  apprentices,  drawn  out  of 
the  city  two  months  before.  In  the  king's 
army  there  were  about  a  thousand  officers 
who  had  served  abroad,  yet  the  veterans  were 
routed  by  the  apprentices. 

Rome  advanced  on  the  zenith  of  glory  and 
greatness,  and  conquered  all  nations  in  the 
times  of  the  republic,  while  her  army  was  an 
unpaid  militia. 

The  Grecians  carried  on  their  wars  against 
Persia  by  means  of  their  militia  ;  and  at  last 
beat  the  numerous  mercenary  armies,  and  sub 
dued  the  vast  empire  of  Persia. 

The  deeds  of  valor  performed  by  my  own 
countrymen,  and  in  our  day,  are  numerous  and 
recent,  and  point  out,  as  with  a  sun-beam,  that 
the  militia  is  to  a  free  country  a  lasting 
security. 

You  will  now  permit  me  to  consider  the 
condition  and  consequences  of  a  standing 
army. 

Men  who  enlist  themselves  for  life  soon 
lose  the  feelings  of  citizens.  To  command 
and  be  commanded,  excites  an  idea  of  servi 
tude  and  dependence,  which  degrades  the 

*  The  natural  state  of  nations  with  respect  to  each  other, 
is  certainly  that  of  society  and  peace.  Such  is  the  natu 
ral  and  primitive  state  of  one  man  with  respect  to  ano 
ther  ;  and  whatever  alteration  mankind  may  have  made  in 
regard  to  their  original  state,  they  cannot,  without  viola 
ting  their  duty,  break  in  upon  that  state  of  peace  and 
society,  in  which  nature  has  placed  them,  and  which,  by 
her  laws,  she  has  strongly  recommended  to  their  observ 
ance.  Purlamaqui,  Part  4.  Chap.  \.  Sec.  4. 

t  Vid.  Political  Disquisitions. 


mind,  and  in  a  social  view,  destroys  the  char 
acter  of  a  free  agent.* 

They  who  follow  the  profession  of  arms  con 
ceive  themselves  exempted  from  the  useful  oc 
cupations  of  life,  and  thence  contract  a  habit 
of  dissipation  ;  soldiers  inured  to  exercise  and 
labor  in  their  duty,  at  leisure  to  roam,  will  not 
be  wholly  inactive  in  a  city,  where  the  means 
of  gratification  abound ;  pursuing  the  objects 
of  pleasure  with  the  same  zeal  with  which 
they  engaged  in  the  toils  and  enterprises  of 
the  field,  whole  armies  have  too  late  found 
themselves  destroyed  by  the  dissolving  power 
of  luxury. 

We  have  a  remarkable  instance  of  this,  my 
fellow-citizens,  in  the  army  of  Hannibal,  which, 
having  withstood  the  greatest  hardships,  and 
which  the  most  dreadful  dangers  had  never 
been  able  to  discourage,  in  winter  quarters,  at 
Capua,  was  entirely  conquered  by  plenty  and 
pleasures.! 

The  effects  of  luxury,  though  productive  of 
the  greatest  misfortunes  to  an  army  stationed 
in  a  city,  are  by  no  means  confined  to  that 
class  of  men.  The  great  body  of  the  people, 
smote  by  the  charms  and  blandishments  of  a 
life  of  ease  and  pleasurement,  fall  easy  victims 
to  its  fascinations.  The  city,  reared  by  the 
forming  hand  of  industry,  soon  feels  the  symp 
toms  of  dissolution — the  busy  merchant  now 
no  more  extends  his  commerce  ;  the  mechanic 
throws  aside  his  chisel ;  the  voice  of  riot  suc 
ceeds  to  the  sounds  of  the  hammer,  and  the 
midnight  revel  to  the  vigils  of  labor. 

When  a  large  respectable  standing  army  has 
been  stationed  in  a  city,  commanded  by  officers 
of  known  patriotism,  who  have  taught  those 
under  their  orders  to  interchange  the  kind  and 
friendly  offices  of  life  ;  citizens,  conceiving  them 
selves  secured  from  domestic  broils  and  the  dan 
ger  of  invasion  from  abroad,  imperceptibly  relax 
in  their  attention  to  military  exercises,  and  may 
thus  be  exposed  as  a  tempting  bait  to  an  aspir 
ing  despot ;  besides,  a  people  who  have  made 
themselves  respectable  by  their  personal  atten 
tion  to  their  own  defence,  neglecting  their 
militia,  may  be  insulted  by  those  neighbors 

*  Moore,  in  his  view  of  society  and  manners  in  Europe, 
observes — "As  to  the  common  soldiers,  the  leading  idea 
of  the  discipline  is,  to  reduce  them  in  many  respects,  to 
the  nature  of  machines :  that  they  may  have  no  volition 
of  their  own,  but  be  actuated  solely  by  that  of  their  offi 
cers  ;  that  they  may  have  such  a  superlative  dread  of 
their  officers,  as  annihilates  all  fear  of  the  enemy  ;  that 
they  may  move  forward  when  ordered,  without  deeper 
reasoning  or  more  concern  than  the  firelocks  they  carry 
along  with  them." 

t  Vid.  Livy's  Roman  history  for  an  account  of  the  bat 
tles,  sufferings,  and  almost  incredible  march  and  destruc 
tion  of  the  renowned  Carthaginian  general  and  his 
army. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


77 


who  had  formerly  been  accustomed  to  revere 
their  power. 

When  communities  have  so  far  mistaken 
their  interest  as  to  commit  the  defence  of  every 
thing  valuable  in  life  to  a  standing  army,  the 
love  of  ease  will  scarcely  permit  them  to  re- 
assume  the  unpleasant  task  of  defending  them 
selves. 

At  the  conclusion  of  a  long  and  bloody  war, 
the  liberties  of  a  people  are  in  real  danger  from 
the  admission  of  troops  into  a  free  city.  When 
an  army  has  suffered  every  hardship  to  which 
the  life  of  a  soldier  is  peculiarly  incident,  and 
has  returned  crowned  with  the  well-earned 
laurels  of  the  field,  they  justly  expect  to  be 
received  into  the  open  arms,  and  with  the 
applauses  of  those  for  whom  they  have  fought, 
and  in  whose  cause  they  have  bled  ;  in  a  situa 
tion  like  this,  whole  communities,  in  transport 
of  gratitude,  have  weakly  sacrificed  at  the 
shrine  of  a  deliverer,  every  thing  for  which 
their  armies  have  fought,  or  their  heroes  bled. 

Nations,  the  most  renowned  among  the 
ancients  for  their  wisdom  and  their  policy,  have 
viewed  the  army  with  an  eye  of  attentive 
jealousy ;  the  Romans,  characterized  for  per 
sonal  bravery,*  trembled  for  their  country,  at 
the  sight  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  lictors,  or 
peace  officers,  as  a  guard  of  the  decemviri. 
Such  an  army  was  dangerous,  they  said,  to 
liberty.  These  politic  people  knew  the  prevail 
ing  propensity  in  all  mankind  to  power.  The 
history  of  later  times  has  abundantly  justified 
the  wisdom  of  their  jealousies.  All  parts  of 
Europe  which  have  been  enslaved,  have  been 
enslaved  by  armies.  No  nation  can  be  said  to 
enjoy  internal  liberty  which  admits  them  in  a 
time  of  peace.  When  a  government  has  a 
body  of  standing  troops  at  command,  it  is  easy 
to  form  pretensions  for  the  distribution  of  them, 
so  as  to  effect  their  own  purposes ;  when  a 
favorite  point  is  to  be  carried,  a  thousand 
soldiers  may  convey  irresistible  argument,  and 
compel  men  to  act  against  their  feelings,  inter 
est,  and  country. 

Such  were  the  arguments  employed  by 
Philip  the  Second,  of  Spain,  to  persuade  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands  to  relinquish 
their  liberties,  their  property,  and  their  religion  ; 
the  progress  of  these  dreadful  measures  pro 
duced  scenes  of  massacre  and  devastation,  the 

*  In  the  battles  fought  in  our  age,  every  single  soldier 
has  very  little  security  and  confidence  except  in  the  multi 
tude  ;  but  among  the  Romans,  every  individual,  more 
robust  and  of  greater  experience  in  war,  as  well  as  more 
inured  to  the  fatigues  of  it,  than  the  enemy,  relied  upon 
himself  only.  He  was  naturally  endued  with  courage,  or 
in  other  words,  with  that  virtue  which  a  sensibility  of  our 
own  strength  inspires.  Montesquieu. 


recital  of  which  must  excite  exquisite  horror  in 
the  most  savage  breast. 

One  of  the  commanders  of  the  army  under 
the  duke  of  Alva,  demanding  a  pass  through 
the  city  of  Rotterdam,*  was  at  first  refused, 
but  assuring  the  magistrates  that  he  meant  only 
to  lead  his  troops  through  the  town,  and  not  to 
lodge  them  in  it,  they  consented  to  suffer  the 
companies  to  pass  through  one  by  one  :  no 
sooner  had  the  first  company  entered  the  city, 
than  the  officer,  without  regard  to  his  engage 
ments,  ordered  them  to  keep  the  gates  open 
until  the  other  companies  should  arrive :  one 
of  the  citizens,  endeavoring  to  shut  the  gate, 
was  killed  by  his  own  hand ;  his  troops,  eager 
to  follow  his  example,  drew  their  swords,  and, 
giving  a-loose  to  their  fury,  spread  themselves 
over  the  town,  and  butchered  more  than  three 
hundred  of  the  inhabitants. 

This  was  among  the  first  events  of  that  war 
which  rendered  the  Netherlands  a  scene  of 
horror  and  devastation  for  more  than  thirty 
years ;  but  which,  whilst  it  proved  the  source, 
on  many  occasions,  of  extreme  distress  to  the 
people,  called  forth  an  exertion  of  virtue,  spirit, 
and  intrepidity,  which  seldom  occurs  in  the 
annals  of  history. — Never  was  there  a  more 
unequal  contest,  than  between  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Low-Countries  and  the  Spanish  mon 
arch  ;  and  never  was  the  issue  of  any  dispute 
more  contrary  to  what  the  parties  had  reason 
to  expect. 

Under  similar  circumstances,  my  fellow- 
citizens,  a  standing  army  was  introduced  and 
stationed  in  this  city ;  which  produced  the 
scene  we  now  commemorate,  and  which  I 
know  you  cannot  all  remember,  but  let  the 
stranger  hear  and  let  the  listening  youth  be 
told — that  on  the  evening  of  the  fifth  of  March, 
seventeen  hundred  and  seventy,  under  the 
orders  of  a  mercenary  officer,  murder,  with 
her  polluted  weapons,  stood  trampling  in  the 
blood  of  our  slaughtered  countrymen  ;  imagi 
nation  cannot  well  conceive  what  mingling 
passions  then  convulsed  the  soul  and  agonized 
the  heart  ! — those  pangs  were  sharp  indeed, 
which  ushered  into  life  a  nation ! — like  Her 
cules  f  she  rose  brawny  from  the  cradle,  the 
snakes  of  Britain  yet  hung  hissing  round  her 
horrible,  and  fell ! — at  her  infant  voice  they 

*  The  whole  affair  is  related  at  length  in  Watson's  His 
tory  of  the  Low  Countries,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred. 

t  Hercules  is  represented,  when  very  young,  engaged 
in  the  most  courageous  and  dangerous  enterprises — such 
as  encountering  lions,  squeezing  them  to  death  against 
his  own  breast,  or  tearing  their  jaws  asunder  ;  sometimes, 
when  an  infant,  grasping  serpents  with  a  little  smile  upon 
his  cheek,  as  if  he  was  pleased  with  their  fine  colors  and 
their  motions,  and  killing  them  by  his  strong  gripe  with  so 
much  ease,  that  he  scarce  deigns  to  look  up  on  them. 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


hasted — at  the  dread  of  her  rising  arm  they 
fled  away. 

America,  separated  from  the  nations  of 
Europe  by  the  mighty  ocean,  and  from  Britain 
by  the  mightier  hand  of  heaven,  is  acknow 
ledged  an  independent  nation ;  she  has  now  to 
maintain  her  dignity  and  importance  among 
the  kingdoms  of  the  earth.  May  she  never  be 
seduced  from  her  true  interest,  by  subtle  in 
trigue,  mistaken  policy,  or  misguided  ambition  ! 
but,  considering  her  own  condition,  may  she 
follow  the  maxims  of  wisdom,  which  are  better 
than  the  weapons  of  war! 

It  has  become  fashionable  in  Europe,  to 
keep  a  large  standing  army  in  times  of  peace. 
The  people  of  Great  Britain  have  professed 
their  aversion  to  the  establishment,  yet  have 
suffered  it  to  gain  ground  upon  the  idea  of 
preserving  the  balance  of  power.  This  custom 
is  so  deeply  rooted  and  so  firmly  established, 
that  nothing  short  of  annihilation  of  the  govern 
ments  where  they  have  been  so  long  tolerated 
can  abolish  the  institution. 

From  the  situation  and  vicinity  of  the  nations 
of  Europe  with  respect  to  each  other,  the  dif 
ferent  extent  of  territory  rendering  it  more 
difficult  to  repel  an  invasion  from  some  coun 
tries  than  others,  for  the  celerity  of  defence 
and  the  more  complete  security  of  extensive 
countries  ;  from  these  and  similar  considera 
tions,  even  wise  politicians  have  defended  the 
propriety  of  the  establishment,  but  let  their 
motives  be  ever  so  pure  the  ambitious  and  the 
aspiring  have  views  extensive  and  ruinous  ; 
they  have  felt  the  charms  and  experienced  the 
utility  of  this  engine,  and  are  not  wanting  in 
their  exertions  to  support  its  existence. 

Our  fortunate  alliances  in  Europe  have 
secured  us  from  any  danger  of  invasion  from 
thence  ;  this  security  is  derived  from  considera 
tions  of  the  best  policy  and  true  interest  of  the 
allied  powers. 

The  new  and  glorious  treaty  concluded, 
since  the  last  anniversary,  with  the  states  of 
Holland,  whose  manners,  laws,  religion,  and 
bloody  contest  for  freedom,  so  nearly  resemble 
our  own,*  affords  a  happy  presage  of  lasting 

*  If  there  was  ever  among  nations  a  natural  alliance, 
one  may  be  formed  between  the  two  republics.  The 
first  planters  of  the  four  northern  states  found  in  this  coun 
try  an  asylum  from  persecution,  and  resided  here  from 
the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  eight,  to  the  year 
one  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty,  twelve  years  pre 
ceding  their  migration.  They  ever  entertained  and  have 
transmitted  to  posterity,  a  grateful  remembrance  of  that 
protection  and  hospitality,  and  especially  of  that  religious 
liberty  they  found  here,  having  sought  it  in  vain  in  Eng 
land. 

"  The  first  inhabitants  of  two  other  states.  New  York 
and  New  Jersey,  were  immediate  emigrants  from  thib 
nation,  and  have  transmitted -their  religion,  language, 


security.  We  may  add  the  situation  of  our 
country,  with  respect  to  other  dominions,  is  so' 
secured  by  nature,  that  no  one  can  feign  pre 
tensions  sufficiently  plausible  to  convince  the 
people  of  America  of  the  propriety  of  support 
ing  a  standing  army  in  a  time  of  peace  ;  whilst 
memory  retains  the  exploits  of  our  brave  citizens 
in  the  field,  who  have  joined  the  standard  oi 
freedom,  and  successfully  defended  her  injured 
altars  and  her  devoted  rites.  The  community 
will  be  assured  that,  upon  the  basis  of  a  well- 
regulated  militia,  an  army  may  be  raised  upon 
all  future  occasions  sufficient  to  oppose  the 
most  formidable  invaders. 

Here,  were  it  pertinent,  I  would  express  a 
confidence,  that  when  the  army  shall  be  dis 
banded,  justice,  with  impartial  scale,  will 
distribute  due  rewards  to  those  who  have 
jeoparded  their  lives  in  the  high  places  of  the 
field. 

Every  American  is  conscious  of  the  effects 
produced  by  the  knowledge  of  the  people  in 
the  use  of  arms,  and  from  that  experience  need 
not  be  exhorted  to  an  attention  to  their  militia. 

When  we  consider  our  own  prosperous  con 
dition,  and  view  the  state  of  that  nation,  of 


customs,  manners  and  character  ;  and  America  in  general 
until  her  connections  with  the  house  of  Bourbon,  has  ever 
considered  this  nation  as  her  first  friend  in  Europe,  whose 
history,  and  the  great  character  it  exhibits,  in  the  various 
arts  of  peace,  as  well  as  achievements  of  war  by  sea  and 
land,  have  been  particularly  studied,  admired,  and  imi 
tated  in  every  state. 

"  A  similarity  of  religion,  although  it  is  not  deemed  so 
essential  in  this  as  in  former  ages,  to  the  alliance  of  nations 
is  still,as  it  ever  will  be  thought,  a  desirable  circumstance. 
Now  it  may  be  said  with  truth,  that  there  are  no  two 
nations,  whose  worship,  doctrine  and  discipline,  are, 
more  alike  than  those  of  the  two  republics.  In  this  partic 
ular,  therefore,  as  far  as  it  is  of  weight,  an  alliance 
would  be  perfectly  natural. 

"  A  similarity  in  the  forms  of  government  is  usually  con 
sidered  as  another  circumstance  which  renders  alliances 
natural  ;  and  although  the  constitutions  of  the  two  repub 
lics  are  not  perfectly  alike,  there  is  yet  analogy  enough 
between  them  to  make  a  connection  easy  in  this  respect. 

"  The  originals  of  the  two  republics  are  so  much  alike, 
that  the  history  of  one  seems  but  a  transcript  from  that  of 
the  other  :  so  that  every  Dutchman,  instructed  in  the  sub 
ject,  must  pronounce  the  American  revolution  just  and 
necessary  or  pass  a  censure  upon  the  greatest  actions  of 
his  immortal  ancestors  ;  actions  which  have  been  approved 
and  applauded  by  mankind,  and  justified  by  the  decision 
of  heaven. 

"  If  therefore  an  analogy  of  religion,  government,  origi 
nal  manners,  and  the  most  extensive  and  lasting  com 
mercial  interests,  can  form  a  ground  and  an  invitation  to 
political  connexions,  the  subscriber  flatters  himself,  that 
in  all  these  particulars  the  union  is  so  obviously  natural, 
that,  there  has  seldom  been  a  more  distinct  designation  of 
Providence  to  any  two  distant  nations  to  unite  themselves 
together." 

Extracts  from  the  memorial  to  their  high  mightinesses, 
the  states  general  of  the  United  Provinces  of  the  Low- 
Countries,  by  that  great  statesman  and  patriot,  his  excel 
lency  John  Adams,  esq.,  minister  plenipotentiary  at  the 
Hague,  dated  Leyden,  April  19,  1781. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


79 


which  we  were  once  a  part,  we  even  weep  over 
our  enemy,  when  we  reflect  that  she  was  once 
great ;  that  her  navies  rode  formidable  upon 
the  ocean ;  that  her  commerce  was  extended  to 
every  harbor  of  the  globe  ;  that  her  name  was 
revered  wherever  it  was  known ;  that  the  wealth 
of  nations  was  deposited  in  her  island  ;  and  that 
America  was  her  friend,  but  by  means  of  her 
standing  armies,  an  immense  continent  is 
separated  from  her  kingdom,*  and  that  once- 
mighty  empire,  ready  to  fall  an  untimely  victim 
to  her  own  mad  policy. 

Near  eight  full  years  haVe  now  rolled  away 
since  America  has  been  cast  off  from  the  bo 
som  and  embraces  of  her  pretended  parent, 
and  has  set  up  her  own  name  among  the  empires. 
The  assertions  of  so  young  a  country,  were  at 
first  beheld  wrth  dubious  expectation  ;  and  the 
world  were  ready  to  stamp  the  name  of  rash 
ness  or  enterprise  according  to  the  event. 

But  a  manly  and  fortunate  beginning  soon 
ensured  the  most  generous  assistance.  The 
renowned  and  the  ancient  Gauls  came  early 
to  the  combat — wise  in  council — mighty  in  bat 
tle  !  then  with  new  fury  raged  the  storm  of 
war  !  the  seas  were  crimsoned  with  the  richest 
blood  of  nations !  America's  chosen  legions 
waded  to  freedom  through  rivers,  dyed  with  the 
mingled  blood  of  her  enemies  and  her  citizens  ; 
through  fields  of  carnage,  and  the  gates  of 
death  ! 

At  length  independence  is  ours — the  halcyon 
day  appears  !  lo  from  the  east  I  see  the  har 
binger,  and  from  the  train,  'tis  peace  herself, 
and  as  attendants,  all  the  gentle  arts  of  life ; 
commerce  displays  her  snow-white  navies 
fraught  with  the  wealth  of  kingdoms  ;  plenty 
from  her  copious  horn,  pours  forth  her  richest 
gifts.  Heaven  commands !  the  east  and  the 
west  give  up,  and  the  north  keeps  not  back  !  all 
nations  meet !  and  beat  their  swords  into 
plough-shares  and  their  spears  into  pruning- 
hooks,  and  resolve  to  learn  war  no  more. 
Henceforth  shall  the  American  wilderness  blos 
som  as  the  rose,  and  every  man  shall  sit  under 
his  vine  and  under  his  fig-tree,  and  none  shall 
make  him  afraid. 

*  A  doubt  may  be  entertained  of  the  truth  of  this  asser 
tion  ;  but  we  can  hardly  believe  that  it  would  have  entered 
into  the  head  of  a  minister  or  parliament,  to  collect  a 
militia  in  Great  Britain  to  enforce  their  acts  in  America  ; 
so  that  in  our  view,  had  the  army  been  disbanded  at  the 
end  of  the  last  war,  America  and  Britain  at  this  moment 
would  have  been  parts  of  the  same  kingdom. 


IMPORTANT  LETTER 

WRITTEN   BY  GOV.  HUTCHINSON    OF   MASSA 
CHUSETTS,  JULY  20,   1770. 

A  great  number  of  governor  Hutchinson's 
letters  have  lately  fallen  into  the  hands  of  our 
people.  A  correspondent  at  Roxbury  has 
favored  us  with  the  following  extract  from  one 
of  them  to  general  Gage,  then  at  New  York, 
dated  at  Boston,  July  20,  1770.  "It  appears 
to  me  to  be  a  matter  of  great  importance  to 
his  majesty's  general  service,  and  to  the  real 
interest  of  the  colonies,  that  the  discord  begin 
ning  between  New  York  and  us  should  be  en 
couraged  :  I  wrote  some  time  ago  to  Mr. 

C upon  this  subject,  but  he  rather  declined 

concerning  himself  in  it ;  he  certainly  has  a 
strange  aversion,  which  nothing  but  the  con 
federacy  against  Great  Britain  could  have 
conquered :  this  has  too  much  the  appearance 
of  Machiavelian  policy ;  but  it  is  justifiable,  as 
it  has  the  most  obvious  tendency  to  save  the 
colonies  ruining  themselves,  as  well  as  pre 
venting  them  destroying  the  mother  country. 
If  Pennsylvania  could  be  brought  to  take  part 
with  New  York,  I  think  the  business  would  be 
done.  I  must  beg  the  favor  of  you  not  to  let 
this  letter  come  under  any  other  than  your  own 
observation." 


MASSACHUSETTS  STATE  PAPERS. 
SPEECH 

OF  Gov.  T.  HUTCHINSON  TO  THE  COUNCIL 
AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  FEB. 
16,  1773- 

Gentlemen  of  the  Council,  and 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  . 

The  proceedings  of  such  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town  of  Boston,  as  assembled  together, 
and  passed  and  published  their  resolves  or 
votes,  as  the  act  of  the  town,  at  a  legal  town 
meeting,  denying,  in  the  most  express  terms, 
the  supremacy  of  parliament,  and  inviting  every 
other  town  and  district  in  the  province,  to 
adopt  the  same  principle,  and  to  establish  com 
mittees  of  correspondence,  to  consult  upon 
proper  measures  to  maintain  it,  and  the  pro 
ceedings  of  divers  other  towns,  in  consequence 
of  this  invitation,  appeared  to  me  to  be  so  un 
warrantable,  and  of  such  a  dangerous  nature 
and  tendency,  that  I  thought  myself  bound  to 
call  upon  you  in  my  speech  at  opening  the  ses 
sion,  to  join  with  me  in  discountenancing  and 
bearing  a  proper  testimony  against  such  irreg 
ularities  and  innovations. 


8o 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


I  stated  to  you  fairly  and  truly,  as  I  con 
ceived,  the  constitution  of  the  kingdom  and  of 
the  province,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  depend 
ence  of  the  former  upon  the  latter ;  and  I  de 
sired  you,  if  you  differed  from  me  in  sentiments, 
to  show  me,  with  candor,  my  own  errors,  and 
to  give  your  reasons  in  support  of  your  opinions, 
so  far  as  you  might  differ  from  me.  I  hoped 
that  you  would  have  considered  my  speech  by 
your  joint  committees,  and  have  given  me  a  joint 
answer:  but  as  the  house  of  representatives 
have  declined  that  mode  of  proceeding,  and  as 
your  principles  in  government  are  very  differ 
ent,  I  am  obliged  to  make  separate  and  dis 
tinct  replies.  I  shall  first  apply  myself  to 
you, 

Gentlemen  of  the  Council: 

The  two  first  parts  of  your  answer,  which  re 
spect  the  disorders  occasioned  by  the  stamp 
act,  and  the  general  nature  of  supreme  author 
ity,  do  not  appear  to  have  a  tendency  to  invali 
date  anything  which  I  have  said  in  my  speech  ; 
for,  however  the  stamp  act  may  have  been 
the  immediate  occasion  of  any  disorders,  the 
authority  of  parliament  was,  notwithstanding, 
denied,  in  order  to  justify  or  excuse  them.  And, 
for  the  nature  of  the  supreme  authority  of  par 
liament,  I  have  never  given  you  any  reason  to 
suppose,  that  I  intended  a  more  absolute  power 
in  parliament,  or  a  greater  degree  of  active  or 
passive  obedience  in  the  people,  than  what  is 
founded  in  the  nature  of  government,  let  the 
form  of  it  be  what  it  may.  I  shall,  therefore, 
pass  over  those  parts  of  your  answer,  without 
any  other  remark.  I  would  also  have  saved 
you  the  trouble  of  all  those  authorities  which 
you  have  brought  to  show,  that  all  taxes  upon 
English  subjects,  must  be  levied  by  virtue  of 
the  act,  not  of  the  king  alone,  but  in  conjunc 
tion  with  the  lords  and  commons,  for  I  should 
very  readily  have  allowed  it ;  and  I  should  as 
readily  have  allowed,  that  all  other  acts  of 
legislation  must  be  passed  by  the  same  joint 
authority,  and  not  by  the  king  alone. 

Indeed,  I  am  not  willing  to  continue  a  con 
troversy  with  you,  upon  any  other  parts  of 
your  answer.  I  am  glad  to  find,  that  inde 
pendence  is  not  what  you  have  in  contem 
plation,  and  that  you  will  not  presume  to 
prescribe  the  exact  limits  of  the  authority 
of  parliament,  only,  as  with  due  deference  to  it, 
you  are  humbly  of  opinion,  that,  as  all  human 
authority  in  the  nature  of  it  is,  and  ought  to  be 
limited,  it  cannot  constitutionally  extend,  for 
the  reasons  you  have  suggested,  to  the  levying 
of  taxes,  in  any  form,  on  his  majesty's  subjects 
of  this  province. 


I  will  only  observe,  that  your  attempts  tc 
draw  a  line  as  the  limits  of  the  supreme  author 
ity  in  government,  by  distinguishing  some  natu 
ral  rights,  as  more  peculiarly  exempt  from  such 
authority  than  the  rest,  rather  tend  to  evince 
the  impracticability  of  drawing  such  a  line: 
and  that  some  parts  of  your  answer  seem  to 
infer  a  supremacy  in  the  province,  at  the  same 
time  that  you  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of 
parliament ;  for  otherwise,  the  rights  of  the 
subjects  cannot  be  the  same  in  all  essential  re 
spects,  as  you  suppose  them  to  be,  in  all  parts 
of  the  dominions,  "  under  a  like  form  of 
legislature." 

From  these,  therefore,  and  other  considera 
tions,  I  cannot  help  flattering  myself,  that  upon 
more  mature  deliberation,  and  in  order  to  a 
more  consistent  plan  of  government,  you  will 
choose  rather  to  doubt  the  expediency  of  par 
liament's  exercising  its  authority  in  cases  that 
may  happen,  than  to  limit  the  authority  itself, 
especially,  as  you  agree  with  me  in  the  proper 
method  of  obtaining  a  redress  of  grievances  by 
constitutional  representations,  which  cannot 
well  consist  with  a  denial  of  the  authority  to 
which  the  representations  are  made ;  and  from 
the  best  information  I  have  been  able  to  obtain, 
the  denial  of  the  authority  of  parliament,  ex 
pressly,  or  by  implication,  in  those  petitions  to 
which  you  refer,  was  the  cause  of  their  being 
admitted,  and  not  any  advice  given  by  the  min 
ister  to  the  agents  of  the  colonies.  I  must  en 
large,  and  be  more  particular  in  my  reply  to  you, 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

I  shall  take  no  notice  of  that  part  of  your 
answer,  which  attributes  the  disorders  of  the 
province,  to  an  undue  exercise  of  the  power  of 
parliament ;  because  you  take  for  granted,  what 
can  by  no  means  be  admitted,  that  parliament 
had  exercised  its  power  without  just  authority. 
The  sum  of  your  answer,  so  far  as  it  is  perti 
nent  to  my  speech,  is  this. 

You  allege  that  the  colonies  were  an  acqui 
sition  of  foreign  territory,  not  annexed  to  the 
realm  of  England  ;  and,  therefore,  at  the  abso'- 
lute  disposal  of  the  crown  ;  the  king,  having,  as 
you  take  it,  a  constitutional  right  to  dispose  of, 
and  alienate  any  part  of  his  territories,  not 
annexed  to  the  realm :  that  Queen  Elizabeth 
accordingly  conveyed  the  property,  dominion, 
and  sovereignty  of  Virginia,  to  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  to  be  held  of  the  crown  by  homage 
and  a  certain  render,  without  reserving  any 
share  in  the  legislative  and  executive  authority : 
that  the  subsequent  grants  of  America  were 
similar  in  this  respect ;  that  they  were  without 
any  reservation  for  securing  the  subjection  of 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


81 


the  colonists  to  the  parliament,  and  future  laws 
of  England;  that  this  was  the  s^nse  of  the 
English  crown,  the  nation,  and  our  predeces 
sors,  when  they  first  took  possession  of  this 
country ;  that,  if  the  colonies  were  not  then  an 
nexed  to  the  realm,  they  cannot  have  been  an 
nexed  since  that  time  ;  that,  if  they  are  not  now 
annexed  to  the  realm,  they  are  not  part  of  the 
kingdom  ;  and,  consequently,  not  subject  to  the 
legislative  authority  of  the  kingdom ;  for  no 
country,  by  the  common  law,  was  subject  to 
the  laws  or  to  the  parliament,  but  the  realm  of 
England. 

Now,  if  this  foundation  shall  fail  you  in 
every  part  of  it,  as  I  think  it  will,  the  fabric 
which  you  have  raised  upon  it  must  certainly 
fall. 

Let  me  then  observe  to  you,  that  as  English 
subjects,  and  agreeable  to  the  doctrine  of  feu 
dal  tenure,  all  our  lands  and  tenements  are 
held  mediately,  or  immediately,  of  the  crown, 
and  although  the  possession  and  use,  or  profits, 
be  in  the  subject,  there  still  remains  a  dominion 
in  the  crown.  When  any  new  countries  are 
discovered  by  English  subjects,  according  to 
the  general  law  and  usage  of  nations,  they 
become  part  of  the  state,  and,  according  to  the 
feudal  system,  the  lordship  or  dominion,  is  in 
the  crown  ;  and  a  right  accrues  of  disposing  of 
such  territories,  under  such  tenure,  or  for  such 
sendees  to  be  performed,  as  the  crown  shall 
judge  proper ;  and  whensoever  any  part  of 
such  territories,  by  grant  from  the  crown,  be 
comes  the  possession  or  property  of  private 
persons,  such  persons,  thus  holding,  under 
the  crown  of  England,  remain,  or  become  sub 
jects  of  England,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
as  fully  as  if  any  of  the  royal  manors,  forests, 
or  other  territory,  within  the  realm,  had  been 
granted  to  them  upon  the  like  tenure.  But 
that  it  is  now,  or  was,  when  the  plantations 
were  first  granted,  the  prerogative  of  the  kings 
of  England  to  alienate  such  territories  from  the 
crown,  or  to  constitute  a  number  of  new  gov 
ernments,  altogether  independent  of  the  sove 
reign  legislative  authority  of  the  English  empire, 
I  can  by  no  means  concede  to  you.  I  have 
never  seen  any  better  authority  to  support  such 
an  opinion,  than  an  anonymous  pamphlet,  by 
which,  I  fear,  you  have  too  easily  been  misled  ; 
for  I  shall  presently  show  you,  that  the  declara 
tions  of  king  James  the  I.  and  of  king  Charles 
the  I,  admitting  they  are  truly  related  by  the 
author  of  this  pamphlet,  ought  to  have  no 
weight  with  you ;  nor  does  the  cession  or  res 
toration,  upon  a  treaty  of  peace,  of  countries 
which  have  been  lost  or  acquired  in  war,  mili 
tate  with  these  principles  ;  nor  may  any  partic 


ular  act  of  power  of  a  prince,  in  selling,  or 
delivering  up  any  part  of  his  dominions  to  a 
foreign  prince  or  state,  against  the  general 
sense  of  the  nation,  be  urged  to  invalidate 
them  ;  and,  upon  examination,  it  will  appear, 
that  all  the  grants  which  have  been  made  of 
America,  are  founded  upon  them,  and  are 
made  to  conform  to  them,  even  those  which  you 
have  adduced  in  support  of  very  different 
principles. 

You  do  not  recollect  that,  prior  to  what  you 
call  the  first  grant  by  queen  Elizabeth  to  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  a  grant  had  been  made  by 
the  same  princess,  to  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert, 
of  all  such  countries  as  he  should  discover, 
which  were  to  be  of  the  allegiance  of  her,  her 
heirs  and  successors ;  but  he  dying  in  the 
prosecution  of  his  voyage,  a  second  grant  was 
made  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  which,  you  say, 
conveyed  the  dominion  and  sovereignty,  with 
out  any  reserve  of  legislative  or  executive 
authority,  being  held  by  homage  and  a  render. 
To  hold  by  homage,  which  implies  fealty  and 
a  render,  is  descriptive  of  soccage  tenure,  as 
fully  as  if  it  had  been  said  to  hold,  as  of  our 
manor  of  East  Greenwich,  the  words  in  your 
charter.  Now,  this  alone  was  a  reserve  of 
dominion  and  sovereignty  in  the  queen,  her 
heirs  and  successors ;  and,  besides  this,  the 
grant  is  made  upon  this  express  condition, 
which  you  pass  over,  that  the  people  remain 
subject  to  the  crown  of  England,  the  head  of 
that  legislative  authority,  which,  by  the  Eng 
lish  constitution,  is  equally  extensive  with  the 
authority  of  the  crown,  throughout  every  part 
of  the  dominions.  Now,  if  we  could  suppose 
the  queen  to  have  acquired,  separate  from  her 
relation  to  her  subjects,  or  in  her  natural 
capacity,  which  she  could  not  do,  a  title  to  a 
country  discovered  by  her  subjects,  and  then 
to  grant  the  same  country  to  English  subjects, 
in  her  public  capacity  as  queen  of  England, 
still,  by  this  grant,  she  annexed  it  to  the  crown. 
Thus,  by  not  distinguishing  between  the  crown 
of  England  and  the  kings  and  queens  of  Eng 
land,  in  their  personal  or  natural  capacities, 
you  have  been  led  into  a  fundamental  error, 
which  must  prove  fatal  to  your  system.  It  is 
not  material,  whether  Virginia  reverted  to  the 
crown  by  Sir  Walter's  attainder,  or  whether  he 
never  took  any  benefit  from  his  grant,  though 
the  latter  is  most  probable,  seeing  he  ceased 
from  all  attempts  to  take  possession  of  the 
country  after  a  few  years'trial.  There  were, 
undoubtedly,  divers  grants  made  by  king  James 
the  I.  of  the  continent  of  America,  in  the  be 
ginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  similar 
to  the  grant  of  queen  Elizabeth,  in  this  respect, 


82 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


that  they  were  dependent  on  the  crown.  The 
charter  to  the  council  at  Plymouth,  in  Devon, 
dated  November  3,  1620,  more  immediately 
respects  us,  and  of  that  we  have  the  most 
authentic  remains. 

By  this  charter,  upon  the  petition  of  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges,  a  corporation  was  constitu 
ted,  to  be,  and  continue  by  succession,  forever 
in  the  town  of  Plymouth  aforesaid,  to  which 
corporation,  that  part  of  the  American  conti 
nent,  which  lies  between  40  and  48  degrees  of 
latitude,  was  granted,  to  be  held  of  the  king, 
his  heirs  and  successors,  as  of  the  manor  of 
East  Greenwich,  with  powers  to  constitute 
subordinate  governments  in  America,  and  to 
make  laws  for  such  governments,  not  repug 
nant  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  England. 
From  this  corporation,  your  predecessors  ob 
tained  a  grant  of  the  soil  of  the  colony  of  Mas 
sachusetts-Bay,  in  1627,  and  in  1628,  they 
obtained  a  charter  from  king  Charles  the  I. 
rraking  them  a  distinct  corporation,  also  with 
in  the  realm,  and  giving  them  full  powers 
within  limits  of  their  patent,  very  like  to  those 
of  the  council  of  Plymouth,  throughout  their 
more  extensive  territory. 

We  will  now  consider  what  must  have  been 
the  sense  of  the  king,  of  the  nation,  and  of  the 
patentees,  at  the  time  of  granting  these  patents. 
From  the  year  1602,  the  banks  and  sea  coasts 
of  New  England  had  been  frequented  by  Eng 
lish  subjects,  for  catching  and  drying  cod-fish. 
When  an  exclusive  right  to  the  fishery  was 
claimed,  by  virtue  of  the  patent  of  1620,  the 
house  of  commons  was  alarmed,  and  a  bill 
was  brought  in  for  allowing  a  free  fishery  ; 
and  it  was  upon  this  occasion,  that  one  of  the 
secretaries  of  state  declared,  perhaps  as  his 
own  opinion,  that  the  plantations  were  not  an 
nexed  to  the  crown,  and  so  were  not  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  parliament.  Sir  Edwin 
Sandys,  who  was  one  of  the  Virginia  company, 
and  an  eminent  lawyer,  declared,  that  he  knew 
Virginia  had  been  annexed,  "and  was  held  of 
the  crown,  as  of  the  manor  of  East  Greenwich, 
and  he  believed  New  England  was  so  also  ;  and 
so  it  most  certainly  was.  This  declaration,  made 
by  one  of  the  king's  sen-ants,  you  say,  shewed 
the  sense  of  the  crown,  and,  being  not  secretly, 
but  openly  declared  in  parliament,  you  would 
make  it  the  sense  of  the  nation  also,  not 
withstanding  your  own  assertion,  that  the 
lords  and  commons  passed  a  bill,  that  shewed 
their  sense  to  be  directly  the  contrary.  But  if 
there  had  been  full  evidence  of  express  declara 
tions  made  by  king  James  the  I.  and  king 
Charles  the  I.  they  were  declarations  contrary 
to  their  own  grants,  which  declare  this  country 


to  be  held  of  the  crown,  and  consequently  it 
must  have  been  annexed  to  it.  And  may  not 
such  declarations  be  accounted  for  by  other 
actions  of  those  princes,  who,  when  they  were 
soliciting  the  parliament  to  grant  the  duties  of 
tonnage  and  poundage,  with  other  aids,  and 
were,  in  this  way,  acknowledging  the  rights  of 
parliament,  at  the  same  time  were  requiring 
the  payment  of  those  duties,  with  ship  money, 
etc.,  by  virtue  of  their  prerogative  ? 

But  to  remove  all  doubts  of  the  sense  of  the 
nation,  and  of  the  patentees  of  this  patent,  or 
charter,  in  1620,  I  need  only  refer  you  to  the 
account  published  by  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges 
himself,  of  the  proceedings  in  parliament  upon 
this  occasion.  As  he  was  the  most  active 
member  of  the  council  of  Plymouth,  and,  as  he 
relates  what  came  within  his  own  knowledge 
and  observation,  his  narrative,  which  has  all 
the  appearance  of  truth  and  sincerity,  must 
carry  conviction  with  it.  He  says,  that  soon 
after  the  patent  was  passed,  and  whilst  it  lay 
in  the  crown  office,  he  was  summoned  to  ap 
pear  in  parliament,  to  answer  what  was  to  be 
objected  against  it ;  and  the  house  being  in  a 
committee,  and  Sir  Edward  Coke,  that  great 
oracle  of  the  law,  in  the  chair,  he  was  called 
to  the  bar,  and  was  told  by  Sir  Edward,  that 
the  house  understood  that  a  patent  had  been 
granted  to  the  said  Ferdinando,  and  divers 
other  noble  persons,  for  establishing  a  col 
ony  in  New  England,  that  this  was  deemed 
a  grievance  of  the  commonwealth,  contrary  to 
the  laws,  and  to  the  privileges  of  the  subject, 
that  it  was  a  monopoly,  etc.,  and  he  required 
the  deliver)'  of  the  patent  into  the  house.  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges  made  no  doubt  of  the 
authority  of  the  house,  but  submitted  to  their 
disposal  of  the  patent,  as,  in  their  wisdom, 
they  thought  good  ;  "  not  knowing,  under 
favor,  how  any  action  of  that  kind  could  be  a 
grievance  to  the  public,  seeing  it  was  under 
taken  for  the  advancement  of  religion,  the  en 
largement  of  the  bounds  of  our  nation,  etc. 
He  was  willing,  however,  to  submit  the  whole 
to  the  honorable  censures."  After  divers 
attendances,  he  imagined  he  had  satisfied  the 
house,  that  the  planting  a  colony  was  of  much 
more  consequence,  than  a  simple  disorderly 
course  of  fishing.  He  was,  notwithstanding 
disappointed  ;  and,  when  the  public  grievances 
of  the  kingdom  were  presented  by  the  two 
houses,  that  of  the  patent  for  New  England 
was  the  first.  I  do  not  know  how  the  parlia 
ment  could  have  shewn  more  fully  the  sense 
they  then  had  of  their  authority  over  this  new 
acquired  territory ;  nor  can  we  expect  better 
evidence  of  the  sense  which  the  patentees  had 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


of  it,  for  I  know  of  no  historical  fact,  of  which 
we  have  less  reason  to  doubt. 

And  now,  gentlemen,  I  will  shew  you  how  it 
appears  from  our  charter  itself,  which  you  say 
I  have  not  yet  been  pleased  to  point  out  to  you, 
except  from  that  clause,  which  restrains  us 
from  making  laws  repugnant  to  the  laws  of 
England  ;  that  it  was  the  sense  of  our  prede 
cessors,  at  the  time  when  the  charter  was 
granted,  that  they  were  to  remain  subject  to 
the  supreme  authority  of  parliament. 

Besides  this  clause,  which  I  shall  have  occa 
sion  further  to  remark  upon  before  I  finish,  you 
will  find  that,  by  the  charter,  a  grant  was  made 
of  exemption  from  all  taxes  and  impositions 
upon  any  goods  imported  into  New  England, 
or  exported  from  thence  into  England,  for  the 
space  of  twenty-one  years,  except  the  custom 
of  five  per  cent,  upon  such  goods  as,  after  the 
expiration  of  seven  years,  should  be  brought 
into  England.  Nothing  can  be  more  plain,  than 
that  the  charter,  as  well  as  the  patent  to  the 
council  of  Plymouth,  constitutes  a  corporation 
in  England,  with  powers  to  create  a  subordi 
nate  government  or  governments  within  the 
plantation,  so  that  there  would  always  be  sub 
jects  of  taxes  and  impositions  both  in  the  king 
dom  and  in  the  plantation.  An  exemption  for 
twenty-one  years,  implies  a  right  of  imposition 
after  the  expiration  of  the  term,  and  there  is 
no  distinction  between  the  kingdom  and  the 
plantation.  By  what  authority  then,  in  the 
understanding  of  the  parties,  were  those  impo 
sitions  to  be  laid  ?  If  any,  to  support  a  system, 
should  say  by  the  king,  rather  than  to  ac 
knowledge  the  authority  of  parliament,  yet  this 
could  not  be  the  sense  of  one  of  our  principal 
patentees,  Mr.  Samuel  Vassal,  who,  at  that 
instant,  1628,  the  date  of  the  charter,  was 
suffering  the  loss  of  his  goods,  rather  than  sub 
mit  to  an  imposition  laid  by  the  king,  without 
the  authority  of  parliament ;  and  to  prove  that, 
a  few  years  after,  it  could  not  be  the  sense  of 
the  rest,  I  need  only  to  refer  you  to  your  own 
records  for  the  year  1642,  where  you  will  find 
an  order  of  the  house  of  commons,  conceived 
in  such  terms  as  discover  a  plain  reference  to 
this  part  of  the  charter,  after  fourteen  years  of 
the  twenty-one  were  expired.  By  this  order, 
the  house  of  commons  declare,  that  all  goods 
and  merchandise  exported  to  New  England,  or 
imported  from  thence,  shall  be  free  from  all 
taxes  and  impositions,  both  in  the  kingdom 
and  New  England,  until  the  house  shall  take 
further  order  therein  to  the  contrary.  The 
sens_e  which  our  predecessors  had  of  the  bene 
fit  which  they  took  from  this  order,  evidently 
appears  from  the  vote  of  the  general  court, 


acknowledging  their  humble  thankfulness,  and 
preserving  a  grateful  remembrance  of  the 
honorable  respect  from  that  high  court,  and 
resolving,  that  the  order  sent  unto  them,  under 
the  hand  of  the  clerk  of  the  honorable  house 
of  commons,  shall  be  entered  among  their  public 
records,  to  remain  there  unto  posterity.  And, 
in  an  address  to  parliament,  nine  years  after, 
they  acknowledge,  among  other  undeserved 
favors,  that  of  taking  off  the  customs  from 
them. 

I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  what  your  ideas  could 
be,  when  you  say  that,  if  the  plantations  are 
not  part  of  the  realm,  they  are  not  part  of  the 
kingdom,  seeing  the  two  words  can  properly 
convey  but  one  idea,  and  they  have  one  and 
the  same  signification  in  the  different  languages 
from  whence  they  are  derived.  I  do  not  charge 
you  with  any  design ;  but  the  equivocal  use  of 
the  word  realm,  in  several  parts  of  your  an 
swer,  makes  them  perplexed  and  obscure. 
Sometimes  you  must  intend  the  whole  dominion, 
which  is  subject  to  the  authority  of  parliament ; 
sometimes  only  strictly  the  territorial  realm, 
to  which  other  dominions  are,  or  may  be  an 
nexed.  If  you  mean  that  no  countries,  but  the 
ancient  territorial  realm,  can,  constitutionally 
be  subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of  Eng 
land,  which  you  have  very  incautiously  said  is 
a  rule  of  the  common  law  of  England — this  is 
a  doctrine  which  you  will  never  be  able  to  sup 
port.  That  the  common  law  should  be  con- 
troled  and  changed  by  statutes,  every  day's 
experience  teaches  ;  but  that  the  common  law 
prescribes  limits  to  the  extent  of  the  legislative 
power,  I  believe  has  never  been  said  upon  any 
other  occasion.  That  acts  of  parliaments,  for 
several  hundred  years  past,  have  respected 
countries,  which  are  not  strictly  within  the 
realm,  you  might  easily  have  discovered  by  the 
statute  books.  You  will  find  acts  for  regula 
ting  the  affairs  of  Ireland,  though  a  separate 
and  distinct  kingdom.  Wales  and  Calais, 
whilst  they  sent  no  representatives  to  parlia 
ment,  were  subject  to  the  like  regulations  ;  so 
are  Guernsey,  Jersey,  Alderney,  &c.  which  send 
no  members  to  this  day.  These-  countries  are 
not  more  properly  a  part  of  the  ancient  realm, 
than  the  plantations,  nor  do  I  know  they  can 
more  properly  be  said  to  be  annexed  to  the 
realm,  unless  the  declaring  that  acts  of  parlia 
ment  shall  extend  to  Wales,  though  not  par 
ticularly  named,  shall  make  it  so,  which  I 
conceive  it  does  not,  in  the  sense  you  intend. 

Thus,  I  think,  I  have  made  it  appear  that 
the  plantations,  though  not  strictly  within  the 
realm,  have,  from  the  beginning,  been  consti 
tutionally  subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of 


84 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


the  realm,  and  are  so  far  annexed  to  it,  as  to 
be,  with  the  realm  and  the  other  dependencies 
upon  it,  one  entire  dominion  ;  and  that  the 
plantation,  or  colony  of  Massachusetts-Bay  in 
particular,  is  holden  as  feudatory  of  the  impe- 
,rial  crown  of  England.  Deem  it  to  be  no  part 
of  the  realm,  it  is  immaterial ;  for,  to  use  the 
words  of  a  very  great  authority  in  a  case,  in 
some  respects  analogous,  "  being  feudatory,  the 
conclusion  necessarily  follows,  that  it  is  under 
the  government  of  the  king's  laws  and  the 
king's  courts,  in  cases  proper  for  them  to  in 
terpose,  (like  counties  Palatine)  it  has  peculiar 
laws  and  customs,  jura  regalia,  and  complete 
jurisdiction  at  home." 

Your  remark  upon,  and  construction  of  the 
words,  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England, 
are  much  the  same  with  those  of  the  council ; 
but  can  any  reason  be  assigned  why  the  laws 
of  England,  as  they  stood  just  at  that  period, 
should  be  pitched  upon  as  the  standard,  more 
than  at  any  other  period  ?  If  so,  why  was  it 
not  recurred  to  when  the  second  charter  was 
granted,  more  than  sixty  years  after  the  first  ? 
It  is  not  improbable,  that  the  original  intention 
might  be  a  repugnancy  in  general,  and  fortiori, 
such  laws  as  were  made  more  immediately  to 
respect  us,  but  the  statute  of  7th  and  8th  of 
king  William  and  queen  Mary,  soon  after  the 
second  charter,  favors  the  latter  construction 
only,  and  the  province  agent,  Mr.  Dummer,  in 
his  much  applauded  defence  of  the  charter, 
says  that,  then,  a  law  in  the  plantations  may 
be  said  to  be  repugnant  to  a  law  made  in 
Great  Britain,  when  it  flatly  contradicts  it,  so 
far  as  the  law  made  there  mentions  and  relates 
to  the  plantations.  But,  gentlemen,  there  is 
another  clause,  both  in  the  first  and  second 
charter,  which,  I  think,  will  serve  to  explain 
this,  or  to  render  all  dispute  upon  the  construc 
tion  of  it  unnecessary.  You  are  enabled  to 
impose  such  oaths  only,  as  are  warrantable  by, 
or  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of 
the  realms.  I  believe  you  will  not  contend, 
that  these  clauses  must  mean  such  oaths  only 
as  were  warrantable  at  the  respective  times 
when  the  charters  were  granted.  It  has  often 
been  found  necessary,  since  the  date  of  the 
charters,  to  alter  the  forms  of  oaths  to  the 
government  by  acts  of  parliament,  and  such 
alterations  have  always  been  conformed  to  in 
the  plantations. 

Lest  you  should  think  that  I  admit  the  au 
thority  of  king  Charles  the  II., in  giving  his 
assent  to  an  act  of  the  assembly  of  Virginia, 
which  you  subjoin  to  the  authorities  of  James 
the  I.  and  Charles  the  I.  to  have  any  weight,  I 
must  observe  to  you,  that  I  do  not  see  any 


greater  inconsistency  with  Magna  Charta,  in 
the  king's  giving  his  assent  to  an  act  of  a  sub 
ordinate  legislature  immediately,  or  in  person, 
than  when  he  does  it  mediately  by  his  gover 
nor  or  substitute ;  but  if  it  could  be  admitted, 
that  such  an  assent  discovered  the  king's  judg 
ment  that  Virginia  was  independent,  would  you 
lay  any  stress  upon  it,  when  the  same  king  was, 
from  time  to  time,  giving  his  assent  to  acts  of 
parliament,  which  inferred  the  dependence  of 
all  the  colonies,  and  had,  by  one  of  those  acts, 
declared  the  plantations  to  be  inhabited  and 
peopled  by  his  majesty's  subjects  of  England  ? 

I  gave  you  no  reason  to  remark  upon  the 
absurdity  of  a  grant,  to  persons  not  born  with 
in  the  realm,  of  the  same  liberties  which 
would  have  belonged  to  them,  if  they  had  been 
born  within  the  realm  :  but  rather  guarded 
against  it,  by  considering  such  grant  as  declara 
tory  only,  and  in  the  nature  of  an  assurance, 
that  the  plantations  would  be  considered  as  the 
dominions  of  England.  But  is  there  no  absur 
dity  in  a  grant  from  the  king  of  England,  of 
the  liberties  and  immunities  of  Englishmen  to 
persons  born  in,  and  who  are  to  inhabit  other 
territories  than  the  dominions  of  England  ;  and 
would  such  grant,  whether  by  charter,  or  other 
letters  patent,  be  sufficient  to  make  them  in 
heritable,  or  to  entitle  them  to  the  other  liber 
ties  and  immunities  of  Englishmen,  in  any  part 
of  the  English  dominions  ? 

As  I  am  willing  to  rest  the  point  between  us, 
upon  the  plantations  having  been,  from  their 
first  discovery  and  settlement  under  the  crown, 
a  part  of  the  dominions  of  England,  I  shall  not 
take  up  any  time  in  remarking  upon  your  argu 
ments,  to  show  that,  since  that  time,  they 
cannot  have  been  made  a  part  of  those  domin 
ions. 

The  remaining  parts  of  your  answer  are 
principally  intended  to  prove  that,  under  both 
charters,  it  hath  been  the  sense  of  the  people 
that  they  were  not  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
parliament,  and,  for  this  purpose,  you  have 
made  large  extracts  from  the  history  of  the 
colony.  Whilst  you  are  doing  honor  to  the 
book,  by  laying  any  stress  upon  its  authority, 
it  would  have  been  no  more  than  justice  to  the 
author,  if  you  had  cited  some  other  passage  in 
my  speech  to  the  history.  I  have  said  that, 
except  about  the  time  of  the  anarchy,  which 
preceded  the  restoration  of  king  Charles  the  II. 
I  have  not  discovered  that  the  authority  of 
parliament  had  been  called  in  question,  even 
by  particular  persons.  It  was,  as  I  take  it  from 
the  principles  imbibed  in  those  times  of  anarchy, 
that  the  persons  of  influence,  mentioned  in  the 
history,  disputed  the  authority  of  parliament, 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


but  the  government  would  not  venture  to  dis 
pute  it.  On  the  contrary,  in  four  or  five  years 
after  the  restoration,  the  government  declared 
to  the  king's  commissioners,  that  the  act  of 
navigation  had  been  for  some  years  observed 
here,  that  they  knew  not  of  its  being  greatly 
violated,  and  that  such  laws  as  appeared  to  be 
against  it,  were  repealed.  It  is  not  strange, 
that  these  persons  of  influence  should  prevail 
upon  a  great  part  of  the  people  to  fall  in,  for  a 
time,  with  their  opinions,  and  to  suppose  acts 
of  the  colony  necessary  to  give  force  to  acts  of 
parliament.  The  government,  however,  several 
years  before  the  charter  was  vacated,  more  ex 
plicitly  acknowledged  the  authority  of  parlia 
ment,  and  voted  that  their  governor  should 
take  the  oath  required  of  him,  faithfully  to  do 
and  perform  all  matters  and  things  enjoined 
him  by  the  acts  of  trade.  I  have  not  recited  in 
my  speech,  all  these  particulars,  nor  had  I 
them  all  in  my  mind  ;  but  I  think,  I  have  said 
nothing  inconsistent  with  them.  My  principles 
in  government,  are  still  the  same  with  what 
they  appear  to  be  in  the  book  you  refer  to  ;  nor 
am  I  conscious  that,  by  any  part  of  my  conduct 
I  have  given  cause  to  suggest  the  contrary. 

Inasmuch  as  you  say  that  I  have  not  partic 
ularly  pointed  out  to  you  the  acts  and  doings 
of  the  general  assembly,  which  relate  to  acts 
of  parliament,  I  will  do  it  now,  and  demonstrate 
to  you  that  such  acts  have  been  acknowledged 
by  the  assembly,  or  submitted  to  by  the  people. 

From  your  predecessors'  removal  to  America, 
until  the  year  1640,  there  was  no  session  of 
parliament ;  and  the  first  short  session,  of  a  few 
days  only,  in  1640,  and  the  whole  of  the  next 
session,  until  the  withdraw  of  the  king,  being 
taken  up  in  the  disputes  between  the  king  and 
the  parliament,  there  could  be  no  room  for 
plantation  affairs.  Soon  after  the  king's  with 
draw,  the  house  of  commons  passed  the  mem 
orable  order  of  1642;  and,  from  that  time  to 
the  restoration,  this  plantation  seems  to  have 
been  distinguished  from  the  rest ;  and  the 
several  acts  and  ordinances,  which  respected 
the  other  plantations,  were  never  enforced 
here  ;  and,  possibly,  under  color  of  the  exemp 
tion,  in  1642,  it  might  not  be  intended  they 
should  be  executed. 

For  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  after  the  restora 
tion,  there  was  no  officer  of  the  customs  in  the 
colony,  except  the  governor,  annually  elected 
by  the  people,  and  the  acts  of  trade  were  but 
little  regarded ;  nor  did  the  governor  take  the 
oath  required  of  governors,  by  the  act  of  the 
I2th  of  king  Charles  the  II.  until  the  time 
which  I  have  mentioned. — Upon  the  revolu 
tion,  the  force  of  an  act  of  parliament  was 


evident,  in  a  case  of  as  great  importance  as 
any  which  could  happen  to  the  colony.  King 
William  and  queen  Mary  were  proclaimed  in 
the  colony,  king  and  queen  of  England,  France, 
and  Ireland,  and  the  dominions  thereunto 
belonging,  in  the  room  of  king  James  ;  and 
this,  not  by  virtue  of  an  act  of  the  colony,  for 
no  such  act  ever  passed,  but  by  force  of  an  act 
of  parliament,  which  altered  the  succession  to 
the  crown,  and  for  which  the  people  waited 
several  weeks,  with  anxious  concern.  By  force 
of  another  act  of  parliament,  and  that  only, 
such  officers  of  the  colony  as  had  taken  the 
oaths  of  allegiance  to  king  James,  deemed 
themselves  at  liberty  to  take,  and  accordingly 
did  take,  the  oaths  to  king  William  and  queen 
Mary.  And  that  I  may  mention  other  acts  of 
the  like  nature  together,  it  is  by  force  of  an  act 
of  parliament,  that  the  illustrious  house  of 
Hanover  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Britain 
and  its  dominions,  and  by  several  other  acts, 
the  forms  of  the  oaths  have,  from  time  to  time, 
been  altered  ;  and,  by  a  late  act,  that  form  was 
established  which  every  one  of  us  has  complied 
with,  as  the  charter,  in  express  words,  requires, 
and  makes  our  duty.  Shall  we  now  dispute 
whether  acts  of  parliament  have  been  submitted 
to,  when  we  find  them  submitted  to,  in  points 
which  are  of  the  very  essence  of  our  constitu 
tion  ?  If  you  should  disown  that  authority, 
which  has  power  even  to  change  the  succession 
to  the  crown,  are  you  in  no  danger  of  denying 
the  authority  of  our  most  gracious  sovereign, 
which  I  am  sure  none  of  you  can  have  in  your 
thoughts  ? 

I  think  I  have  before  shewn  you,  gentlemen, 
what  must  have  been  the  sense  of  our  predeces 
sors  at  the  time  of  the  first  charter  ;  let  us  now, 
whilst  we  are  upon  the  acts  and  doings  of  the 
assembly,  consider  what  it  must  have  been  at 
the  time  of  the  second  charter.  Upon  the  first 
advice  of  the  revolution  in  England,  the 
authority  which  assumed  the  government, 
instructed  their  agents  to  petition  parliament 
to  restore  the  first  charter,  and  a  bill  for  that 
purpose  passed  the  house  of  commons,  but 
went  no  further.  Was  not  this  owning  the 
authority  of  parliament  ?  By  an  act  of  parlia 
ment,  passed  in  the  first  year  of  king  William 
and  queen  Mary,  a  form  of  oaths  was  estab 
lished,  to  be  taken  by  those  princes,  and  by  all 
succeeding  kings  and  queens  of  England,  at 
their  coronation ;  the  first  of  which  is,  that 
they  will  govern  the  people  of  the  kingdom, 
and  the  dominions  thereunto  belonging,  ac 
cording  to  the  statutes  in  parliament  agreed 
on,  and  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  same. 
When  the  colony  directed  their  agents  to  make 


86 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


their  humble  application  to  king  William,  to 
grant  the  second  charter,  they  could  have  no 
other  pretence  than,  as  they  were  inhabitants 
of  part  of  the  dominions  of  England  ;  and  they 
also  knew  the  oath  the  king  had  taken,  to 
govern  them  according  to  the  statutes  in  par 
liament.  Surely,  then,  at  the  time  of  this 
charter,  also,  it  was  the  sense  of  our  predeces 
sors,  as  well  as  of  the  king  and  of  the  nation, 
that  there  was,  and  would  remain,  a  supremacy 
in  the  parliament.  About  the  same  time,  they 
acknowledge,  in  an  address  to  the  king,  that 
they  have  no  power  to  make  laws  repugnant  to 
the  laws  of  England.  And,  immediately  after 
the  assumption  of  the  powers  of  government, 
by  virtue  of  the  new  charter,  an  act  was  passed 
to  revive,  for  a  limited  time,  all  the  local  laws 
of  the  colonies  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  New 
Plymouth,  respectively,  not  repugnant  to  the 
laws  of  England.  And,  at  the  same  session, 
an  act  passed,  establishing  naval  officers,  in 
several  ports  of  the  province,  for  which  this 
reason  is  given,  that  all  undue  trading,  contrary 
to  an  act  of  parliament,  made  in  the  fifteenth 
year  of  king  Charles  II.  may  be  prevented  in 
this,  their  majesty's  province.  The  act  of  this 
province,  passed  so  long  ago  as  the  second 
year  of  king  George  the  I.  for  stating  the  fees 
of  the  custom  house  officers,  must  have  relation 
to  the  acts  of  parliament,  by  which  they  are 
constituted  ;  and  the  provision  made  in  that 
act  of  the  province,  for  extending  the  port  of 
Boston  to  all  the  roads,  as  far  as  Cape  Cod, 
could  be  for  no  other  purpose,  than  for  the 
more  effectual  carrying  the  acts  of  trade  into 
execution.  And,  to  come  nearer  to  the  present 
time,  when  an  act  of  parliament  had  passed,  in 
1771,  for  putting  an  end  to  certain  unwarranta 
ble  schemes,  in  this  province,  did  the  authority 
of  government,  or  those  persons  more  immedi 
ately  affected  by  it,  ever  dispute  the  validity  of 
it  ?  On  the  contrary,  have  not  a  number  of 
acts  been  passed  in  the  province,  the  burdens 
to  which  such  persons  were  subjected,  might 
be  equally  apportioned  ;  and  have  not  all  those 
acts  of  the  province  been  very  carefully  framed, 
to  prevent  their  militating  with  the  act  of  par 
liament  ?  I  will  mention,  also,  an  act  of 
parliament,  made  in  the  first  year  of  queen 
Anne,  although  the  proceedings  upon  it  more 
immediately  respected  the  council.  By  this  act 
no  office,  civil  or  military,  shall  be  void,  by  the 
death  of  the  king,  but  shall  continue  six  months, 
unless  suspended,  or  made  void,  by  the  next 
successor.  By  force  of  this  act,  governor 
Dudley  continued  in  the  administration  six 
months  from  the  demise  of  queen  Anne, 
and  immediately  after,  the  council  assumed 


the  administration,  and  continued  it  until 
a  proclamation  arrived  from  king  George,  by 
virtue  of  which  governor  Dudley  reassumed 
the  government.  It  would  be  tedious  to 
enumerate  the  addresses,  votes  and  messages, 
of  both  the  council  and  house  of  representa 
tives,  to  the  same  purpose.  I  have  said  enough 
to  shew  that  this  government  has  submitted  to 
parliament,  from  a  conviction  of  its  constitu 
tional  supremacy,  and  this  not  from  inconsider- 
ation,  nor  merely  from  reluctance  at  the  idea 
of  contending  with  the  parent  state. 

If,  then,  I  have  made  it  appear  that,  both  by 
the  first  and  second  charters,  we  hold  our  lands, 
and  the  authority  of  government,  not  of  the 
king,  but  of  the  crown  of  England,  that  being 
a  dominion  of  the  crown  of  England,  we  are 
consequently  subject  to  the  supreme  authority 
of  England.  That  this  hath  been  the  sense 
of  this  plantation,  except  in  those  few  years 
when  the  principles  of  anarchy,  which  had 
prevailed  in  the  kingdom,  had  not  lost  their 
influence  here  ;  and  if,  upon  a  review  of  your 
principles,  they  shall  appear  to  you  to  have 
been  delusive  and  erroneous,  as  I  think  they 
must,  or,  if  you  shall  only  be  in  doubt  of  them, 
you  certainly  will  not  draw  that  conclusion, 
which  otherwise  you  might  do,  and  which  I 
am  glad  you  have  hitherto  avoided  ;  especially 
w  en  you  consider  the  obvious  and  inevitable 
distress  and  misery  of  independence  upon  oui 
mother  country,  if  such  independence  could  be 
allowed  or  maintained,  and  the  probability  of 
much  greater  distress,  which  we  are  not  able 
to  foresee. 

You  ask  me,  if  we  have  not  reason  to  fear 
we  shall  soon  be  reduced  to  a  worse  situa 
tion  than  that  of  the  colonies  of  France,  Spain, 
or  Holland.  I  may  safely  affirm  that  we  have 
not ;  that  we  have  no  reason  to  fear  any  evils 
from  a  submission  to  the  authority  of  parlia 
ment,  equal  to  what  we  must  feel  from  its 
authority  being  disputed,  from  an  uncertain 
rule  of  law  and  government.  For  more  than 
seventy  years  together,  the  supremacy  of  par 
liament  was  acknowledged,  without  complaints 
of  grievance.  The  effect  of  every  measure 
cannot  be  foreseen  by  human  wisdom.  What 
can  be  expected  more,  from  any  authority,  than 
when  the  unfitness  of  a  measure  is  discovered, 
to  make  it  void  ?  When,  upon  the  united 
representations  and  complaints  of  the  Ameri 
can  colonies,  any  acts  have  appeared  to  parlia 
ment  to  be  unsalutary,  have  there  not  been 
repeated  instances  of  the  repeal  of  such  acts  ? 
We  cannot  expect  these  instances  should  be 
carried  so  far  as  to  be  equivalent  to  a  disa 
vowal,  or  relinquishment  of  the  right  itself. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


Why,  then,  shall  we  fear  for  ourselves,  and  our 
posterity,  greater  rigor  of  government  for 
seventy  years  to  come,  than  what  we  and  our 
predecessors  have  felt,  in  the  seventy  years 
past. 

You  must  give  me  leave,  gentlemen,  in  a  few 
words,  to  vindicate  myself  from  a  charge,  in 
one  part  of  your  answer,  of  having,  by  my 
speech,  reduced  you  to  the  unhappy  alternative 
of  appearing,  by  your  silence,  to  acquiesce  in 
my  sentiments,  or  of  freely  discussing  this 
point  of  the  supremacy  of  parliament.  I  saw, 
as  I  have  before  observed,  the  capital  town  of 
the  province,  without  being  reduced  to  such  an 
alternative,  voluntarily,  not  only  discussing  but 
determining  this  point,  and  inviting  every  other 
town  and  district  in  the  province  to  do  the  like. 
I  saw  that  many  of  the  principal  towns  had 
followed  the  example,  and  that  there  was  immi 
nent  danger  of  a  compliance  in  most,  if  not  all 
the  rest,  in  order  to  avoid  being  distinguished. 
Was  not  I  reduced  to  the  alternative  of  ren 
dering  myself  justly  obnoxious  to  the  displea 
sure  of  my  sovereign,  by  acquiescing  in  such 
irregularities,  or  of  calling  upon  you  to  join 
with  me  in  suppressing  them  ?  Might  I  not 
rather  have  expected  from  you  an  expression 
of  your  concern,  that  any  persons  should  pro 
ject  and  prosecute  a  plan  of  measures,  which 
would  lay  me  under  the  necessity  of  bringing 
this  point  before  you?  It  was  so  far  from 
being  my  inclination,  that  nothing  short  of  a 
sense  of  my  duty  to  the  king,  and  the  obliga 
tions  I  am  under  to  consult  your  true  interest, 
could  have  compelled  me  to  it. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Council,  and 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 

We  all  profess  to  be  the  loyal  and  dutiful 
subjects  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain.  His 
majesty  considers  the  British  empire  as  one 
entire  dominion,  subject  to  one  legislative 
power ;  a  due  submission  to  which,  is  essen 
tial  to  the  maintenance  of  the  rights,  liberties 
and  privileges  of  the  several  parts  of  this  do 
minion.  We  have  abundant  evidence  of  his 
majesty's  tender  and  impartial  regard  to  the 
rights  of  his  subjects ;  and  I  am  authorized  to 
say,  that  "  his  majesty  will  most  graciously 
approve  of  every  constitutional  measure  thai 
may  contribute  to  the  peace,  the  happiness 
and  prosperity  of  his  colony  of  Massachusetts- 
Bay,  and  which  may  have  the  effect  to  shev, 
to  the  world,  that  he  has  no  wish  beyond  tha 
of  reigning  in  the  hearts  and  affections  ol 
his  people." 

T.  HUTCHINSON. 


ANSWER  OF  THE    HOUSE   OF  REPRE 
SENTATIVES. 

O   THE  SPEECH  OF  THE  GOVERNOR,  OF  FEB 
RUARY   SIXTEENTH;  MARCH  2.  1773. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency, 

In  your  speech,  at  the  opening  of  the  present 
ession,  your  excellency  expressed  your  dis 
pleasure  at  some  late  proceedings  of  the  town 
of  Boston,  and  other  principal  towns  in  the 
province.  And,  in  another  speech  to  both 
louses,  we  have  your  repeated  exceptions  at 
the  same  proceedings,  as  being  "  unwarrant 
able,"  and  of  a  dangerous  nature  and  tendency  ; 
against  which,  you  thought  yourself  bound  to 
call  upon  us  to  join  with  you  in  bearing  a 
proper  testimony."  This  house  have  not  dis 
covered  any  principles  advanced  by  the  town 
of  Boston,  that  are  unwarrantable  by  the  con 
stitution  ;  nor  does  it  appear  to  us,  that  they 
have  "  invited  every  other  town  and  district  in 
the  province  to  adopt  their  principles."  We 
are  fully  convinced,  that  it  is  our  duty  to  bear 
our  testimony  against  "  innovations,  of  a  dan 
gerous  nature  and  tendency ;  "  but  it  is  clearly 
our  opinion,  that  it  is  the  indisputable  right  of 
all,  or  any  of  his  majesty's  subjects,  in  this 
province,  regularly  and  orderly  to  meet  to 
gether,  to  state  the  grievances  they  labor  under ; 
and  to  propose,  and  unite  in  such  constitutional 
measures,  as  they  shall  judge  necessary  or 
proper,  to  obtain  redress.  This  right  has  been 
frequently  exercised  by  his  majesty's  subjects 
within  the  realm ;  and  we  do  not  recollect  an 
instance,  since  the  happy  revolution,  when  the 
two  houses  of  parliament  have  been  called 
upon  to  discountenance,  or  bear  their  testimony 
against  it,  in  a  speech  from  the  throne. 

Your  excellency  is  pleased  to  take  notice  of 
some  things  which  we  "  allege,"  ^n  our  answer 
to  your  first  speech ;  and  the  observation  you 
make,  we  must  confess,  is  as  natural  and  un 
deniably  true,  as  any  one  that  could  have  been 
made  ;  that,  "  if  our  foundation  shall  fail  us 
in  every  part  of  it,  the  fabric  we  have  raised 
upon  it  must  certainly  fall."  You  think  this 
foundation  will  fail  us  ;  but  we  wish  your  ex 
cellency  had  condescended  to  a  consideration 
of  what  we  have  "adduced  in  support  of  our 
principles."  We  might  then,  perhaps,  have 
had  some  things  offered  for  our  conviction, 
more  than  bare  affirmations  ;  which,  we  must 
beg  to  be  excused  if  we  say,  are  far  from  being 
sufficient,  though  they  came  with  your  excel 
lency's  authority,  for  which,  however,  we  have 
a  due  regard. 
Your  excellency  says  that,  "  as  English  sub- 


88 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


jects,  and  agreeable  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
feudal  tenure,  all  our  lands  are  held  mediately, 
or  immediately,  of  the  crown."  We  trust  your 
excellency  does  not  mean  to  introduce  the 
feudal  system  in  its  perfection  ;  which,  to  use 
the  words  of  one  of  our  greatest  historians, 
was  "  a  state  of  perpetual  war,  anarchy,  and 
confusion,  calculated  solely  for  defence  against 
the  assaults  of  any  foreign  power  ;  but,  in  its 
provision  for  the  interior  order  and  tranquillity 
of  society,  extremely  defective.  A  constitution, 
so  contradictory  to  all  the  principles  that 
govern  mankind,  could  never  be  brought  about, 
but  by  foreign  conquest  or  native  usurpation." 
— And  a  very  celebrated  writer  calls  it,  "  that 
most  iniquitous  and  absurd  form  of  govern 
ment,  by  which  human  nature  was  so  shame 
fully  degraded."  This  system  of  iniquity,  by  a 
strange  kind  of  fatality,  "  though  originally 
formed  for  an  encampment,  and  for  military 
purposes  only,  spread  over  a  great  part  of 
Europe ; "  and,  to  serve  the  purposes  of 
oppression  and  tyranny,  "  was  adopted  by 
princes,  and  wrought  into  their  civil  constitu 
tions;"  and,  aided  by  the  canon  law,  cal 
culated  by  the  Roman  Pontiff  to  exalt  himself 
above  all  that  is  called  God,  it  prevailed  to  the 
almost  utter  extinction  of  knowledge,  virtue, 
religion  and  liberty  from  that  part  of  the  earth. 
But,  from  the  time  of  the  reformation,  in  pro 
portion  as  knowledge,  which  then  darted  its 
rays  upon  the  benighted  world,  increased  and 
spread  among  the  people,  they  grew  impatient 
under  this  heavy  yoke  ;  and  the  most  virtuous 
and  sensible  among  them,  to  whose  steadfast 
ness  we,  in  this  distant  age  and  climate,  are 
greatly  indebted,  were  determined  to  get  rid 
of  it ;  and,  though  they  have  in  a  great  measure 
subdued  its  power  and  influence  in  England, 
they  have  never  yet  totally  eradicated  its 
principles. 

Upon  these  principles,  the  king  claimed  an 
absolute  right  to,  and  a  perfect  estate  in,  all  the 
lands  within  his  dominions  ;  but  how  he  came 
by  this  absolute  right  and  perfect  estate,  is  a 
mystery  which  we  have  never  seen  unravelled, 
nor  is  it  our  business  or  design,  at  present,  to 
inquire.  He  granted  parts  or  parcels  of  it  to 
his  friends,  the  great  men,  and  they  granted 
lesser  parcels  to  their  tenants.  All,  therefore, 
derived  their  right  and  held  their  lands,  upon 
these  principles,  mediately  or  immediately  of 
the  king,  which  Mr.  Blackstone,  however,  calls, 
"  in  reality,  a  mere  fiction  of  our  English 
tenures." 

By  what  right,  in  nature  and  reason,  the 
Christian  princes  in  Europe,  claimed  the  lands 
of  heathen  people,  upon  a  discovery  made  by 


any  of  their  subjects,  is  equally  mysterious. 
Such,  however,  was  the  doctrine  universally 
prevailing,  when  the  lands  in  America  were 
discovered  ;  but,  as  the  people  of  England, 
upon  those  principles,  held  all  the  lands  they 
possessed,  by  grants  from  the  king,  and  the 
king  had  never  granted  the  lands  in  America  to 
them,  it  is  certain  they  could  have  no  sort  of 
claim  to  them.  Upon  the  principles  advanced, 
the  lordship  and  dominion,  like  that  of  the  lands 
in  England,  was  in  the  king  solely,  and  a  right 
from  thence  accrued  to  him,  of  disposing  such 
territories,  under  such  tenure,  and  for  such 
services  to  be  performed,  as  the  king  or  lord 
thought  proper.  But  how  the  grantees  became 
subjects  of  England,  that  is,  the  supreme  au 
thority  of  the  parliament,  your  excellency  has 
not  explained  to  us.  We  conceive  that,  upon 
the  feudal  principles,  all  power  is  in  the  king ; 
they  afford  us  no  idea  of  parliament.  "  The 
lord  was  in  early  times,  the  legislator  and  judge 
over  all  his  feudatories,"  says  Judge  Blackstone. 
By  the  struggle  for  liberty  in  England,  from  the 
days  of  king  John,  to  the  last  happy  revolution, 
the  constitution  has  been  gradually  changing 
for  the  better ;  and,  upon  the  more  rational 
principles  that  all  men,  by  nature,  are  in  a  state 
of  equality  in  respect  of  jurisdiction  and  do 
minion,  power  in  England  has  been  more 
equally  divided.  And  thus,  also,  in  America, 
though  we  hold  our  lands  agreeably  to  the 
feudal  principles  of  the  king,  yet  our  predeces 
sors  wisely  took  care  to  enter  into  compact 
with  the  king,  that  power  here  should  also  be 
equally  divided,  agreeably  to  the  original  funda 
mental  principles  of  the  English  constitution, 
declared  in  Magna  Charta,  and  other  laws  and 
statutes  of  England,  made  to  confirm  them. 

Your  excellency  says,  "  you  can  by  no  means 
concede  to  us  that  it  is  now,  or  was,  when  the 
plantations  were  first  granted,  the  prerogative 
of  the  kings  of  England,  to  constitute  a  number 
of  new  governments,  altogether  independent  of 
the  sovereign  authority  of  the  English  empire." 
By  the  feudal  principles,  upon  which  you  say 
"  all  the  grants  which  have  been  made  ot 
America  are  founded,  the  constitution  of  the 
emperor  have  the  force  of  law."  If  our  gov 
ernment  be  considered  as  merely  feudatory, 
we  are  subject  to  the  king's  absolute  will,  and 
there  is  no  authority  of  parliament,  as  the  sov 
ereign  authority  of  the  British  empire.  Upon 
these  principles,  what  could  hinder  the  king's 
constituting  a  number  of  independent  govern 
ments  in  America  ?  That  king  Charles  the  I. 
did  actually  set  up  a  government  in  this  colony, 
conceding  to  it  powers  of  making  and  executing 
laws,  without  any  reservation  to  the  English 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


89 


parliament,  of  authority  to  make  future  laws 
binding  therein,  is  a  fact  which  your  excellency 
has  not  disproved,  if  you  have  denied  it.  Nor 
have  you  shpwn  that  the  parliament  or  nation 
objected  to  it ;  from  whence  we  have  inferred 
that  it  was  an  acknowledged  right.  And  we 
cannot  conceive,  why  the  king  has  not  the  same 
right  to  alienate  and  dispose  of  countries  ac 
quired  by  the  discovery  of  his  subjects,  as  he 
has  to  "  restore,  upon  a  treaty  of  peace,  coun 
tries  which  have  been  acquired  in  war,"  carried 
on  at  the  charge  of  the  nation  ;  or  to  "  sell  and 
deliver  up  any  part  of  his  dominions  to  a  for 
eign  prince  or  state,  against  the  general  sense 
of  the  nation ;  "  which  is  "  an  act  of  power,"  or 
prerogative,  which  your  excellency  allows. 
You  tell  us,  that  "  when  any  new  countries  are 
discovered  by  English  subjects,  according  to 
the  general  law  and  usage  of  nations,  they  be 
come  part  of  the  state."  The  law  of  nations  is, 
or  ought  to  be,  founded  on  the  law  of  reason. 
It  was  the  saying  of  Sir  Edwin  Sandis,  in  the 
great  case  of  the  union  of  the  realm  of  Scotland 
with  England,  which  is  applicable  to  our  pres 
ent  purpose,  that  "there  being  no  precedent  for 
this  case  in  the  law,  the  law  is  deficient ;  and 
the  law  being  deficient,  recourse  is  to  be  had  to 
custom ;  and  custom  being  insufficient,  we 
must  recur  to  natural  reason  " — the  greatest  of 
all  authorities,  which,  he  adds,  "is  the  law  of 
nations."  The  opinions,  therefore,  and  deter 
minations  of  the  greatest  sages  and  judges  of 
the  law  in  the  exchequer  chamber,  ought  not  to 
be  considered  as  decisive  or  binding  in  our 
present  controversy  with  your  excellency,  any 
further  than  they  are  consonant  to  natural  rea 
son.  If,  however,  we  were  to  recur  to  such 
opinions  and  determinations,  we  should  find 
very  great  authorities  in  our  favor,  to  show  that 
the  statutes  of  England  are  not  binding  on 
those  who  are  not  represented  in  parliament 
there.  The  opinion  of  Lord  Coke,  that  Ireland 
was  bound  by  statutes  of  England,  wherein 
they  were  named,  if  compared  with  his  other 
writings,  appears  manifestly  to  be  grounded 
upon  a  supposition,  that  Ireland  had,  by  an  act 
of  their  own,  in  the  reign  of  king  John,  con 
sented  to  be  thus  bound  ;  and,  upon  any  other 
supposition,  this  opinion  would  be  against  rea 
son  ;  for  consent  only  gives  human  laws  their 
force.  We  beg  leave,  upon  what  your  excel 
lency  has  observed  of  the  colony  becoming  a 
part  of  the  state,  to  subjoin  the  opinions  of 
several  learned  civilians,  as  quoted  by  a  very 
able  lawyer  in  this  country.  "  Colonies,"  says 
Puffendorf,  "  are  settled  in  different  methods  ; 
for,  either  the  colony  continues  a  part  of  the 
commonwealth  it  was  set  out  from,  or  else  is 


obliged  to  pay  a  dutiful  regard  to  the  mother 
commonwealth,  and  to  be  in  readiness  to  de 
fend  and  vindicate  its  honor,  and  so  is  united 
by  a  sort  of  unequal  confederacy  ;  or,  lastly,  is 
erected  into  a  separate  commonwealth,  and 
assumes  the  same  rights  with  the  state  it  de 
scended  from."  And  king  Tullius,  as  quoted 
by  the  same  learned  author  from  Grotius,  says, 
"  we  look  upon  it  to  be  neither  truth  nor  justice, 
that  mother  cities  ought,  of  necessity,  and  by 
the  law  of  nature,  to  rule  over  the  colonies." 

Your  excellency  has  misinterpreted  what  we 
have  said,  "  that  no  country,  by  the  common 
law,  was  subject  to  the  laws  or  the  parliament, 
but  the  realm  of  England  ;  "  and  are  pleased 
to  tell  us,  "  that  we  have  expressed  ourselves 
incautiously."  We  beg  leave  to  recite  the 
words  of  the  judges  of  England,  in  the  before 
mentioned  case,  to  our  purpose.  "  If  a  king  go 
out  of  England  with  a  company  of  his  servants, 
allegiance  remaineth  among  his  subjects  and 
servants,  although  he  be  out  of  his  realm, 
whereto  his  laws  are  confined."  We  did  not 
mean  to  say,  as  your  excellency  would  sup 
pose,  that  "  the  common  law  prescribes  limits 
to  the  extent  of  the  legislative  power,"  though 
we  shall  always  affirm  it  to  be  true,  of  the  law 
of  reason  and  natural  equity.  Your  excellency 
thinks  you  have  made  it  appear,  that  the 
"  colony  of  Massachusetts-Bay  is  holden  as 
feudatory  of  the  imperial  crown  of  England  ;  " 
and,  therefore,  you  say,  "  to  use  the  words  of  a 
very  great  authority  in  a  case,  in  some  respects 
analogous  to  it,"  being  feudatory,  it  necessarily 
follows  that  "  it  is  under  the  government  of 
the  king's  laws."  Your  excellency  has  not 
named  this  authority ;  but  we  conceive  his 
meaning  must  be,  that,  being  feudatory,  it  is 
under  the  government  of  the  king's  laws  abso 
lutely  ;  for,  as  we  have  before  said,  the  feudal 
system  admits  of  no  idea  of  the  authority  of 
parliament ;  and  this  would  have  been  the  case 
of  the  colony,  but  for  the  compact  with  the 
king  in  the  charter. 

Your  excellency  says,  that  "  persons  thus 
holding  under  the  crown  of  England,  remain 
or  become  subjects  of  England,"  by  which,  we 
suppose  your  excellency  to  mean,  subject  to  the 
supreme  authority  of  parliament,  "  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  as  fully  as  if  any  of  the  royal 
manors,  etc.,  within  the  realm,  had  been  granted 
to  them  upon  the  like  tenure."  We  appre 
hend,  with  submission,  your  excellency  is  mis 
taken  in  supposing  that  our  allegiance  is  due 
to  the  crown  of  England.  Every  man  swears 
allegiance  for  himself,  to  his  own  king,  in  his 
natural  person.  "  Every  subject  is  presumed 
by  law  to  be  sworn  to  the  king,  which  is  to  his 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


natural  person,"  says  lord  Coke — Rep.  on  Cal 
vin's  case.  "  The  allegiance  is  due  to  his  nat 
ural  body;"  and,  he  says,  "in  the  reign  of 
Edward  II.  the  Spencers,  the  father  and  the 
son,  to  cover  the  treason  hatched  in  their 
hearts,  invented  this  damnable  and  damned 
opinion,  that  homage  and  oath  of  allegiance 
was  more  by  reason  of  the  king's  crown,  that 
is,  of  his  politic  capacity,  than  by  reason  of  the 
person  of  the  king ;  upon  which  opinion  they 
inferred  execrable  and  detestable  consequents." 
The  judges  of  England,  all  but  one,  in 
the  case  of  the  union  between  Scotland  and 
England,  declared  that  "  allegiance  followeth 
the  natural  person,  not  the  politic,"  and,  "  to 
prove  the  allegiance  to  be  tied  to  the  body  nat 
ural  of  the  king,  and  not  to  the  body  politic,  the 
lord  Coke  cited  the  phrases  of  divers  statutes, 
mentioning  our  natural  liege  sovereign."  If, 
then,  the  homage  and  allegiance  is  not  to  the 
body  politic  of  the  king,  then  it  is  not  to  him  as 
the  head,  or  any  part  of  that  legislative  au 
thority,  which  your  excellency  says  "  is  equally 
extensive  with  the  authority  of  the  crown 
throughout  every  part  of  the  dominion  ;"  and 
your  excellency's  observation  thereupon  must 
fail.  The  same  judges  mention  the  allegiance 
of  a  subject  to  the  kings  of  England,  who  is 
out  of  the  reach  and  extent  of  the  laws  of  Eng 
land,  which  is  perfectly  reconcilable  with  the 
principles  of  our  ancestors,  quoted  before  from 
your  excellency's  histoiy,  but,  upon  your  excel 
lency's  principles,  appears  to  us  to  be  absurdity. 
The  judges,  speaking  of  a  subject,  say,  "  al 
though  his  birth  was  out  of  the  bounds  of  the 
kingdom  of  England,  and  out  of  the  reach  and 
extent  of  the  laws  of  England,  yet,  if  it  were 
within  the  allegiance  of  the  king  of  England, 
etc.,  Normandy,  Aquitain,  Gascoign,  and  other 
places,  within  the  limits  of  France,  and,  conse 
quently,  out  of  the  realm  or  bounds  of  the  king 
dom  of  England,  were  in  subjection  to  the  kings 
of  England."  And  the  judges  say,  "Rex  et 
Regnum,  be  not  so  relatives,  as  a  king  can  be 
king  of  but  one  kingdom,  which  clearly  holdeth 
not,  but  that  his  kingly  power  extending  to 
divers  nations  and  kingdoms,  all  owe  him 
equal  subjection,  and  are  equally  born  to  the 
benefit  of  his  protection  ;  and  although  he  is 
to  govern  them  by  their  distinct  laws,  yet  any 
one  of  the  people  coming  into  the  other,  is  to 
have  the  benefit  of  the  laws,  wheresoever  he 
cometh."  So  they  are  not  to  be  deemed  aliens, 
as  your  excellency  in  your  speech  supposes,  in 
any  of  the  dominions,  all  which  accords  with 
the  principles  our  ancestors  held.  "  And  he  is 
to  bear  the  burden  of  taxes  of  the  place  where 
he  cometh,  but  living  in  one,  or  for  his  liveli 


hood  in  one,  he  is  not  to  be  taxed  in  the  other, 
because  laws  ordain  taxes,  impositions,  and 
charges,  as  a  discipline  of  subjection,  particu 
larized  to  every  particular  nation."  Nothing, 
we  think,  can  be  more  clear  to 'our  purpose 
than  the  decision  of  judges,  perhaps  as  learned 
as  ever  adorned  the  English  nation,  or  in  favor 
of  America,  in  her  present  controversy  with 
the  mother  state. 

Your  excellency  says  that,  by  "  our  not  dis 
tinguishing  between  the  crown  of  England  and 
the  kings  and  queens  of  England,  in  their  per 
sonal  or  natural  capacities,  we  have  been  led 
into  a  fundamental  error."  Upon  this  very 
distinction  we  have  availed  ourselves.  We  have 
said,  that  our  ancestors  considered  the  land, 
which  they  took  possession  of  in  America,  as 
out  of  the  bounds  of  the  kingdom  of  England, 
and  out  of  the  reach  and  extent  of  the  laws  of 
England ;  and  that  the  king  also,  even  in  the 
act  of  granting  the  charter,  considered  the  ter 
ritory  as  not  within  the  realm  ;  that  the  king 
had  an  absolute  right  in  himself  to  dispose  of 
the  lands,  and  that  this  was  not  disputed  by 
the  nation  ;  nor  could  the  lands,  on  any  solid 
grounds,  be  claimed  by  the  nation  ;  and,  there 
fore,  our  ancestors  received  the  lands,  by  grant, 
from  the  king ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  com 
pacted  with  him,  and  promised  him  homage 
and  allegiance,  not  in  his  public  or  politic,  but 
natural  capacity  only.  If  it  be  difficult  for  us 
to  show  how  the  king  acquired  a  title  to  this 
country  in  his  natural  capacity,  or  separate 
from  his  relation  to  his  subjects,  which  we  con 
fess,  yet  we  conceive  it  will  be  equally  difficult 
for  your  excellency  to  show  how  the  body  poli 
tic  and  nation  of  England  acquired  it.  Our 
ancestors  supposed  it  was  acquired  by  neither; 
and,  therefore,  they  declared,  as  we  have  before 
quoted  from  your  history,  that,  saving  their 
actual  purchase  from  the  natives  of  the  soil, 
the  dominion,  the  lordship,  and  sovereignty, 
they  had,  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man,  no 
right  and  title  to  what  they  possessed.  How 
much  clearer  then,  in  natural  reason  and  equity, 
must  our  title  be,  who  hold  estates  dearly  pur 
chased  at  the  expense  of  our  own,  as  well  as 
our  ancestors'  labor,  and  defended  by  them 
with  treasure  and  blood. 

Your  excellency  has  been  pleased  to  confirm, 
rather  than  deny  or  confute,  a  piece  of  history, 
which,  you  say,  we  took  from  an  anonymous 
pamphlet,  and  by  which  you  "  fear  we  have 
been  too  easily  misled."  It  may  be  gathered 
from  your  own  declaration,  and  other  authori 
ties,  besides  the  anonymous  pamphlet,  that  the 
house  of  commons  took  exception,  not  at  the 
king's  having  made  an  absolute  grant  of  the 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


territory,  but  at  the  claim  of  an  exclusive  right 
to  the  fishery  on  the  banks  and  sea  coast,  by 
virtue  of  the  patent.  At  this  you  say  "  the 
house  of  commons  was  alarmed,  and  a  bill  was 
brought  in  for  allowing  a  free  fishery."  And, 
upon  this  occasion,  your  excellency  allows  that 
"  one  of  the  secretaries  of  state  declared,  that 
the  plantations  were  not  annexed  to  the  crown, 
and  so  were  not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  par 
liament."  If  we  should  concede  to  what  your 
excellency  supposes  might  possibly,  or,  "  per 
haps,"  be  the  case,  that  the  secretary  made 
this  declaration  "  as  his  own  opinion,"  the 
event  showed  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  the 
king  too  ;  for  it  is  not  to  be  accounted  for  upon 
any  other  principle,  that  he  would  have  denied 
his  royal  assent  to  a  bill,  formed  for  no  other 
purpose,  but  to  grant  his  subjects  in  England 
the  privilege  of  fishing  on  the  sea  coasts  in 
America.  The  account  published  by  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges  himself,  of  the  proceedings  of 
parliament  on  this  occasion,  your  excellency 
thinks  will  remove  all  doubt  of  the  sense  of 
the  nation,  and  of  the  patentees  of  this  patent 
or  charter,  in  1620.  "This  narrative,"  you 
say,  "  has  all  the  appearance  of  truth  and  sin 
cerity,"  which  we  do  not  deny ;  and,  to  us,  it 
carries  this  conviction  with  it,  that  "  what  was 
objected "  in  parliament,  was  the  exclusive 
claim  of  fishing  only.  His  imagining  that  he 
had  satisfied  the  house,  after  divers  attendan 
ces,  that  the  planting  a  colony  was  of  much 
more  consequence  than  a  simple  disorderly 
course  of  fishing,  is  sufficient  for  our  convic 
tion.  We  know  that  the  nation  was  at  that 
time  alarmed  with  apprehensions  of  monopo 
lies  ;  and,  if  the  patent  of  New  England  was 
presented  by  the  two  houses  as  a  grievance,  it 
did  not  show,  as  your  excellency  supposes, 
"  the  sense  they  then  had  of  their  authority 
over  this  new  acquired  territory, "but  only  their 
.sense  of  the  grievance  of  a  monopoly  of  the 
sea. 

We  are  happy  to  hear  your  excellency  say, 
that  "  our  remarks  upon,  and  construction  of 
the  words,  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  Eng 
land,  are  much  the  same  with  those  of  the 
council."  It  serves  to  confirm  us  in  our  opin 
ion,  in  what  we  take  to  be  the  most  important 
matter  of  difference  between  your  excellency 
and  the  two  houses:  After  saying,  that  the 
statute  of  yth  and  8th  of  William  and  Mary 
favors  the  construction  of  the  words,  as  intend 
ing  such  laws  of  England  as  are  made  more 
immediately  to  respect  us,  you  tell  us,  that 
"  the  province  agent,  Mr.  Dummer,  in  his  much 
applauded  defence,  says  that  then  a  law  of 
the  plantations  may  be  said  to  be  repugnant  to 


a  law  made  in  Great  Britain,  when  it  flatly  con 
tradicts  it,  so  far  as  the  law  made  there  men 
tions  and  relates  to  the  plantations."  This  is 
plain  and  obvious  to  common  sense,  and,  there 
fore,  cannot  be  denied.  But,  if  your  excellency 
would  read  a  page  or  two  further,  in  that  ex 
cellent  defence,  you  will  see  that  he  mentions 
this  as  the  sense  of  the  phrase,  as  taken  from 
an  act  of  parliament,  rather  than  as  the  sense 
he  would  choose  himself  to  put  upon  it ;  and 
he  expressly  designs  to  show,  in  vindication  of 
the  charter,  that,  in  that  sense  of  words,  there 
never  was  a  law  made  in  the  plantations  repug 
nant  to  the  laws  of  Great  Britain.  He  gives 
another  construction,  much  more  likely  to  be 
the  true  intent  of  the  words,  namely,  "  that  the 
patentees  shall  not  presume,  under  color  of 
their  particular  charters,  to  make  any  laws 
inconsistent  with  the  great  charter,  and  other 
laws  of  England,  by  which  the  lives,  liberties, 
and  properties  of  Englishmen  are  secured." 
This  is  the  sense  in  which  our  ancestors  un 
derstood  the  words  ;  and,  therefore,  they  are 
unwilling  to  conform  to  the  acts  of  trade,  and 
disregarded  them  till  they  made  provision  to 
give  them  force  in  the  colony,  by  a  law  of  their 
own  ;  saying,  "  that  the  laws  of  England  did 
not  reach  America ;  and  those  acts  were  an  in 
vasion  of  their  rights,  liberties,  and  properties," 
because  they  were  not  "  represented  in  parlia 
ment."  The  right  of  being  governed  by  laws, 
which  were  made  by  persons  in  whose  election 
they  had  a  voice,  they  looked  upon  as  the 
foundation  of  English  liberties.  By  the  com 
pact  with  the  king,  in  the  charter,  they  were  to 
be  as  free  in  America  as  they  would  have  been 
if  they  had  remained  within  the  realm  ;  and, 
therefore,  they  freely  asserted  that  they  "  were 
to  be  governed  by  laws  made  by  themselves, 
and  by  officers  chosen  by  themselves."  Mr. 
Dummer  says,  "  it  seems  reasonable  enough  to 
think  that  the  crown,"  and,  he  might  have 
added,  our  ancestors,  "  intended  by  this  injunc 
tion  to  provide  for  all  its  subjects,  that  they 
might  not  be  oppressed  by  arbitrary  power ; 
but,  being  still  subjects,  they  should  be  pro 
tected  by  the  same  mild  laws,  and  enjoy  the 
same  happy  government,  as  if  they  continued 
within  the  realm."  And,  considering  the  words 
of  the  charter  in  this  light,  he  looks  upon 
them  as  designed  to  be  a  fence  against  oppres 
sion  and  despotic  power.  But  the  construction 
which  your  excellency  puts  upon  the  words, 
reduces  us  to  a  state  of  vassalage,  and  exposes 
us  to  oppression  and  despotic  power,  whenever 
a  parliament  shall  see  fit  to  make  laws  for  that 
purpose,  and  put  them  in  execution. 
We  flatter  ourselves  that,  from  the  large 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


extracts  we  have  made  from  your  excellency's 
history  of  the  colony,  it  appears  evidently  that, 
under  both  charters,  it  hath  been  the  sense  of 
the  people  and  of  the  government,  that  they 
were  not  under  the  jurisdiction  of  parliament. 
We  pray  you  again  to  turn  to  those  quotations, 
and  our  observations  upon  them  ;  and  we  wish 
to  have  your  excellency's  judicious  remarks. 
When  we  adduced  that  history,  to  prove  that 
the  sentiments  of  private  persons  of  influence, 
four  or  five  years  after  the  restoration,  were 
very  different  from  what  your  excellency  appre 
hended  them  to  be,  when  you  delivered  your 
speech,  you  seem  to  concede  to  it,  by  telling  us, 
"  it  was,  as  you  take  it,  from  the  principles 
imbibed  in  those  times  of  anarchy,  (preceding 
the  restoration,)  that  they  disputed  the  authority 
of  parliament ;  "  but,  you  add,  "  the  govern 
ment  would  not  venture  to  dispute  it."  We 
find,  in  the  same  history,  a  quotation  from  a 
letter  of  Mr.  Stoughton,  dated  seventeen  years 
after  the  restoration,  mentioning  "  the  country's 
not  taking  notice  of  the  acts  of  navigation,  to 
observe  them."  And  it  was,  as  we  take  it, 
after  that  time  that  the  government  declared, 
in  a  letter  to  their  agents,  that  they  had  not 
submitted  to  them  ;  and  they  ventured  to  "  dis 
pute  "  the  jurisdiction,  asserting  that  they 
apprehended  the  acts  to  be  an  invasion  of  the 
rights,  liberties,  and  properties  of  the  subjects 
of  his  majesty  in  the  colony,  they  not  being 
represented  in  parliament,  and  that  "  the  laws 
of  England  did  not  reach  America."  It  very 
little  avails  in  proof,  that  they  conceded  to  the 
supreme  authority  of  parliament,  their  telling 
the  commissioners,  "  that  the  act  of  navigation 
had  for  some  years  before  been  observed  here ; 
that  they  knew  not  of  its  being  greatly  violated  ; 
and  that  such  laws  as  appeared  to  be  against 
it,  were  repealed."  It  may  as  truly  be  said  now, 
that  the  revenue  acts  are  observed  by  some  of 
the  people  of  this  province  ;  but  it  cannot  be 
said  that  the  government  and  people  of  this 
province  have  conceded  that  the  parliament  had 
authority  to  make  such  acts  to  be  observed 
here.  Neither  does  their  declaration  to  the 
commissioners,  that  such  laws  as  appeared  to 
be  against  the  act  of  navigation,  were  repealed, 
prove  their  concession  of  the  authority  of  par 
liament,  by  any  means,  so  much  as  their  mak 
ing  provision  for  giving  force  to  an  act  of 
parliament  within  this  province,  by  a  deliberate 
and  solemn  act  or  law  of  their  own,  proves  the 
contrary. 

^,You  tell  us,  that  "the  government,  four  or 
five  years  before  the  charter  was  vacated,  more 
explicitly,"  that  is,  than  by  a  conversation  with 
the  commissioners,  "acknowledged  the  author 


ity  of  parliament,  and  voted  that  their  governor 
should  take  the  oath  required  of  him,  faithfully 
to  do  and  perform  all  matters  and  things  en 
joined  him  by  the  acts  of  trade."  But  does  this, 
may  it  please  your  excellency,  show  their  ex 
plicit  acknowledgment  of  the  authority  of  par 
liament  ?  Does  it  not  rather  show  directly  the 
contrary  ?  For,  what  could  there  be  for  their 
vote,  or  authority,  to  require  him  to  take  the 
oath  already  required  of  him  by  the  act  of  par 
liament,  unless  both  he  and  they  judged  that 
an  act  of  parliament  was  not  of  force  sufficient 
to  bind  him  to  take  such  an  oath  ?  We  do  not 
deny,  but,  on  the  contrary,  are  fully  persuaded, 
that  your  excellency's  principles  in  government 
are  still  of  the  same  with  what  they  appear  to 
be  in  the  history  ;  for  you  there  say,  that  "  the 
passing  this  law,  plainly  shows  the  wrong 
sense  they  had  of  the  relation  they  stood  unto 
England."  But  we  are  from  hence  convinced, 
that  your  excellency,  when  you  wrote  the  his 
tory,  was  of  our  mind  in  this  respect,  that  our 
ancestors,  in  passing  the  law,  discovered  their 
opinion,  that  they  were  without  the  jurisdiction 
of  parliament ;  for  it  was  upon  this  principle 
alone,  they  shewed  the  wrong  sense  they  had, 
in  your  excellency's  opinion,  of  the  relation  they 
stood  unto  England. 

Your  excellency,  in  your  second  speech,  con 
descends  to  point  out  to  us  the  acts  and  doings 
of  the  general  assembly,  which  relates  to  acts 
of  parliament,  which,  you  think,  "  demonstrates 
that  they  have  been  acknowledged  by  the  as 
sembly,  or  submitted  to  by  the  people,"  neither 
of  which,  in  our  opinion,  shows  that  it  was 
the  sense  of  the  nation,  and  our  predecessors, 
when  they  first  took  possession  of  this  planta 
tion,  or  colony,  by  a  grant  and  charter  from 
the  crown,  that  they  were  to  remain  subject  to 
the  supreme  authority  of  the  English  parlia 
ment. 

Your  excellency  seems  chiefly  to  rely  upon 
our  ancestors,  after  the  revolution,  "  proclaim 
ing  king  William  and  queen  Mary,  in  the  room 
of  king  James,"  and  taking  the  oaths  to  them, 
"  the  alteration  of  the  form  of  oaths,  from  time 
to  time,"  and  finally,  "the  establishment  of  the 
form,  which  every  one  of  us  has  complied  with, 
as  the  charter,  in  express  terms,  requires  and 
makes  our  duty."  We  do  not  know  that  it  has 
ever  been  a  point  in  dispute,  whether  the  kings 
of  England  were  ipso  facto  kings  in,  and  over, 
this  colony,  or  province.  The  compact  was 
made  between  king  Charles  the  I.  his  heirs  and 
successors,  and  the  governor  and  company, 
their  heirs  and  successors.  It  is  easy,  upon 
this  principle,  to  account  for  the  acknowledg 
ment  of,  and  submission  to,  king  William  and 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


93 


queen  Mary,  as  successors  of  Charles  the  I.  in 
the  room  of  king  James ;  besides,  it  is  to  be 
considered,  that  the  people  in  the  colony,  as 
well  as  in  England,  had  suffered  under  the 
tyrant  James,  by  which  he  had  alike  forfeited 
his  right  to  reign  over  both.  There  had  been  a 
revolution  here,  as  well  as  in  England.  The 
eyes  of  the  people  here  were  upon  William  and 
Mary  ;  and  the  news  of  their  being  proclaimed 
in  England  was,  as  your  excellency's  history 
tells  us,  "  the  most  joyful  news  ever  received 
in  New  England."  And,  if  they  were  not  pro 
claimed  here,  "  by  virtue  of  an  act  of  the 
colony,"  it  was,  as  we  think  may  be  concluded 
from  the  tenor  of  your  history,  with  the  general 
or  universal  consent  of  the  people,  as  apparent 
ly  as  if  "  such  act  had  passed."  It  is  consent 
alone  that  makes  any  human  laws  binding ; 
and,  as  a  learned  author  observes,  a  purely 
voluntary  submission  to  an  act,  because  it  is 
highly  in  our  favor  and  for  our  benefit,  is  in  all 
equity  and  justice,  to  be  deemed  as  not  at  all 
proceeding  from  the  right  we  include  in  the 
legislators,  that  they  thereby  obtain  an  authori 
ty  over  us,  and  that  ever  hereafter,  we  must 
obey  them  of  duty.  We  would  observe,  that 
one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  general  assembly 
of  this  province,  since  the  present  charter,  was 
an  act  requiring  the  taking  the  oaths  mentioned 
in  an  act  of  parliament,  to  which  you  refer  us. 
For  what  purpose  was  this  act  of  the  assembly 
passed,  if  it  was  the  sense  of  the  legislators 
that  the  act  of  parliament  was  in  force  in  the 
province  ?  And,  at  the  same  time,  another  act 
was  made  for  the  establishment  of  other  oaths 
necessary  to  be  taken,  both  which  acts  have 
the  royal  sanction,  and  are  now  in  force.  Your 
excellency  says,  that  when  the  colony  applied 
to  king  William  for  a  second  charter,  they 
knew  the  oath  the  king  had  taken,  which  was 
to  govern  them  according  to  the  statutes  in 
parliament,  and  (which  your  excellency  here 
omits,)  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  same.  By 
the  laws  and  customs  of  parliament,  the  people 
of  England  freely  debate  and  consent  to  such 
statutes  as  are  made  by  themselves  or  their 
chosen  representatives.  This  is  a  law  or  cus 
tom,  which  all  mankind  may  justly  challenge 
as  their  inherent  right.  According  to  this  law, 
the  king  has  an  undoubted  right  to  govern  us. 
Your  excellency,  upon  recollection,  surely  will 
not  infer  from  hence,  that  it  was  the  sense  of 
our  predecessors  that  there  was  to  remain  a 
supremacy  in  the  English  parliament,  or  a  full 
power  and  authority  to  make  laws  binding  upon 
us,  in  all  cases  whatever,  in  that  parliament, 
where  we  cannot  debate  and  deliberate  upon 
the  necessity  or  expediency  of  any  law,  and, 


consequently,  without  our  consent ;  and,  as  it 
may  probably  happen,  destructive  of  the  first 
law  of  society,  the  good  of  the  whole.  You  tell 
us  that,  "  after  the  assumption  of  all  the  powers 
of  government,  by  virtue  of  the  new  charter, 
an  act  passed  for  the  reviving,  for  a  limited 
time,  all  the  local  laws  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  and  New  Plymouth,  respectively,  not 
repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England.  And,  at 
the  same  session,  an  act  passed  establishing 
naval  officers,  that  all  undue  trading,  contrary 
to  an  act  of  parliament,  may  be  prevented." 
Among  the  acts  that  were  then  revived,  we 
may  reasonably  suppose  was  that,  whereby 
provision  was  made  to  give  force  to  this  act  of 
parliament  in  the  province.  The  establish 
ment,  therefore,  of  the  naval  officers,  was  to 
aid  the  execution  of  an  act  of  parliament,  for 
the  observance  of  which,  within  the  colony,  the 
assembly  had  before  made  provision,  after  free 
debates,  with  their  own  consent,  and  by  their 
own  act. 

The  act  of  parliament,  passed  in  1741,  for 
putting  an  end  to  several  unwarrantable 
schemes,  mentioned  by  your  excellency,  was 
designed  for  the  general  good ;  and,  if  the 
validity  of  it  was  not  disputed,  it  cannot  be 
urged  as  a  concession  of  the  supreme  authority, 
to  make  laws  binding  on  us  in  all  cases  what 
ever.  But,  if  the  design  of  it  was  for  the  gen 
eral  benefit  of  the  province,  it  was,  in  one 
respect,  at  least  greatly  complained  of  by  the 
persons  more  immediately  affected  by  it ;  and 
to  remedy  the  inconvenience,  the  legislature  of 
this  province  passed  an  act,  directly  militating 
with  it ;  which  is  the  strongest  evidence  that, 
although  they  may  have  submitted,  sub  silentio, 
to  some  acts  of  parliament,  that  they  conceived 
might  operate  for  their  benefit,  they  did  not 
conceive  themselves  bound  by  any  of  its  acts 
which,  they  judged,  would  operate  to  the  injury 
even  of  individuals. 

Your  excellency  has  not  thought  proper  to 
attempt  to  confute  the  reasoning  of  a  learned 
writer  on  the  laws  of  nature  and  nations, 
quoted  by  us,  on  this  occasion,  to  shew  that 
the  authority  of  the  legislature  does  not  extend 
so  far  as  the  fundamentals  of  the  constitution. 
We  are  unhappy  in  not  having  your  remarks 
upon  the  reasoning  of  that  great  man  ;  and, 
until  it  is  confuted,  we  shall  remain  of  the 
opinion,  that  the  fundamentals  of  the  constitu 
tion  being  excepted  from  the  commission  of 
the  legislators,  none  of  the  acts  or  doings  of  the 
general  assembly,  however  deliberate  and  sol 
emn,  could  avail  to  change  them,  if  the  people 
have  not,  in  very  express  terms,  given  them  the 
power  to  do  it ;  and  that,  much  less  ought 


94 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


their  acts  and  doings,  however  numerous, 
which  barely  refer  to  acts  of  parliament  made 
expressly  to  relate  to  us,  to  be  taken  as  an 
acknowledgment  that  we  are  subject  to  the 
supreme  authority  of  parliament. 

We  shall  sum  up  our  own  sentiments  in  the 
words  of  that  learned  writer,  Mr.  Hooker,  in 
his  ecclesiastical  policy,  as  quoted  by  Mr. 
Locke. — "  The  lawful  power  of  making  laws  to 
command  whole  political  societies  of  men,  be 
longing  so  properly  to  the  same  entire  societies 
that  for  any  prince  or  potentate  of  what  kind 
soever,  to  exercise  the  same  of  himself,  and 
not  from  express  commission,  immediately  and 
personally  received  from  God,  is  no  better  than 
mere  tyranny.  Laws,  therefore,  they  are  not, 
which  public  approbation  hath  not  made  so ; 
for  laws  human,  of  what  kind  soever,  are  avail 
able  by  consent.  "  "  Since  men,  naturally, 
have  no  full  and  perfect  power  to  command 
whole  politic  multitudes  of  men,  therefore, 
utterly  without  our  consent,  we  could  in  such 
sort,  be  at  no  man's  commandment  living. 
And  to  be  commanded,  we  do  not  consent, 
when  that  society,  whereof  we  be  a  party,  hath 
at  any  time  before  consented."  We  think 
your  excellency  has  not  proved,  either  that  the 
colony  is  a  part  of  the  politic  society  of  Eng 
land,  or  that  it  has  ever  consented  that  the 
parliament  of  England  or  Great  Britain,  should 
make  laws  binding  upon  us,  in  all  cases, 
whether  made  expressly  to  refer  to  us  or  not. 

We  cannot  help,  before  we  conclude,  expres 
sing  our  great  concern,  that  your  excellency 
has  thus  repeatedly,  in  a  manner,  insisted  upon 
our  free  sentiments  on  matters  of  so  delicate  a 
nature  and  weighty  importance.  The  question 
appears  to  us  to  be  no  other,  than  whether  we 
are  the  subjects  of  absolute  unlimited  power, 
or  of  a  free  government,  formed  on  the  princi 
ples  of  the  English  constitution.  If  your  excel 
lency's  doctrine  be  true,  the  people  of  this  pro 
vince  hold  their  lands  of  the  crown  and  people 
of  England  ;  and  their  lives,  liberties,  and  pro 
perties,  are  at  their  disposal  ;  and  that,  even 
by  compact  and  their  own  consent,  they  were 
subject  to  the  king,  as  the  head  alter  ius  populi 
of  another  people,  in  whose  legislature  they 
have  no  voice  or  interest.  They  are,  indeed, 
said  to  have  a  constitution  and  a  legislature  of 
their  own ;  but  your  excellency  has  explained 
it  into  a  mere  phantom  ;  limited,  controled, 
superseded,  and  nullified  at  the  will  of  another. 
Is  this  the  constitution  which  so  charmed  our 
ancestors,  that,  as  your  excellency  has  imormed 
us,  they  kept  a  day  of  solemn  thanksgiving  to 
Almighty  God  when  they  received  it  ?  And 
were  they  men  of  so  little  discernment,  such 


children  in  understanding,  as  to  please  them 
selves  with  the  imagination,  that  they  were 
blessed  with  the  same  rights  and  liberties 
which  natural  born  subjects  in  England  en 
joyed,  when  at  the  same  time,  they  had  fully 
consented  to  be  ruled  and  ordered  by  a  legisla 
ture,  a  thousand  leagues  distant  from  them, 
which  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  sufficiently 
acquainted  with  their  circumstances,  if  con 
cerned  for  their  interest,  and  in  which  they 
cannot  be  in  any  sense  represented  ? 

[The  committee  who  reported  the  above, 
were  Mr.  Gushing,  (the  speaker),  Mr.  S. 
Adams,  Mr.  Hancock,  Mr.  Philips,  Major  Fos 
ter,  Col.  Bowers,  Mr.  Hobson,  Col.  Thayer, 
and  Mr.  Denny.] 


RESOLUTIONS, 
HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  S.  Adams,  the  following  re 
solutions  were  adopted,  110/04,  May  28,  1773. 

Whereas,  the  speaker  hath  communicated  to 
this  house,  a  letter  from  the  truly  respectable 
house  of  Burgesses,  in  his  majesty's  ancient 
colony  of  Virginia,  enclosing  a  copy  of  the 
resolves  entered  into  by  them,  on  the  I2th  of 
March  last,  and  requesting  that  a  committee 
of  this  house  may  be  appointed  to  communi 
cate,  from  time  to  time,  with  a  corresponding 
committee,  then  appointed  by  the  said  house 
of  Burgesses  in  Virginia  : 

And,  whereas  this  house  is  fully  sensible  of 
the  necessity  and  importance  of  a  union  of  the 
several  colonies  in  America,  at  a  time  when  it 
clearly  appears,  that  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
all  are  systematically  invaded ;  in  order  that 
the  joint  wisdom  of  the  whole  may  be  em 
ployed  in  consulting  their  common  safety  : 

Resolved,  That  this  house  have  a  very  grate 
ful  sense  of  the  obligations  they  are  under  to 
the  house  of  Burgesses,  in  Virginia,  for  the 
vigilance,  firmness  and  wisdom,  which  they 
have  discovered,  at  all  times,  in  support  of  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  American  colonies  : 
and  do  heartily  concur  with  their  said  judicious 
and  spirited  resolves. 

Resolved,  That  a  standing  committee  of  cor 
respondence  and  enquiry  be  appointed,  to  con 
sist  of  fifteen  members,  any  eight  of  whom  to 
be  a  quorum  ;  whose  business  it  shall  be,  to 
obtain  the  most  early  and  authentic  intelligence 
of  all  such  acts  and  resolutions  of  the  British 
parliament,  or  proceedings  of  administrations 
as  may  relate  to,  or  affect  the  British  colonies 
in  America,  and  to  keep  up  and  maintain  a 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


95 


correspondence  and  communication  with  our 
sister  colonies,  respecting  these  important  con 
siderations  ;  and  the  result  of  such  their  pro 
ceedings,  from  time  to  time,  to  lay  before  the 
house. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  an  instruction  to  the 
said  committee,  that  they  do,  without  delay, 
inform  themselves  particularly  of  the  principles 
and  authority,  on  which  was  constituted  a 
court  of  enquiry,  held  in  Rhode  Island,  said  to 
be  vested  with  powers  to  transport  persons, 
accused  of  offences  committed  in  America,  to 
places  beyond  the  seas,  to  be  tried.* 

Resolved,  That  the  said  committee  be  further 
instructed  to  prepare  and  report  to  this  house, 
a  draft  of  a  very  respectful  answer  to  the  letter, 
received  from  the  speaker  of  the  honorable 
house  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia,  and  another, 
to  a  letter  received  from  the  speaker  of  the 
honorable  house  of  representatives,  of  the 
colony  of  Rhode  Island :  also,  a  circular  letter 
to  the  several  other  houses  of  assembly,  on 
this  continent,  enclosing  the  aforesaid  resolves, 
and  requesting  them  to  lay  the  same  before 
their  respective  assemblies,  in  confidence,  that 
they  will  readily  and  cheerfully  comply  with 
the  wise  and  salutary  resolves  of  the  house  of 
Burgesses,  in  Virginia. 

[The  committee  of  correspondence,  chosen 
in  pursuance  of  the  resolves  aforesaid,  were 
Mr.  Gushing,  (the  speaker),  Mr.  Adams,  hon. 
John  Hancock,  Mr.  William  Phillips,  captain 
William  Heath,  hon.  Joseph  Hawley,  James 
Warren,  esq.  R.  Derby,  jun.  esq.  Mr.  Elbridge 
Gerry,  J.  Bowers,  esq.,  Jedediah  Foster,  esq. 
Daniel  Leonard,  esq.  captain  T.  Gardner,  capt. 
Jonathan  Greenleaf,  and  J.  Presoott,  esq.] 


LETTER  FROM  THE  HOUSE  OF 
REPRESENTATIVES. 

ADDRESSED  TO  THE  SPEAKERS  OF  THE 
SEVERAL  HOUSES  OF  ASSEMBLY,  ON  THE 
CONTINENT.  BOSTON,  JUNE  3,  1773. 

SIR — The  house  of  representatives  of  this 
province,  being  earnestly  attentive  to  the  con 
troversy  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colo 
nies,  and  considering  that  the  authority  claimed 
and  exercised  by  parliament,  on  the  one  side, 
and  by  the  general  assemblies  of  this  conti- 

*  In  consequence  of  burning  the  Gaspee,  a  British 
armed  vessel,  which  had  greatly  harassed  the  navigation 
of  Rhode  Island,  a  court  of  enquiry  was  appointed,  under 
the  great  seal  of  England,  to  be  holden  at  Newport.  They 
met  once  and  again,  but  finally  dissolved,  without  doing 
any  thing  important.  It  was  supposed  that  many  persons, 
suspected  of  burning  the  Gaspee,  would  have  been  sent 
to  England  for  trial. 


nent,  on  the  other,  greatly  militates,  and  is 
productive  of  this  unhappy  contention,  think  it 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  welfare  of 
both,  and  particularly  of  the  colonies,  that  the 
constitutional  powers  of  each  be  inquired  into, 
delineated  and  fully  ascertained. 

That  his  majesty's  subjects  of  America,  are 
entitled  to  the  same  rights  and  liberties  as 
those  of  Great 'Britain,  and  that  these  ought, 
in  justice,  by  the  constitution,  to  be  as  well 
guaranteed  and  secured,  to  the  one  as  to  the 
other,  are  too  apparent  to  be  denied. 

It  is,  by  this  house,  humbly  conceived,  to 
be  likewise  undeniable,  that  the  authority 
assumed,  and  now  forcibly  exercised  by  parlia 
ment,  over  the  colonies,  is  utterly  subversive 
of  freedom  in  the  latter ;  and  that,  while  his 
majesty's  loyal  subjects  in  America  have  the 
mortification,  daily,  to  see  new  abridgments 
of  their  rights  and  liberties,  they  have  not  the 
least  security  for  those  which  at  present 
remain.  Were  the  colonist  only  affected  by  a 
legislature,  subject  to  their  control,  they  would, 
even  then,  have  no  other  security  than  belongs 
to  them  by  the  laws  of  nature,  and  the  English 
constitution ;  but  should  the  authority,  now 
claimed  by  parliament,  be  fully  supported  by 
power,  submitted  to  by  the  colonies,  it  appears 
to  this  house  that  there  will  be  an  end  to 
liberty  in  America ;  and  that  the  colonists 
will  then  change  the  name  of  freemen  for  that 
of  slaves. 

In  order  to  adjust  and  settle  these  important 
concerns,  the  free  and  magnanimous  Bur 
gesses  of  Virginia  have  proposed  a  method 
for  uniting  the  councils  of  its  sister  colonies ; 
and  it  appearing  to  this  house  to  be  a  measure 
very  wise  and  salutary,  is  cheerfully  received 
and  heartily  adopted. 

With  great  respect  for  your  honorable  as 
sembly,  and  in  confidence  that  a  matter,  which 
so  nearly  affects  the  safety  of  each  colony,  will 
be  assisted  by  its  wise  councils,  permit  this 
house  to  enclose  a  copy  of  resolutions,  lately 
entered  into  here,  and  to  request  you  to  com 
municate  the  same  at  a  convenient  opportunity. 
THOMAS  GUSHING,  Speaker. 

[June  2,  1773,  the  galleries  having  been 
cleared,  by  a  vote  of  the  house,  Mr.  S.  Adams 
observed,  "  that  he  perceived  the  minds  of  the 
people  were  much  agitated  by  a  report,  that  let 
ters  of  an  extraordinary  nature  had  been  written 
and  sent  to  England,  greatly  to  the  prejudice  of 
this  province :  that  he  had  obtained  certain  let 
ters,  with  different  signatures,  with  the  consent 
of  the  gentleman  from  whom  he  received  them, 
that  they  should  be  read  in  the  house ;  under 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


certain  restrictions,  namely,  that  the  said  let 
ters  be  neither  printed  nor  copied,  in  whole,  or 
in  part," — and  he  accordingly  offered  them  for 
the  consideration  of  the  house.  A  vote  then 
passed,  that  the  letters  be  read  ;  and  they  were 
read  accordingly ;  being  signed,  Thomas  Hutch- 
inson,  Andrew  Oliver,  Charles  Paxton,  Robert 
Auchmutty,  etc.  The  whole  house  was  then 
resolved  into  a  committee,  to  take  said  letters 
into  consideration,  and  the  house  adjourned  to 
the  afternoon.  Mr.  Hancock,  from  the  com 
mittee  of  the  whole  house,  reported,  that  the 
committee  were  of  opinion,  the  tendency  and 
design  of  the  said  letters,  was  to  overthrow  the 
constitution  of  this  government,  and  to  intro 
duce  arbitrary  power  into  the  province,  and  the 
report  was  accepted,  101  to  5.  A  committee 
of  nine  was,  thereupon,  chosen,  to  consider 
what  was  proper  to  be  done,  in  reference  to  the 
letters  aforesaid ;  and  the  speaker  (Mr.  Gush 
ing),  Mr.  Adams,  Mr.  Hancock,  Mr.  Gorham, 
Mr.  Pickering,  Maj.  Hawley,  Col.  Warren,  Mr. 
Payne  and  Major  Foster,  were  chosen.] 


DESTRUCTION   OF   TEA 

IN  BOSTON  HARBOR,  MASSACHUSETTS,  DE 
CEMBER  16,  1773. 

TEA. — There  have  been  some  doubts  con 
cerning  the  destruction  of  the  tea  on  the  i6th 
of  December,  1773.  The  number  of  the  ships, 
and  the  place  where  they  were  situated  is  not 
quite  certain.— One  gentleman,  now  living,  over 
70  years  of  age,  thinks  that  they  were  at  Hub- 
bard's  wharf,  as  it  was  then  called,  about  half 
way  between  Griffin's  (now  Liverpool)  and 
Foster's  wharf,  and  that  the  number  of  ships 
was  four  or  five.  Another  gentleman,  who  is 
75  years  of  age,  and  who  was  one  of  the  guard 
detached  from  the  new  grenadier  company, 
says  that  he  spent  the  night,  but  one,  before 
the  destruction  of  the  tea,  in  company  with 
gen.  Knox,  then  a  private  in  that  company,  on 
board  of  one  of  the  tea  ships ;  that  this  ship 
lay  on  the  south  side  of  Russell's  wharf;  and 
that  there  were  two  more  on  the  north  side  of 
the  same  wharf,  and  he  thinks  one  or  two  at 
Griffin's  wharf.  A  gentleman  now  living,  who 
came  from  England  in  one  of  the  tea  ships, 
thinks  there  were  but  two,  but  he  is  uncertain 
where  they  lay.  A  song,  written  soon  after  the 
time,  tells  of  "  Three  ill-fated  ships  at  Griffin's 
wharf."  The  whole  evidence  seems  to  result 
in  this,  that  there  were  three  ships — but  whether 
at  Russell's  or  Griffin's  wharf,  or  one  or  more 
at  each,  is  not  certain.  The  number  of  chests 


destroyed  was,  according  to  the  newspapers  of 
the  time,  342.  There  was  a  body  meeting  on 
this  1 6th  of  December,  1773.  This  matter  of 
the  tea  was  the  occasion  of  the  meeting.  The 
meeting  began  at  Faneuil  Hall,  but  that  place 
not  being  large  enough  it  was  adjourned  to  the 
Old  South,  and  even  that  place  could  not  con 
tain  all  who  came.  Jonathan  Williams  was 
moderator.  Among  the  spectators  was  John 
Rowe,  who  lived  in  Pond  street  where  Mr.  Pres- 
cott  now  lives  ;  among  other  things,  he  said, — 
"  Who  knows  how  tea  will  mingle  with  salt 
water  " — and  this  suggestion  was  received  with 
great  applause.  Governor  Hutchinson  was  at 
this  time  at  the  house  on  Milton  hill  where 
Barney  Smith,  esqr.  lives.  A  committee  was 
sent  from  the  meeting,  to  request  him  to  order 
the  ships  to  depart. — While  they  were  gone, 
speeches  were  made,  for  the  purpose  of  keep 
ing  the  people  together.  The  committee  re 
turned  about  sunset  with  his  answer,  that  he 
could  not  interfere.  At  this  moment  the  Indian 
yell  was  heard  from  the  street.  Mr.  Samuel 
Adams  cried  out  that  it  was  a  trick  of  their 
enemies  to  disturb  their  meeting,  and  requested 
the  people  to  keep  their  places — but  the  people 
rushed  out,  and  accompanied  the  Indians  to 
the  ships.  The  number  of  persons  disguised 
as  Indians  is  variously  stated — none  put  it 
lower  than  60,  none  higher  than  80.  It  is  said 
by  persons  who  were  present,  that  nothing  was 
destroyed  but  tea — and  this  was  not  done  with 
noise  and  tumult,  little  or  nothing  being  said 
either  by  the  agents  or  the  multitude, — who 
looked  on.  The  impression  was  that  of  solemn 
ity,  rather  than  of  riot  and  confusion. — The  de 
struction  was  effected  by  disguised  persons, 
and  some  young  men  who  volunteered ;  one  of 
the  latter  collected  the  tea  which  fell  into  the 
shoes  of  himself  and  companions,  and  put  it 
into  a  phial  and  sealed  it  up ;  which  phial  is 
now  in  his  possession, — containing  the  same 
tea. — The  contrivers  of  this  measure,  and  those 
who  carried  it  into  effect,  will  never  be  known  , 
some  few  persons  have  been  mentioned  as  be 
ing  among  the  disguised  ;  but  there  are  many 
and  obvious  reasons  why  secrecy  then,  and 
concealment  since,  were  necessary.  None  of 
those  persons  who  were  confidently  said  to  have 
been  of  the  party,  (except  some  who  were  then 
minors  or  very  young  men),  have  ever  admitted 
that  they  were  so.  The  person  who  appeared 
to  know  more  than  any  one,  I  ever  spoke  with, 
refused  to  mention  names.  Mr.  Samuel  Adams 
is  thought  to  have  been  in  the  counselling  of 
this  exploit,  and  many  other  men  who  were 
leaders  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  times ; — 
and  the  hall  council  is  said  to  have  been  in  the 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


97 


back  room  of  Edes  and  Gill's  printing  office,  at 
the  corner  of  the  alley  leading  to  Battle  street 
church  from  Court  street.  There  are  very  few 
alive  now,  who  helped  to  empty  the  chests  of 
tea,  and  these  few  will  probably  be  as  prudent 
as  those  who  have  gone  before  them. 

Daily  Adv. 


LETTER 

RELATING  TO  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  TEA 
IN  BOSTON  HARBOR  BY  THE  "  MOHAWK 
INDIANS." 

With  regard  to  the  Indians  who  destroyed 
the  three  cargoes  of  tea  in  the  harbor  of  Bos 
ton,  I  have  met  with  a  slight  notice  that  con 
firms  the  remark  of  president  Adams,  that 
"they  were  no  ordinary  Mohawks."  It  is  in 
the  Historical  Sketch  of  Charlestown,  by  the 
hon.  Joseph  Bartlett,  M.D.,  in  which  he  says, 
that  E.  N.  (giving  only  the  initials)  a  respecta 
ble  inhabitant  of  that  town,  had  repeatedly  in 
formed  him  that  he  was  among  the  Indians 
who  destroyed  the  tea.  J.  F. 

THE  "  MOHAWK  INDIANS." 

Hanover,  N.  ff.,  June  22,  1819. 

SIR — Seeing  a  notice  or  a  letter  addressed  to 
president  Adams  from  you,  I  take  the  liberty  of 
giving  you  the  information,  in  part,  you  wish. 

My  father,  Anthony  Morse,  afterwards  a 
lieutenant  during  the  revolutionary  war,  but 
since  deceased,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Roby,  now  of 
this  town,  were  the  most  active  in  destroying 
the  tea  in  Boston  harbor.  Mr.  Roby  thinks 
there  is  but  one  or  two  now  surviving  besides 
himself. 

I  am,  sir,  yours  with  esteem, 

LEWIS  R.  M.  MORSE. 
MR.  H.  NILES. 


REVOLUTIONARY   RECOLLECTIONS 

RELATING  TO  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  TEA 
IN  BOSTON  HARBOR. 

From  the  National  Gazette  of  Sept.  5,  1821. 

I  am  one  of  that  class  of  your  readers  who 
are  much  pleased  with  the  plan  of  the  reminis 
cences,  and  wish  it  may  be  promoted,  by  our 
well-informed  aged  citizens  taking  the  trouble 
to  present  to  the  public  such  authentic  facts 
and  information  as  their  memories  can  furnish. 
It  may  be  the  means  of  preserving  some  flow- 

7 


ers,  and  placing  them  in  the  chaplet  of  the  his 
toric  muse,  which  would  otherwise  fall  to  the 
ground  and  perish  in  oblivion.  I  offer  the 
following. 

Upon  reading  the  Boston  reminiscence  of  the 
tea-ship,  the  line  quoted  from  the  old  song 
occasioned  the  whole  of  it  to  rise  like  an  exha 
lation  before  me. 

As  near  beauteous  Boston  lying, 

On  the  gently  swelling  flood, 
Without  jack  or  pendant  flying, 

Three  ill-fated  tea-ships  rode. 

Just  as  glorious  Sol  was  setting, 

On  the  wharf,  a  numerous  crew, 
Sons  of  freedom,  fear  forgetting, 

Suddenly  appear'd  in  view. 

Arm'd  with  hammers,  axes,  chisels, 

Weapons  new  for  warlike  deeds, 
Towards  the  herbage  freighted  vessels, 

They  approach'd  with  dreadful  speed. 

Hovering  o'er  their  heads,  in  mid  sky, 
Three  bright  angel  forms  were  seen  ; 

That  was  Hampden,  this  was  Sidney, 
With  fair  Liberty  between. 

'  Soon,'  they  cried, '  your  foes  you'll  banish, 

1  Soon  your  triumph  will  be  won, 
'  Scarce  shall  setting  Phoebus  vanish, 

1  Ere  the  deathless  deed  be  done.' 

Quick  as  shot  the  ships  were  boarded, 
Hatches  burst  and  chests  display'd  ; 

Axes,  hammers,  help  afforded." 
What  a  glorious  crash  they  made  ! 

Captains  !  once  more  hoist  your  streamers, 
Spread  your  sails  and  plough  the  wave  ! 

Tell  your  masters  they  are  dreamers. 
When  they  thought  to  cheat  the  brave. 


EXTRACT   FROM  THE   GOVERNOR'S 
MESSAGE. 

To  THE  COUNCIL  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRE 
SENTATIVES,  JANUARY  26,  1774. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Council,  and 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  judicial  proceedings  of  the  governor  and 
council,  as  the  supreme  court  of  Probate,  and 
as  the  court  for  determining  in  cases  of  mar 
riage  and  divorce,  having  been  impeded  in 
many  instances,  where  the  opinion  of  the  gov 
ernor  has  been  different  from  that  of  the  ma 
jority  of  the  councillors  present,  the  governor 
having  always  considered  his  consent  as  neces 
sary  to  every  judicial  act.  In  the  year  1771,  I 
stated  the  arguments,  as  well  against  as  for  the 
claim  of  the  governor ;  and  his  majesty  having 
been  pleased  to  order  the  case  thus  stated,  to 


98 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


be  laid  before  the  lords  of  his  majesty's  most 
honorable  privy  council,  I  am  now  able  to  in 
form  you,  that  it  has  been  signified  to  me,  to  be 
his  majesty's  pleasure,  that  I  do  acquiesce  in 
the  determination  of  the  majority  of  councillors 
present,  voting  as  a  court  for  proving  wills  and 
administration,  and  deciding  controversies  con 
cerning  marriage  and  divorce,  although  I  should 
differ  in  opinion  from  that  majority.  This 
order  more  immediately  respects  the  council ; 
nevertheless,  the  tender  regard  which  his 
majesty  has  shown  for  the  interest  and  conve 
nience  of  his  subjects,  in  a  construction  of  the 
charter,  different  from  what  had  been  made  by 
all  his  governors,  ever  since  its  first  publica 
tion,  make  it  proper  for  me  to  communicate  the 
order  to  both  houses. 

I  am  required  to  signify  to  you  his  majesty's 
disapprobation  of  the  appointment  of  commit 
tees  of  correspondence,  in  various  instances, 
which  sit  and  act,  during  the  recess  of  the 
general  court,  by  prorogation. 

T.  HUTCHINSON. 


EXTRACT  FROM  THE  ANSWER 

OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  TO 
THE  GOVERNOR,  FEBRUARY  5,  1774. 

May  it  please  your  excellency, 

It  affords  great  satisfaction  to  this  house  to 
find,  that  his  majesty  has  been  pleased  to  put 
an  end  to  an  undue  claim,  heretofore  made  by 
the  governors  of  this  province,  grounded  upon 
a  supposition  that  the  consent  of  the  chair  was 
necessary  to  the  validity  of  the  judicial  acts  of 
the  governor  and  council.  Whereby  their  pro 
ceedings,  when  sitting  as  the  supreme  court  of 
Probate,  and  as  the  court  for  determining  in 
cases  of  marriage  and  divorce,  have  been  so 
often  impeded.  The  royal  order,  that  the 
governor  shall  acquiesce  in  the  determination  of 
the  majority  of  the  council,  respects  not  the 
council  only,  but  the  body  of  the  people  of  this 
province.  And  his  majesty  has  herein  shewed 
his  regard  to  justice,  as  well  as  the  interest  and 
convenience  of  his  subjects,  in  rescuing  a  clause 
in  the  charter  from  a  construction  which,  in 
the  opinion  of  this  house,  was  repugnant  to  the 
express  meaning  and  intent  of  the  charter,  in 
consistent  with  the  idea  of  a  court  of  justice, 
and  dangerous  to  the  rights  and  property  of 
the  subject. 

Your  excellency  is  pleased  to  inform  the  two 
houses,  that  you  are  required  to  signify  to 
them  his  majesty's  disapprobation  of  the  ap 
pointment  of  committees  of  correspondence,  in 


various  instances,  which  sit  and  act,  during  the 
recess  of  the  general  court,  by  prorogation. 
You  are  not  pleased  to  explain  to  us  the  grounds 
and  reasons  of  his  majesty's  disapprobation  ; 
until  we  shall  have  such  explanation  laid  be 
fore  us,  a  full  answer  to  this  part  of  your  speech 
will  not  be  expected  from  us.  We  cannot, 
however,  omit  saying,  upon  this  occasion,  that 
while  the  common  rights  of  the  American  sub 
jects,  continue  to  be  attacked  in  various  in 
stances,  and  at  times  when  the  several  assem 
blies  are  not  sitting,  it  is  highly  necessary  that 
they  should  correspond  with  each  other,  in 
order  to  unite  in  the  most  effectual  means  for 
the  obtaining  a  redress  of  their  grievances. 
And  as  the  sitting  of  the  general  assemblies  in 
this,  and  most  of  the  colonies,  depends  upon 
the  pleasure  of  the  governors,  who  hold  them 
selves  under  the  direction  of  administration,  it 
is  to  be  expected,  that  the  meeting  of  the  assem 
blies  will  be  so  ordered,  as  that  the4fcitention 
proposed  by  a  correspondence  between  them, 
will  be  impracticable,  but  by  committees,  to  sit 
and  act  in  the  recess.  We  would,  moreover, 
observe  that,  as  it  has  been  the  practice  for 
years  past  for  the  governor  and  lieutenant  gov 
ernor  of  this  province,  and  other  officers  of  the 
crown,  at  all  times,  to  correspond  with  minis 
ters  of  state,  and  persons  of  influence  and  dis 
tinction  in  the  nation,  in  order  to  concert  and 
carry  on  such  measures  of  the  British  adminis 
tration,  as  have  been  deemed  by  the  colonists 
to  be  grievous  to  them,  it  cannot  be  thought 
unreasonable,  or  improper  for  the  colonists  to 
correspond  with  their  agents,  as  well  as  with 
each  other,  to  the  end,  that  their  grievances 
may  be  so  explained  to  his  majesty,  as  that,  in 
his  justice,  he  may  afford  them  necessary  re 
lief.  As  this  province  has  heretofore  felt  the 
great  misfortune  of  the  displeasure  of  our 
sovereign,  by  means  of  misrepresentations,  per 
mit  us  further  to  say,  there  is  room  to  appre 
hend  that  his  majesty  has,  in  this  instance, 
been  misinformed,  and  that  there  are  good 
grounds  to  suspect,  that  those  who  may  have 
misinformed  him,  have  had  in  meditation  fur 
ther  measures  destructive  to  the  colonies,  which 
they  were  apprehensive  would  be  defeated  by 
means  of  committees  of  correspondence  sitting 
and  acting  in  the  recess  of  the  respective  assem 
blies. 

It  must  be  pleasing  to  the  good  people  of 
this  province,  to  find  that  the  heavy  debt  which 
had  been  incurred  by  their  liberal  aids,  through 
the  course  of  the  late  war,  for  the  subduing  his 
majesty's  inveterate  enemies,  and  extending  his 
territory  and  dominion  in  America,  is  so  nearly 
discharged.  Whenever  the  house  of  repre- 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


99 


sentatives  shall  deem  it  incumbent  upon  them 
to  provide  for  any  future  charges,  it  will  be 
done,  as  it  ought,  by  such  ways  and  means  as, 
after  due  deliberation,  to  them  shall  seem  meet. 

In  the  meantime,  this  house  will  employ  the 
powers  with  which  they  are  entrusted,  in  sup 
porting  his  majesty's  just  authority  in  the  pro 
vince,  according  to  the  royal  charter,  and  in 
despatching  such  public  business  as  now  prop 
erly  lies  before  us.  And,  while  we  pursue 
such  measures  as  tend,  by  God's  blessing,  to 
the  redress  of  grievances,  and  to  the  restora 
tion  and  establishment  of  the  public  liberty,  we 
persuade  ourselves,  that  we  shall,  at  the  same 
time,  as  far  as  in  us  lies,  most  effectually  secure 
the  tranquility  and  good  order  of  the  govern 
ment,  and  the  great  end  for  which  it  was  insti 
tuted,  the  safety  and  welfare  of  the  people. 

[The  committee,  by  whom  the  foregoing  was 
reported,  were,  the  speaker,  Mr.  S.  Adams,  Mr. 
Hancock,  Col.  Warren,  Col.  Thayer,  Col. 
Bowers,  and  Captain  Derby.] 


ELECTION    OF   DELEGATES 

BY  THE  GENERAL  COURT  OF  MASSACHU 
SETTS. 

To  convene  at  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  to  consid 
er  the  critical  and  alarming  condition  of  the 
country.  June,  1774. 

[Before  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts 
separated,  in  June,  1774,  they  elected  five  dele 
gates,  to  meet  such  as  should  be  chosen  by  the 
other  colonies,  to  convene,  at  Philadelphia,  to 
consider  the  critical  and  alarming  situation  of 
the  country.— They  met  in  September,  1774, 
and  delegates  from  all  the  other  provinces, 
(except  Georgia,  which,  however,  soon  after 
wards  joined  the  confederacy,)  convened  there, 
at  that  period,  and  formed  the  first  continental 
congress.  The  following  gentlemen  were  ap 
pointed  delegates  :  Thomas  Gushing,  Samuel 
Adams,  Robert  T.  Paine,  James  Bowdoin,  and 
John  Adams.  And  as  the  general  court  was 
dissolved,  it  was  also  proposed  to  have  a  pro 
vincial  congress,  or  meeting  of  deputies,  from 
every  town  in  this  state.  Deputies  were  ac 
cordingly  chosen,  and  met  at  Salem,  October 
7th,  1774.  An  adjournment  was  immediately 
voted,  to  Concord.  John  Hancock  was  chosen 
president,  and  Benjamin  Lincoln,  secretary. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  consider  the 
state  of  the  province,  consisting  of  the  follow 
ing  gentlemen,  viz.  the  president,  Joseph  Haw- 
ley,  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  Samuel  Dexter,  Col. 
Ward,  Col.  Warren,  Captain  Heath,  Col.  Lee, 


Dr.  Church,  Dr.  Holtan,  Mr.  Gerry,  Col.  Trying, 
Captain  Robinson,  Major  Foster,  and  Mr. 
Gorham.  The  day  following,  the  committee 
reported  a  message  to  Governor  Gage,  which 
was  accepted,  and  is  as  follows  :] 


MESSAGE 

FROM  THE  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS,  SITTING 
AT  CONCORD,  TO  HIS  EXCELLENCY  GOV 
ERNOR  GAGE. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency, 

The  delegates,  from  the  several  towns  in  the 
province  of  Massachusetts-Bay,  convened  in 
congress,  beg  leave  to  address  you.  The  dis 
tressed  and  miserable  state  of  the  province, 
occasioned  by  the  intolerable  grievances  and 
oppressions  to  which  the  people  are  subjected, 
and  the  danger  and  destruction  to  which  they 
are  exposed,  of  which  your  excellency  must  be 
sensible,  and  the  want  of  a  general  assembly, 
have  rendered  it  indispensably  necessary  to 
collect  the  wisdom  of  the  province,  by  their 
delegates,  in  this  congress,  to  concert  some 
adequate  remedy  for  preventing  impending 
ruin,  and  providing  for  the  public  safety. 

It  was  with  the  utmost  concern  we  see  your 
hostile  preparations,  which  have  spread  such 
alarm  through  the  province  and  the  whole  con 
tinent,  as  threaten  to  involve  us  in  all  the 
confusion  and  horrors  of  civil  war:  and,  while 
we  contemplate  an  event  so  deeply  to  be 
regretted  by  every  good  man,  it  must  occasion 
the  surprise  and  astonishment  of  all  mankind, 
that  such  measures  are  pursued,  against  a  peo 
ple  whose  love  of  order,  attachment  to  Britain, 
and  loyalty  to  their  prince,  have  ever  been 
truly  exemplary.  Your  excellency  must  be 
sensible,  that  the  sole  end  of  government  is  the 
protection  and  security  of  the  people  :  when 
ever,  therefore,  that  power,  which  was  origin 
ally  instituted  to  effect  these  important  and 
valuable  purposes,  is  employed  to  harass  and 
enslave  the  people,  in  this  case  it  becomes  'a 
curse,  rather  than  a  blessing. 

The  most  painful  apprehensions  are  excited 
in  our  minds,  by  the  measures  now  pursuing  ; 
the  rigorous  execution  of  the  (Boston)  port  bill, 
with  improved  severity,  must  certainly  reduce 
the  capital  and  its  numerous  dependencies  to  a 
state  of  poverty  and  ruin.  The  acts  for  alter 
ing  the  charter,*  and  the  administration  of 

*  In  June  of  this  year,  an  act  of  parliament  was  passed, 
revoking  that  part  of  the  charter,  which  allowed  the 
representatives  of  the  people  to  elect  counsellors  ;  and 
the  king,  with  the  advice  of  his  ministers,  was  empow 
ered  to  appoint  them ;  and,  in  August,  he  accordingly 


100 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


justice  in  the  colony,  are  manifestly  designed 
to  abridge  this  people  of  their  rights,  and  to 
license  murders :  and,  if  carried  into  execution, 
will  reduce  them  to  slavery.  The  number  of 
troops  in  the  capital,  increased  by  daily  acces 
sions  drawn  from  the  whole  continent,  together 
with  the  formidable  and  hostile  preparations 
which  you  are  now  making  on  Boston  Neck, 
in  our  opinion,  greatly  endanger  the  lives, 
liberties,  and  property,  not  only  of  our  brethren 
in  the  town  of  Boston,  but  of  this  province  in 
general.  Permit  us  to  ask  your  excellency, 
whether  an  inattentive  and  unconcerned  ac 
quiescence  to  such  alarming,  such  menacing 
measures,  would  not  evidence  a  state  of  in 
sanity  ?  Or,  whether  the  delaying  to  take 
every  possible  precaution  for  the  security  of 
this  province,  would  not  be  the  most  criminal 
neglect  in  a  people,  heretofore  rigidly  and 
justly  tenacious  of  their  constituted  rights  ? 

Penetrated  with  the  most  poignant  concern, 
and  ardently  solicitous  to  preserve  union  and 
harmony  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colo 
nies,  necessary  to  the  well  being  of  both,  we 
entreat  your  excellency  to  remove  that  brand 
of  contention,  the  fortress  at  the  entrance  of 
Boston.  We  are  much  concerned  that  you 
should  have  been  induced  to  construct  it,  and 
thereby  causelessly  excite  such  a  spirit  of  resent 
ment  and  indignation,  as  now  generally  prevails. 

We  assure  you,  that  the  good  people  of  this 
colony  never  have  had  the  least  intention  to  do 
any  injury  to  his  majesty's  troops  ;  but  on  the 
contrary,  most  earnestly  desire,  that  every 
obstacle  to  treating  them  as  fellow  subjects 
may  be  immediately  removed:  but  are  con 
strained  to  tell  your  excellency,  that  the  minds 
of  the  people  will  never  be  relieved,  till  those 
hostile  works  are  demolished.  And  we  request 
you,  as  you  regard  his  majesty's  honor  and 
interest,  the  dignity,  and  happiness  of  the 
empire,  and  the  peace  and  welfare  of  this  pro 
vince,  that  you  immediately  desist  from  the 
fortress,  now  constructing  at  the  south  entrance 
into  the  town  of  Boston,  and  restore  the  pass 
to  its  natural  state. 


AN   HONEST  JURY. 
i 

The  refusal  of  certain  gentlemen,  returned 
to  serve  as  grand  jurors  for  Boston,  or  Suffolk 
county,  in  1774,  being  frequently  alluded  to, 
the  following,  which  shews  the  reasons  why 

appointed  others,  commonly  called  mandamus  counsellors  ; 
oeing  wholly  independent  of  the  people  and  holding  their 
office  of  the  crown,  they  were  likely  to  be  fit  instruments 
of  oppression  and  tyranny- 


they  would  not  be  impanelled,  becomes  highly 
interesting : 

County  of  Suffolk,  BOSTON,  Aug.  30,  1774. 

We,  who  are  returned  by  the  several  towns 
in  this  county,  to  serve  as  grand  jurors  at  the 
superior  court  for  this  present  term,  being 
actuated  by  a  zealous  regard  for  peace  and 
good  order,  and  a  sincere  desire  to  promote 
justice,  righteousness  and  good  government, 
as  being  essential  to  the  happiness  of  the  com 
munity,  would  now  most  gladly  proceed  to  the 
discharge  of  the  important  duty  required  in 
that  department,  could  we  persuade  ourselves 
that,  by  doing  thus,  it  would  add  to  our  own 
reputation,  or  promote  the  welfare  of  our 
country.  But  when  we  consider  the  dangerous 
inroads  that  have  been  made  upon  our  civil 
constitution,  the  violent  attempts  now  making 
to  alter  and  annul  the  most  essential  parts  of 
our  charter,  granted  by  the  most  solemn  faith 
of  kings,  and  repeatedly  recognized  by  British 
kings  and  parliaments  ;  while  we  see  the  open 
and  avowed  design  of  establishing  the  most 
complete  system  of  despotism  in  this  province, 
and  thereby  reducing  the  freeborn  inhabi 
tants  thereof  to  the  most  abject  state  of  slavery 
and  bondage ;  we  feel  ourselves  necessarily 
constrained  to  decline  being  impanelled,  for 
reasons  that  we  are  ready  to  offer  to  the  court, 
if  permitted,  which  are  as  follows  : 

ist.  Because  Peter  Oliver,  esq.,  who  sits  as 
chief  judge  of  this  court,  has  been  charged 
with  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  by  the 
late  honorable  house  of  representatives,  the 
grand  inquest  of  this  province  ;  of  which  charge 
he  has  never  been  legally  acquitted,  but  has 
been  declared  by  that  house,  unqualified  to  act 
as  judge  of  this  court. 

2d.  Because,  by  a  late  act  of  the  British  par 
liament,  for  altering  the  constitution  of  this 
province,  the  continuance  of  the  present  judges 
of  this  court,  as  well  as  the  appointment  of 
others,  from  the  ist  of  July  last,  is  made  to 
depend  solely  on  the  king's  pleasure,  vastly 
different  from  the  tenure  of  the  British  judges  ; 
and  as  we  apprehend  they  now  hold  their 
places,  only  in  consequence  of  that  act,  all  the 
judicial  proceedings  of  the  court  will  be  taken 
as  concessions  to  the  validity  of  the  same,  to 
which  we  dare  not  assent. 

3d.  Because  three  of  the  judges,  being  the 
major  part  of  the  court,  namely,  the  said 
Peter  Oliver,  esq.  Foster  Hutchinson,  esq.  and 
William  Brown,  esq.  by  taking  the  oath  of 
counsellors  under  authority  of  the  aforemen 
tioned  act,  are  (as  we  are  informed)  sworn  to 
carry  into  execution  all  the  late  grievous  acts 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


\i  '>'.  '.;<-.  101 


of  the  British  parliament,  among  the  last  of 
which,  is  one,  made  ostensively  for  the  impar 
tial  administration  of  justice  in  this  province, 
but,  as  we  fear,  really  for  the  impunity  of  such 
persons  as  shall,  under  pretext  of  executing 
those  acts,  murder  any  of  the  inhabitants 
thereof,  which  acts  appear  to  us  to  be  utterly 
repugnant  to  every  idea  of  justice  and  common 
humanity,  and  are  justly  complained  of, 
throughout  America,  as  highly  injurious  and 
oppressive  to  the  good  people  of  this  province, 
and  manifestly  destructive  of  their  natural  as 
well  as  constitutional  rights. 

4th.  Because  we  believe,  in  our  consciences, 
that  our  acting  in  concert  with  a  court  so  con 
stituted,  and  under  such  circumstances,  would 
be  so  far  betraying  the  just  and  sacred  rights 
of  our  native  land,  which  were  not  the  gift  of 
kings,  but  were  purchased  solely  with  the  toil, 
the  blood,  and  treasure,  of  our  worthy  and  re 
vered  ancestors,  and  which  we  look  upon  our 
selves  under  the  most  sacred  obligations  to 
maintain,  and  to  transmit  the  same,  whole  and 
entire  to  our  posterity. 

Therefore,  we,  the  subscribers,  unanimously 
decline  serving  as  grand  jurors  at  this  court. 


William  Thompson 
Joseph  Willet 
Paul  Revere 
Robert  Williams 
James  Ivers 
Joseph  Pool 
Lemuel  Kollock 
Nicholas  Cooke,  jr. 
William  Bullard 
Moses  Richardson 
Abraham  Wheeler 


Peter  Boyer 
Thomas  Crafts,  jr. 
Joseph  Hall 
Henry  Plimpton 
Jonathan  Day 
Nathaniel  Beecher 
Ebenezer  Hancock 
Joseph  Jones 
Thomas  Pratt 
Abijah  Upham 
Samuel  Hobart. 


CORRESPONDENCE  OF  JOHN  ADAMS. 

Second  President  of  the  United  States.  Let 
ters  written  to  him  by  distinguished  persons 
in  the  years  1774,  1775,  and  1776,  together 
with  Letters  from  him  to  various  persons. 

From  JOHN  TRUMBULL,  ESQ.  to  JOHN  ADAMS, 
dated  Boston,  Aug.  20,  1774.  [Extracts.] 

In  the  county  of  Worcester,  the  people,  at 
a  general  meeting,  have  resolved  that  no  court 
shall  be  held  there,  according  to  the  new  regu 
lation  of  juries,  and  that  judge  Oliver  shall  not 
take  his  seat.  Upon  a  report  that  a  regiment 
would  be  sent  to  protect  the  court,  they  de 
clared  that  they  were  ready  to  meet  it.  It  is 
to  be  hoped,  however,  that  no  violent  measures 


will  be  taken,  till  the  sense  of  the  whole  con 
tinent   is   known  ;  as  the   people   have  great 
dependence  upon  the  determinations  of  con 
gress,  and  expect  them  to  chalk  out  the  line 
for  their  conduct.     As  to  the   soldiers  here, 
they  are  no  more  feared  than  if  they  were  the 
troops    of    Lilliput.     Indeed,  they    are    much 
more  disposed  to  flight  than  combat,  and  have 
more   inclination   to  desert  to  us  than  to  fight 
us — above    two   hundred    having  already  left 
them.     To  put  a  stop  to  these  frequent  deser 
tions,  the  officers  are   obliged  to  treat  them 
with  great  severity — death   or    1000  lashes,  is 
the  only  choice  offered  to  those  who  are  re 
taken.     There  is  a  humorous  story  told  about 
town  of  one  of  the  deserters,  though  I  cannot 
say  it  is  absolutely   to  be  depended  upon  as  a 
fact :  a  soldier,  whose  name  is  Patrick,  deserted 
sometime  ago  and  settled  in  a  country  town  at 
some  distance,  and  there  undertook  to  instruct 
a  company  of  about  fifty  men  in  military  exer 
cises.  A  sergeant  and  eight  men  were  sent  to 
apprehend  deserters,  got  intelligence  of  him,  and 
agreed   with   a  countryman,  for  a  couple   of 
guineas,  to  conduct  them  to  him.     Patrick,  it 
seems,  was  at  that  time  exercising  his  company  ; 
however,  being  called   by  the  sergeant  and  his 
men,  he  immediately  came  up  to  them.     The 
sergeant  demanded  what  he  did  there,  told  him 
he  was  his  prisoner,  and  ordered  him  to  return 
and  join  his  regiment.     Sir,  said  Patrick,  I  beg 
your  pardon,  but   I  don't  think  it  possible  for 
me  to  obey  you  at  present.     The  sergeant  re 
peated   his  orders  in  a  very   peremptory  style. 
Patrick  still  assured  him  of  the  great  improb 
ability  of  his   being  able   to   comply  with  the 
command  ;  but   told   him,  as  it  was  not  abso 
lutely  certain,  he  would  see  what  could  be  done 
about   it.     You  must   know,  said   he,  that  we 
determine  every  thing  here  by  a  vote — and 
turning  to   his   company,  which   had   by   this 
time  come  up, — gentlemen,  says   he,  if  it  be 
your  mind   that  I   should   leave  the  town  and 
return   to  my  regiment,  please  to   manifest  it. 
Not  a  single   hand   appeared   in  favor  of  the 
motion.     He  then  desired  that  those  who  were 
contrary-minded    should    manifest    it,    which 
passed   nem.  con.     The  sergeant  and  his  men, 
finding  themselves  in  so  small  a  minority,  and 
seeing  it  in   vain   to  oppose  the  general  voice 
of  the  meeting,  were  about  to  return  again  in 
peace,  when   one   or  two  of   his   men    were 
desirous  to  have  it  put  to  vote  whether  they 
should   not  stay  also.     Patrick,  as   moderator, 
immediately  put  the  question,  which  it  was  not 
difficult   to  carry  in  such  an  assembly,  and  the 
sergeant,  knowing    it  vain   to   resist,  returned 
with  six  men  to  his  regiment. 


102  >R1NCIPLSS.  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


From  }.  PALMER,  ESQ.,  dated  at  Boston,  Sept. 
14,  1774,  to  JOHN  ADAMS,  ESQ.,  at  Phil 
adelphia.  [Extracts.] 

The  spirit  of  liberty  is  amazingly  increased, 
<o  that  there  is  scarce  a  tory  and  hardly  a 
neutral  to  be  found  in  the  country.  This 
province  seems  ripe  for  a  more  popular  govern 
ment,  if  not  restrained  by  congress,  who  will 
doubtless  give  all  the  encouragement  to  all  that 
the  good  of  the  whole  will  admit  of.  Some 
talk  of  resuming  our  first  charter,  others  of 
absolute  independency.  Our  eye  is  to  the 
congress — may  wisdom  direct  your  every  step. 
—You  will  see  that  our  government  has  told 
us,  that  the  refusing  submission  to  the  late 
acts  of  parliament  is  general  throughout  the 
province ;  and  that  he  should  lay  the  same 
before  his  majesty:  and  since  that  I  have 
received  satisfaction  that  our  friends  to  govern 
ment  are  convinced  they  can't  carry  these  acts 
into  effect ;  and  are  willing,  if  possible,  to  keep 
matters  in  a  state  of  suspense  until  they  hear 
from  home.  At  the  same  time  they  continue 
to  entrench  and  fortify  the  neck,  professedly, 
and  I  believe  really  and  only,  for  self-defence. 


From  BENJAMIN  KENT,  ESQ.,  to  JOHN  ADAMS, 
dated  Boston,  Sept.  23,  1774.     [Extract.] 

Our  enemies,  for  their  own  further  security, 
as  well  as  to  bring  the  town  into  the  most 
complete  dependence  on  the  army  and  navy, 
spare  no  labor  or  pains  ;  they  suffer  no  owner 
of  powder  to  take  a  single  grain  out  of  the 
town's  magazine,  and  there  is  none  to  be 
bought  in  the  town.  Two  or  three  days  ago, 
after  the  men  of  war  had  spiked  up  our  can 
non  at  the  battery,  they  robbed  us  of  six  good 
pieces  of  large  cannon,  as  we  were  carrying 
them  in  a  gondola  through  the  mill  pond  to 
Watertown.  They  take  and  keep  the  guns 
and  cutlasses  out  of  carts  and  wagons  going 
over  the  Neck ;  and  no  doubt,  if  they  thought 
they  could  disarm  the  town  they  would  do  it 
instantly.  [He  then  mentions  that  their  friends 
in  Connecticut  urged  them  to  act  before  gen 
eral  Gage  should  receive  the  additional  regi 
ments  which  he  expected — but  that  the  people 
of  Boston  "  would  not  undertake  any  thing 
material  before  they  heard  from  the  grand 
council  of  America,  which  we  hope  will  remain 
forever."]  He  then  expresses  a  wish  that  the 
congress  would  consider  their  case,  and  says, 
"  we  are  not  suspicious  that  it  can  possibly  be 
disagreeable  to  the  grand  congress  that  we 
should  do  everything  in  our  power  towards  our 
defence  ;  but  to  lie  still  so  long  as  in  any  mea 


sure  to  disable  us  to  secure  ourselves  by  and 
bye,  when  we  can  now  prevent  it,  would  be 
very  unwise,  and  it  may  be  fatal  to  the  town." 
"  It  is  necessary  for  us,  as  far  as  we  can,  to 
prepare  for  the  worst  that  can  happen ;  that 
we  may  not  be  unhappily  surprised  when  the 
worst  shall  come.  Look  into  Europe  and  see 
how  tyranny  flourishes  ;  and  if  the  tyrants  will 
but  join  their  forces,  in  a  little  time  not  one 
free  state  will  be  left  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic — which  God  forbid  ! 

In  conclusion  he  says,  "  I  do  most  heartily 
hope  and  desire,  the  body  of  representatives  of 
all  the  colonies,  may  have  eternity,  for  the 
glory  of  God,  and  the  happiness  of  the  Ameri 
can  world.  This  is  the  prayer  of  the  faith  of 
your  and  their  most  cordial  brother  and  friend." 


RICHARD  CRANCH,   ESQ.,  to  MR.  ADAMS, 
dated  Boston,    Oct.  15,  1774.     [Extract.] 

I  hear  that   a  letter    from   one   P s,   a 

clergyman  in  Connecticut,  has  been  intercepted, 
and  that  an  attested  copy  of  it  is  now  before 
our  congress.  The  contents  of  it  are  very  ex 
traordinary — he  informs  the  person  to  whom 
it  is  addressed,  that  he  has  received  advice 
that  several  regiments  more  from  England,  and 
a  number  of  men  of  war,  are  expected,  and 
that  when  they  arrive,  hanging  work  will 
begin, — and  that  those  only  will  be  safe  whose 
lintels  and  door  posts  shall  be  sprinkled.  Our 
ministers  in  this  province  put  up  their  ardent 
petitions  in  public  for  the  direction  and  bless 
ing  of  heaven  on  your  congress. 


DR.  SAMUEL  COOPER  to  MR.  ADAMS,  dated 
\6th  Oct.  1774. 

Having  just  been  informed  that  Mr.  Tudor 
is  going  to  Philadelphia,  I  take  this  oppor 
tunity  to  thank  you  for  the  obliging  favor  of 
your  letter  of  29th  September.  The  struggle, 
as  you  justly  observe,  between  fleets  and 
armies  and  commercial  regulations,  must  be 
very  unequal :  We  hope,  however,  the  con 
gress  will  carry  this  mode  of  defence  as  far  as 
it  will  go,  and  endeavor  to  render  it  as  early 
effectual  as  it  can  be,  since  the  operation  of  it 
must  necessarily  be  slow — were  we  at  ease  we 
would  wait — but  being  first  seized  and  griped 
by  the  merciless  hand  of  power,  we  are  "  tor 
tured  even  to  madness,"  and  yet,  perhaps,  no 
people  would  give  a  greater  example  of  patience 
and  firmness,  could  the  people  be  sure  of  the 
approbation  and  countenance  of  the  continent ; 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


103 


in  consolidating  themselves  in  the  best  man 
ner  they  are  able,  they  should  have,  they  say, 
fresh  spirits  to  sustain  the  conflict.  The  re 
port  of  an  uncommon  large  quantity  of  British 
goods  sent  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
naturally  carries  our  thoughts  to  a  non-con 
sumption — Nothing  could  more  thoroughly  em 
barrass  these  selfish  importers,  and  none  ever 
deserved  more  such  a  punishment. 

Our  provincial  congress  is  assembled  ;  they 
adjourned  from  Concord  to  Cambridge. 
Among  them  and  through  the  province  the 
spirit  is  ardent.  And  I  think  the  inhabitants 
of  this  town  are  distracted  to  remain  in  it  with 
such  formidable  fortifications  at  its  entrance. 
Besides  the  regiments  expected  from  the  south 
ward  and  Canada,  we  have  several  companies 
from  Newfoundland,  of  which  we  had  no  appre 
hension  until  they  arrived.  The  tories  depend 
that  the  administration  will  push  their  point 
with  all  the  force  that  they  can  spare,  and  this 
I  think  we  ought  to  expect  and  take  into  our 
account. 


MR.  ADAMS  TO  MR.  CHASE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  July  i,  1776. 

DEAR  SIR — Your  favor  by  the  post  this 
morning  gave  me  much  pleasure,  but  the  gene 
rous  and  unanimous  vote  of  your  convention 
gave  me  much  more.  It  was  brought  into 
congress  this  morning,  just  as  we  were  entering 
on  the  great  debate. — That  debate  took  up 
most  of  the  day,  but  an  idle  mispense  of  time, 
for  nothing  was  said,  but  what  had  been  re 
peated  and  hackneyed,  in  that  room,  before,  an 
hundred  times,  for  six  months  past. 

In  the  committee  of  the  whole,  the  question 
was  carried  in  the  affirmative,  and  reported  to 
the  house. — A  colony  desired  it  to  be  post 
poned  until  to-morrow,  when  it  will  pass  by  a 
great  majority,  perhaps  with  almost  unani 
mity  ;  yet  I  cannot  promise  this,  because  one 
or  two  gentlemen  may  possibly  be  found,  who 
will  vote  point  blank  against  the  known  and 
declared  sense  of  their  constituents.  Maryland, 
however,  I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you, 
behaved  well. — Paca,  generously  and  nobly. 

Alas,  Canada  !  we  have  found  misfortune 
and  disgrace  in  that  quarter — Evacuated  at 
last — transports  arrived  at  Sandy-Hook,  from 
whence  we  may  expect  an  attack  in  a  short 
time,  upon  New- York  or  New-Jersey — and  our 
army  is  not  so  strong  as  we  could  wish.  The 
militia  of  New-Jersey  and  New  England,  not 
so  ready  as  they  ought  to  be. 

The  Romans  made  it  a  fixed  rule  never  to 
send  or  receive  ambassadors,  to  treat  of  peace 


with  their  enemies,  while  their  affairs  were  in 
an  adverse  or  disastrous  situation.  There  was 
a  generosity  and  magnanimity  in  this,  be 
coming  freemen.  It  flowed  from  that  temper 
and  those  principles  which  alone  can  preserve 
the  freedom  of  a  people.  It  is  a  pleasure  to 
find  our  Americans  of  the  same  temper.  It  is 
a  good  symptom,  foreboding  a  good  end. 

If  you  imagine  that  I  expect  this  declaration 
will  ward  off  calamities  from  this  country,  you 
are  mistaken.  A  bloody  conflict  we  are  des 
tined  to  endure. — This  has  been  my  opinion 
from  the  beginning.  You  will  certainly  re 
member  my  decided  opinion  was,  at  the  first 
congress,  when  we  found  that  we  could  not 
agree  upon  an  immediate  non-exportation,  that 
the  contest  could  not  be  settled  without  blood 
shed,  and  that  if  hostilities  should  once  com 
mence,  they  would  terminate  in  an  incurable 
animosity  between  the  two  countries.  Every 
political  event  since  the  ipth  of  April,  1775, 
has  confirmed  me  in  this  opinion. 

If  you  imagine  that  I  flatter  myself  with 
happiness  and  halcyon  days,  after  a  separation 
from  Great  Britain,  you  are  mistaken  again. 
I  don't  expect  that  our  new  government  will 
be  so  quiet  as  I  could  wish,  nor  that  happy 
harmony,  confidence,  and  affection,  between 
the  colonies,  that  every  good  American  ought 
to  study,  labor,  and  pray  for,  for  a  long  time. 
But  freedom  is  a  counterbalance  for  poverty, 
discord,  and  war,  and  more.  It  is  your  hard 
lot  and  mine  to  be  called  into  life,  at  such  a 
time  ; — yet  even  these  times  have  their  pleasures. 

I  am  your  friend  and  servant, 

JOHN  ADAMS. 


MR.  ADAMS  TO  GOVERNOR  BULLOCK. 

PHILADELPHIA,  July  i,  1776. 

DEAR  SIR — Two  days  ago  I  received  your 
favor  of  May  ist. — I  was  greatly  disappointed, 
sir,  in  the  information  you  gave  me,  that  you 
should  be  prevented  from  visiting  Philadelphia. 
I  had  flattered  myself  with  hopes  of  your  join 
ing  us  soon,  and  not  only  affording  us  the  addi 
tional  strength  of  your  abilities  and  fortitude, 
but  enjoying  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  a  temper 
and  conduct  here,  somewhat  more  agreeable  to 
your  wishes,  than  those  which  prevailed  when 
you  were  here  before.  But  I  have  since  been 
informed,  that  your  countrymen  have  done 
themselves  the  justice  to  place  you  at  the  head 
of  their  affairs,  a  station  in  which  you  may 
perhaps  render  more  essential  service  to  them, 
and  to  America,  than  you  could  here. 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  great  change  in 


104 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


the  sentiments  of  the  colonies  since  you  left  us, 
and  I  hope  that  a  few  months  will  bring  us  all 
to  the  same  way  of  thinking. 

This  morning  is  assigned  for  the  greatest 
debate  of  all — a  declaration,  that  these  colonies 
are  free  and  independent  states,  has  been  re 
ported  by  a  committee,  appointed  some  weeks 
ago  for  that  purpose,  and  this  day,  or  to-mor 
row,  is  to  determine  its  fate. — May  Heaven 
prosper  the  new  born  republic,  and  make  it 
more  glorious  than  any  former  republics  have 
been ! 

The  small-pox  has  ruined  the  American 
army  in  Canada,  and  of  consequence  the 
American  cause.  A  series  of  disasters  has 
happened  there,  partly  owing  I  fear  to  the  in 
decision  at  Philadelphia,  and  partly  to  the 
mistakes  or  misconduct  of  our  officers  in  that 
department.  But  the  small-pox,  which  infected 
every  man  we  sent  there,  completed  our  ruin, 
and  compelled  us  to  evacuate  that  important 
province. — We  must,  however,  regain  it  some 
time  or  other. 

My  countrymen  have  been  more  successful 
at  sea,  in  driving  away  all  the  men  of  war  com 
pletely  out  of  Boston  harbor,  and  in  making 
prizes  of  a  great  number  of  transports  and 
other  vessels. 

We  are  in  daily  expectation  of  an  armament 
before  New  York,  where,  if  it  comes,  the  con 
flict  must  be  bloody.  The  object  is  great 
which  we  have  in  view,  and  we  must  expect  a 
great  expense  of  blood  to  obtain  it.  But  we 
should  always  remember,  that  a  free  constitu 
tion  of  civil  government  cannot  be  purchased 
at  too  dear  a  rate,  as  there  is  nothing,  on  this 
side  the  new  Jerusalem,  of  equal  importance  to 
mankind. 

It  is  a  cruel  reflection,  that  a  little  more 
wisdom,  a  little  more  activity,  or  a  little  more 
integrity,  would  have  preserved  us  Canada, 
and  enabled  us  to  support  this  trying  conflict, 
at  a  less  expense  of  men  and  money.  But 
irretrievable  miscarriages  ought  to  be  lamented 
no  further,  than  to  enable  and  stimulate  us  to 
do  better  in  future. 

Your  colleagues,  Hall  and  Gynn,  are  here  in 
good  health  and  spirits,  and  as  firm  as  you 
yourself  could  wish  them.  Present  my  compli 
ments  to  Mr.  Houston.  Tell  him  the  colonies 
will  have  republics  for  their  governments,  let 
us  lawyers,  and  your  divines,  say  what  we  will. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  esteem 
and  respect,  sir,  your  sincere  friend  and  most 
humble  servant, 

JOHN  ADAMS. 
His  Excellency 

Archibald  Bullock,  Esq.  of  Georgia. 


TWO   LETTERS   FROM   PRESIDENT 
ADAMS. 

Written  one  in  the  morning,  the  other  in 
the  evening,  of  the  -$d  of  July,  1776,  and  Cor 
respondence  of  Judge  Dawes  relating  thereto. 

FROM  A  LATE  BOSTON  PAPER. 

Mr.  Editor — Some  years  ago,  having  seen 
in  your  paper  a  brilliant  paragraph  from  a 
letter  of  the  hon.  John  Adams  to  a  friend — not, 
however,  for  the  first  time,  it  having  appeared 
before  on  many  a  fourth  of  July — I  was  curious 
to  learn  from  its  venerable  author  who  was 
that  friend,  and  also  such  anecdotes  concern 
ing  the  subject  of  the  letter,  as  he  might  be 
willing  to  communicate.  He  gratified  my 
curiosity,  with  his  accustomed  energy,  on  a 
transaction  in  which  he  had  taken  so  distin 
guished  a  part.  After  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Adams,  the  accomplished  friend  to  whom 
the  letter  was  addressed,  he  was  pleased  to 
send  me  a  copy  of  it,  and  of  another  written 
to  her  on  the  same  third  of  July.  It  is  proba 
ble  that,  after  the  loss  of  such  a  companion,  a 
review  of  their  epistolary  correspondence 
brought  to  his  recollection  the  inquiries  I 
had  made,  and  the  subsequent  conversation, 
though  years  had  elapsed.  These  letters  I 
present  to  the  public,  but  not  without  permis 
sion  ;  believing  that  they  will  be  read  with 
much  interest  on  the  forty-third  anniversary' 
of  the  grand  event  which  they  announced. 

THOMAS  DAWES. 

Boston,  July  3,  1819. 


JOHN  ADAMS  TO  JUDGE  DAWES. 

The  following  letter  was  not  intended  lor 
publication,  but  we  cannot  resist  a  desire  we 
feel — for  reasons  which  will  be  obvious  to  the 
reader — to  record  the  document  in  our  files ; 
and  apologize  to  our  fellow-citizens  for  the 
liberty  we  have  taken. 

QUINCY,  February  16,  1819. 
Respected  and  beloved  Judge  Dawes : 

Inclosed  are  copies  of  two  letters  written 
by  me  to  my  wife,  one  in  the  morning,  the 
other  in  the  evening  of  the  3d  of  July,  1776, 
the  day  after  the  vote  of  independence  was 
passed  in  congress.  An  extract  of  one  of 
them  has  been  published  in  the  newspapers. 
Once  on  a  time,  upon  my  stony  field  hill,  you 
interrogated  me  concerning  that  extract,  in  so 
particular  a  manner,  that  I  thought  you  felt  a 
tincture  of  pyrrhonism  concerning  its  authenti 
city.  If  you  have  still  any  doubts,  I  will  show 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


105 


you  the  original  letters,  in  my  hand  writing, 
whenever  you  will  do  me  the  honor  of  a  visit 
to  Quincy.  In  those  days,  my  principal  cor 
respondent  was  my  wife,  who  was  then  sur 
rounded  by  many  of  the  principal  politicians 
of  the  age,  such  as  general  James  Warren,  of 
Plymouth,  and  his  lady  ;  Dr.  Cotton  Tufts,  of 
Weymouth  ;  my  brother  Richard  Cranch,  of 
Braintree,  and  gen.  Joseph  Palmer,  of  German- 
town,  and  many  others,  who  were  constantly 
enquiring  of  her  the  news  from  congress. 
Whatever  related  merely  to  public  affairs,  she 
read  to  them,  or  suffered  them  to  read. 

I  am,  sir,  with  perfect  esteem  and   sincere 
affection,  your  friend  and  humble  servant, 

JOHN  ADAMS. 

Judge  DA  WES. 


JOHN  ADAMS  TO  MRS.  ADAMS. 

PHILADELPHIA,  July  3,  \morning\  1776. 

Your  favor  of  June  17,  dated  at  Plymouth, 
was  handed  me  yesterday  by  the  post.  I  was 
much  pleased  to  find  that  you  had  taken  a 
journey  to  Plymouth  to  see  your  friends,  in  the 
long  absence  of  one  whom  you  may  wish  to 
see.  The  excursion  will  be  an  amusement, 
and  will  serve  your  health.  How  happy  would 
it  have  made  me  to  have  taken  this  journey 
with  you  ! 

I  was  informed,  a  day  or  two  before  the 
receipt  of  your  letter,  that  you  were  gone  to 
Plymouth,  by  Miss  P.,  who  was  obliging  enough 
to  inform  me,  in  your  absence,  of  the  particu 
lars  of  the  expedition  to  the  Lower  Harbor, 
against  the  men  of  war. — Her  narration  is 
executed  with  a  precision  and  perspicuity 
which  would  have  become  the  pen  of  an  ac 
complished  historian. 

I  am  very  glad  you  had  so  good  an  oppor 
tunity  of  seeing  one  of  our  little  American  men 
of  war.  Many  ideas,  new  to  you,  must  have 
presented  themselves  in  such  a  scene ;  and  you 
will  in  future  better  understand  the  relations 
of  a  sea  engagement. 

I  rejoice  extremely  in  Dr.  Bulfinch's  petition 
for  leave  to  open  an  Hospital.  But  I  hope  the 
business  will  be  done  upon  a  larger  scale.  I 
hope  that  one  Hospital  will  be  licensed  in 
every  county,  if  not  in  every  town.  I  am 
happy  to  find  you  resolved  to  be  with  the 
children  in  the  first  class.  Mr.  W.  and  Mrs. 
Q.  are  cleverly  through  innoculation  in  this 
city. 

I  have  one  favor  to  ask,  and  that  is,  that  in 
your  future  letters  you  would  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  all  those  you  may  receive  from  me, 


and  mention  their  dates  ;  by  this  means  I  shall 
know  if  any  of  mine  miscarry. 

The  information  you  give  me  of  our  friend's 
refusing  his  appointment,  has  given  me  much 
pain,  grief,  and  anxiety.  I  believe  I  shall  be 
obliged  to  follow  his  example.  I  have  not 
fortune  enough  to  support  my  family,  and, 
what  is  of  more  importance,  to  support  the 
dignity  of  that  exalted  station.*  It  is  too  high 
and  lifted  up  for  me,  who  delight  in  nothing  so 
much  as  retreat,  solitude,  silence,  and  obscu 
rity.  In  private  life,  no  one  has  a  right  to 
censure  me  for  following  my  own  inclinations 
in  retirement,  in  simplicity  and  frugality ;  but 
in  public  life  every  man  has  a  right  to  remark 
as  he  pleases ;  at  least  he  thinks  so. 

Yesterday  the  greatest  question  was  decided 
which  ever  was  debated  in  America ;  and  a 
greater,  perhaps,  never  was  or  will  be  decided 
among  men.  A  resolution  was  passed,  with 
out  one  dissenting  colony  : 

"  That  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of 
right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  states  ; 
and,  as  free  and  independent  states,  they  have, 
and  of  right  ought  to  have,  full  power  to  make 
war,  conclude  peace,  establish  commerce,  and 
to  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which  other 
states  may  rightfully  do." 

You  will  see,  in  a  few  days,  a  declaration, 
setting  forth  the  causes  which  have  impelled  us 
to  this  revolution,  and  the  reasons  which  will 
justify  it  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man.  A  plan 
of  confederation  will  be  taken  up  in  a  few  days. 

When  I  look  back  to  the  year  1761,  and 
recollect  the  argument  concerning  writs  of 
assistance,  in  the  superior  court,  which  I  have 
hitherto  considered  as  the  commencement  of 
the  controversy  between  Great  Britain  and 
America,  and  run  through  the  whole  period 
from  that  time  to  this,  and  recollect  the  series 
of  political  events,  the  chain  of  causes  and  effects. 
I  am  surprised  at  the  suddenness  as  well  as 
greatness  of  this  revolution. 

Britain  has  been  filled  with  folly,  and  America 
with  wisdom  ;  at  least  this  is  my  judgment — 
time  must  determine.  It  is  the  will  of  Heaven 
that  the  two  countries  should  be  sundered 
forever.  It  may  be  the  will  of  Heaven  that 
America  shall  suffer  calamities  still  more  wast 
ing,  and  distresses  still  more  dreadful.  If  this 
is  to  be  the  case,  it  will  have  this  good  effect 
at  least,  it  will  inspire  us  with  many  virtues 
which  we  have  not,  and  correct  many  errors, 
follies,  and  vices,  which  threaten  to  disturb, 


*  Office  of  chief  justice  of  the  superior  court  of  Massa 
chusetts,  to  which  Mr.  Adams  had  been  appointed,  but 
which  he  declined,  preferring  his  seat  in  the  old  congress, 
to  which  he  had  been  re-elected.  T.  D 


lo6 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


dishonor,  and  destroy  us.  The  furnace  of 
affliction  produces  refinement  in  states  as  well 
as  individuals.  And  the  new  governments  we 
are  assuming  in  every  part,  will  require  a  puri 
fication  from  our  vices,  and  an  augmentation 
of  our  virtues,  or  they  will  be  no  blessings. 
The  people  will  have  unbounded  power ;  and 
the  people  are  extremely  addicted  to  corruption 
and  venality,  as  well  as  the  great.  I  am  not 
without  apprehensions  from  this  quarter ;  but 
I  must  submit  all  my  hopes  and  fears  to  an 
over  ruling  Providence,  in  which,  unfashion 
able  as  it  may  be,  I  firmly  believe. 

JOHN  ADAMS. 


JOHN  ADAMS  TO  MRS.  ADAMS. 
PHILADELPHIA,  July  3  [evening]  1776. 

Had  a  declaration  of  independence  been 
made  seven  months  ago,  it  would  have  been 
attended  with  many  great  and  glorious  effects. 
We  might,  before  this  hour,  have  formed  alli 
ance  with  foreign  states.  We  should  have 
mastered  Quebec,  and  been  in  possession  of 
Canada. 

You  will,  perhaps,  wonder  how  such  a  dec 
laration  would  have  influenced  our  affairs  in 
Canada;  but,  if  I  could  write  with  freedom,  I 
could  easily  convince  you  that  it  would,  and 
explain  to  you  the  manner  how.  Many  gentle 
men  in  high  stations,  and  of  great  influence, 
have  been  duped,  by  the  ministerial  bubble  of 
commissioners,  to  treat ;  and,  in  real,  sincere 
expectation  of  this  event,  which  they  so  fondly 
wished,  they  have  been  slow  and  languid  in 
promoting  measures  for  the  reduction  of  that 
province.  Others  there  are  in  the  colonies, 
who  really  wished  that  our  enterprise  in  Canada 
would  be  defeated  ;  that  the  colonies  might  be 
brought  into  danger  and  distress  between  two 
fires,  and  be  thus  induced  to  submit.  Others 
really  wished  to  defeat  the  expedition  to  Canada, 
lest  the  conquest  of  it  should  elevate  the  minds 
of  the  people  too  much  to  hearken  to  those 
terms  of  reconcilation  which  they  believed 
would  be  offered  us.  These  jarring  views, 
wishes,  and  designs,  occasioned  an  opposi 
tion  to  many  salutary  measures  which  were 
proposed  for  the  support  of  that  expedition, 
and  caused  obstructions,  embarrassments,  and 
studied  delays,  which  have  finally  lost  us  the 
province. 

All  these  causes,  however,  in  conjunction, 
would  not  have  disappointed  us,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  a  misfortune  which  could  not  have 
been  foreseen,  and  perhaps  could  not  have  been 
prevented — I  mean  the  prevalence  of  the  small 
pox  among  our  troops.  This  fatal  pestilence 


completed  our  destruction.  It  is  a  frown  ot 
Providence  upon  us,  which  we  ought  to  lay  to 
heart. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  delay  of  this 
declaration  to  this  time  has  many  great  advan 
tages  attending  it.  The  hopes  of  reconciliation 
which  were  fondly  entertained  by  multitudes 
of  honest  and  well  meaning,  though  short 
sighted  and  mistaken  people,  have  been  gradu 
ally,  and  at  last  totally,  extinguished.  Time 
has  been  given  for  the  whole  people  maturely 
to  consider  the  great  question  of  independence, 
and  to  ripen  their  judgment,  dissipate  their 
fears,  and  allure  their  hopes,  by  discussing  it 
in  newspapers  and  pamphlets — by  debating 
it  in  assemblies,  conventions,  committees  of 
safety  and  inspection — in  town  and  county 
meetings,  as  well  as  in  private  conversations  ; 
so  that  the  whole  people,  in  every  colony,  have 
now  adopted  it  as  their  own  act.  This  will 
cement  the  union,  and  avoid  those  heats,  and 
perhaps  convulsions,  which  might  have  been 
occasioned  by  such  a  declaration  six  months 
ago. 

But  the  day  is  past.  The  second  day  ot 
July,  1776,  will  be  a  memorable  epocha  in  the 
history  of  America.  I  am  apt  to  believe  that 
it  will  be  celebrated  by  succeeding  generations, 
as  the  great  Anniversary  Festival.  It  ought 
to  be  commemorated,  as  the  day  of  deliverance 
by  solemn  acts  of  devotion  to  God  Almighty. 
It  ought  to  be  solemnized  with  pomp,  shews, 
games,  sports,  guns,  bells,  bonfires  and  illu 
minations,  from  one  end  of  the  continent  to 
the  other,  from  this  time  forward  forever. 

You  will  think  me  transported  with  enthu 
siasm  ;  but  I  am  not.  I  am  well  aware  of  the 
toil,  and  blood,  and  treasure,  that  it  will  cost 
us  to  maintain  this  declaration,  and  support 
and  defend  these  states.  Yet,  through  all  the 
gloom,  I  can  see  the  rays  of  light  and  glory  ; 
I  can  see  that  the  end  is  more  than  worth  all 
the  means,  and  that  posterity  will  triumph, 
although  you  and  I  may  rue,  which  I  hope  we 
shall  not.  JOHN  ADAMS. 


Several  of  the  volumes  of  the  Weekly  Re 
gister,  are  enriched  by  the  correspondence  of 
Mr.  Adams.  His  letters  to  the  editor,  en 
closing  his  communications  to  Mr.  Wirt,  (the 
elegant  author  of  the  "  Sketches  "  of  the  fa 
mous  Patrick  Henry,  of  Virginia)  inserted  in 
the  I4th  vol.  page  257,  et  seq.,  are  highly  in 
teresting.  Mr.  Wirt  has  claimed  for  Mr.  Henry 
the  declaration  "we  must  fight,"  which  Mr. 
Adams  says  was  derived  from  a  letter  which 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


107 


he  himself  had  shewn  to  Mr.  Henry,  written 
by  Major  Hawley,  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  in 
1774.  The  following,  as  connected  with  this 
subject,  cannot  fail  of  exciting  the  most  pleasant 
feelings  in  those  who  delight  to  trace  the  first 
dawnings  of  our  glorious  revolution. 

EDITOR. 

EXTRACT 

OF   A  LETTER  FROM   PRESIDENT   ADAMS  TO 

H.  NILES,  QUINCY,  FEB.  5,  1819. 

Dear  Sir, — I  enclose  you  the  "  broken  hints 
to  be  communicated  to  the  committee  of  con 
gress  for  the  Massachusetts,"  by  Major  Joseph 
Hawley,  of  Northampton. 

This  is  the  original  paper  that  I  read  to 
Patrick  Henry  in  the  fall  of  the  year  1774, 
which  produced  his  rapturous  burst  of  appro 
bation,  and  solemn  asseveration  "  I  AM  OF 

THAT  MAN'S  MIND." 

I  pray  you  to  send  it  back  to  me.  I  would 
not  exchange  this  original  for  the  show  book 
of  Harvard  college,  and  printed  it  shall  be  at 
my  own  expense  in  a  hand-bill." 

Broken  Hints  to  be  communicated  to  the  Com 
mittee  of  Congress  for  the  Massachusetts. 

"  We  must  fight,  if  we  can't  otherwise  rid 
ourselves  of  British  taxation,  all  revenues,  and 
the  constitution  or  form  of  government  enacted 
for  us  by  the  British  parliament.  It  is  evil 
against  right — utterly  intolerable  to  every  man 
who  has  any  idea  or  feeling  of  right  or  liberty. 

It  is  easy  to  demonstrate  that  the  regulation 
act  will  soon  annihilate  every  thing  of  value 
in  the  charter,  introduce  perfect  despotism, 
and  render  the  house  of  representatives  a  mere 
form  and  ministerial  engine. 

It  is  now  or  never,  that  we  must  assert  our 
liberty.  Twenty  years  will  make  the  number 
of  tories  on  this  continent  equal  to  the  number 
of  whigs.  They  who  shall  be  born  will  not 
have  any  idea  of  a  free  government. 

It  will  necessarily  be  a  question,  whether  the 
new  government  of  this  province  shall  be  suf 
fered  to  take  place  at  all, — or  whether  it  shall 
be  immediately  withstood  and  resisted  ? 

A  most  important  question  this — I  humbly 
conceive  it  not  best  forcibly  or  wholly  to  resist 
it,  immediately. 

There  is  not  heat  enough  yet  for  battle. 
Constant,  and  a  sort  of  negative  resistance  of 
government,  will  increase  the  heat  and  blow 
the  fire.  There  is  not  military  skill  enough. 
That  is  improving,  and  must  be  encouraged 
and  improved,  but  will  daily  increase. 

Fight  we  must  finally,  unless  Britain  retreats. 


But  it  is  of  infinite  consequence  that  victory 
be  the  end  and  issue  of  hostilities.  If  we  get 
to  fighting  before  necessary  dispositions  are 
made  for  it,  we  shall  be  conquered,  and  all  will 
be  lost  forever. 

A  certain  clear  plan,  for  a  constant,  adequate 
and  lasting  supply  of  arms  and  military  stores, 
must  be  devised  and  fully  contemplated.  This 
is  the  main  thing.  This,  I  think,  ought  to  be 
a  capital  branch  of  the  business  of  congress — 
to  wit :  to  devise  and  settle  such  a  plan ;  at 
least,  clearly  to  investigate  how  such  supplies 
can  be  extensively  had  in  case  of  need.  While 
this  is  effecting — to  wit :  while  the  continent  is 
providing  themselves  with  arms  and  military 
stores,  and  establishing  a  method  for  a  sure 
and  unfailing  and  constant  supply,  I  conceive 
we  had  best  to  negotiate  with  Britain.  If  she 
will  cede  our  rights  and  restore  our  liberties 
all  is  well — every  good  man  will  rejoice  :  if  she 
will  not  agree  to  relinquish  and  abolish  all 
American  revenues,  under  every  pretence  and 
name,  and  all  pretensions  to  order  and  regulate 
our  internal  policy  and  constitution — then,  if 
we  have  got  any  constant  and  sufficient  supply 
of  military  stores,  it  will  be  time  to  take  our 
arms.  I  can't  quit  this  head — it  ought  to  be 
immediately  and  most  seriously  attended  to. 
It  can't  be  any  other  than  madness  to  com 
mence  hostilities  before  we  have  established 
resources  on  a  sure  plan  for  certain  and 
effectual  military  supplies.  Men,  in  that  case, 
will  not  be  wanting. 

But  what  considerate  man  will  ever  consent 
to  take  arms  and  go  to  war,  where  he  has  no 
reasonable  assurance  but  that  all  must  be 
given  over  and  he  fall  a  prey  to  the  enemy,  for 
want  of  military  stores  and  ammunition,  in  a 
few  weeks  ? 

Either  an  effectual  non-consumption  agree 
ment  or  resistance  of  the  new  government  will 
bring  on  hostilities  very  soon. 

i.  As  to  a  non-consumption  agreement — it 
appears  to  me  that  ought  to  be  taken  for  cer 
tain  truth,  that  no  plan  of  importation  or  con 
sumption  of  tea,  British  goods  in  general,  or 
enumerated  articles,  which  is  to  rest  and  depend 
on  the  virtue  of  all  the  individuals,  will  succeed  ; 
but  must  certainly  prove  abortive. 

The  ministry  may  justly  call  such  a  plan 
futile — futile  it  will  turn  out.  A  plan  of  that 
sort  may  safely  rest  and  be  founded  on  the 
virtue  of  the  majority  :  but  then  the  majority, 
by  the  plan,  must  be  directed  to  control  the 
minority,  which  implies  force.  The  plan,  there 
fore,  must  direct  and  prescribe  how  that  force 
shall  be  exercised. 

Those,  again,  who  exercise  that  force,  under 


io8 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


the  direction  and  by  order  of  the  majority,  must 
by  that  majority  be  defended  and  indemnified. 

Dispositions  must  therefore  necessarily  be 
made  to  resist  or  overcome  that  force  which 
will  be  brought  against  you — which  will  directly 
produce  war  and  bloodshed. 

From  thence  it  follows,  that  any  other  non- 
consumption  or  non-importation  plan,  which  is 
not  perfectly  futile  and  ridiculous,  implies  hos 
tilities  and  war. 

2.  As  to  the  resistance  of  the  new  govern 
ment,  that  also  implies  war :  for  in  order  to 
resist  and  prevent  the  effect  of  the  new  govern 
ment,  it  is  indispensably  necessary  that  the 
charter  government,  or  some  other,  must  be 
maintained — co  nstitutionally  exercised  and 
supported. 

The  people  will  have  some  government  or 
other — they  will  be  drawn  in  by  a  seeming 
mild  and  just  administration,  which  will 
last  awhile ;  legislation  and  executive  justice 
must  go  on  in  some  form  or  other,  and  we  may 
depend  on  it  they  will, — therefore  the  new 
government  will  take  effect  until  the  old 
is  restored. 

The  old  cannot  be  restored  until  the  council 
take  on  them  the  administration,  call  assem 
blies,  constitute  courts,  make  sheriffs,  etc.  The 
council  will  not  attempt  this  without  good 
assurance  of  protection.  This  protection  can't 
be  given  without  hostilities. 

Our  salvation  depends  upon  an  established 
persevering  union  of  the  colonies. 

The  tools  of  administration  are  using  every 
device  and  effort  to  destroy  that  union,  and 
will  certainly  continue  so  to  do — 

Thereupon,  all  possible  devices  and  endea 
vors  must  be  used  to  establish,  improve, 
brighten  and  maintain  such  union. 

Every  grievance  of  any  one  colony  must  be 
held  and  considered  by  the  whole  as  a  griev 
ance  to  the  whole,  and  must  operate  on  the 
whole  as  a  grievance  to  the  whole.  This  will 
be  a  difficult  matter  to  effect :  but  it  must 
be  done. 

Quere,  therefore — whether  is  it  not  abso 
lutely  necessary  that  some  plan  be  settled  for 
a  continuation  of  congresses  ? — But  here  we 
must  be  aware  that  congresses  will  soon  be 
declared  and  enacted  by  parliament  to  be 
high  treason. 

Is  the  India  company  to  be  compensated 
or  not  ? 

If  to  be  compensated — each  colony  to  pay 
the  particular  damage  she  has  done,  or  is  an 
average  to  be  made  on  the  continent  ? 

The  destruction  of  the  tea  was  not  unjust — 
therefore  to  what  good  purpose  is  the  tea  to  be 


paid  for,  unless  we  are  assured  that  by  so  doing, 
our  rights  will  be  restored  and  peace  obtained  ? 

What  future  measures  is  the  continent  to 
preserve  with  regard  to  imported  dutied  tea, 
whether  it  comes  as  East  India  property  or 
otherwise,  under  the  pretence  and  lie  that  the 
tea  is  imported  from  Holland,  and  the  goods 
imported  before  a  certain  given  day?  Dutied 
tea  will  be  imported  and  consumed — goods 
continue  to  be  imported — your  non-importation 
agreement  eluded,  rendered  contemptible  and 
ridiculous — unless  all  teas  used,  and  all  goods, 
are  taken  into  some  public  custody  which 
will  be  inviolably  faithful." 

[The  foregoing  is  a  literal  copy  of  the  vene 
rable  paper  before  me,  except  its  frequent 
abbreviations  of  the  and  that,  with  the  addition 
only  of  a  few  commas,  etc.  to  make  it  read.] 


ADDRESS   OF  THE  PROVINCIAL   CON 
GRESS 

To  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  THE  TOWNS 
AND  DISTRICTS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS-BAY, 
DECEMBER  4,  1774. 

Friends  and  brethren  : 

At  a  time  when  the  good  people  of  this 
colony  were  deprived  of  their  laws,  and  the 
administration  of  justice ;  when  the  cruel  op 
pressions  brought  on  their  capital  had  stag 
nated  almost  all  their  commerce ;  when  a 
standing  army  was  illegally  posted  among  us, 
for  the  express  purpose  of  enforcing  submission 
to  a  system  of  tyranny  ;  and  when  the  general 
court  was,  with  the  same  design,  prohibited  to 
sit ;  we  were  chosen,  and  empowered  by  you, 
to  assemble  and  consult  upon  measures  neces 
sary  for  our  common  safety  and  defence. 
With  much  anxiety  for  the  common  welfare, 
we  have  attended  this  service,  and  upon  the 
coolest  deliberation,  have  adopted  the  measures 
recommended  to  you. 

We  have  still  confidence  in  the  wisdom, 
justice,  and  goodness  of  our  sovereign,  as  well 
as  in  the  integrity,  humanity,  and  good  sense 
of  the  nation.  And,  if  we  had  a  reasonable 
expectation  that  the  truth  of  facts  would  be 
made  known  in  England,  we  should  entertain 
the  most  pleasing  hopes,  that  the  measures 
concerted  by  the  colonies,  jointly  and  severally, 
would  procure  a  full  redress  of  our  grievances  : 
but  we  are  constrained  in  justice  to  you,  to  our 
selves,  and  to  posterity,  to  say,  that  the  inces 
sant  and  unrelenting  malice  of  our  enemies  has 
been  so  successful,  as  to  fill  the  court  and 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


ICQ 


kingdom  of  Great  Britain  with  falsehood  and 
calumnies  concerning  us,  and  excite  the  most 
bitter  and  groundless  prejudices  against  us ; 
that  the  sudden  dissolution  of  parliament,  and 
the  hasty  summons  for  a  new  election,  gives  us 
reason  to  apprehend  that  a  majority  of  the 
house  of  commons  will  be  again  elected,  under 
the  influence  of  an  arbitrary  ministry  ;  and  that 
the  general  tenor  of  our  intelligence  from  Great 
Britain,  with  the  frequent  reinforcements  of  the 
army  and  navy  at  Boston,  excites  the  strongest 
jealousy,  that  the  system  of  colony  administra 
tion,  so  unfriendly  to  the  protestant  religion, 
and  destructive  of  American  liberty,  is  still  to 
be  pursued,  and  attempted  with  force,  to  be 
carried  into  execution. 

You  are  placed,  by  Providence,  in  a  post  of 
honor,  because  it  is  a  post  of  danger ;  and 
while  struggling  for  the  noblest  objects,  the 
liberties  of  our  country,  the  happiness  of  pos 
terity,  and  rights  of  human  nature,  the  eyes, 
not  only  of  North  America  and  the  whole 
British  empire,  but  of  all  Europe,  are  upon 
you.  Let  us  be,  therefore,  altogether  solicitous 
that  no  disorderly  behavior,  nothing  unbecom 
ing  our  character,  as  Americans,  as  citizens, 
and  Christians,  be  justly  chargeable  to  us. 

Whoever,  with  a  small  degree  of  attention, 
contemplates  the  commerce  between  Great 
Britain  and  America,  will  be  convinced  that  a 
total  stoppage  thereof  will  soon  produce,  in 
Great  Britain,  such  dangerous  effects,  as  can 
not  fail  to  convince  the  ministry,  the  parlia 
ment,  and  people,  that  it  is  their  interest  and 
duty  to  grant  us  relief.  Whoever  considers  the 
number  of  brave  men  inhabiting  North  Ameri 
ca,  well  know,  that  a  general  attention  to  mili 
tary  discipline  must  so  establish  their  rights 
and  liberties  as,  under  God,  to  render  it  impos 
sible  for  an  arbitrary  minister  of  Britain  to 
destroy  them.  These  are  facts,  which  our 
enemies  are  apprised  of,  and  if  they  will  not  be 
influenced  by  principles  of  justice,  to  alter  their 
cruel  measures  towards  America,  these  ought 
to  lead  them  thereto.  They,  however,  hope  to 
effect  by  stratagem  what  they  may  not  obtain 
by  power,  and  are  using  arts,  by  the  assistance 
of  base  scribblers,  who  undoubtedly  receive 
their  bribes,  and  by  many  other  means,  to 
raise  doubts  and  divisions  throughout  the 
colonies. 

To  defeat  their  wicked  designs,  we  think  it 
necessary  for  each  town  to  be  particularly  care 
ful,  strictly  to  execute  the  plans  of  the  conti 
nental  and  provincial  congress ;  and,  while  it 
censures  its  own  individuals  counteracting  those 
plans,  that  it  be  not  deceived,  or  diverted  from 
its  duty,  by  rumors,  should  any  take  place,  to 


the  prejudice  of  other  communities.  Your 
provincial  congresses,  we  have  reason  to  hope, 
will  hold  up  the  towns,  if  any  should  be  so  lost, 
as  not  to  act  their  parts ;  and  none  can  doubt, 
that  the  continental  congress  will  rectify  errors, 
should  any  take  place,  in  any  colony,  through 
the  subtilty  of  our  enemies.  Surely,  no  argu 
ments  can  be  necessary  to  excite  you  to  the 
most  strict  adherence  to  the  American  associa 
tion,  since  the  minutest  deviation  in  one  colony, 
especially  in  this,  will  probably  be  misrepre 
sented  in  the  others,  to  discourage  their  general 
zeal  and  perseverance,  which,  however,  we 
assure  ourselves,  cannot  be  effected. 

While  the  British  ministry  are  suffered,  with 
a  high  hand,  to  tyrannize  over  America,  no 
part  of  it,  we  presume,  can  be  negligent  in 
guarding  against  the  ravages  threatened  by  the 
standing  army,  now  in  Boston  ;  these  troops 
will,  undoubtedly,  be  employed  in  attempts  to 
defeat  the  association  which  our  enemies  can 
not  but  fear  will  eventually  defeat  them ;  and, 
so  sanguinary  are  those  our  enemies,  as  we 
have  reason  to  think,  so  thirsty  for  the  blood 
of  this  innocent  people,  who  are  only  contend 
ing  for  their  rights,  that  we  should  be  guilty  of 
the  most  unpardonable  neglect,  should  we  not 
apprise  you  of  your  danger,  which  appears  to 
us  imminently  great,  and  ought  attentively  to 
be  guarded  against.  The  improvement  of  the 
militia  in  general,  in  the  military  art,  has  been 
therefore  thought  necessary,  and  strongly 
recommended  by  this  congress.  We  now 
think,  that  particular  care  should  be  taken  by 
the  towns  and  districts  in  this  colony,  that 
each  of  the  minute  men,  not  already  provided 
therewith,  should  be  immediately  equipped 
with  an  effective  fire-arm,  bayonet,  pouch, 
knapsack,  thirty  rounds  of  cartridges  and  ball, 
and  that  they  be  disciplined  three  times  a 
week,  and  oftener,  as  opportunity  may  offer. 

To  encourage  these,  our  worthy  countrymen, 
to  obtain  the  skill  of  complete  soldiers,  we 
recommend  it  to  the  towns,  and  districts,  forth 
with  to  pay  their  own  minute  men  a  reasonable 
consideration  for  their  services;  and,  in  case 
of  a  general  muster,  their  further  services  must 
be  recompensed  by  the  province.  An  atten 
tion  to  discipline  in  the  militia,  in  general,  is, 
however,  by  no  means  to  be  neglected. 

With  the  utmost  cheerfulness,  we  assure  you 
of  our  determination  to  stand  or  fall  with  the 
liberties  of  America  ;  and  while  we  humbly  im 
plore  the  Sovereign  Disposer  of  all  things,  to 
whose  Divine  Providence  the  rights  of  his 
creatures  cannot  be  indifferent,  to  correct  the 
errors  and  alter  the  measures  of  an  infatuated 
ministry,  we  cannot  doubt  of  his  support,  even 


no 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


in  the  extreme  difficulties  which  we  all  may 
have  to  encounter.  May  all  means  devised, 
for  our  safety,  by  the  general  congress  of 
America,  and  assemblies  or  conventions  of  the 
colonies,  be  resolutely  executed,  and  happily 
succeeded  ;  and  may  this  injured  people  be 
reinstated  in  the  full  exercise  of  their  rights, 
without  the  evils  and  devastations  of  civil  war. 


PROVINCIAL   CONGRESS  OF  MASSA 
CHUSETTS, 

DEC.     8,     1774,     RECOMMENDING     MANUFAC 
TURES  AND  HOME  INDUSTRY. 

In  Provincial  Congress,  Cambridge,  Dec. 
8,  1774- 

As  the  happiness  of  particular  families  arises, 
in  a  great  degree,  from  their  being  more  or 
less  dependent  upon  others ;  and  as  the  less 
occasion  they  have  for  any  article  belonging  to 
others,  the  more  independent ;  and  conse 
quently  the  happier  they  are :  So  the  happi 
ness  of  every  political  body  of  men  upon  earth 
is  to  be  estimated,  in  a  great  measure,  upon 
their  greater  or  less  dependence  upon  any 
other  political  bodies  ;  and  from  hence  arises  a 
forcible  argument,  why  every  state  ought  to 
regulate  their  internal  policy  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  furnish  themselves,  within  their  own 
body,  with  every  necessary  article  for  subsis 
tence  and  defence  :  Otherwise  their  political 
existence  will  depend  upon  others,  who  may 
take  advantage  of  such  weakness  and  reduce 
them  to  the  lowest  state  of  vassalage  and 
slavery.  For  preventing  so  great  an  evil,  more 
to  be  dreaded  than  death  itself,  it  must  be  the 
wisdom  of  this  colony  at  all  times,  more  espe 
cially  at  this  time,  when  the  hand  of  power  is 
lashing  us  with  the  scorpions  of  despotism,  to 
encourage  agriculture,  manufactures  and  econ 
omy,  so  as  to  render  this  state  as  independent 
of  every  other  state  as  the  nature  of  our  coun 
try  will  admit.  From  the  consideration  there 
of,  and  trusting  that  the  virtue  of  the  peo 
ple  of  this  colony  is  such,  that  the  following 
resolutions  of  thrs  congress,  which  must  be 
productive  of  the  greatest  good,  will  by  them 
be  effectually  carried  into  execution.  And  it  is 
therefore  resolved — 

1st.  That  we  do  recommend  to  the  people 
the  improvement  of  their  breed  of  sheep,  and 
the  greatest  possible  increase  of  the  same  ; 
and  also  the  preferable  use  of  our  own  woolen 
manufactures  ;  and  to  the  manufacturers,  that 
they  ask  only  reasonable  prices  for  their  goods  ; 


and  especially  a  very  careful  sorting  of  the 
wool,  so  that  it  may  be  manufactured  to  the 
greatest  advantage,  and  as  much  as  may  be, 
into  the  best  goods. 

2d.  We  do  also  recommend  to  the  people 
the  raising  of  hemp  and  flax ;  and  as  large 
quantities  of  flax-seed,  more  than  may  be 
wanted  for  sowing,  may  be  produced,  we 
would  also  further  recommend  the  manufac 
turing  the  same  into  oil. 

3d.  We  do  likewise  recommend  the  making 
of  nails  ;  which  we  do  apprehend  must  meet 
with  the  strongest  encouragement  from  the 
public,  and  be  of  lasting  benefit  both  to  the 
manufacturer  and  the  public. 

4th.  The  making  of  steel,  and  the  preferable 
use  of  the  same,  we  do  also  recommend  to  the 
inhabitants  of  this  colony. 

5th.  We  do  in  like  manner  recommend  the 
making  tin-plates,  as  an  article  well  worth  the 
attention  of  this  people. 

6th.  As  fire-arms  have  been  manufactured 
in  several  parts  of  this  colony,  we  do  recom 
mend  the  use  of  such,  in  preference  to  any 
imported.  And  we  do  recommend  the  mak 
ing  of  gun-locks,  and  furniture  and  other  locks, 
with  other  articles  in  the  iron  way. 

7th.  We  do  also  earnestly  recommend  the 
making  of  salt-petre,  as  an  article  of  vast  im 
portance  to  be  encouraged,  as  may  be  directed 
hereafter. 

8th.  That  gun-powder  is  also  an  article  of 
such  importance,  that  every  man  amongst  us 
who  loves  his  country,  must  wish  the  establish 
ment  of  manufactories  for  that  purpose, 
and,  as  there  are  the  ruins  of  several  powder 
mills,  and  sundry  persons  among  us  who  are 
acquainted  with  that  business,  we  do  heartily 
recommend  its  encouragement,  by  repairing 
one  or  more  of  said  mills,  or  erecting  others, 
and  renewing  said  business  as  soon  as  possible. 

9th.  That  as  several  paper  mills  are  now 
usefully  employed,  we  do  likewise  recommend 
a  preferable  use  of  our  own  manufactures  in 
this  way ;  and  a  careful  saving  and  collecting 
rags,  etc.,  and  also  that  the  manufacturers 
give  a  generous  price  for  such  rags,  etc. 

loth.  That  it  will  be  the  interest,  as  well  as 
the  duty  of  this  body,  or  of  such  as  may  suc 
ceed  us,  to  make  such  effectual  provision  for 
the  further  manufacturing  of  the  several  sorts 
of  glass,  as  that  the  same  may  be  carried  on  to 
the  mutual  benefit  of  the  undertaker  and  the 
public,  and  firmly  established  in  this  colony. 

nth.  That  whereas  buttons  of  excellent 
qualities  and  of  various  sorts  are  manufactured 
among  us,  we  do  earnestly  recommend  the 
general  use  of  the  same  ;  so  that  the  manufac- 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


Ill 


tones  may  be  extended  to  the  advantage  of  the 
people  and  manufacturers. 

1 2th.  That  whereas  salt  is  an  article  of  vast 
consumption  within  this  colony,  and  in  its  fish 
eries,  we  do  heartily  recommend  the  making 
the  same,  in  the  several  ways  wherein  it  is 
made  in  the  several  parts  of  Europe ;  espe 
cially  in  the  method  used  in  that  part  of  France 
where  they  make  bay  salts. 

I3th.  We  do  likewise  recommend  an  encour 
agement  of  horn-smiths  in  all  their  various 
branches,  as  what  will  be  of  public  utility. 

I4th.  We  do  likewise  recommend  the  estab 
lishment  of  one  or  more  manufactories  for 
making  wool  comber's  combs,  as  an  article 
necessary  in  our  woolen  manufactures. 

1 5th.  We  do  in  like  manner  heartily  recom 
mend  the  preferable  use  of  the  stocking  and 
other  hosiery  wove  among  ourselves,  so  as  to 
enlarge  the  manufactories  thereof,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  encourage  the  manufacturer  and 
serve  the  country. 

i6th.  As  madder  is  an  article  of  great  im 
portance  in  the  dyer's  business,  and  which  may 
be  easily  raised  and  cured  among  ourselves,  we 
do  therefore  earnestly  recommend  the  raising 
and  curing  the  same. 

1 7th.  In  order  the  more  effectually  to  carry 
these  resolutions  into  effect,  we  do  earnestly 
recommend,  That  a  society  or  societies  be 
established  for  the  purposes  of  introducing  and 
establishing  such  arts  and  manufactures  as 
may  be  useful  to  this  people,  and  are  not  yet 
introduced,  and  the  more  effectually  estab 
lishing  such  as  we  have  already  among  us. 

1 8th.  We  do  recommend  to  the  inhabitants 
of  this  province  to  make  use  of  our  manufac 
tures,  and  those  of  our  sister  colonies,  in  pref 
erence  to  all  other  manufactures. 

Signed  by  order  of  the  Provincial  Congress, 
JOHN  HANCOCK,  President. 

A  true  extract  from  the  minutes, 

BENJAMIN  LINCOLN,  Secretary. 


THE   PROSCRIBED   OF   BOSTON,    1774. 

From  the  Boston  Gazette,  1774. 
The  following  is  an  authentic  copy  of  a  letter 
which  was  lately  thrown  into  the  camp,  with 
the  following  direction  : 

"  To  the  Officers  and  Soldiers  of  his  Majesty's 
Troops  in  Boston. 

"  It  being  more  than  probable  that  the  king's 
standard  will  soon  be  erected,  from  rebellion 
breaking  out  in  this  province,  it  is  proper  that 


you,  soldiers !  should  be  acquainted  with  the 
authors  thereof,  and  of  all  the  misfortunes 
brought  upon  the  province ;  the  following  is 
a  list  of  them,  viz  : 


Samuel  Adams 
James  Bowdoin 
Dr.  Thomas  Young 
Dr.  Benjamin  Church 
Capt.  John  Bradford 
Josiah  Quincy 
Maj.  Nath'l.  Barber 
Wm.  Mollineux 


John  Hancock 
William  Cooper 
Dr.  Chauncey 
Dr.  Cooper 
Thomas  Gushing 
Joseph  Greenleaf 
and  William  Denning. 


"  The  friends  of  your  king  and  country  and 
of  America,  hope  and  expect  it  from  you, 
soldiers,  the  instant  rebellion  happens,  you 
will  put  the  above  persons  immediately  to  the 
sword,  destroy  their  houses,  and  plunder  their 
effects  :  it  is  just  that  they  should  be  the  first 
victims  to  the  mischief  they  have  brought  upon 
us.  [signed] 

A  friend  to  Great  Britain  and  America. 

"  P.  S.  Don't  forget  those  trumpeters  of 
sedition,  the  printers,  Edes  &  Gill,  and 
Thomas." 


LETTER 

FROM  A  GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  PROVINCE  OF 
MASSACHUSETTS  TO  A  FRIEND  IN  LON 
DON,  JANUARY  21,  1775. 

You  have,  no  doubt,  long  before  this  time, 
heard  the  particulars  of  the  general  congress, 
and  that  the  court  and  the  country  have  digested 
their  thoughts  upon  them,  if  not  adopted  their 
consequent  plans  of  conduct.  God  grant  that 
the  nation  and  parliament  may  think  favorably 
of  them,  and  grant  the  prayer  of  our  petition  to 
the  king. — Britain  and  America  are  made  to  be 
friends  ;  and  it  is  the  most  unnatural,  detest 
able  quarrel  between  them  that  ever  happened 
in  the  world.  Britons  and  Americans  may  write 
or  say  what  they  will,  but  this  quarrel  never 
will,  and  never  can  be  made  up,  but  by  restor 
ing  us  to  the  stale  we  were  in,  in  1763.  It  is 
as  certain  as  that  London  or  Boston  exist, 
that  no  other  plan  or  scheme  of  policy  that 
ever  can  be  invented,  will  keep  the  two  coun 
tries  together,  but  that  which  nature  dictated, 
and  which  experience  found  useful  for  150 
years.  It  is  in  vain,  it  is  delirium,  it  is  frenzy 
to  think  of  dragooning  three  millions  of  Eng 
lish  people  out  of  their  liberties,  at  the  distance 
of  3000  miles.  It  is  still  more  extravagantly 
wild  for  a  nation  to  think  of  doing  it,  when 
itself  is  sinking  down  into  a  bottomless  gulf 


112 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


of  debt,  in  order  to  make  the  conquered  lift 
her  out  of  it. 

"  The  congress  have  drawn  a  line  by  the 
banks  of  the  ocean.  They  have  claimed  their 
own  exclusive  jurisdiction  in  all  interior  con 
cerns,  and  in  all  cases  of  taxation.  They  have 
left  to  Great  Britain  the  exclusive  sovereignty 
of  the  ocean,  and  over  their  trade.  They  have 
placed  both  upon  constitutional  principles  ;  and 
if  Britons  were  not  content  with  all  we  have 
but  our  liberty,  we  say  as  the  corporation  of 
London  said  to  the  king  in  1770,  "  We  call  God 
and  men  to  witness,  that  as  we  do  not  owe  our 
liberty  to  those  nice  and  subtle  distinctions 
which  pensions  and  lucrative  employments 
have  invented,  so  neither  will  we  be  deprived  of 
it  by  them  ;  but  as  it  was  gained  by  the  stern 
virtue  of  our  ancestors,  by  the  virtue  of  their 
descendants  it  shall  be  preserved. 

"  The  congress  consisted  of  the  representa 
tives  of  twelve  colonies.  Three  millions  of 
free  white  people  were  there  represented. 
Many  of  the  members  were  gentlemen  of 
ample  fortunes  and  eminent  abilities.  Neither 
corruption  nor  intrigue  had  any  share,  I  be 
lieve,  in  their  elections  to  this  service,  and  in 
their  proceedings  you  may  see  the  sense,  the 
temper  and  principles  of  America,  and  which 
she  will  support  and  defend,  even  by  force  of 
arms,  if  no  other  means  will  do. 

"  The  state  of  this  province  is  a  great  curi 
osity.  I  wish  the  pen  of  some  able  historian 
may  transmit  it  to  posterity.  Four  hundred 
thousand  people  are  in  a  state  of  nature,  and 
yet  as  still  and  peaceable  at  present  as  ever 
they  were  when  government  was  in  full  vigor. 
We  have  neither  legislators  nor  magistrates, 
nor  executive  officers.  We  have  no  officers 
but  military  ones.  Of  these,  we  have  a  multi 
tude,  chosen  by  the  people,  and  exercising 
them  with  more  authority  and  spirit  than  ever 
any  did  who  had  commissions  from  a  governor. 

"  The  town  of  Boston  is  a  spectacle  worthy 
of  the  attention  of  a  deity,  suffering  amazing 
distress,  yet  determined  to  endure  as  much  as 
human  nature  can,  rather  than  betray  America 
and  posterity.  General  Gage's  army  is  sickly, 
and  extremely  addicted  to  desertion.  What 
would  they  be,  if  things  were  brought  to  ex 
tremities  ?  Do  you  think  such  an  army  would 
march  through  our  woods  and  thickets,  and 
country  villages,  to  cut  the  throats  of  honest 
people  contending  for  liberty  ? 

"  The  neighboring  colonies  of  New-Hamp 
shire,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut,  are  arm 
ing  and  training  themselves  with  great  spirit, 
and  if  they  must  be  driven  to  the  last  appeal, 
devoutly  praying  for  the  protection  of  heaven. 


"  There  is  a  spirit  prevailing  here,  such  as  I 
never  saw  before.  I  remember  the  conquest 
of  Louisburg  in  1745;  I  remember  the  spirit 
here  when  the  duke  d'Anville's  squadron  was 
upon  this  coast,  when  forty  thousand  men 
marched  down  to  Boston,  and  were  mustered 
and  numbered  upon  the  common,  complete  in 
arms,  from  this  province  only  in  three  weeks ; 
but  I  remember  nothing  like  what  I  have  seen 
these  six  months  past." 

\Almoris  Remembrancer. 


OCCURRENCE   AT   OLD   SOUTH 
CHURCH. 

BOSTON,  MARCH  '5,  1775. 

FROM   THE   BOSTON   CENTINEL. 

Mr.  Russell. — On  reading  in  your  last  Wed 
nesday's  Centinel,  an  extract  from  Mr. 
Knapp's  biography  of  Warren,  it  reminded  me 
of  some  circumstances,  not  mentioned  by  him, 
which  occurred  at  the  "  Old  South  "  on  the  5th 
of  March,  1775,  which  was  the  anniversary  of 
the  massacre  of  several  inhabitants  of  the 
town  of  Boston  by  the  British  troops,  in  1770. 

Mr.  Hancock  had  delivered  an  oration  the 
preceding  year  on  the  same  occasion,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  had  made  the  following 
observations : — 

"Standing  armies  are  sometimes  (I  would 
by  no  means  say  generally,  much  less  univer 
sally)  composed  of  persons  who  have  rendered 
themselves  unfit  to  live  in  civil  society ;  who 
have  no  other  motives  of  conduct  than  those 
which  a  desire  ot  the  present  gratification  of 
their  passions  suggests  :  who  have  no  property 
in  any  country ;  men  who  have  lost  or  given 
up  their  own  liberties,  and  envy  those  who  en 
joy  liberty  ;  who  are  equally  indifferent  to  the 
glory  of  a  George  or  a  Louis ;  who  for  the 
addition  of  one  penny  a  day  to  their  wages, 
would  desert  from  the  Christian  cross,  and 
fight  under  the  crescent  of  the  Turkish  sultan. 
From  such  men  as  these  what  has  not  a  state 
to  fear  ? — With  such  as  these  usurping  Caesar 
passed  the  Rubicon  ;  with  such  as  these  he 
humbled  mighty  Rome,  and  forced  the  mis 
tress  of  the  world  to  own  a  master  in  a  traitor. 
These  are  the  men  whom  sceptered  robbers 
now  employ  to  frustrate  the  designs  of  God, 
and  render  vain  the  bounties  which  his  gra 
cious  hand  pours  indiscriminately  upon  his 
creatures.  By  these  the  miserable  slaves  in 
Turkey,  Persia,  and  many  other  extensive 
countries,  are  rendered  truly  wretched,  though 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


the  air  is  salubrious,  and  their  soil  luxuriously 
fertile.  By  these  France  and  Spain,  though 
blessed  by  nature  with  all  that  administers  to 
the  convenience  of  life,  have  been  reduced  to 
that  contemptible  state  in  which  they  now  ap 
pear  ;  and  by  these  BRITAIN !  !  !  but  if 

I  was  possessed  of  the  gift  of  prophecy,  I  dare 
not,  except  by  Divine  command,  unfold  the 
leaves  on  which  the  destiny  of  that  once 
powerful  kingdom  is  inscribed." 

At  that  time  there  were  no  British  troops  in 
Boston  ;  four  regiments,  however,  shortly  after 
arrived,  the  officers  of  which  expressed  the 
most  decided  detestation  of  the  above  inserted 
quotation,  and  as  Mr.  Knapp  says,  "  threatened 
vengeance  on  any  orator,  who  should  dare  to 
repeat  such  sentiments."  When  Warren  de 
livered  his  Oration  the  following  year,  in 
defiance  of  those  threats,  the  British  army  had 
been  reinforced  to  nearly  ten  thousand  men, 
and  more  than  an  hundred  of  the  officers  at 
tended  secretly  armed  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
revenge,  on  the  utterance  of  any  sentiment, 
which  should  be  obnoxious  to  them. 

The  writer  of  this  article  was  standing  in  the 
broad  ais  e,  near  the  upper  end,  and  saw  Capt. 
Chapman,  of  the  Royal  Welch  Fusileers,  on 
the  lowest  step  of  the  pulpit  stairs,  playing 
with  three  pistol  bullets  in  his  right  hand,  and 
occasionally  casting  looks  of  contempt  on  the 
orator,  but  more  particularly  on  William 
Cooper  esq.  the  town  clerk,  who  was  seated 
near  him,  direc  ily  under  the  pulpit.  Mr. 
Cooper  maintained  a  firm  and  undaunted 
countenance,  and  returned  his  looks  with  dis 
dain.  I  never  look  back  upon  that  scene  with 
out  horror,  in  the  contemplation  of  the  danger 
we  were  then  in  of  a  much  more  horrid  mas 
sacre  than  the  one  we  were  then  commemora 
ting.  A  trifle,  lighter  than  air,  would  have 
deluged  that  church,  in  the  minds  of  both 
parties,  it  has  always  been  a  wonder  to  me 
that  the  war  did  not  commence  on  that  day. 

The  47th  Vegiment,  (it  was  supposed  by  de 
sign),  passed  the  church  at  this  time,  the 
drums  beating  with  redoubled  force.  This 
regiment  was  commanded  by  the  infamous 
colonel  Nesbit,  who,  a  few  days  after,  caused 
an  innocent  man  to  be  tarred  and  feathered, 
and  carted  through  the  principal  streets  in 
open  day,  and  headed  the  party  HIMSELF  !  !  ! 
followed  by  some  grenadiers  and  the  whole 
band  of  the  regiment,  in  defiance  of  that  law 
which  he  was  ostensibly  sent  to  protect. 

After  the  orator  had  made  some  remarks  on 
the  massacre  of  the  5th  of  March,  1770,  he 
said — 

8 


"  And  could  it  have  been  conceived  that  we 
again  should  have  seen  a  British  army  in  our 
land,  sent  to  enforce  obedience  to  acts  of  par 
liament  destructive  of  our  liberty  ?  But  the 
royal  ear,  far  distant  from  this  western  world, 
has  been  assaulted"-  by  the  tongue  of  SLANDER  ; 
and  VILLAINS,  TRAITOROUS  alike  to  KING 
and  COUNTRY,  have  prevailed  upon  a  gracious 
prince  to  clothe  his  countenance  with  wrath, 
and  to  erect  the  hostile  banner  against  a  peo 
ple  ever  affectionate  and  loyal  to  him  and  his 
illustrious  predecessors  of  the  house  of  Han 
over.  Our  streets  are  again  filled  with  armed 
men  ;  our  harbor  is  crowded  with  ships  of  war, 
but  these  cannot  intimidate  us  ;  our  liberty 
must  be  preserved  ;  it  is  far  dearer  than  life, 
we  hold  it  even  dear  as  our  allegiance  :  we 
must  defend  it  against  the  attacks  of  friends 
as  well  as  enemies;  we  cannot  suffer  even 
Britons  to  ravish  it  from  us." 

While  this  sentence  was  repeating,  Captain 
Chapman  exclaimed — FIE  !  FIE  !  It  was  at 
first  supposed  that  FIRE  was  cried,  which  oc 
casioned  a  momentary  disturbance — when 
William  Cooper  rose  from  his  chair,  and  with 
a  voice  truly  Stentorian,  vociferated  that 
"  there  was  no  fire,  but  the  fire  of  envy,  burn 
ing  in  the  hearts  of  our  enemies,  which  he 
hoped  soon  to  see  extinguished,"  looking  with 
indignation  on  Chapman,  Hawkes  and  other 
officers  who  were  near  him. 

I  could  enlarge  on  this  subject,  Mr.  Russell, 
but  as  I  have  already  extended  my  remarks 
beyond  my  original  intentions,  and  I  fear 
encroached  on  your  patience,  I  will  subscribe 
myself. 

AN  OLD  BOSTONIAN. 


BATTLE   OF   LEXINGTON, 
APRIL  19,  1775. 

Billerica,  Mass.  i6th  June,  1819. 

SIR — From  having  lately  seen  some  notice 
in  the  papers,  of  your  wish  to  obtain  the 
names  of  those  who  destroyed  the  tea  in 
Boston  harbor,  in  December,  1773,*  I  was  led 
to  believe  that  the  names  of  those  patriotic 
citizens,  who  fell  in  the  defence  of  their  just 
Drivileges,  on  the  nineteenth  of  April,  1775, 
might  be  also  acceptable  and  as  worthy  of 
Deing  perpetuated.  As  they  were  the  first  who 
ell  in  the  revolutionary  contest — as  they  fell 
not  in  the  act  of  desolating  an  unoffending 

*  See  the  letter  of  president  ADAMS  to  H.  Niles,  Ma}'  10 
819— Weekly  Register,  vol.  XV,  p.  236. 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


country  and  in  multiplying  the  miseries  of  their 
fellow  men,  to  gain  laurels— but  in  resisting 
the  ravages  of  an  invading  enemy,  they  are 
entitled  to  grateful  recollection,  to  honorable 
distinction.  I  have,  therefore,  enclosed  you  a 
list  of  the  names  of  those  who  were  killed  on 
that  memorable  day.  It  has  been  principally 
collected  from  a  narrative  of  the  excursion  and 
ravages  of  the  king's  troops,  under  the  com 
mand  of  general  Gage  on  the  igth  April,  1775, 
to  which  I  have  added  a  few  notes,  which  are 
derived  from  other  authentic  sources. 

With  sentiments  of  respect,  your  most  obe 
dient  servant,  JOHN  FARMER. 

To  H.  NILES. 

A  List  of  the  Provincials  -who  were  killed  in 
the  Action  of  the  igth  April,  1775,  and  the 
Towns  to  which  they  respectively  belonged. 

Acton. — Capt.  Isaac  Davis,  Abner  Hosman, 
James  Hay  ward. 

Bedford.— Capt.  Jonathan  Wilson. 

Beverly. —  Mr.  Kynnim. 

Brookline. — Isaac  Gardner,*  esq. 

Cambridge. — William  Mercy,  Moses  Rich 
ardson,  John  Hicks,  Jason  Russell,  Jabez  Wy- 
man  and  Jason  Winship. 

Charlestown. — James  Miller.f  Edward  Bar- 
ber.J 

Danvers. — Henry  Jacobs,  Samuel  Cook,  Eb- 
enezer  Goldthwait,  George  Southwick,  Benja 
min  Daland,  jun.  Jotham  Webb,  and  Perly 
Putnam. 

ZW/M;;Z.— Elias  Haven. 

Lexington. — Jonas  Parker,  Robert  Monroe, 
Jedidiah  Monroe,  John  Raymond,  Samuel  Had- 
ley,  Jonathan  Harrington,  jun.  Isaac  Muzzy, 
Caleb  Harrington,  Nathaniel  Wyman,  and 
John  Brown.  I 

Lynn. — Abednego  Ramsdell,  Daniel  Town- 
sond,  William  Flynt  and  Thomas  Hadley. 

Medford.  —  Henry  Putnam  and  William 
Policy. 

Needham. — Lieut.  John  Bacon,  Sergeant 
Elisha  Mills,  Amos  Mills,  Nathaniel  Chamber 
lain,  Jonathan  Parker. 

Salem.— Benjamin  Pierce. 

*  -He  had  volunteered  his  services,  and  was  killed  on 
the  return  of  the  troops  to  Boston.  He  was  born  at 
Brookline,  gth  May,  1726,  and  graduated  at  Harvard 
college  in  1747.  "  In  his  domestic,  social,  civil  and 
religious  capacity  he  was  equally  beloved  and  respected. 
The  melancholy  circumstance  of  his  death  excited  great 
public  sensibility  as  well  as  private  lamentation  and 
rcerret."  Rev.  Mr.  Pierce's  Hist.  Brookline. 

+  James  Millet  was  66  years  of  age. 

J  Aged  16,  son  of  capt.  William  Barber  of  Charlestown. 

|  A  monument  is  erected  in  Lexington  to  the  memory 
of  the  eight  first,  who  fell  on  the  morning  of  the  igth 


Sudbury.    Josiah  Haynes,*  Asahel  Reed. 
Watertown. — Joseph  Cooledge. 
Woburn. — Asa  Parker  and  Daniel  Thomp 
son. 

All  who  were  killed  belonged  to   Massa 
chusetts. 

The  Americans  had  49  killed 

34  wounded 
4  missing 

87  Total. 

The  British  loss  in  killed,  wounded  and  miss 
ing  was  273. 


REMINISCENCES  RELATING  TO  THE 
BATTLE   OF   LEXINGTON. 

EFFECT  OF  THE  NEWS  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF 
LEXINGTON  ON  THE  COLONISTS. 

The  people  of  "  the  good  old  thirteen  states," 
though  they  had  made  up  their  minds  to  suf 
fering  and  endurance,  did  not  enter  on  the  con 
tests  for  their  rights  and  liberties  in  a  hasty 
and  unadvised  manner  ;  they  had  counted  the 
cost,  and,  although  determined  to  sacrifice  all 
that  they  held  dear,  rather  than  to  crouch  as 
slaves,  yet  they  shuddered  at  being  forced  upon 
that  extremity.  The  intelligence  of  the  battle 
of  Lexington,  the  first  blood  that  was  drawn 
in  the  quarrel,  was  received  with  the  deepest 
regret ;  in  Philadelphia  the  bells  were  muffled, 
and  an  expression  of  horror  and  gloom  covered 
the  countenances  of  all  its  citizens. 

OFFENSIVE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  CITIZENS 
OF  BOSTON  BY  THE  BRITISH  AUTHORI 
TIES  AFTER  THE  BATTLE  OF  LEXINGTON. 

There  are  very  few  of  the  present  generation, 
who  have  any  idea  of  the  humiliation  to  which 
their  ancestors  were  subjected,  while  under  a 
colonial  government,  from  the  contumely  and 
insolence  of  upstart  officers,  who,  in  their  own 
country,  had  been  as  servile  as  the  spaniel,  but 
on  their  arrival  here,  aped  the  port  and  au 
thority  of  the  lion.  Not  only  humiliations,  but 
other  severe  sufferings  and  privations  were 
endured  by  them,  with  patience  and  fortitude, 
and  with  a  moral  rectitude,  which  would  have 
done  honor  to  Greece  or  Rome,  in  their  most 
virtuous  days. 

After  the  battle  of  Lexington,  the  egress  of  a 
part  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  was  prohibited 
by  a  breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of  Gen.  Gage, 
and  those  who  were  permitted  to  depart,  were 

*  Mr.  Haynes  was  an  officer  of  the  church. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


obliged  to  obtain  passports,  as  mentioned  in 
my  last  communication. 

It  was  not  until  the  fifth  of  June  that  my 
father  became  determined  to  leave  the  town. 
On  that  day  he  directed  me  to  make  out  a 
schedule  of  the  family,  agreeably  to  the  rules 
instituted  by  general  Gage,  and  demand  a  pass 
of  major  Cain,  of  the  army,  who  was  empow 
ered  to  perform  that  service.  Such  was  the 
crowd  of  citizens,  eagerly  pressing  to  obtain 
passports,  that  it  was  not  until  several  hours 
of  exertion  that  I  was  enabled  to  reach  the 
door  of  the  major's  apartment,  and  when  it 
was  opened,  I  was  so  forcibly  urged  on  by  the 
crowd  behind,  that,  on  entering  the  chamber, 
I  lost  my  balance,  which  caused  me  to  rush 
violently  into  the  room,  and  though  he  must 
have  perceived  that  the  act  was  involuntary, 
yet  he  had  the  brutality  to  exclaim  (in  broad 
Scotch)  "  hoot,  hoot  mon  !  are  you  going  to 
murder  me  ?  "  I  was  obliged  to  bear  this  in 
solence  in  silence,  though  my  countenance 
must  have  exhibited  marks  of  indignation,  and 
I  walked  to  a  window  which  looked  into  the 
court  yard,  where  my  feelings  were  still  more 
excited  by  a  view  of  my  fellow  citizens,  who, 
with  countenances  almost  bordering  on  despair, 
were  waiting  for  a  favorable  moment  to  obtain 
admission.  The  first  reflection  which  pre 
sented  itself  to  my  mind  was,  what  must  be 
the  indignation  of  our  king,  if  he  knew  how 
his  faithful,  loyal,  and  affectionate  subjects, 
were  abused,  insulted,  and  driven  into  acts  of 
reluctant  resistance.  Which  brought  to  my 
recollection  a  part  of  Warren's  oration,  on  the 
preceding  5th  of  March,  in  which  he  observes, 
that  "  The  royal  ear,  far  distant  from  this 
western  world,  has  been  assaulted  by  the  tongue 
of  slander,  and  villains,  traitorous  alike  to 
king  and  country,  have  prevailed  upon  a  gra 
cious  prince  to  clothe  his  countenance  with 
wrath."  Even  then  a  reconciliation  was  fondly 
hoped  for  by  many  of  the  most  strenuous  asser- 
tors  of  the  rights  of  the  colonies,  although 
blood  had  been  shed  at  Lexington  ;  and  even 
after  the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill,  the  congress 
presented  an  humble  petition  to  the  king,  and 
an  affectionate  address  to  their  fellow  subjects 
in  Erfgland,  in  which,  (with  much  feeling),  they 
say,  "  We  have  not  yet  learnt  to  rejoice  at  a 
victory  obtained  over  Englishmen"  and  humbly 
entreated  that  their  grievances  might  be  re 
dressed.  Ardent  hopes  were  entertained  that 
these  conciliatory  and  loyal  measures,  would 
induce  the  king  to  change  his  ministers,  and 
take  to  his  councils  a  Chatham,  a  Cambden, 
and  a  Rockingham.  Most  fortunately,  how 
ever,  for  the  eventual  prosperity  and  happiness 


of  America,  they  pursued  their  mad  schemes 
of  burning  our  towns,  hiring  the  savages  of  the 
wilderness  and  foreign  mercenaries,  to  spread 
death  and  desolation  through  the  land,  which 
finally  weaned  us  from  our  fond  attachment  to 
an  ungrateful  and  cruel  mother,  and,  on  the 
glorious  4th  of  July,  1776,  we  passed  the  Rubi 
con  !  ! — Never  !  never !  never  !  to  return  again 
under  her  subjection,  but  to  establish  a  govern 
ment  of  our  own,  founded  on  the  principles  of 
justice  and  equal  laws,  the  influence  of  whose 
example,  we  hope,  will  eventually  emancipate 
the  world  from  tyranny  and  despotism.  Amer 
ica  !  recollect  the  awful  and  solemn  responsi 
bility  which  reposes  on  your  conduct. 

'  Contemplate  well ;  and  if  perchance  thy  home 

'  Salute  thee  with  a  father's  honored  name, 

'  Go  call  thy  sons — instruct  them  what  a  DEBT 

'  They  owe  their  ancestors,  and  make  them  swear 

'  To  pay  it,  by  transmitting  down  intire 

1  Those  sacred  rights,  to  which  themselves  were  born." 

But  to  return  to  the  object  of  my  communi 
cation — after  waiting  nearly  an  hour  the  major 
accosted  me  with,  "  Well,  young  man,  what  do 
you  want  ?  "  I  handed  him  a  schedule  of  my 
father's  family,  including  that  of  his  sister's  (the 
widow  of  a  clergyman).  He  examined  a  small 
book  which  contained  what  the  tories  called 
the  "  black  list,"  when  slowly  raising  his  scowl 
ing  eyes,  he  said  with  great  asperity,  "  Your 
father,  young  man,  is  a  damn'd  rebel,  and 
cannot  be  accommodated  with  a  pass."  Not  at 
all  intimidated  by  his  brutality,  I  asserted  with 
much  vehemence,  that  my  father  was  no  rebel, 
that  he  adored  the  illustrious  house  of  Han 
over,  and  had  fought  for  good  king  George  the 
2d,  in  forty-five.  Whether  it  was,  that  he  himself 
had  been  a  real  rebel  in  Scotland,  in  1745,  or 
whether  my  mentioning  that  number  reminded 
him  of  Wilkes'  North  Briton  No.  45,  a  paper 
published  in  London,  and  peculiarly  obnoxious 
to  the  house  of  Hanover,  was  intended  as  an 
insinuation  against  his  own  loyalty,  (which  it 
really  was), — whatever  may  have  been  the 
cause  of  his  irritation — the  moment  I  had 
finished  speaking  he  rose  from  his  chair,  and 
with  a  countenance  foaming  with  rage,  he 
ordered  me  out  of  the  room  with  abusive  lan 
guage.  The  sentinel  at  the  door  had  an  Eng 
lish  countenance,  and,  with  apparent  sympathy, 
very  civilly  opened  it  for  my  departure,  which 
I  made  without  turning  my  back  on  my 
adversary. 

On  inquiry  it  was  afterwards  ascertained, 
that  what  constituted  the  crime  of  my  father 
and  caused  him  to  be  denominated  a  rebel,  was 
his  having  been  a  member  of  the  Whig  club  ! 

The  Whig  club,  in  consequence  of  the  per- 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUT  ON. 


turbed  state  of  the  times,  had  not  assembled  or 
met  for  more  than  a  year.  The  gentlemen  that 
had  composed  it,  were  James  Otis,  Dr.  War 
ren,  Dr.  Church,  Dr.  Young,  Richard  Derby, 
of  Salem,  Benjamin  Kent,  Nathaniel  Barber, 
William  Mackay,  Col.  Bigelow,  of  Worcester, 
and  about  half  a  dozen  more.  Through  the  in 
strumentality  of  my  father,  I  was  sometimes 
admitted  to  hear  their  deliberations.  There 
was  always  at  each  meeting,  a  speech  or  dis 
sertation  by  one  of  the  members,  on  the  princi 
ples  of  civil  liberty,  and  the  British  constitution. 
They  professed  loyalty  to  the  king,  but  were  in 
violent  opposition  to  the  encroachments  of  the 
parliament,  and  their  discussions  tended  to  a 
consideration  of  what  would  be  the  duty  of 
Americans  if  those  encroachments  were  con 
tinued.  For  this  purpose  they  corresponded 
with  some  society  in  London,  the  name  of 
which  I  have  forgotten,  (probably  the  Revolu 
tion  society).  Among  the  names  of  their  cor 
respondents  I  recollect,  Wilkes,  Saville,  Barre 
and  Sawbridge.  A  few  years  previous  to  the 
revolution,  they  sent  the  London  society  two 
green  turtle,  one  of  which  weighed  45  and  the 
other  92  pounds.  Those  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  those  times,  will  easily 
understand  to  what  those  numbers  alluded. 
On  their  arrival  in  London,  a  grand  dinner  was 
prepared,  at  which  Col.  Barre  presided,  and 
among  other  distinguished  guests  I  recollect 
hearing  the  names  of  earl  Temple,  lord  Camb- 
den,  and  the  lord  mayor ;  and  among  the 
toasts,  "  The  Whig  club  of  Boston,"  and  "  The 
ninety-two  patriots  of  Massachusetts  Bay," 
were  drank  with  three  times  three  cheers. 


FEMALE  PATRIOTISM.— BATTLE  OF  LEXING 
TON. 

The  MS.  of  the  following  interesting  letter 
was  politely  forwarded  to  us  by  a  gentleman 
of  Baltimore,  and  was  found  among  some  old 
papers  of  a  distinguished  lady  of  Philadelphia. 
— It  is  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  a  lady  of  Philadel 
phia  to  a  British  officer  at  Boston,  written 
immediately  after  the  battle  of  Lexington,  and 
previous  to  the  declaration  of  independence. — 
It  fully  exhibits  the  feelings  of  those  times. — A 
finer  spirit  never  animated  the  breasts  of  the 
Roman  matrons,  than  the  following  letter 
breathes : 

SIR — We  received  a  letter  from  you — where 
in  you  let  Mr.  S.  know  that  you  had  written 
after  the  battle  of  Lexington,  particularly  to  me 
— knowing  my  martial  spirit — that  I  would 
delight  to  read  the  exploits  of  heroes.  Surely, 


my  friend,  you  must  mean  the  New  England 
heroes,  as  they  alone  performed  exploits  worthy 
fame — while  the  regulars,  vastly  superior  in 
numbers,  were  obliged  to  retreat  with  a  rapidi 
ty  unequalled,  except  by  the  French  at  the 
battle  of  Minden.  Indeed,  general  Gage  gives 
them  their  due  praise  in  his  letter  home,  where 
he  says  lord  Percy  was  remarkable  for  his 
activity.  You  will  not,  I  hope,  take  offence  at 
any  expression  that,  in  the  warmth  of  my 
heart,  should  escape  me,  when  I  assure  you, 
that  though  we  consider  you  as  a  public  enemy, 
we  regard  you  as  a  private  friend ;  and  while  we 
detest  the  cause  you  are  fighting  for,  we  wish 
well  to  your  own  personal  interest  and  safety. 
Thus  far  by  way  of  apology.  As  to  the  martial 
spirit  you  suppose  me  to  possess,  you  are 
greatly  mistaken.  I  tremble  at  the  thoughts 
of  war ;  but  of  all  wars,  a  civil  one  :  our  all  is 
at  stake ;  and  we  are  called  upon  by  every  tie 
that  is  dear  and  sacred  to  exert  the  spirit  that 
Heaven  has  given  us  in  this  righteous  struggle 
for  liberty. 

I  will  tell  you  what  I  have  done.  My  only 
brother  I  have  sent  to  the  camp  with  my 
prayers  and  blessings ;  I  hope  he  will  not  dis 
grace  me ;  I  am  confident  he  will  behave 
with  honor,  and  emulate  the  great  examples 
he  has  before  him  ;  and  had  I  twenty  sons 
and  brothers  they  should  go.  I  have  re 
trenched  every  superfluous  expense  in  my  table 
and  family ;  tea  I  have  not  drank  since  last 
Christmas,  nor  bought  a  new  cap  or  gown 
since  your  defeat  at  Lexington,  and  what  I 
never  did  before,  have  learnt  to  knit,  and  am 
now  making  stockings  of  American  wool  for 
my  servants,  and  this  way  do  I  throw  in  my 
mite  to  the  public  good.  I  know  this,  that  as 
free  I  can  die  but  once,  but  as  a  slave  I  shall 
not  be  worthy  of  life.  I  have  the  pleasure  to 
assure  you  that  these  are  the  sentiments  of  all 
my  sister  Americans.  They  have  sacrificed 
both  assemblies,  parties  of  pleasure,  tea  drink 
ing  and  finery  to  that  great  spirit  of  patriotism, 
that  actuates  all  ranks  and  degrees  of  people 
throughout  this  extensive  continent.  If  these 
are  the  sentiments  of  females,  what  must  glow 
in  the  breasts  of  our  husbands,  brothers  and 
sons  ?  They  are  as  with  one  heart  determined 
to  die  or  be  free.  It  is  not  a  quibble  in  politics, 
a  science  which  few  understand,  which  we  are 
contending  for ;  it  is  this  plain  truth,  which 
the  most  ignorant  peasant  knows,  and  is  clear 
to  the  weakest  capacity,  that  no  man  has  a 
right  to  take  their  money  without  their  consent. 
The  supposition  is  ridiculous  and  absurd,  as 
none  but  highwaymen  and  robbers  attempt  it. 
Can  you,  my  friend,  reconcile  it  with  your  own 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


117 


good  sense,  that  a  body  of  men  in  Great 
Britain,  who  have  little  intercourse  with  Amer 
ica,  and  of  course  know  nothing  of  us,  nor  are 
supposed  to  see  or  feel  the  misery  they  would 
inflict  upon  us,  shall  invest  themselves  with  a 
power  to  command  our  lives  and  properties,  at 
all  times  and  in  all  cases  whatsoever?  You 
say  you  are  no  politician.  Oh,  sir,  it  requires 
no  Machiavelian  head  to  develop  this,  and  to 
discover  this  tyranny  and  oppression.  It  is 
written  with  a  sun  beam.  Every  one  will  see 
and  know  it  because  it  will  make  them  feel, 
and  we  shall  be  unworthy  of  the  blessings  of 
Heaven,  if  we  ever  submit  to  it. 

All  ranks  of  men  amongst  us  are  in  arms. — 
Nothing  is  heard  now  in  our  streets  but  the 
trumpet  and  drum ;  and  the  universal  cry  is 
"  Americans  to  arms."  All  your  friends  are 
officers :  there  are  captain  S.  D.,  lieut.  B.  and 
captain  J.  S.  We  have  five  regiments  in  the 
city  and  county  of  Philadelphia,  complete  in 
arms  and  uniform,  and  very  expert  at  their  mili 
tary  manoeuvres.  We  have  companies  of  light- 
horse,  light  infantry,  grenadiers,  riflemen,  and 
Indians,  several  companies  of  artillery,  and 
some  excellent  brass  cannon  and  field  pieces. 
Add  to  this,  that  every  county  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  the  Delaware  government,  can  send  two 
thousand  men  to  the  field.  Heaven  seems  to 
smile  on  us,  for  in  the  memory  of  man  never 
were  known  such  quantities  of  flax,  and  sheep 
without  number. — We  are  making  powder  fast, 
and  do  not  want  for  ammunition.  In  short, 
we  want  for  nothing  but  ships  of  war  to  defend 
us,  which  we  could  procure  by  making  alli 
ances  :  but  such  is  our  attachment  to  Great 
Britain,  that  we  sincerely  wish  for  reconcilia 
tion,  and  cannot  bear  the  thoughts  of  throwing 
off  all  dependence  on  her,  which  such  a  step 
would  assuredly  lead  to.  The  God  of  mercy 
will,  I  hope,  open  the  eyes  of  our  king  that  he 
may  see,  while  in  seeking  our  destruction,  he 
will  go  near  to  complete  his  own.  It  is  my 
ardent  prayer  that  the  effusion  of  blood  may 
be  stopped.  We  hope  yet  to  see  you  in  this 
city,  a  friend  to  the  liberties  of  America,  which 
will  give  infinite  satisfaction  to, 

Your  sincere  friend,  C.  S. 

To  CAPTAIN  S.,  in  Boston. 


ADDRESS  OF  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS  OF  MAS 
SACHUSETTS, 

To  the  Inhabitants  of  Great  Britain. 

WATERTOWN,  April  26th,  1775. 
Friends  and  Fellow  Subjects — Hostilities  are 
at  length  commenced   in   this  colony  by  the 


troops  under  the  command  of  General  Gage, 
and  it  being  of  the  greatest  importance,  that  an 
early,  true,  and  authentic  account  of  this  inhu 
man  proceeding  should  be  known  to  you,  the 
congress  of  this  colony  have  transmitted  the 
same,  and  from  want  of  a  session  of  the  hon. 
continental  congress,  think  it  proper  to  address 
you  on  the  alarming  occasion. 

By  the  clearest  depositions  relative  to  this 
transaction,  it  will  appear  that  on  the  night 
preceding  the  nineteenth  of  April  instant,  a 
body  of  the  king's  troops,  under  command  of 
colonel  Smith,  were  secretly  landed  at  Cam 
bridge,  with  an  apparent  design  to  take  or 
destroy  the  military  and  other  stores,  provided 
for  this  colony,  and  deposited  at  Concord — that 
some  inhabitants  of  the  colony,  on  the  night 
aforesaid,  whilst  travelling  peaceably  on  the 
road,  between  Boston  and  Concord,  were  seized 
and  greatly  abused  by  armed  men,  who  ap 
peared  to  be  officers  of  General  Gage's  army ; 
that  the  town  of  Lexington,  by  these  means, 
was  alarmed,  and  a  company  of  the  inhabi 
tants  mustered  on  the  occasion — that  the  reg 
ular  troops  on  their  way  to  Concord,  marched 
into  the  said  town  of  Lexington,  and  the  said 
company,  on  their  approach,  began  to  disperse 
— that,  notwithstanding  this,  the  regulars 
rushed  on  with  great  violence  and  first  began 
hostilities,  by  firing  on  said  Lexington  com 
pany,  whereby  they  killed  eight,  and  wounded 
several  others — that  the  regulars  continued 
their  fire,  until  those  of  said  company,  who 
were  neither  killed  nor  wounded,  had  made 
their  escape — that  colonel  Smith,  with  the  de 
tachment  then  marched  to  Concord,  where  a 
number  of  provincials  were  again  fired  on  by 
the  troops,  two  of  them  killed  and  several 
wounded,  before  the  provincials  fired  on  them, 
and  that  these  hostile  measures  of  the  troops, 
produced  an  engagement  that  lasted  through 
the  day,  in  which  many  of  the  provincials  and 
more  of  the  regular  troops  were  killed  and 
wounded. 

To  give  a  particular  account  of  the  ravages 
of  the  troops,  as  they  retreated  from  Concord 
to  Charlestown,  would  be  very  difficult,  if  not 
impracticable  ;  let  it  suffice  to  say,  that  a  great 
number  of  the  houses  on  the  road  were  plun 
dered  and  rendered  unfit  for  use,  several  were 
burnt,  women  in  child-bed  were  driven  by  the 
soldiery  naked  into  the  streets,  old  men  peace 
ably  in  their  houses  were  shot  dead,  and  such 
scenes  exhibited  as  would  disgrace  the  annals 
of  the  most  uncivilized  nation. 

These,  brethren,  are  marks  of  ministerial 
vengeance  against  this  colony,  for  refusing, 
with  her  sister  colonies,  a  submission  to  sla- 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


very  ;  but  they  have  not  yet  detached  us  from 
our  royal  sovereign.  We  profess  to  be  his 
loyal  and  dutiful  subjects,  and  so  hardly  dealt 
with  as  we  have  been,  are  still  ready,  with  our 
lives  and  fortunes,  to  defend  his  person,  family, 
crown  and  dignity.  Nevertheless,  to  the  per 
secution  and  tyranny  of  his  cruel  ministry  we 
will  not  tamely  submit — appealing  to  Heaven 
for  the  justice  of  our  cause,  we  determine  to  die 
or  be  free. 

We  cannot  think  that  the  honor,  wisdom 
and  valor  of  Britons  will  suffer  them  to  be 
longer  inactive  spectators  of  measures  in  which 
they  themselves  are  so  deeply  interested — 
measures,  pursued  in  opposition  to  the  solemn 
protests  of  many  noble  lords,  and  expressed 
sense  of  conspicuous  commoners,  whose  knowl 
edge  and  virtue  have  long  characterized  them 
as  some  of  the  greatest  men  in  the  nation — 
measures,  executed  contrary  to  the  interest, 
petitions  and  resolves  of  many  large,  respecta 
ble  and  opulent  counties,  cities  and  boroughs 
in  Great  Britain — measures  highly  incompatible 
with  justice,  but  still  pursued  with  a  specious 
pretence  of  easing  the  nation  of  its  burthens — 
measures  which,  if  successful,  must  end  in  the 
ruin  and  slavery  of  Britain,  as  well  as  the  per 
secuted  American  colonies. 

We  sincerely  hope  that  the  Great  Sovereign 
of  the  universe,  who  hath  so  often  appeared 
for  the  English  nation,  will  support  you  in 
every  rational  and  manly  exertion  with  these 
colonies,  for  saving  it  from  ruin,  and  that,  in  a 
constitutional  connection  with  the  mother 
country,  we  shall  soon  be  altogether  a  free 
and  happy  people. 

By  order, 

JOSEPH  WARREN,  President  P.  T. 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  PROVINCIAL  CON 
GRESS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  DEPOSING  GEN 
ERAL  GAGE. 

WATERTOWN,  May  5,  1775. 

Whereas  his  excellency,  general  Gage,  since 
his  arrival  in  this  colony,  hath  conducted,  as 
an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  an  arbitrary 
ministry,  to  enslave  this  people ;  and  a  detach 
ment  of  the  troops  under  his  command,  has  of 
late  been  by  him  ordered  to  the  town  of  Con 
cord,  to  destroy  the  public  stores,  deposited  in 
that  place  for  the  use  of  that  colony  :  and 
whereas,  by  this  clandestine  and  perfidious 
measure,  a  number  of  respectable  inhabitants 
of  this  colony,  without  any  provocation  given 
by  them,  have  been  illegally,  wantonly,  and 
inhumanly  slaughtered  by  his  troops : 


Therefore,  resolved,  that  the  said  general 
Gage  hath,  by  these  and  many  other  means, 
utterly  disqualified  himself  to  serve  to  this 
colony  as  a  governor,  and  in  every  capacity ; 
and  that  no  obedience  ought,  in  future,  to  be 
paid  by  the  several  towns  and  districts  in  this 
colony,  to  his  writs  for  calling  an  assembly,  01 
to  his  proclamations,  or  any  other  of  his  acts 
or  doings ;  but  that,  on  the  other  hand,  he 
ought  to  be  considered  and  guarded  against,  as 
an  unnatural  and  inveterate  enemy  to  the 
country. 

JOSEPH  WARREN,  President  P.  T. 


CORRESPONDENCE 

Between  GEN.  LEE,  Continental  army,  and 
GEN.  J.  BuRGOYNE  of  the  British  forces, 
Boston,  Mass,  GENERAL  LEE  to  GEN. 
BURGOYNE  upon  his  arrival  in  Boston. 

PHILADELPHIA,  June  7,  1775. 

My  Dear  Sir — We  have  had  twenty  different 
accounts  of  your  arrival  at  Boston,  which  have 
been  regularly  contradicted  the  next  morning ; 
but  as  I  now  find  it  certain  that  you  are  ar 
rived,  I  shall  not  delay  a  single  instant  address 
ing  myself  to  you.  It  is  a  duty  I  owe  to  the 
friendship  I  have  long  and  sincerely  professed 
for  you ;  a  friendship  to  which  you  have  the 
strongest  claim  from  the  first  moments  of  our 
acquaintance.  There  is  no  man  from  whom  I 
have  received  so  many  testimonies  of  esteem 
and  affection ;  there  is  no  man  whose  esteem 
and  affection  could  in  my  opinion,  have  done 
me  greater  honor.  I  entreat  and  conjure  you, 
therefore,  my  dear  sir,  to  impute  these  few  lines 
not  to  a  petulant  itch  of  scribbling,  but  to  the 
most  unfeigned  solicitude  for  the  future  tran 
quillity  of  your  mind,  and  for  your  reputation. 
I  sincerely  lament  the  infatuation  of  the  times, 
when  men  of  such  a  stamp  as  Mr.  Burgoyne 
and  Mr.  Howe,  can  be  seduced  into  so  impious 
and  nefarious  a  service  by  the  artifice  of  a 
wicked  and  insidious  court  and  cabinet.  You, 
sir,  must  be  sensible  that  these  epithets  are 
not  unjustly  severe.  You  have  yourself  expe 
rienced  the  wickedness  and  treachery  of  this 
court  and  cabinet.  You  cannot  but  recollect 
their  manoeuvres  in  your  own  select  committee, 
and  the  treatment  yourself,  as  president,  re 
ceived  from  these  abandoned  men.  You  can 
not  but  recollect  the  black  business  of  St. 
Vincent's  by  an  opposition  to  which  you 
acquired  the  highest  and  most  deserved  honor. 
I  shall  not  trouble  you  with  my  opinion  of  the 
right  of  taxing  America  without  her  own  con- 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


sent,  as  I  am  afraid,  from  what  I  have  seen  of 
your  speeches,  that  you  have  already  formed 
your  creed  on  this  article ;  but  I  will  boldly 
affirm,  had  this  right  been  established  by  a 
thousand  statutes,  had  America  admitted  it 
from  time  immemorial,  it  would  be  the  duty  of 
every  good  Englishman,  to  exert  his  utmost  to 
divest  parliament  of  this  right,  as  it  must  inevi 
tably  work  the  subversion  of  the  whole  empire. 
The  malady  under  which  the  state  labors  is 
indisputably  derived  from  the  inadequate  repre 
sentation  of  the  subject,  and  the  vast  pecuniary 
influence  of  the  crown.  To  add  to  this  pecu 
niary  influence  and  incompetency  of  represen 
tation,  is  to  insure  and  precipitate  our  destruc 
tion.  To  wish  any  addition,  can  scarcely  enter 
the  heart  of  a  citizen,  who  has  the  least  spark 
of  public  virtue,  and  who  is  at  the  same  time 
capable  of  seeing  consequences  the  most  im 
mediate.  I  appeal,  sir,  to  your  own  conscience, 
to  your  experience  and  knowledge  of  our  court 
and  parliament,  and  I  request  you  to  lay  your 
hand  upon  your  heart,  and  then  answer  with 
your  usual  integrity  and  frankness,  whether,  on 
the  supposition  America  should  be  abject 
enough  to  submit  to  the  terms  imposed,  you 
think  a  single  guinea,  raised  upon  her,  would 
be  applied  to  the  purpose  (as  it  is  ostentatiously 
held  out  to  deceive  the  people  at  home)  of 
easing  the  mother  country  ?  or  whether  you 
are  not  convinced  that  the  whole  they  could 
extract  would  be  applied  solely  to  heap  up  still 
further  the  enormous  fund  for  corruption, 
which  the  crown  already  possesses,  and  of 
which  a  most  diabolical  use  is  made.  On  these 
principles  I  say,  sir,  every  good  Englishman, 
abstracted  of  all  regard  for  America,  must 
oppose  her  being  taxed  by  the  British  parlia 
ment  ;  for  my  own  part,  I  am  convinced  that 
no  argument  (not  totally  abhorrent  from  the 
spirit  of  liberty  and  the  British  constitution) 
can  be  produced  in  support  of  this  right.  But 
it  will  be  impertinent  to  trouble  you  upon  a 
subject  which  has  been  so  amply,  and  in  my 
opinion,  so  fully  discussed.  I  find  by  a  speech 
given  as  yours  in  the  public  papers,  that  it  was 
by  the  king's  positive  command  you  embarked 
in  this  service.  I  am  somewhat  pleased  that 
it  is  not  an  office  of  your  own  seeking,  though, 
at  the  same  time,  I  must  confess  that  it  is  very 
alarming  to  every  virtuous  citizen,  when  he 
sees  men  of  sense  and  integrity,  (because  of  a 
certain  profession)  lay  it  down  as  a  rule  im 
plicitly  to  obey  the  mandates  of  a  court,  be 
they  ever  so  flagitious.  It  furnishes,  in  my 
opinion,  the  best  arguments  for  the  total  reduc 
tion  of  the  army.  But  I  am  running  into  a 
tedious  essay,  whereas  I  ought  to  confine  my 


self  to  the  main  design  and  purpose  of  this 
letter,  which  is  to  guard  you  and  your  col 
leagues  from  those  prejudices  which  the  same 
miscreants,  who  have  infatuated  general  Gage 
and  still  surround  him,  will  labor  to  instil  into 
you  against  a  brave,  loyal  and  most  deserving 
people.  The  avenues  of  truth  will  be  shut  up 
to  you.  I  assert,  sir,  that  even  general  Gage 
will  deceive  you  as  he  has  deceived  himself ;  I 
do  not  say  he  will  do  it  designedly.  I  do  not 
think  him  capable  ;  but  his  mind  is  totally  poi 
soned,  and  his  understanding  so  totally  blinded 
by  the  society  of  fools  and  knaves,  that  he  no 
longer  is  capable  of  discerning  facts  as  manifest 
as  the  noon  day  sun.  I  assert,  sir,  that  he  is 
ignorant,  that  he  has  from  the  beginning  been 
consummately  ignorant  o£  the  principles,  tem 
per,  disposition  and  force  of  the  colonies.  I 
assert,  sir,  that  his  letters  to  the  ministry,  (at 
least  such  as  the  public  have  seen)  are  one 
continued  tissue  of  misrepresentation,  injustice, 
and  tortured  inferences  from  misstated  facts. 
I  affirm,  sir,  that  he  has  taken  no  pains  to 
inform  himself  of  the  truth  ;  that  he  has  never 
conversed  with  a  man  who  has  had  the  cour 
age  or  honesty  to  tell  him  the  truth — I  am 
apprehensive  that  you  and  your  colleagues  may 
fall  into  the  same  trap,  and  it  is  the  appre 
hension  that  you  may  be  inconsiderately  hur 
ried  by  the  vigor  and  activity  you  possess,  into 
measures  which  may  be  fatal  to  many  innocent 
individuals,  may  hereafter  wound  your  own 
feelings,  and  which  cannot  possibly  serve  the 
cause  of  those  who  sent  you,  that  has  pro 
moted  me  to  address  these  lines  to  you.  I 
most  devoutly  wish,  that  your  industry,  valor 
and  military  talents,  may  be  reserved  for  a 
more  honorable  and  virtuous  service  against 
the  natural  enemies  of  your  country,  (to  whom 
our  court  are  so  basely  complaisant)  and  not 
be  wasted  in  ineffectual  attempts  to  reduce  to 
the  wretchedest  state  of  servitude,  the  most 
meritorious  part  of  your  fellow  subjects.  I 
say,  sir,  that  any  attempts  to  accomplish  this 
purpose,  must  be  ineffectual.  You  cannot  pos 
sibly  succeed.  No  man  is  better  acquainted  with 
the  state  of  this  continent  than  myself.  I  have 
run  through  almost  the  whole  colonies,  from 
the  North  to  the  South,  and  from  the  South 
to  the  North.  I  have  conversed  with  all  orders 
of  men,  from  the  first  estated  gentlemen,  to 
the  lowest  planters  and  farmers,  and  can  assure 
you,  that  the  same  spirit  animates  the  whole. 

Not  less  than  an  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
gentlemen,  yeomen  and  farmers,  are  now  in 
arms,  determined  to  preserve  their  liberties  or 
perish. — As  to  the  idea  that  the  Americans 
are  deficient  in  courage,  it  is  too  ridiculous  and 


120 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


glaringly  false  to  deserve  a  serious  refutation. 

1   never  could   conceive  upon  what  this 

notion  was  founded. 1  served  several  cam 
paigns  in  America  the  last  war,  and  cannot 
recollect  a  single  instance  of  ill  behavior  in  the 
provincials,  where  the  regulars  acquitted  them 
selves  well.  Indeed  we  well  remember  some 
instances  of  the  reverse,  particularly  where  the 
late  colonel  Grant,  (he  who  lately  pledged 
himself  for  the  general  cowardice  of  America) 
ran  away  with  a  large  body  of  his  own  regi 
ment,  and  was  saved  from  destruction  by  the 
valor  of  a  few  Virginians.  Such  preposterous 
arguments  are  only  proper  for  the  Rgibys  and 
Sandwichs,  from  whose  mouths  never  issued, 
and  to  whose  breasts,  truth  and  decency  are 
utter  strangers.  Y»u  will  much  oblige  me  in 
communicating  this  letter  to  general  Howe,  to 
whom  I  could  wish  it  should  be  considered  in 
some  measure  addressed,  as  well  as  to  your 
self.  Mr.  Howe  is  a  man  for  whom  I  have 
ever  had  the  highest  love  and  reverence.  I 
have  honored  him  for  his  own  connections,  but 
above  all  for  his  admirable  talents  and  good 
qualities.  I  have  courted  his  acquaintance  and 
friendship,  not  only  as  a  pleasure,  but  as  an 
ornament ;  I  flattered  myself  that  I  had  ob 
tained  it. — Gracious  God !  is  it  possible  that 
Mr.  Howe  should  be  prevailed  upon  to  accept 
of  such  an  office  ?  That  the  brother  of  him,  to 
whose  memory  the  much  injured  people  of 
Boston  erected  a  monument,  should  be  em 
ployed  as  one  of  the  instruments  of  their 
destruction  ! — But  the  fashion  of  the  times  it 
seems  is  such,  as  renders  it  impossible  that  he 
should  avoid  it.  The  commands  of  our  most 
gracious  sovereign,  are  to  cancel  all  moral 
obligations,  to  sanctify  every  action,  even  those 
that  the  satrap  of  an  eastern  despot  would 
start  at. — I  shall  now  beg  leave  to  say  a  few 
words  with  respect  to  myself  and  the  part  I 
act. — I  was  bred  up  from  my  infancy  in  the 
highest  veneration  for  the  liberties  of  mankind 
in  general.  What  I  have  seen  of  courts  and 
princes  convince  me,  that  power  cannot  be 
lodged  in  worse  hands  than  in  theirs  ;  and  of 
all  courts  I  am  persuaded  that  ours  is  the  most 
corrupt  and  hostile  to  the  rights  of  humanity.  I 
am  convinced  that  a  regular  plan  has  been  laid 
(indeed  every  act,  since  the  present  accession, 
evinces  it)  to  abolish  even  the  shadow  of  liberty 
from  amongst  us.  It  was  not  the  demolition 
of  the  tea,  it  was  not  any  other  particular  act 
of  the  Bostonians,  or  of  the  other  provinces 
which  constituted  their  crimes.  But  it  is  the 
noble  spirit  of  liberty  manifestly  pervading  the 
whole  continent,  which  has  rendered  them  the 
objects  of  ministerial  and  royal  vengeance. — 


Had  they  been  notoriously  of  another  disposi 
tion,  had  they  been  homines  ad  servitudinem 
paratos,  they  might  have  made  as  free  with  the 
property  of  the  East-India  company  as  the 
felonious  North  himself  with  impunity.  But 
the  lords  of  St.  James',  and  their  mercenaries 
of  St.  Stephen's,  will  know  that,  as  long  as  the 
free  spirit  of  this  great  continent  remains  un 
subdued,  the  progress  they  can  make  in  their 
scheme  of  universal  despotism,  will  be  but 
trifling.  Hence  it  is,  that  they  wage  inexpia 
ble  war  against  America.  In  short,  this  is  the 
last  asylum  of  persecuted  liberty. — Here,  should 
the  machinations  and  fury  of  her  enemies 
prevail,  that  bright  goddess  must  fly  off  from 
the  face  of  the  earth,  and  leave  not  a  trace 
behind.  These,  sir,  are  my  principles ;  this  is 
my  persuasion,  and  consequentially  I  am  deter 
mined  to  act.  I  have  now,  sir,  only  to  entreat 
that  whatever  measures  you  pursue,  whether 
those  which  your  real  friends  (myself  amongst 
them)  would  wish,  or  unfortunately  those 
which  our  accursed  misrulers  shall  dictate, 
you  will  still  believe  me  to  be,  personally,  with 
the  greatest  sincerity  and  affection, 

Yours,  &c.  C.  LEE. 


GENERAL  BURGOYNE,  in  answer  to  GENE 
RAL  LEE.    BOSTON,  July  9,  1775. 

Dear  Sir — When  we  were  last  together  in 
service,  I  should  not  have  thought  it  within  the 
vicissitude  of  human  affairs  that  we  should 
meet  at  any  time,  or  in  any  sense  as  foes  ;  the 
letter  you  have  honored  me  with,  and  my  own 
feelings  combine  to  prove  we  are  still  far  from 
being  personally  such. 

I  claim  no  merit  from  the  attentions  you  so 
kindly  remember,  but  as  they  manifest  how 
much  it  was  my  pride  to  be  known  for  your 
friend.  Nor  have  I  departed  from  the  duties 
of  that  character,  when  I  will  not  scruple  to 
say,  it  has  been  almost  general  offence  to 
maintain  it  :  I  mean  since  the  violent  part  you 
have  taken  in  the  commotions  of  the  colonies. 
It  would  exceed  the  limits  and  propriety  of  our 
present  correspondence  to  argue  at  full,  the 
great  cause  in  which  we  are  engaged.  But 
anxious  to  preserve  a  consistent  and  ingenuous 
character,  and  jealous,  I  confess,  of  having  the 
part  I  sustain  imputed  to  such  motives  as  you 
intimate,  I  will  state  to  you  as  concisely  as  I 
can,  the  principles  upon  which,  not  voluntarily, 
but  most  conscientiously,  I  undertook  it. 

I  have,  like  you,  entertained  from  my  infancy 
a  veneration  for  public  liberty.  I  have  like 
wise  regarded  the  British  constitution  as  the 
best  safeguard  of  that  blessing,  to  be  found  ir 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


121 


the  history  of  mankind.     The  vital  principle  of 
the  constitution,  in  which  it  moves  and  has  its 
being,  is  the  supremacy  of  the  king  in  parlia 
ment  ;    a    compound,    indefinite,    indefeasible 
power,  coeval    with  the  origin  of  the  empire, 
and   coextensive   over  all  its   parts — I  am   no 
stranger  to   the   doctrines  of  Mr.  Locke   and 
other  of  the  best  advocates  for  the  rights  of 
mankind,  upon    the  compact    always  implied 
between  the  governing  and  governed,  and  the 
right  of  resistance  in  the  latter,  when  the  com 
pact  shall  be  so  violated  as  to  leave  no  other 
means    of   redress.     I   look    with    reverence, 
almost  amounting  to  idolatry,  upon  those  im 
mortal  whigs  who  adopted  and  applied  such 
doctrine  during  part  of  the  reign  of  Charles  the 
ist,  and  in  that  of  James  the  lid. — Should  cor 
ruption  pervade  the  three  estates  of  the  realm, 
so  as  to  pervert  the  great  ends  of  their  institu 
tion,  and  make  the  power,  vested  in  them  for 
the  good  of  the  whole  people,  operate  like  an 
abuse   of   the   prerogative   of   the    crown,   to 
general  oppression,  I  am  ready  to  acknowledge, 
that  the  same  doctrine  of  resistance  applies  as 
forcibly    against   the   abuses  of  the   collective 
body  of  power,  as  against  those  of  the  crown, 
or  either  of    the  component   branches   sepa 
rately  :  still  always  understood  that  no  other 
means  of  redress  can  be  obtained. — A  case,  ] 
contend,  much  more  difficult  to  suppose  when 
it  relates  to  the  whole  than  when  it  relates  to 
parts.     But  in  all  cases  that  have  existed,  or 
/   can   be  conceived,  I   hold   that   resistance,    to 
•    be  justifiable,   must  be   directed   against  the 
usurpation    or  undue   exercise   of  power,  anc 
that  it  is  most  criminal  when  directed  agains 
any  power  itself  inherent  in  the  constitution. 

And  here  you  will  discern  immediately  why 
I  drew  a  line  in  the  allusion  I  made  above  to 
the  reign  of  Charles  the  first.  Towards  the 
close  of  it  the  true  principle  of  resistance  was 
changed,  and  a  new  system  of  governmen 
projected  accordingly.  The  patriots,  previou 
to  the  long  parliament  and  during  great  par 
of  it,  as  well  as  the  glorious  revolutionists  of 
1688,  resisted  to  vindicate  and  restore  the  con 
stitution  ;  the  republicans  resisted  to  subvert  it 
Now,  sir,  lay  your  hand  upon  your  heart,  a 
you  have  enjoined  me  to  do  on  mine,  and  tel 
me,  to  which  of  these  purposes  do  the  proceed 
ings  of  America  tend  ?  Is  it  the  weight  of  taxe 
imposed,  and  the  impossibility  of  relief,  afte 
due  representation  of  her  burthens,  that  ha 
induced  her  to  take  arms  ?  Or  is  it  a  denia 
of  the  legislative  right  of  Great  Britain  t 
impose  them,  and  consequently  a  struggle  fo 
total  independency  ? — For  the  idea  of  a  powe 
that  can  tax  externally  and  not  internally,  an 


11  the  sophistry  that  attends  it,  though  it  may 

atch    the  weakness    and    prejudices  of   the 

multitude,  in  a  speech  or  a  pamphlet,  is  too 

Teposterous  to  weigh  seriously  with  a  man  of 

our  understanding,  and  I  am  persuaded  you 

ill  admit  the  question  fairly  put. 

It  is  then  for  a  relief  from  taxes — or  from  the 
ontrol   of  parliament,  "  in  all  cases  whatso 
ever,"  that  we  are  in  war?    If  for  the  former 
he  quarrel  is  at  an  end — There  is  not  a  man 
}f  sense  and  information  in  America,  who  does 
not  see  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  colonies  to 
obtain  a  relinquishment  of  the  exercise  of  taxa- 
ion  immediately  and  forever. — I  boldly  assert 
t,  because   sense  and   information   must   also 
suggest  to  every  man,  that  it  can  never  be  the 
nterest  of  Britain  to  make  a  second  trial. 

But  if  the  other  ground  is  taken,  and  it  is  in-  , 
tended  to  wrest  from  Great  Britain,  a  link  of 
that  substantial,  and  I  hope  perpetual  chain,  by 
which  the  empire  holds — think  it  not  a  minis 
terial  mandate  ;  think  it  not  mere  professional 
ardor ;  think  it  not  prejudice  against  any  part 
of  our  fellow  subjects,  that  induces  men  of 
integrity,  and  among  such  you  have  done  me 
the  honor  to  class  me,  to  act  with  vigor  : — But 
be  assured  it  is  conviction  that  the  whole  of  our 
political  system  depends  upon  preserving  entire 
its  great  and  essential  parts,  and  none  is  so 
great  and  essential  as  the  supremacy  of  legisla 
tion — It  is  conviction  that  as  a  king  of  Eng 
land  never  appears  in  so  glorious  a  capacity  as 
when  he  employs  the  executive  power  of  the 
state  to  maintain  the  laws,  so  in  the  present 
exertions  of  that  power,  his  majesty  is  partic 
ularly  entitled  to  our  zeal  and  grateful  obedi 
ence,  not  only  as  a  soldiers  but  as  citizens. 

These  principles,  depend  upon  it,  actuate  the 
army  and  fleet  throughout.  And  let  me,  at 
the  same  time  add,  there  are  few,  if  any, 
gentlemen  among  us  who  would  have  drawn 
his  sword  in  the  cause  of  slavery.  But,  why 
do  I  confine  myself  to  the  fleet  and  army :  I 
affirm  the  sentiments  I  here  touched,  to  be 
those  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  nation.  I  appeal 
even  to  those  trading  towns  which  are  suffer 
ers  by  the  dispute,  and  the  city  of  London  at 
the  head  of  them,  notwithstanding  the  peti 
tions  and  remonstrances  that  the  arts  of  parties 
and  factions  have  extorted  from  some  indi 
viduals  ;  and  last,  because  least  in  your  favor, 
I  appeal  to  the  majorities  of  the  last  year  upon 
American  questions  in  parliament.  The  most 
licentious  news  writer  wants  assurance  to  call 
these  majorities  ministerial;  much  less  will  you, 
when  you  impartially  examine  the  characters 
of  which  they  were  in  a  great  degree  composed 
— men  of  the  most  independent  principles  and 


122 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


fortunes,  and  many  of  them  professedly  in  op 
position  in  their  general  line  of  conduct. 

Among  other  supporters  of  British  rights 
against  American  claims,  I  will  not  speak 
positively,  but  I  firmly  believe,  I  may  name  the 
men  of  whose  integrity  and  judgment  you 
have  the  highest  opinion,  and  whose  friendship 
is  nearest  your  heart :  I  mean  lord  Thanet, 
from  whom  my  aid  de  camp  has  a  letter  for 
you,  with  another  from  Sir  C.  Davers.  I  do 
not  enclose  them,  because  the  writers,  little 
imagining  how  difficult  your  conduct  would 
render  our  intercourse,  desired  they  might  be 
delivered  into  your  own  hands. 

For  this  purpose,  as  well  as  to  renew  "  the 
rights  of  our  fellowship,"  I  wish  to  see  you  ; 
and  above  all  I  should  think  an  interview 
happy  if  it  induced  such  explanations  as  might 
tend  in  their  consequences  to  peace.  I  feel,  in 
common  with  all  around  me,  for  the  unhappy 
deluded  bulk  of  this  country — they  foresee  not 
the  distress  that  is  impending.  I  know  Great 
Britain  is  ready  to  open  her  arms  upon  the 
first  reasonable  overtures  of  accommodation  ; 
I  know  she  is  equally  resolute  to  maintain  her 
original  rights :  and  I  also  know,  that  if  the 
war  proceeds,  your  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
men  will  be  no  match  for  her  power.  I  put 
my  honor  to  these  assertions,  as  you  have  done 
to  others,  and  I  claim  the  credit  I  am  willing 
to  give. 

The  place  I  would  propose  for  our  meeting 
is  the  house  on  Boston  Neck,  just  within  OUP 
advanced  sentries,  called  Brown's  house.  I 
will  obtain  authority  to  give  you  my  parole  of 
honor  for  your  secure  return :  I  shall  expect 
the  same  on  your  part,  that  no  insult  be  offered 
to  me.  If  the  proposal  is  agreeable  to  you, 
name  your  day  and  hour — And,  at  all  events, 
accept  a  sincere  return  of  the  assurances  you 
honor  me  with,  and  believe  me  affectionately 
yours,  J.  BURGOYNE. 

P.  S.  I  have  been  prevented  by  business 
answering  your  letter  sooner. — I  obeyed  your 
commands  in  regard  to  general  Howe  and 
Clinton  ;  and  I  likewise  communicated  to  lord 
Percy  the  contents  of  your  letter  and  my  an 
swer. — They  all  join  with  me  in  compliments, 
and  authorize  me  to  assure  you  they  do  the 
same  in  principles. 


GENERAL  LEE'S  answer  to  GENERAL  BUR- 
GOYNE'S  LETTER.  CAMBRIDGE,  HEAD 
QUARTERS,  July\\t  1775. 

General  LEE'S  compliments  to  General  BUR- 
GOYNE. — Would  be  extremely  happy  in  the  in 


terview  he  so  kindly  proposed.  But  as  he 
perceives  that  General  BURGOYNE  has  already 
made  up  his  mind  on  this  great  subject ;  and 
that  it  is  impossible  that  he  [Gen.  LEE]  should 
ever  alter  his  opinion,  he  is  apprehensive  that 
the  interview  might  create  those  jealousies  and 
suspicions,  so  natural  to  a  people  struggling  in 
the  dearest  of  all  causes,  that  of  their  liberty, 
property,  wives,  children  and  their  future 
generations.  He  must,  therefore,  defer  the 
happiness  of  embracing  a  man  whom  he  most 
sincerely  loves  until  the  subversions  of  the 
present  tyrannical  ministry  and  system,  which 
he  is  persuaded  must  be  in  a  few  months,  as 
he  knows  Great  Britain  cannot  stand  the  con 
test. — He  begs  General  BURGOYNE  will  send 
the  letters  which  his  aid  de  camp  has  for  him. 
If  Gardiner  is  his  aid  de  camp,  he  desires  his 
love  to  him. 


PROCLAMATION  OF  GOV.  THOMAS 
GAGE,  OF  MASS.  JUNE  12,  1775. 

REVOLUTIONARY  DOCUMENT. 

We  have  recently  procured  a  copy  of  the 
instrument  by  which  GAGE,  in  1775,  proclaimed 
a  pardon  to  all  Americans  who  should  "lay 
down  their  arms  and  retnrn  to  their  duty," 
with  the  exception  of  SAMUEL  ADAMS  and 
JOHN  HANCOCK.  We  find  by  the  introduc 
tion,  that  it  was  published  by  the  Whigs,  from 
the  British  original.  It  is  in  the  hand-bill  form, 
and  we  believe  it  has  never  before  appeared  in 
a  newspaper. — Ed.  Boston  Patriot. 

CAMBRIDGE,  June  14,  1775. 
The  following  is  a  copy  of  an  infamous  thing 
handed  about  here  yesterday,  and  now  re 
printed  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  the  public. 
As  it  is  replete  with  consummate  impudence, 
the  most  abominable  lies,  and  stuffed  with 
daring  expressions  of  tyranny,  as  well  as  re 
bellion  against  the  established  constitution! 
authority  of  the  AMERICAN  STATES,  no 
one  will  hesitate  in  pronouncing  it  to  be  the 
genuine  production  of  that  perfidious,  petty 
tyrant,  THOMAS  GAGE. 


BY  HIS  EXCELLENCY  THE  HON.  THOMAS  GAGE,  ESQ. 

Governor  and  commander  in  chief  in  and 
over  his  majesty's  Province  of  Massachusetts- 
Bay,  and  vice-admiral  of  the  same. 


A  PROCLAMATION. 


WHEREAS  the  infatuated  multitudes,  who 
have  long  suffered  themselves  to  be  conducted 
by  certain  well-known  incendiaries  and  traitors, 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


123 


in  a  fatal  progression  of  crimes,  against  the 
constitutional  authority  of  the  state,  have  at 
length  proceeded  to  avowed  rebellion  ;  and  the 
good  effects  which  were  expected  to  arise  from 
the  patience  and  lenity  of  the  king's  govern 
ment,  have  been  often  frustrated,  and  are  now 
rendered  hopeless,  by  the  influence  of  the  same 
evil  counsels  ;  it  only  remains  for  those  who 
are  entrusted  with  supreme  rule,  as  well  for 
the  punishment  of  the  guilty,  as  the  protection 
of  the  well  affected,  to  prove  they  do  not  bear 
the  sword  in  vain. 

The  infringements  which  have  been  com 
mitted  upon  the  most  sacred  rights  of  the  crown 
and  people  of  Great  Britain,  are  too  many  to 
enumerate  on  one  side,  and  are  too  atrocious 
to  be  palliated  on  the  other.  All  unprejudiced 
people  who  have  been  witnesses  of  the  late 
transactions,  in  this  and  neighboring  provinces, 
will  find,  upon  a  transient  review,  marks  of 
premeditation  and  conspiracy  that  would  jus 
tify  the  fullness  of  chastisement :  And  even 
those  who  are  least  acquainted  with  facts,  can 
not  fail  to  receive  a  just  impression  of  their 
enormity,  in  proportion  as  they  discover  the 
arts  and  assiduity  by  which  they  have  been 
falsified  or  concealed.  The  authors  of  the 
present  unnatural  revolt,  never  daring  to  trust 
their  cause  or  their  actions  to  the  judgment  of 
an  impartial  public,  or  even  to  the  dispassionate 
reflection  of  their  followers,  have  uniformly 
placed  their  chief  confidence  in  the  suppression 
of  truth  :  And  while  indefatigable  and  shame 
less  pains  have  been  taken  to  obstruct  every 
appeal  to  the  real  interest  of  the  people  of 
America,  the  grossest  forgeries,  calumnies  and 
absurdities  that  ever  insulted  human  under 
standing,  have  been  imposed  upon  their  credu 
lity.  The  press,  that  distinguished  appendage 
of  public  liberty,  and  when  fairly  and  impar 
tially  employed,  its  best  support,  has  been 
invariably  prostituted  to  the  most  contrary 
purposes :  the  animated  language  of  ancient 
and  virtuous  times,  calculated  to  vindicate  and 
promote  the  just  rights  and  interests  of  man 
kind,  have  been  applied  to  countenance  the 
most  abandoned  violation  of  those  sacred  bles 
sings  ;  and  not  only  from  the  flagitious  prints, 
but  from  the  popular  harangues  of  the  times, 
men  have  been  taught  to  depend  upon  activity 
in  treason  for  the  security  of  their  persons  and 
properties  ;  till,  to  complete  the  horrible  profa 
nation  of  terms  and  of  ideas,  the  name  of  GOD 
has  been  introduced  in  the  pulpits  to  excite 
and  justify  devastation  and  massacre. 

The  minds  of  men  having  been  thus  gradu 
ally  prepared  for  the  worst  extremities,  a  num 
ber  of  armed  persons,  to  the  amount  of  many 


thousands,  assembled  on  the  igth  of  April  last, 
and  from  behind  walls  and  lurking  holes,  at 
tacked  a  detachment  of  the  king's  troops  who, 
not  expecting  so  consummate  an  act  of  frenzy, 
unprepared  for  vengeance  and  willing  to  decline 
it,  made  use  of  their  arms  only  in  their  own 
defence.  Since  that  period  the  rebels,  deriving 
confidence  from  impunity,  have  added  insult  to 
outrage ;  have  repeatedly  fired  upon  the  king's 
ships  and  subjects,  with  cannon  and  small  arms  ; 
have  possessed  the  roads  and  other  communi 
cations  by  which  the  town  of  Boston  was  sup 
plied  with  provisions ;  and,  with  a  preposterous 
parade  of  military  arrangement,  they  affect  to 
hold  the  army  besieged  ;  while  part  of  their 
body  make  daily  indiscriminate  invasions  upon 
private  property,  and,  with  a  wantonness  of 
cruelty  ever  incident  to  lawless  tumult,  carry 
depredation  and  distress  wherever  they  turn 
their  steps.  The  actions  of  the  igth  of  April 
are  of  such  notoriety,  as  must  baffle  all  at 
tempts  to  contradict  them,  and  the  flames  of 
buildings  and  other  property,  from  the  islands 
and  adjacent  country,  for  some  weeks  past, 
spread  a  melancholy  confirmation  of  the  sub 
sequent  assertions. 

In  this  exigency  of  complicated  calamities, 
I  avail  myself  of  the  last  effort  within  the  bounds 
of  my  duty  to  spare  the  effusion  of  blood  ;  to 
offer,  and  I  do  hereby  in  his  majesty's  name, 
offer  and  promise  his  most  gracious  pardon,  to 
all  persons  who  shall  forthwith  lay  down  their 
arms,  and  return  to  the  duties  of  peaceable 
subjects,  excepting  only  from  the  benefit  of 
such  pardon,  SAMUEL  ADAMS  and  JOHN 
HANCOCK,  whose  offences  are  of  too  flagi 
tious  a  nature  to  admit  of  any  other  considera 
tion  than  that  of  condign  punishment. 

And  to  the  end  that  no  person  within  the 
limits  of  this  proffered  mercy  may  plead  igno 
rance  of  the  consequences  of  refusing  it,  I  by 
these  presents  proclaim,  not  only  the  persons 
above-named  and  excepted,  but  also  all  their 
adherents,  associates  and  abettors,  meaning 
to  comprehend  in  those  terms  all  and  every 
person,  and  persons  of  what  class,  denomina 
tion  or  description  soever,  who  have  appeared 
in  arms  against  the  king's  government,  and 
shall  not  lay  down  the  same  as  afore-men 
tioned  ;  and  likewise  all  such  as  shall  so  take 
arms  after  the  date  hereof,  or  who  shall  in  any 
wise  protect  and  conceal  such  offenders,  or 
assist  them  with  money,  provision,  cattle,  arms, 
ammunition,  carriages,  or  any  other  necessary 
for  subsistence  or  offence  ;  or  shall  hold  se 
cret  correspondence  with  them  by  letter,  mes 
sage,  signal,  or  otherwise,  to  be  rebels  and 
traitors,  and  as  such  to  be  treated. 


124 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


And  whereas,  during  the  continuance  of  the 
present  unnatural  rebellion,  justice  cannot  be 
administered  by  the  common  law  of  the  land, 
the  course  whereof  has,  for  a  long  time  past, 
been  violently  impeded,  and  wholly  interrupted  ; 
from  whence  results  a  necessity  for  using  and 
exercising  the  law  martial ;  I  have  therefore 
thought  fit,  by  the  authority  vested  in  me,  by 
the  royal  charter  to  this  province,  to  publish, 
and  I  do  hereby  publish,  proclaim  and  order 
the  use  and  exercise  of  the  law  martial,  within 
and  throughout  the  province,  for  so  long  time 
as  the  present  unhappy  occasion  shall  neces 
sarily  require  ;  whereof  all  persons  are  hereby 
required  to  take  notice,  and  govern  themselves, 
as  well  to  maintain  order  and  regularity  among 
the  peaceable  inhabitants  of  the  province,  as  to 
resist,  encounter  and  subdue  the  rebels  and 
traitors  above  described  by  such  as  shall  be 
called  upon  for  those  purposes. 

To  these  inevitable,  but  I  trust  salutary  mea 
sures,  it  is  a  far  more  pleasing  part  of  my  duty 
to  add  the  assurances  of  protection  and  sup 
port,  to  all  who,  in  so  trying  a  crisis,  shall  man 
ifest  their  allegiance  to  the  king,  and  affection 
to  the  parent  state.  So  that  such  persons  as 
may  have  been  intimidated  to  quit  their  habi 
tations  in  the  course  of  this  alarm,  may  return 
to  their  respective  callings  and  professions,  and 
stand  distinct  and  separate  from  the  parricides 
of  the  constitution,  till  GOD,  in  his  mercy,  shall 
restore  to  his  creatures,  in  this  distracted  land, 
that  system  of  happiness  from  which  they  have 
been  seduced,  the  religion  of  peace,  and  liberty 
founded  upon  law. 

GIVEN  at  Boston,  this  twelfth  day  of  June, 
in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  his 
majesty  GEORGE  the  third,  by  the 
grace  of  GOD,  of  Great  Britain,  France 
and  Ireland,  KING,  defender  of  the  Faith, 
etc.  Annoque  Domini,  1775. 

THOMAS  GAGE. 
By  his  excellency's  command  : 
THO'S  FLUCKER,  Secretary. 

GOD  SAVE  THE  KING. 


INSTRUCTION     OF    ADJUTANT    GEN 
ERAL   HORATIO   GATES 

FOR  RECRUITING  TROOPS,  MASSACHUSETTS 
BAY,  JULY  10,  1775. 

Instructions  for  the  officers  of  the  several 
regiments  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  forces, 
who  are  immediately  to  go  upon  the  recruiting 
service. 

You  are  not  to  enlist  any  deserter  from  the 


ministerial  army,  nor  any  stroller,  negro,  or 
vagabond,  or  person  suspected  of  being  an 
enemy  to  the  liberty  of  America,  nor  any  under 
eighteen  years  of  age. 

As  the  cause  is  the  best  that  can  engage 
men  of  courage  and  principle  to  take  up  arms, 
so  it  is  expected  that  none  but  such  will  be  ac 
cepted  by  the  recruiting  officer  ;  the  pay,  pro 
vision,  etc.,  being  so  ample,  it  is  not  doubted 
but  the  officers  set  upon  this  service,  will  with 
out  delay,  complete  their  respective  corps,  and 
march  the  men  forthwith  to  the  camp. 

You  are  not  to  enlist  any  person  who  is  not 
an  American  born,  unless  such  person  has  a 
wife  and  family,  and  is  a  settled  resident  in 
this  country. 

The  person  you  enlist,  must  be  provided 
with  good  and  complete  arms. 

Given  at  the  head-quarters  at  Cambridge, 
this  loth  day  of  July,  1775. 

HORATIO  GATES,  Adj.  Gen. 


PROCLAMATION    OF     THANKSGIVING 

BY  THE  COUNCIL  OF  WATERTOWN,  MASSA 
CHUSETTS,  Nov.  4,  1775. 

Although,  in  consequence  of  the  unnatural, 
cruel,  and  barbarous  measures,  adopted  and 
pursued  by  the  British  administration,  great  and 
distressing  calamities  are  brought  upon  our  dis 
tressed  country,  and  in  this  colony  in  particular, 
we  feel  the  dreadful  effects  of  a  civil  war,  by 
which  America  is  stained  by  the  blood  of  her 
valiant  sons,  who  have  bravely  fallen  in  the 
laudable  defence  of  our  rights  and  privileges  ; 
our  capital,  once  the  seat  of  justice,  opulence 
and  virtue,  is  unjustly  wrested  from  its  proper 
owners,  who  are  obliged  to  flee  from  the  iron 
hand  of  tyranny,  or  held  in  the  unrelenting  arms 
of  oppression  ;  our  seaports  greatly  distressed, 
and  towns  burnt  by  the  foes  who  have  acted 
the  part  of  barbarous  incendiaries.  And, 
although  the  wise  and  Holy  Governor  of  the 
world  has,  in  his  righteous  Providence,  sent 
droughts  into  this  colony,  and  wasting  sickness 
into  many  of  our  towns,  yet  we  have  the 
greatest  reason  to  adore  and  praise  the  Su 
preme  Disposer  of  events,  who  deals  infinitely 
better  with  us  than  we  deserve ;  and  amidst 
all  his  judgments  hath  remembered  mercy,  by 
causing  the  voice  of  health  again  to  be  heard 
amongst  us  ;  instead  of  famine,  affording  to  an 
ungrateful  people  a  competency  of  the  neces 
saries  and  comforts  of  life  ;  in  remarkably  pre 
serving  and  protecting  our  troops,  when  in  ap 
parent  danger,  while  our  enemies,  with  all  their 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


125 


boasted  skill  and  strength,  have  met  with  loss, 
disappointment,  and  defeat ;  and,  in  the  course 
of  his  good  Providence,  the  Father  of  all  Mer 
cies,  hath  bestowed  upon  us  many  other  favors, 
which  call  for  our  grateful  acknowledgments  : 

Therefore — We  have  thought  fit,  with  the 
advice  of  the  council  and  house  of  representa 
tives,  to  appoint  Thursday,  the  23d  of  Novem 
ber,  instant,  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  public 
thanksgiving,  throughout  this  colony ;  hereby 
calling  upon  ministers  and  people,  to  meet  for 
religious  worship  on  the  said  day,  and  devoutly 
to  offer  up  their  unfeigned  praises  to  Almighty 
God,  the  source  and  benevolent  bestower  of  all 
good,  for  his  affording  the  necessary  means  of 
subsistence,  though  our  commerce  has  been  pre 
vented,  and  the  supplies  from  the  fishery  denied 
us  ; — that  such  a  measure  of  health  is  enjoyed 
among  us;  that  the  lives  of  our  officers  and  sol 
diers  have  been  so  remarkably  preserved,  while 
our  enemies  have  fallen  before  them  ;  that  the 
vigorous  efforts,  which  have  been  used  to 
excite  the  savage  vengeance  of  the  wilderness, 
and  rouse  the  Indians  to  arms,  that  an  unavoid 
able  destruction  might  come  upon  our  frontiers, 
have  been  almost  miraculously  defeated ;  that 
our  unnatural  enemies,  instead  of  ravaging  the 
country  with  uncontroled  sway,  are  confined 
within  such  narrow  limits,  to  their  own  mortifi 
cation  and  distress,  environed  by  an  American 
army,  brave  and  determined ; — that  such  a 
band  of  union,  founded  upon  the  best  princi 
ples,  unites  the  American  colonies, — that  our 
rights  and  privileges,  both  civil  and  religious, 
are  so  far  preserved  to  us,  notwithstanding  all 
the  attempts  of  our  barbarous  enemies  to 
deprive  us  of  them. 

And  to  offer  up  humble  and  fervent  prayers 
to  Almighty  God,  for  the- whole  British  empire  ; 
especially  for  the  united  American  colonies : — 
That  He  would  bless  our  civil  rulers,  and  lead 
them  into  wise  and  prudent  measures,  at  this 
dark  and  difficult  day ;  that  He  would  endow 
our  general  court  with  all  that  wisdom  which 
is  profitable  to  direct ;  that  He  would  gracious 
ly  smile  upon  our  endeavors  to  restore  peace, 
preserve  our  rights  and  privileges,  and  hand 
them  down  to  posterity ;  that  He  would  give 
wisdom  to  the  American  Congress,  equal  to 
their  important  station  ;  that  He  would  direct 
the  generals,  and  the  American  armies,  wher 
ever  employed,  and  give  them  success  and 
victory  ;  that  He  would  preserve  and  strengthen 
the  harmony  of  the  united  colonies ;  that  He 
would  pour  out  his  spirit  upon  all  orders  of 
men,  through  the  land,  bring  us  to  a  hearty- 
repentance  and  reformation ;  purify  and  sanctify 
all  His  churches  ;  that  He  would  make  ours, 


Emanuel's  land ;  that  He  would  spread  the 
knowledge  of  the  Redeemer  through  the-  whole 
earth,  and  fill  the  world  with  his  glory. 

And  all  servile  labor  is  forbidden  on  said  day. 
Given  under  our  hands,  at  the  council  chamber, 

in  Watertown,  the  fourth  day  of  November, 

in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  seven 

hundred  and  seventy-five. 

By  their  honors'  command, 

PEREZ  MORTON,  Dep.  Sec. 

James  Otis,  Benjamin  Lincoln, 

Walter  Spooner,  Michael  Farley, 

Caleb  Gushing,  Joseph  Palmer, 

Joseph  Whitcomb,  Samuel  Holten, 

Jedidiah  Foster,  Jabez  Fisher, 

James  Prescott,  Moses  Gill, 

Eldad  Taylor,  Benjamin  White. 

GOD   SAVE  THE  PEOPLE. 


PROCLAMATION 

BY  THE  GREAT  AND  GENERAL  COURT  OF 
THE  COLONY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  BAY, 
JANUARY  23,  1776. 

The  frailty  of  human  nature,  the  wants  of 
individuals,  and  the  numerous  dangers  which 
surround  them,  through  the  course  of  life,  have, 
in  all  ages,  and  in  every  country,  impelled  them 
to  form  societies  and  establish  governments. 

As  the  happiness  of  the  people  is  the  sole 
end  of  government,  so  the  consent  of  the  peo 
ple  is  the  only  foundation  of  it,  in  reason, 
morality,  and  the  natural  fitness  of  things. 
And  therefore  every  act  of  government,  every 
exercise  of  sovereignty,  against,  or  without,  the 
consent  of  the  people,  is  injustice,  usurpation, 
and  tyranny. 

It  is  a  maxim  that  in  every  government, 
there  must  exist,  somewhere,  a  supreme, 
sovereign,  absolute,  and  uncontrolable  power ; 
but  this  power  resides  always  in  the  body  of 
the  people  ;  and  it  never  was,  or  can  be  dele 
gated  to  one  man,  or  a  few  ;  the  great  Creator 
has  never  given  to  men  a  right  to  vest  others 
with  authority  over  them,  unlimited  either  in 
duration  or  degree. 

When  kings,  ministers,  governors,  or  legis 
lators,  therefore,  instead  of  exercising  the 
powers  entrusted  with  them,  according  to  the 
principles,  forms  and  proportions  stated  by  the 
constitution,  and  established  by  the  original 
compact,  prostitute  those  powers  to  the  pur 
poses  of  oppression — to  subvert,  instead  of 
supporting  a  free  constitution  ; — to  destroy, 
instead  of  preserving  the  lives,  liberties  and 
properties  of  the  people  ; — they  are  no  longer 


126 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


to  be  deemed  magistrates  vested  with  a  sacrec 
character,  but  become  public  enemies,  anc 
ought  to  be  resisted. 

The  administration  of  Great  Britain,  despis 
ing  equally  the  justice,  humanity  and  magnan 
imity  of  their  ancestors  ;  and  the  rights,  liber 
ties  and  courage  of  AMERICANS,  have,  for  a 
course  of  years,  labored  to  establish  a  sover 
eignty  in  America,  not  founded  in  the  consent 
of  the  people,  but  in  the  mere  will  of  persons, 
a  thousand  leagues  from  us,  whom  we  know 
not,  and  have  endeavored  to  establish  this 
sovereignty  over  us,  against  our  consent,  in  all 
cases  whatsoever. 

The  colonies,  during  this  period,  have  recurred 
to  ever)'  peaceable  resource  in  a  free  constitu 
tion,  by  petitions  and  remonstrances,  to  obtain 
justice ;  which  has  been  not  only  denied  to 
them,  but  they  have  been  treated  with  unex 
ampled  indignity  and  contempt ;  and  at  length, 
open  war  of  the  most  atrocious,  cruel  and  san 
guinary  kind,  has  been  commenced  against 
them.  To  this  an  open,  manly  and  successful 
resistance  has  hitherto  been  made ;  thirteen 
colonies  are  now  firmly  united  in  the  conduct 
of  this  most  just  and  necessary  war,  under  the 
wise  councils  of  their  congress. 

It  is  the  will  of  Providence  for  wise,  right 
eous,  and  gracious  ends,  that  this  colony 
should  have  been  singled  out,  by  the  enemies 
of  America,  as  the  first  object,  both  of  their 
envy  and  their  revenge  ;  and  after  having  been 
made  the  subject  of  several  merciless  and  vin 
dictive  statutes,  one  of  which  was  intended  to 
subvert  our  constitution  by  charter,  is  made  the 
seat  of  war : 

No  effectual  resistance  to  the  system  of 
tyranny  prepared  for  us,  could  be  made  with 
out  either  instant  recourse  to  arms,  or  a  tem 
porary  suspension  of  the  ordinary  powers  of 
government,  and  tribunals  of  justice.  To  the 
last  of  which  evils,  in  hope  of  a  speedy  recon 
ciliation  with  Great  Britain,  upon  equitable 
terms,  the  congress  advised  us  to  submit : — 
And  mankind  has  seen  a  phenomenon,  without 
example  in  the  political  world,  a  large  and 
populous  colony,  subsisting  in  great  decency 
and  order,  for  more  than  a  year,  under  such  a 
suspension  of  government. 

But  as  our  enemies  have  proceeded  to  such 
barbarous  extremities,  commencing  hostilities 
upon  the  good  people  of  this  colony,  and  with 
unprecedented  malice  exerting  their  power  to 
spread  the  calamities  of  fire,  sword  and  famine 
through  the  land,  and  no  reasonable  prospect 
remains  of  a  speedy  reconciliation  with  Great 
Britain,  the  congress  have  resolved: 

"  That  no  obedience  being  due  to  the  act  of 


parliament  for  altering  the  charter  of  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts-Bay,  nor  to  a  gover 
nor  or  lieutenant-governor,  who  will  not  ob 
serve  the  directions  of,  but  endeavor  to  sub 
vert  that  charter,  the  governor  and  lieutenant- 
governor  of  that  colony  are  to  be  considered  as 
absent,  and  their  offices  vacant.  And  as  there 
is  no  council  there,  and  inconveniencies  arising 
from  the  suspension  of  the  powers  of  govern 
ment  are  intolerable,  especially  at  a  time  when 
general  Gage  hath  actually  levied  war,  and  is 
carrying  on  hostilities  against  his  majesty's 
peaceable  and  loyal  subjects  of  that  colony : 
that,  in  order  to  conform  as  near  as  may  be  to 
the  spirit  and  substance  of  the  charter,  it  be 
recommended  to  the  provincial  convention  to 
write  letters  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  several 
places  which  are  entitled  to  representation  in 
assembly,  requesting  them  to  choose  such 
representatives  ;  and  that  the  assembly,  when 
chosen,  do  elect  counsellors  ;  and  that  such 
assembly  and  council  exercise  the  powers  of 
government,  until  a  governor  of  his  majesty's 
appointment  will  consent  to  govern  the  colony 
according  to  its  charter." 

In  pursuance  of  which  advice,  the  good  peo 
pie  of  this  colony  have  chosen  a  full  and  free 
representation  of  themselves,  who,  being  con 
vened  in  assembly,  have  elected  a  council ; 
who,  as  the  executive  branch  of  government, 
have  constituted  necessary  officers  through  the 
colony.  The  present  generation,  therefore, 
may  be  congratulated  on  the  acquisition  of  a 
form  of  government  more  immediately,  in  all  its 
branches,  under  the  influence  and  control  of 
the  people  ;  and  therefore  more  free  and  happy 
than  was  enjoyed  by  their  ancestors.  But  as 
a  government  so  popular  can  be  supported  only 
by  universal  knowledge  and  virtue  in  the  body 
of  the  people,  it  is  the  duty  of  all  ranks  to  pro 
mote  the  means  of  education,  for  the  rising 
generation,  as  well  as  true  religion,  purity  of 
manners,  and  integrity  of  life,  among  all  orders 
and  degrees. 

As  an  army  has  become  necessary  for  our 
defence,  and  in  all  free  states  the  civil  must 
provide  for  and  control  the  military  power,  the 
major  part  of  the  council  have  appointed  ma 
gistrates  and  courts  of  justice  in  every  county 
whose  happiness  is  so  connected  with  that  of 
the  people,  that  it  is  difficult  to  suppose  they 
can  abuse  their  trust.  The  business  of  it  is  to 
see  those  laws  enforced  which  are  necessary 
for  the  preservation  of  peace,  virtue  and  good 
order.  And  the  great  and  general  court 
xpects  and  requires  that  all  necessary  support 
and  assistance  be  given,  and  all  proper  obedi 
ence  yielded  to  them ;  and  will  deem  every 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


I27 


person,  who  shall  fail  of  his  duty  in  this  respect 
towards  them,  a  disturber  of  the  peace  of  this 
colony,  and  deserving  of  exemplary  punish 
ment. 

That  piety  and  virtue,  which  alone  can  secure 
the  freedom  of  any  people,  may  be  encouraged, 
and  vice  and  immorality  suppressed,  the  great 
and  general  court  have  thought  fit  to  issue  this 
proclamation,  commanding  and  enjoining  it 
upon  the  good  people  of  this  colony,  that  they 
lead  sober,  religious  and  peaceable  lives,  avoid 
ing  all  blasphemies,  contempt  of  the  holy 
scriptures,  and  of  the  lord's  day,  and  all  other 
crimes  and  misdemeanors,  all  debauchery,  pro- 
faneness,  corruption,  venality,  all  riotous  and 
tumultuous  proceedings,  and  all  immoralities 
whatsoever ;  and  that  they  decently  and  rever 
ently  attend  the  public  worship  of  God,  at  all 
times  acknowledging  with  gratitude  his  merciful 
interposition  in  their  behalf,  devoutly  confiding 
in  him,  as  the  God  of  armies,  by  whose  favor 
and  protection  alone  they  may  hope  for  success, 
in  their  present  conflict. 

And  all  judges,  justices,  sheriffs,  grand 
jurors,  tything-men,  and  all  other  civil  officers 
within  this  colony,  are  hereby  strictly  enjoined 
and  commanded  that  they  contribute  all  in 
their  power,  by  their  advice,  exertions  and 
examples,  towards  a  general  reformation  of 
manners,  and  that  they  bring  to  condign  pun 
ishment  every  person  who  shall  commit  any  of 
the  crimes  or  misdemeanors  aforesaid,  or  that 
shall  be  guilty  of  any  immoralities  whatsoever  ; 
and  that  they  use  the  utmost  endeavors  to  have 
the  resolves  of  the  congress,  and  the  good  and 
wholesome  laws  of  this  colony,  duly  carried 
into  execution. 

And  as  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  within 
this  colony,  have,  during  the  late  relaxation  of 
the  powers  of  civil  government,  exerted  them 
selves  for  our  safety,  it  is  hereby  recommended 
to  them,  still  to  continue  their  virtuous  labors 
for  the  good  of  the  people,  inculcating  by  their 
public  ministry,  and  private  example,  the 
necessity  of  religion,  morality,  and  good  order. 


IN  COUNCIL,  January  19,  1776. 
Ordered,  That  the  foregoing  proclamation 
be  read  at  the  opening  of  every  superior  court 
of  judicature,  &c.  and  inferior  court  of  common 
pleas,  and  court  of  general  sessions  for  the 
peace  within  this  colony,  by  their  respective 
clerk ;  and  at  the  annual  town  meetings  in 
March,  in  each  town. — And  it  is  hereby  recom 
mended  to  the  several  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
throughout  this  colony,  to  read  the  same  in 
their  respective  assemblies  on  the  lord's  day 


next  after  their  receiving  it,  immediately  after 
divine  service. 

Sent  down  for  concurrence. 

PEREZ  MORTON,  Dep.  Sec. 

In  the  house  of  representatives,  January  23, 
1776. — Read  and  concurred. 

WILLIAM  COOPER,  speaker  pro  tern,  consented 
to.  William  Sever,  Walter  Spooner, 
Caleb  Gushing,  John  Winthrop,  Thomas 
Gushing,  Moses  Gill,  Michael  Farley, 
Samuel  Holten,  Charles  Chauncy,  Joseph 
Palmer,  John  Whetcomb,  Jedediah  Fos 
ter,  Eldad  Taylor,  John  Taylor,  Ben 
jamin  White,  James  Prescot. 

By  order  of  the  General  Court, 
PEREZ  MORTON,  Dep.  Sec. 

GOD   SAVE  THE  PEOPLE. 


DECLARATION   OF  RESISTANCE 

TO  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN, 
PASSED  BY  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  MASSA 
CHUSETTS  IN  1776. 

"We  the  subscribers  do  each  of  us  severally 
for  ourselves  profess,  testify  and  declare,  be 
fore  God  and  the  world,  that  we  verily  believe 
that  the  war,  resistance  and  opposition  in 
which  the  United  American  Colonies  are  now 
engaged  against  the  fleets  and  armies  of  Great 
Britain,  is  on  the  part  of  the  said  colonies,  just 
and  necessary ;  and  we  do  hereby  severally 
promise,  covenant  and  engage  to  and  with 
every  person  of  this  colony,  who  has  or  shall 
subscribe  this  declaration,  or  another  of  the 
same  tenor  and  words,  that  we  will  not,  during 
the  said  war,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  any  ways 
aid,  abet,  or  assist  any  of  the  naval  or  land 
forces  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  or  any 
employed  by  him,  or  supply  them  with  any 
kind  of  provisions,  military  or  naval  stores,  or 
hold  any  correspondence  with,  or  communicate 
any  intelligence  to  any  of  the  officers,  soldiers 
or  mariners  belonging  to  the  said  army  or 
navy,  or  enlist  or  procure  any  others  to  enlist 
into  the  land  or  sea  service  of  Great  Britain,  or 
take  up  or  bear  arms  against  this  or  either  of 
the  United  Colonies,  or  undertaking  to  pilot 
any  of  the  vessels  belonging  to  the  said  navy, 
or  any  other  way  aid  or  assist  them  :  but  on 
the  contrary,  according  to  our  best  power  and 
abilities,  will  defend  by  arms  the  United 
American  Colonies,  and  every  part  thereof, 
against  every  hostile  attempt  of  the  fleets  and 
armies  in  the  service  of  Great  Britain,  or  any 


128 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


of  them,  according  to  the  requirements  and 
directions  of  the  laws  of  this  colony,  that  now 
or  may  hereafter  be  provided  for  the  regulation 
of  the  militia  thereof." 


STATEMENT 

RELATIVE  TO  THE  EVACUATION  OF  BOSTON, 
MARCH  17,  1776. 

RECOLLECTIONS   OF    A   BOSTONIAN. 

In  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1821  and  early  in 
1822,  a  series  of  papers  were  published  in 
the  "Boston  Centinel,"  under  the  head  of 
"  Recollections  of  a  Bostonian  " — in  which  the 
public  were  presented  with  many  curious 
facts  in  relation  to  the  condition  of,  and  pro 
ceedings  in,  that  town  many  years  ago,  from 
which  we  select  the  following  as  suited  to 
the  design  of  this  work  : 

The  British  army  evacuated  Boston  on  the 
forenoon  of  Sunday,  the  I7th  March,  1776. 
On  the  afternoon  of  that  day  I  landed  (in  com 
pany  with  a  surgeon  who  was  ordered  in  by 
general  Washington)  at  the  bottom  of  the 
common,  near  the  high  bluff,  which  was  taken 
away  a  few  years  ago  to  make  Charles-street. 
The  first  object  that  I  observed  on  landing  was 
a  thirteen-inch  iron  mortar  on  the  beach  of 
extraordinary  dimensions  and  weight,  which  the 
British  had  thrown  down  from  a  battery  they 
had  erected  on  the  height  above.  I  was  told 
that  another  of  the  same  size  was  sunk  at  the 
long-wharf,  which  was  afterwards  raised.  One 
of  them  is  now  at  the  navy-yard  in  Charleston, 
and  the  other  was  a  few  years  since  on  the 
grand  battery  at  New- York,  where  it  was  car 
ried  in  the  same  year. 

On  crossing  the  common  we  found  it  very 
much  disfigured  with  ditches  and  cellars,  which 
had  been  dug  by  the  British  troops  for  their 
accommodation  when  in  camp.  To  our  great 
regret,  we  saw  several  large  trees  lying  in  the 
mall,  which  had  been  cut  down  that  morning. 
We  were  informed  that  the  tories  were  so  ex 
asperated  at  being  obliged  to  leave  the  town, 
that  they  were  determined  to  do  all  the  mis 
chief  possible,  and  had  commenced  destroying 
that  beautiful  promenade  ;  but  it  being  told  to 
some  of  the  selectmen,  they  went  in  haste  to 
general  Howe  and  represented  the  circum 
stance,  who  kindly  sent  one  of  his  aids  to  for 
bid  the  further  destruction  of  the  trees,  and  to 
reprimand  the  tories  for  their  conduct.  Gen 
eral  Howe  could  not  but  feel  some  degree  of 
grateful  regard  and  sympathy  for  the  people 
of  Massachusetts,  as  they  had  erected  a  mon 


ument  in  Westminster  Abbey  to  the  memory 
of  his  brother,  whose  urbane  and  gentlemanly 
deportment  had  gained  the  esteem  and  respect 
of  the  Massachusetts  forces,  and  who  was  killed 
in  a  battle  with  the  French  and  Indians  in  1758. 

The  mall  was  originally  laid  out  with  only 
two  rows  of  trees,  a  third  was  added  a  few 
years  before  the  war,  which  we  found  were  all 
cut  down  for  fuel,  together  with  the  entire  fence 
which  surrounded  the  common,  as  was  also  a 
large  magnificent  tree  which  stood  on  the 
town's  land,  near  the  school  house,  in  West- 
street,  of  equal  size  with  that  which  now  stands 
in  the  middle  of  the  common,  both  of  whicn  I 
suppose  to  be  aboriginal. 

On  passing  into  the  town,  it  presented  an 
indescribable  scene  of  desolation  and  gloom 
iness,  for  notwithstanding  the  joyous  occasion 
of  having  driven  our  enemies  from  our  land, 
our  minds  were  impressed  with  an  awful  sad 
ness  at  the  sight  of  the  ruins  of  many  houses 
which  had  been  taken  down  for  fuel — the  dirti 
ness  of  the  streets — the  wretched  appearance 
of  the  very  few  inhabitants  who  remained  du 
ring  the  siege — the  contrast  between  the  Sun 
day  we  then  beheld,  compared  with  those  we 
formerly  witnessed,  when  well  dressed  people, 
with  cheerful  countenances,  were  going  to,  and 
returning  from  church,  on  which  occasion, 
Boston  exhibits  so  beautiful  a  scene — but  more 
especially  when  we  entered  the  Old  South 
church,  and  had  ocular  demonstration  that  it 
had  been  turned  into  a  RIDING  SCHOOL,  for 
the  use  of  general  Burgoyne's  regiment  of 
cavalry,  which  formed  a  part  of  the  garrison, 
but  which  had  never  ventured  to  pass  the  bar 
riers  of  the  town.  The  pulpit  and  all  the  pews 
were  taken  away  and  burnt  for  fuel,  and  many 
hundred  loads  of  dirt  and  gravel  were  carted 
in,  and  spread  upon  the  floor.  The  south  door 
was  closed,  and  a  bar  was  fixed,  over  which 
the  cavalry,  were  taught  to  leap  their  horses  at 
full  speed.  A  grog  shop  was  erected  in  the 
gallery,  where  liquor  was  sold  to  the  soldiery, 
and  consequently  produced  scenes  of  riot  and 
debauchery  in  that  holy  temple.  All  these 
circumstances  conspired  to  fill  the  mind  with 
sombre  reflections.  But  amidst  the  sadness  ot 
the  scene,  there  was  a  pleasing  satisfaction  in 
the  hope  that  men  capable  of  such  atrocities, 
could  not  have  the  blessing  of  Heaven  in  their 
nefarious  plan  of  subjugating  our  beloved 
country.  The  English  soldiers  were  generally 
Episcopalians,  and  viewed  this  act  with  indif 
ference,  but  the  Scotch,  who  were  mostly  dis 
senters,  and  much  more  moral  and  pious,  looked 
upon  it  with  horror,  and  not  without  some  feel 
ings  of  superstition. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


129 


I  was  told  that  a  ludicrous  scene  took  place 
in  the  course  of  the  preceding  winter.  A  good 
old  woman  that  frequently  passed  the  church, 
was  in  the  habit  of  stopping  at  the  door,  and 
with  loud  lamentations,  (amidst  the  hootings  of 
the  soldiery),  bewailed  the  desolation  of  the 
house  of  prayer.  She  denounced  on  them  the 
vengeance  of  Heaven,  and  assured  them  that 
good  old  Dr.  Sewall,  the  former  parson  of  the 
church,  would  rise  from  his  grave,  and  carry 
them  off. — A  Scotch  sentinel  was  one  night 
alarmed  by  an  appearance  of  what  he  thought 
was  an  apparition  of  the  doctor.  He  screamed 
violently,  and  alarmed  the  guard  of  grenadiers, 
who  were  always  stationed  at  the  Province- 
house,  then  occupied  by  general  Howe.  There 
was  no  pacifying  him  until  some  one  asked 
how  the  doctor  was  dressed  and  he  answered 
with  a  large  wig  and  gown.  One  of  the  inhabi 
tants  who  had  been  drawn  there  from  curiosity 
assured  him  it  could  not  have  been  doctor 
Sewall,  because  he  never  wore  a  wig,  which 
restored  the  poor  fellow  to  his  senses.  It  was 
generally  supposed  to  be  a  trick  of  one  of  the 
English  soldiers,  who  wished  to  frighten  a  super 
stitious  Scotchman  ;  and  for  that  purpose  had 
dressed  himself  in  the  clerical  habit  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Cooke,  of  the  Menotomy,  which  he  had  plun 
dered,  on  his  retreat  at  the  battle  of  Lexington. 


PROCLAMATION 

OF  GENERAL  WASHINGTON  ON  TAKING  POS 
SESSION  OF  THE  TOWN  OF  BOSTON,  MARCH 
21,  1776. 

By  his  excellency,  George  Washington,  Esq., 
general  and  commander  in  chief  of  the  thir 
teen  united  colonies. 

"  Whereas  the  ministerial  army  has  aban 
doned  the  town  of  Boston,  and  the  forces  of 
the  united  colonies,  under  my  command,  are 
in  possession  of  the  same  :  I  have  therefore 
thought  it  necessary  for  the  preservation  of 
peace,  good  order  and  discipline,  to  publish 
the  following  orders,  that  no  persons  offending 
therein,  may  plead  ignorance  as  an  excuse  for 
their  misconduct. 

"  All  officers  and  soldiers  are  hereby  ordered 
to  live  in  the  strictest  amity  with  the  inhabi 
tants  ;  and  no  inhabitant,  or  other  person, 
employed  in  his  lawful  business  in  the  town,  is 
to  be  molested  in  his  person  or  property,  on 
any  pretence  whatever. 

"  If  any  officer  or  soldier  shall  presume  to 
strike,  imprison,  or  otherwise  ill-treat  any  of 
the  inhabitants,  they  may  depend  on  being 
punished  with  the  utmost  severity ;  and  if  any 


officer  or  soldier  shall  receive  any  insult  from 
any  of  the  inhabitants,  he  is  to  seek  redress  in 
a  legal  way,  and  no  other. 

"Any  non-commissioned  officer  or  soldier  or 
others  under  my  command,  who  shall  be  guilty 
of  robbing  or  plundering  in  the  town,  are  to  be 
immediately  confined,  and  will  be  most  rigidly 
punished.  All  officers  are  therefore  ordered  to 
be  very  vigilant  in  the  discovery  of  such  offen 
ders,  and  report  their  names  and  crime  to  the 
commanding  officer  in  the  town  as  soon  as 
may  be. 

"  The  inhabitants  and  others,  are  called  upon 
to  make  known  to  the  quarter-master-general, 
or  any  of  his  deputies,  all  stores  belonging  to 
the  ministerial  army,  that  may  be  remaining  or 
secreted  in  the  town :  any  person  or  persons 
whatever,  that  shall  be  known  to  have  concealed 
any  of  the  said  stores,  or  to  appropriate  them 
to  his  or  their  own  use,  will  be  considered  as 
an  enemy  to  America,  and  treated  accordingly. 

"  The  select  men  and  other  magistrates  of  the 
town,  are  desired  to  return  to  the  commander- 
in-chief,  the  names  of  all  or  any  person  or 
persons,  they  may  suspect  of  being  employed 
as  spies  upon  the  continental  army,  that  they 
may  be  dealt  with  accordingly. 

"  All  officers  of  the  continental  army,  are 
enjoined  to  assist  the  civil  magistrates  in  the 
execution  of  their  duty,  and  to  promote  peace 
and  good  order.  They  are  to  prevent,  as  much 
as  possible,  the  soldiers  from  frequenting 
tippling-houses,  and  strolling  from  their  posts. 
Particular  notice  will  be  taken  of  such  officers 
as  are  inattentive  and  remiss  in  their  duty ; 
and  on  the  contrary,  such  only  as  are  active 
and  vigilant  will  be  entitled  to  future  favor 
and  promotion. 

Given  under  my  hand,  at  head-quarters,  in 
Cambridge,  the   2ist  day  of  March,  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-six. 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

Boston,  March  29. 


ADDRESS 

Of  the  Hon.  Council  and  House  of  Representa 
tives  of  Mass,  to  his  Excellency  GEORGE 
WASHINGTON,  Esq.,  General,  and  Com 
mander-in-chief  of  the  Forces  of  the  United 
Colonies,  March  29,  1776. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency — 

'•'  When  the  liberties  of  America  were 
attacked  by  the  violent  hand  of  oppression — 
when  troops,  hostile  to  the  rights  of  humanity, 
invaded  this  colony,  seized  our  capital,  and 


130 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


spread  havoc  and  destruction  around  it ;  when 
our  virtuous  sons  were  murdered,  and  our 
houses  destroyed  by  the  troops  of  Britain,  the 
inhabitants  of  this  and  the  other  American 
colonies,  impelled  by  self-preservation  and  the 
love  of  freedom,  forgetting  their  domestic  con 
cerns,  determined  resolutely  and  unitedly  to 
oppose  the  sons  of  tyranny. 

Convinced  of  the  vast  importance  of  having 
a  gentleman  of  great  military  accomplishments 
to  discipline,  lead,  and  conduct  the  forces  of 
the  colonies,  it  gave  us  the  greatest  satisfaction 
to  hear  that  the  honorable  congress  of  the 
united  colonies  had  made  choice  of  a  gentle 
man  thus  qualified  ;  who,  leaving  the  pleasure 
of  domestic  and  rural  life  was  ready  to  under 
take  the  arduous  task.  And  your  nobly  de 
clining  to  accept  the  pecuniary  emoluments  an 
nexed  to  this  high  office,  fully  evidenced  to  us 
that  a  warm  regard  to  the  sacred  rights  of 
humanity,  and  sincere  love  to  your  country, 
solely  influenced  you  in  the  acceptance  of  this 
important  trust. 

From  your  acknowledged  abilities  as  a 
soldier,  and  your  virtues  in  public  and  private 
life,  we  had  the  most  pleasing  hopes  ;  but  the 
fortitude  and  equanimity  so  conspicuous  in 
your  conduct ;  the  wisdom  of  your  counsels  ; 
the  mild,  yet  strict  government  of  the  army ; 
your  attention  to  the  civil  constitution  of  this 
colony  ;  the  regard  you  have  at  all  times  shewn 
for  the  lives  and  health  of  those  under  your 
command  ;  the  fatigues  you  have  with  cheer 
fulness  endured ;  the  regard  you  have  shewn 
for  the  preservation  of  our  metropolis,  and 
the  great  address  with  which  our  military 
operations  have  been  conducted,  have  exceeded 
our  most  sanguine  expectations,  and  demand 
the  warmest  icturns  of  gratitude. 

The  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe  having 
smiled  on  our  arms,  and  crowned  your  labors 
with  remarkable  success,  we  are  now,  without 
that  effusion  of  blood  we  so  much  wished  to 
avoid,  again  in  the  quiet  possession  of  our 
capital  ;  the  wisdom  and  prudence  of  those 
movements,  which  have  obliged  the  enemy  to 
abandon  our  metropolis,  will  ever  be  remem 
bered  by  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony. 

May  you  still  go  on  approved  by  Heaven, 
revered  by  all  good  men,  and  dreaded  by  those 
tyrants  who  claim  their  fellow  men  as  their 
property.  May  the  united  colonies  be  defended 
from  slavery  by  your  victorious  arms.  May 
they  still  see  their  enemies  flying  before  you  : 
and  (the  deliverance  of  your  country  being 
effected)  may  you,  in  retirement,  enjoy  that 
peace  and  satisfaction  of  mind,  which  always 
attends  the  good  and  great :  and  may  future 


generations  in  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of  that 
freedom,  the  exercise  of  which  your  sword 
shall  establish,  raise  the  richest  and  most 
lasting  monuments  to  the  name  of  a  Washing 
ton." 


GEN'L  WASHINGTON'S  REPLY  THERETO. 

"  Gentlemen — I  return  you  my  most  sincere 
and  hearty  thanks  for  your  polite  address  ;  and 
feel  myself  called  upon,  by  every  principle  of 
gratitude,  to  acknowledge  the  honor  you  have 
done  me  in  this  testimonial  of  your  approbation 
of  my  appointment  to  the  exalted  station  I 
now  fill ;  and  what  is  more  pleasing,  of  my 
conduct  in  discharging  its  important  duties. 

When  the  councils  of  the  British  nation  had 
formed  a  plan  for  enslaving  America,  and 
depriving  her  sons  of  their  most  sacred  and 
invaluable  privileges,  against  the  clearest  re 
monstrances  of  the  constitution,  of  justice  and 
truth ;  and  to  execute  their  schemes,  had 
appealed  to  the  sword,  I  esteemed  it  my  duty 
to  take  a  part  in  the  contest,  and  more  espe 
cially,  on  account  of  my  being  called  thereto 
by  the  unsolicited  suffrages  of  the  representa 
tives  of  a  free  people ;  wishing  for  no  other 
reward  than  that  arising  from  a  conscientious 
discharge  of  the  important  trust,  and  that  my 
services  might  contribute  to  the  establishment 
of  freedom  and  peace,  upon  a  permanent  foun 
dation,  and  merit  the  applause  of  my  country 
men,  and  every  virtuous  citizen. 

Your  professions  of  my  attention  to  the  civil 
constitution  of  this  colony,  whilst  acting  in  the 
line  of  my  department,  also  demands  my  grate 
ful  thanks.  A  regard  to  every  provincial  insti 
tution,  where  not  incompatible  with  the  com 
mon  interest,  I  hold  a  principle  of  duty,  and 
of  policy,  and  shall  ever  form  a  part  of  my  con 
duct.  Had  I  not  leamt  this  before,  the  happy 
experience  of  the  advantages  resulting  from  a 
friendly  intercourse  with  your  honorable  body, 
their  ready  and  willing  concurrence  to  aid  and 
to  counsel,  whenever  called  upon  in  cases  of 
difficulty  and  emergency,  would  have  taught 
me  the  useful  lesson. 

That  the  metropolis  of  your  colony  is  now 
relieved  from  the  cruel  and  oppressive  invasions 
of  those  who  were  sent  to  erect  the  standard 
of  lawless  domination,  and  to  trample  on  the 
rights  of  humanity,  and  is  again  open  and  free 
for  its  rightful  possessors,  must  give  pleasure 
to  every  virtuous  and  sympathetic  heart,  and 
being  effected  without  the  blood  of  our  soldiers 
and  fellow-citizens,  must  be  ascribed  to  the 
interposition  of  that  Providence,  which  has 
manifestly  appeared  in  our  behalf  through  the 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


whole  of  this  important  struggle,  as  well  as 
to  the  measures  pursued  for  bringing  about 
the  happy  event. 

May  that  Being  who  is  powerful  to  save,  and 
in  whose  hands  is  the  fate  of  nations,  look 
down  with  an  eye  of  tender  pity  and  compas 
sion  upon  the  whole  of  the  united  colonies  ; 
may  he  continue  to  smile  upon  their  counsels 
and  arms,  and  crown  them  with  success,  whilst 
employed  in  the  cause  of  virtue  and  mankind. 
— May  this  distressed  colony  and  its  capital, 
and  every  part  of  this  wide  extending  continent, 
through  his  divine  favor,  be  restored  to  more 
than  their  former  lustre  and  once  happy  state, 
and  have  peace,  liberty,  and  safety  secured 
upon  a  solid,  permanent,  and  lasting  founda 
tion."  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


DEGREE   OF  DOCTOR  OF  LAWS 
CONFERRED    BY   HARVARD    COLLEGE    ON 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

In  Cambridge,  in  New  England,  to  all  faith 
ful  in  Christ,  to  whom  these  presents  shall 
come,  Greeting.  Boston,  April  3,  1776. 

Whereas  academical  degrees  were  originally 
instituted  for  this  purpose,  that  men,  eminent 
for  knowledge,  wisdom  and  virtue,  who  have 
highly  merited  of  the  republic  of  letters,  should 
be  rewarded  with  the  honor  of  these  laurels, 
there  is  the  greatest  propriety  in  conferring 
such  honor  on  that  very  illustrious  gentleman, 
George  Washington,  esq.,  the  accomplished 
general  of  the  confederated  colonies  in 
America ;  whose  knowledge  and  patriotic 
ardor  are  manifest  to  all ;  who,  for  his  distin 
guished  virtues,  both  civil  and  military,  in  the 
first  place  being  elected  by  the  suffrages  of  the 
Virginians  one  of  their  delegates,  exerted  him 
self  with  fidelity  and  singular  wisdom  in  the 
celebrated  congress  in  America,  for  the  de 
fence  of  liberty,  when  in  the  utmost  danger  of 
being  forever  lost,  and  for  the  salvation  of  his 
country,  and  then  at  the  earnest  request  of 
that  grand  council  of  patriots,  without  hesita 
tion,  left  all  the  pleasures  of  his  delightful  seat 
in  Virginia,  and  the  affairs  of  his  own  estate, 
that,  through  all  the  fatigues  and  dangers  of 
camp,  without  accepting  any  reward,  he  might 
deliver  New  England  from  the  unjust  and 
cruel  arms  of  Great  Britain,  and  defend  the 
other  colonies  ;  and  who,  by  the  most  signal 
smiles  of  Divine  Providence  on  his  military 
operations,  drove  the  fleet  and  traops  of  the 
enemy  with  disgraceful  precipitation  from  the 
town  of  Boston,  which  for  eleven  months  had 
been  shut,  fortified  and  defended  by  a  garrison 


of  above  7,000  regulars  ;  so  that  the  inhabi 
tants,  who  suffered  a  great  variety  of  hardships 
and  cruelties  while  under  the  power  of  their 
oppressors,  now  rejoice  in  their  deliverance  ; 
the  neighboring  towns  are  also  freed  from  the 
tumults  of  arms,  and  our  university  has  the 
agreeable  prospect  of  being  restored  to  its 
ancient  seat. 

Know  ye,  therefore,  that  we,  the  president 
and  fellows  of  Harvard  College  in  Cambridge, 
(with  the  consent  of  the  honored  and  reverend 
overseers  of  our  academy)  have  constituted 
and  created  the  aforesaid  gentleman,  George 
Washington,  who  merits  the  highest  honor, 
doctor  of  laws,  the  law  of  nature  and  nations, 
and  the  civil  law  ;  and  have  given  and  granted 
him  at  the  same  time  all  rights,  privileges  and 
honors  to  the  said  degree  pertaining. 

In  testimony  whereof,  we  have  affixed  the 
common  seal  of  our  university  to  these  letters, 
and  subscribed  them  with  our  hand-writing, 
this  third  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-six. 

SAMUEL  LANGDON,    S.  T.  D.  Preses. 
NATHANIEL  APPLETON,  S.  T.  D. 
JOHANNES  WINTHROP,  Mat.  et.  Phi.  P. 
ANDREAS  ELLIOT,  S.  T.  D.  (Hoi.)  LL.  D. 
SAMUEL  COOPER,  S.  T.  D. 
JOHANS  WADSWORTH,  Log.  et.  Eth.  Pre. 


INSTRUCTIONS 

OF  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  MALDEN,  MASS. 
TO  THEIR  REPRESENTATIVE  IN  CONGRESS, 
MAY  27,  1776. 

SIR — A  resolution  of  the  hon.  house  of  rep 
resentatives,  calling  upon  the  several  towns  in 
this  colony  to  express  their  minds  with  respect 
to  the  important  question  of  American  inde 
pendence,  is  the  occasion  of  our  now  instructing 
you.  The  time  was,  sir,  when  we  loved  the 
king  and  the  people  of  Great  Britain  with  an 
affection  truly  filial ;  we  felt  ourselves  interested 
in  their  glory  ;  we  shared  their  joys  and  sor 
rows  ;  we  cheerfully  poured  the  fruit  of  all  our 
labors  into  the  lap  of  our  mother-country,  and 
without  reluctance  expended  our  blood  and  our 
treasure  in  their  cause. 

These  were  our  sentiments  towards  Great 
Britain  while  she  continued  to  act  the  part  of  a. 
parent  state ;  we  felt  ourselves  happy  in  our 
connection  with  her,  nor  wished  it  to  be  dis 
solved  ;  but  our  sentiments  are  altered,  it  is  now 
the  ardent  wish  of  our  souls  that  America  may 
become  a  free  and  independent  state. 

A  sense  of  unprovoked  injuries  will  arouse 


132 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


the  resentment  of  the  most  peaceful.  Such 
injuries  these  colonies  have  received  from  Bri 
tain.  Unjustifiable  claims  have  been  made  by 
the  king  and  his  minions  to  tax  us  without  our 
consent ;  these  claims  have  been  prosecuted  in 
a  manner  cruel  and  unjust  to  the  highest  de 
gree.  The  frantic  policy  of  administration 
hath  induced  them  to  send  fleets  and  armies  to 
America;  that,  by  depriving  us  of  our  trade 
and  cutting  the  throats  of  our  brethren,  they 
might  awe  us  into  submission,  and  erect  a  sys 
tem  of  despotism  in  America,  which  should  so 
far  enlarge  the  influence  of  the  crown  as  to 
enable  it  to  rivet  their  shackles  upon  the  people 
of  Great  Britain. 

This  plan  was  brought  to  a  crisis  upon  the 
ever  memorable  nineteenth  of  April.  We  re 
member  the  fatal  day  !  the  expiring  groans  of 
our  countrymen  yet  vibrate  on  our  ears  !  and 
we  now  behold  the  flames  of  their  peaceful 
dwellings  ascending  to  heaven  !  we  hear  their 
blood  crying  to  us  from  the  ground  for  ven 
geance  !  charging  us,  as  we  value  the  peace  of 
their  manes,  to  have  no  further  connection  with 

,  who  can  unfeelingly  hear  of  the  slaughter 

of ,  and  composedly  sleep  with  their  blood 

upon  his  soul.  The  manner  in  which  the  war 
had  been  prosecuted  hath  confirmed  us  in  these 
sentiments ;  piracy  and  murder,  robbery  and 
breach  of  faith,  have  been  conspicuous  in  the 
conduct  of  the  king's  troops  :  defenceless  towns 
have  been  attacked  and  destroyed :  the  ruins 
of  Charlestown,  which  are  daily  in  our  view, 
daily  reminds  us  of  this  :  the  cries  of  the  widow 
and  the  orphan  demand  our  attention  ;  they  de 
mand  that  the  hand  of  pity  should  wipe  the 
tear  from  their  eye,  and  that  the  sword  of  their 
country  should  avenge  their  wrongs.  We  long 
entertained  hopes  that  the  spirit  of  the  British 
nation  would  once  more  induce  them  to  assert 
their  own  and  our  rights,  and  bring  to  condign 
punishment  the  elevated  villains  who  have 
trampled  upon  the  sacred  rights  of  men,  and 
affronted  the  majesty  of  the  people.  We  hoped 
in  vain  ;  they  have  lost  their  love  to  freedom  : 
they  have  lost  their  spirit  of  just  resentment ; 
we  therefore  renounce  with  disdain  our  con 
nection  with  a  kingdom  of  slaves ;  we  bid  a 
final  adieu  to  Britain. 

Could  an  accommodation  be  now  effected, 
we  have  reason  to  think  that  it  would  be  fatal 
to  the  liberties  of  America ;  we  should  soon 
catch  the  contagion  of  venality  and  dissipation, 
which  hath  subjected  Britons  to  lawless  do 
mination.  Were  we  placed  in  the  situation  we 
were  in  1763:  were  the  powers  of  appointing 
to  offices,  and  commanding  the  militia,  in  the 
hands  of  governors,  our  arts,  trade  and  manu 


factures  would  be  cramped ;  nay,  more  than 
this,  the  life  of  every  man  who  has  been  active 
in  the  cause  of  his  country  would  be  endan 
gered. 

For  these  reasons,  as  well  as  many  others 
which  might  be  produced,  we  are  confirmed  in 
the  opinion,  that  the  present  age  will  be  defi 
cient  in  their  duty  to  God,  their  posterity  and 
themselves,  if  they  do  not  establish  an  Ameri 
can  republic.  This  is  the  only  form  of  govern 
ment  which  we  wish  to  see  established  ;  for  we 
can  never  be  willingly  subject  to  any  other 
King  than  he  who,  being  possessed  of  infinite 
wisdom,  goodness  and  rectitude,  is  alone  fit  to 
possess  unlimited  power. 

We  have  freely  spoken  our  sentiments  upon 
this  important  subject,  but  we  mean  not  to 
dictate  ;  we  have  unbounded  confidence  in  the 
wisdom  and  uprightness  of  the  continental  con 
gress  :  with  pleasure  we  recollect  that  this  affair 
is  under  their  direction  and  we  now  instruct 
you,  sir,  to  give  them  the  strongest  assurance 
that,  if  they  should  declare  America  to  be  a 
free  and  independent  republic,  your  constitu 
ents  would  support  and  defend  the  measure,  to 
the  last  drop  of  their  blood,  and  the  last  farthing 
of  their  treasure. 
Attest. 

SAM.  MERRIT,  town-clerk. 


INSTRUCTIONS 

• 

OF  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  THE  TOWN  OF 
BOSTON,  TO  THEIR  REPRESENTATIVES  IN 
CONGRESS,  1776. 

Gentlemen — Touching  the  internal  police  of 
this  colony,  it  is  essentially  necessary,  in  order 
to  preserve  harmony  among  ourselves,  that  the 
constituent  body  be  satisfied  that  they  are 
fairly  and  fully '  represented.  The  right  to 
legislate  is  originally  due  to  every  member 
of  the  community  ;  which  right  is  always  exer 
cised  in  the  infancy  of  a  state,  but,  when  the 
inhabitants  are  become  numerous,  it  is  not  only 
inconvenient,  but  impracticable,  for  all  to  meet 
in  one  assembly  ;  and  hence  arose  the  neces 
sity  and  practice  of  legislating  by  a  few,  freely 
chosen  by  the  many.  When  this  choice  is 
free,  and  the  representation  equal,  it  is  the 
people's  fault  if  they  are  not  happy :  we  there 
fore  instruct  you  to  devise  some  means  to 
obtain  an  equal  representation  of  the  people 
of  this  colony  in  the  legislature : — but  care 
should  be  taken  that  the  assembly  be  not 
unwieldy ;  for  this  would  be  an  approach  to 
the  evil  meant  to  be  cured  by  representation. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


133 


The  largest  bodies  of  men  do  not  always 
despatch  business  with  the  greatest  expedi 
tion,  nor  conduct  it  in  the  wisest  manner. 

It  is  essential  to  liberty,  that  the  legislative, 
judicial,  and  executive  powers  of  government 
be,  as  nearly  as  possible,  independent  of,  and 
separate  from  each  other  ;  for  where  they  are 
united  in  the  same  persons,  or  number  of 
persons,  there  would  be  wanting  that  mutual 
check  which  is  the  principal  security  against 
the  making  of  arbitrary  laws,  and  a  wanton 
exercise  of  power  in  the  execution  of  them.  It 
is  also  of  the  highest  importance,  that  every 
person  in  a  judiciary  department  employ  the 
greatest  part  of  his  time  and  attention  in  the 
duties  of  his  office ;  we  therefore  further  in 
struct  you,  to  procure  the  enacting  such  law 
or  laws,  as  shall  make  it  incompatible  for  the 
same  person  to  hold  a  seat  in  the  legislative 
and  executive  departments  of  government,  at 
one  and  the  same  time  :  that  shall  render  the 
judges,  in  every  judicatory  through  the  colony, 
dependent,  not  on  the  uncertain  tenure  of 
caprice  or  pleasure,  but  on  an  unimpeachable 
deportment  in  the  important  duties  of  their 
station,  for  their  continuance  in  office :  and  to 
prevent  the  multiplicity  of  offices  in  the  same 
person,  that  such  salaries  be  settled  upon  them 
as  will  place  them  above  the  necessity  of  stoop 
ing  to  any  indirect  or  collateral  means  for  sub 
sistence.  We  wish  to  avoid  a  profusion  of  the 
public  moneys  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  dan 
ger  of  sacrificing  our  liberties  to  a  spirit  of 
parsimony  on  the  other.  Not  doubting  of  your 
zeal  and  abilities  in  the  common  cause  of  our 
country,  we  leave  your  discretion  to  prompt 
such  exertions,  in  promoting  any  military 
operations,  as  the  exigencies  of  our  public 
affairs  may  require :  and  in  the  same  confi 
dence  of  your  fervor  and  attachments  to  the 
public  weal,  we  readily  submit  all  other 
matters  of  public  moment,  that  may  require 
your  consideration,  to  your  own  wisdom  and 
discretion. 


AN   ADDRESS 

To  THE  "  INDEPENDENT  SONS  IN  MASSA 
CHUSETTS  STATE,"  BOSTON,  Nov.  14,  1776. 

"  Our  bless'd  forefathers,"  is  the  grateful  sound, 
From  age  to  age,  the  world  will  echo  round  ! 
And  every  future  tongue  that  speaks  your  name, 
Will  brighten  the  hours  with  your  growing  fame. 

Our  losses  this  year  are  small,  when  com 
pared  with  the  advantages  we  have  gained,  and 
it  would  be  extreme  folly,  even  in  the  weakest 
American,  to  suppose  our  cause  did  not  con 


tinue  to  rise. — The  complete  triumph  of  lib 
erty  undoubtedly  draws  nearer  every  hour. 
When  we  review  the  state  of  America,  and 
that  of  our  enemy,  we  behold  eminent  and 
growing  advantages  on  the  part  of  our  coun 
try.  The  valor  and  discipline  of  our  troops 
are  constantly  improving,  as  every  late  action 
with  the  enemy  testifies ;  this  circumstance, 
considered  with  that  of  our  superior  numbers, 
affords  a  bright  prospect  of  success.  It  was 
always  supposed,  that  the  enemy  would  have 
the  greatest  advantage  in  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  and  it  must  be  acknowledged,  (with  grati 
tude  to  Heaven)  that  they  have  done  much 
less,  and  our  success  has  been  much  greater, 
than  might  have  been  expected.  At  this  pe 
riod,  we  have  so  many  experienced  men  of 
tried  valor,  such  magazines  of  warlike  stores, 
such  a  military  system  formed,  such  a  disci 
plined  militia,  (as  no  other  nation  can  produce), 
and  such  a  union  and  fervor  of  spirit  in  sup 
port  of  the  righteous  cause  of  our  country,  as 
must  damp  the  malevolent  spirit  of  our  ene 
mies,  and  give  vigor  to  every  virtuous  mind. 
When  we  survey  our  naval  department,  such 
are  our  preparations,  such  our  amazing  progress 
in  fitting  out  armed  vessels,  and  so  wonderful 
our  success  in  taking  the  ships,  the  persons, 
and  the  riches  of  the  enemy,  that  even  our 
antagonists  are  almost  ready  to  exclaim, 
"  God  is  on  that  side  !  " 

Another  happy  circumstance  in  our  favor,  is 
the  fruitful  season  and  plentiful  harvest  with 
which-  Heaven  hath  blessed  our  country.  In 
truth,  so  numerous  are  the  favors  of  Providence, 
and  so  encouraging  our  prospect  of  success, 
that  we  have  much  greater  cause  for  thanks 
giving  than  for  petitioning  ;  and  it  is  unmanly, 
unchristian,  and  unworthy  of  any  free  mind,  to 
discover  the  least  degree  of  timidity.  Our 
difficulties  and  sufferings,  in  supporting  the 
great  cause  of  liberty,  have  been  little,  if  com 
pared  with  what  other  nations  have  suffered 
in  defence  of  their  freedom.  The  Switzers 
fought  sixty  battles  in  defending  their  liberties, 
and  finally,  drove  all  the  murdering  tyrants 
out  of  their  country,  set  up  independent  states, 
and  have  flourished  in  freedom  to  this  day,  in 
spite  of  all  the  tyrants  in  Europe.  They  are  a 
striking  proof  of  the  superior  virtue  and  strength 
of  a  free  people,  for  their  whole  country  is  not 
larger  than  the  Massachusetts  state,  not  half  so 
fruitful,  nor  any  ways  comparable  for  happiness 
of  situation,  and  commercial  advantages. 
What  then  may  not  the  United  States  of  Amer 
ica  accomplish  ?  We  may  rationally  suppose, 
upon  a  survey  of  the  present  state  of  all 
nations,  that  these  United  States  will  make 


J34 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


swifter  progress  in  arts  and  arms,  and  in  all 
that  adorns  and  dignifies  human  society,  than 
any  people  or  nation  ever  yet  have  done. 

The  tyrants  of  Britain,  and  the  abject  slaves 
whom  they  can  hire,  are  all  the  enemies  we 
have  to  encounter ;  the  rest  of  the  world  will 
be  our  friends.  As  we  wish  to  injure  no  peo 
ple,  other  nations  will  naturally  be  our  friends, 
some  from  interest,  and  others,  whose  interest 
is  no  ways  concerned,  from  motives  of  human 
ity.  As  America  is  so  very  extensive,  capable 
of  supporting  so  many  millions  of  inhabitants, 
more  than  she  has  at  present ;  and  as  the  vir 
tuous  part  of  mankind  love  freedom,  they  will 
transplant  themselves  from  the  slavish  domin 
ions  of  Europe,  to  this  land  of  liberty,  whereby 
the  industry,  the  virtue,  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
world  will  centre  in  these  free  and  independent 
states.  Such  being  our  field  of  hope,  such  our 
prospect  of  happiness,  not  only  for  ourselves, 
but  for  millions  of  others,  by  what  name  shall 
we  call  that  folly  which  would  abate  your  ardor, 
and  discourage  your  efforts,  to  maintain  the 
entire  independence  of  America  ? 


AN  ADDRESS, 

BY  THE  STATE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  BAY, 
JANUARY  26,  1777. 

In  the  house  of  representatives,  Jan.  26,  1777. 

Ordered,  That  the  following  address  be  printed, 
and  a  copy  thereof  sent  to  each  minister  of 
the  gospel  within  this  state,  to  whom  it  is 
recommended  to  read  the  same  the  next 
Lord's  day  after  he  shall  receive  it,  to  his 
people,  immediately  after  the  religious  ex 
ercises  of  the  day  are  over.  And  also  that  a 
copy  thereof  be  sent  to  the  commanding 
officer  of  each  company  of  the  militia  while 
they  are  under  arms,  for  the  purpose  of  re 
cruiting  the  army. 

TO   THE   PEOPLE   OF  MASSACHUSETTS   BAY. 

Friends  and  countrymen, — When  a  people, 
within  reach  of  the  highest  temporal  happiness 
human  nature  is  capable  of,  are  in  danger  of 
having  it  wrested  from  them  by  an  enemy 
whose  paths  are  marked  with  blood,  and  an 
insupportable  load  of  misery,  which  succeeding 
generations  must  bear  through  painful  centuries 
of  time,  is  offered  instead  of  it,  to  rouse  the 
brave,  invite  the  generous,  quicken  the  slow, 
and  awaken  all  to  a  sense  of  their  danger,  is  a 
measure  as  friendly  as  it  is  important. 

The    danger  of   having   your  towns,   your 


families,  your  fruitful  fields,  and  all  the  riches 
and  blessings  derived  from  the  industry  and 
wisdom  of  your  venerable  ancestors,  who  may 
justly  be  ranked  among  the  most  virtuous  and 
brave  men  that  the  world  ever  produced,  rav 
ished  from  you,  and  possessed  by  a  banditti 
whom  no  laws  can  control,  and  whose  aim  is 
to  trample  upon  all  the  rights  of  humanity, 
would  be  sufficient  to  give  the  coward  courage, 
and  animate  to  the  greatest  feats  in  arms  the 
most  supine  and  indolent. — Surely  then,  while 
America,  the  asylum  of  happiness  and  freedom, 
is  infested  with  a  foe,  whose  sole  aim  is  to  rifle 
her  sons  of  every  enjoyment  that  can  render 
life  desirable,  you  will  be  ready  in  arms  to 
defend  your  country,  your  liberty,  your  wives, 
your  children  and  possessions,  from  rapine, 
abuse  and  destruction. 

From  this  grand  and  noble  purpose,  so 
worthy  of  the  virtuous  and  brave,  and  we 
humbly  trust,  so  pleasing  to  Almighty  God, 
you  have  had  your  delegates  assembled  in 
council  for  several  years  past.  For  this,  in 
April,  1775,  you  arrayed  yourselves  in  arms, 
defeated  and  put  to  flight  that  band  of  Britons, 
who,  uninjured  and  unoffended,  like  robbers 
and  murderers,  dared  to  assault  your  peaceful 
mansions  ;  and  for  this,  we  trust,  you  will  be 
at  all  times  ready  to  spend  your  blood  and 
treasure. 

In  addressing  you  upon  the  important  sub 
ject  of  your  own  defence,  should  we  attempt  a 
narration  of  the  causes  of  your  danger ;  the 
many  petitions  you  have  presented,  praying 
but  for  peace,  liberty  and  safety,  and  to  avoid 
the  necessity  of  shedding  the  blood  of  your 
fellow  men,  and  the  unexampled  indignity  and 
contempt  with  which  those  petitions  were 
treated,  it  would  be  undeservedly  to  impeach 
you  of  inattention  to  your  own  safety. 

Let  it  suffice  then  to  say,  That  when  every 
other  method  taken  by  you  was  productive  of 
nothing  but  insults ;  and  that  flames  in  your 
houses,  murders  on  your  persons,  and  rob 
beries  upon  your  property,  were  returned  in 
answer  to  your  peaceable,  humble  and  dutiful 
petitions : 

When  the  force  of  Britain,  with  that  of  her 
allies,  was  collected  and  drawn  into  exertion, 
to  reduce  you  from  ease  and  affluence  to 
slavery  and  vassalage,  the  congress  of  the 
United  States,  despairing  otherwise  to  establish 
your  safety  upon  principles  which  would  render 
it  durable,  made  that  declaration  by  which  you 
became  independent  of  Great  Britain,  and  in 
which  character  alone  you  can  be  secure  and 
happy. 

But  as  the  increasing  power  and  opulence 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


135 


of  the  United  States  are  now  the  dread  and 
envy  of  those  whose  avaricious  and  ambitious 
minds  had  laid  a  plan  for  the  monopoly  and 
enjoyment  of  them,  a  large  army  is  necessary 
for  your  defence  ;  and  the  congress  have  there 
fore  determined  upon  eighty-eight  battalions, 
of  which  fifteen  are  to  be  raised  by  this  state. — 
The  militia  who  have  been  marched  to  aid  the 
army  under  the  conduct  of  that  man  whose 
fortitude,  virtue  and  patience,  is  perhaps  with 
out  example  (and  who  hourly,  without  any 
reward  but  the  approbation  of  his  own  mind) 
is  risking  his  all  in  your  cause,  will  soon  be  on 
their  return ;  the  enemy,  angry  at  the  chastise 
ment  justly  given  them  for  their  unprovoked 
cruelties  to  our  brethren  in  the  Jerseys,  are 
watching  an  opportunity  to  return  the  blow. 

A  farther  draft  from  the  militia,  would  so 
much  burden  the  people  of  this  state,  that  this 
court  cannot  think  of  it  without  pain  and 
anxiety.  We  have  therefore,  being  sensible 
that  you  need  no  other  stimulus  to  your  duty 
than  having  the  line  of  it  drawn  for  you, 
directed  that  a  number  of  men,  amounting  to 
one  seventh  part  of  all  the  male  persons,  of 
sixteen  and  upwards,  should  be  immediately 
engaged  in  the  continental  army,  upon  the 
encouragement  given  by  government — this  en 
couragement  we  conceive  to  be  greater  than 
any  ever  yet  given,  even  to  the  greatest  mer 
cenaries — surely  then  a  people  called  to  fight, 
not  to  support  crowns  and  principalities,  but 
for  their  own  freedom  and  happiness,  will 
readily  engage. 

That  the  encouragement  given  might  fully 
answer  the  designs  of  government  and  the 
expectation  of  the  soldiery,  this  court  have 
settled  the  price  of  every  necessary  and  con 
venient  article  of  life  produced  in  this  country, 
and  also  the  price  of  foreign  goods  in  a  just 
proportion  to  their  prices  in  the  place  from 
which  they  are  imported,  considering  the  risk 
of  importation.  And  nothing  is  now  wanting 
to  give  value  to  the  soldiers  wages,  and  sta 
bility  to  our  currency,  but  the  vigorous  and 
punctual  execution  and  observance  of  that 
act,  which  we  hope  to  see  speedily  effected 
by  the  public  virtue  and  zeal  of  this  people  in 
the  cause  of  their  country. 

But  lest  some  of  you  should  be  deceived  by 
the  misrepresentations  of  designing  men,  we 
must  remind  you  that  all  the  pretensions  to 
peace  and  reconciliation,  so  pompously  dealt 
out  in  the  insidious  proclamations  of  the  com 
missioners  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  amount 
to  nothing  more  than  an  invitation  to  give  up 
your  country,  and  submit  unconditionally  to  the 
government  of  the  British  parliament.  They 


tell  you  that  their  king  is  graciously  disposed 
to  revise  all  acts  which  he  shall  deem  incom 
patible  with  your  safety.  But  your  good  sense 
will  lead  you  to  determine,  that  if  he  is  a  prince 
worthy  to  reign  over  a  free  people,  and  a  friend 
to  the  rights  of  mankind,  he  would  long  ago 
have  determined  as  to  the  justice  of  those  acts, 
and  must  have  seen  them  founded  on  des 
potism,  and  replete  with  slavery  ;  but  they  do 
not  tell  you  that  their  sovereign  has  the  least 
intention  to  repeal  any  one  of  those  acts ; 
surely  then  a  revision  of  them  can  never 
restore  your  freedom,  or  in  the  least  alleviate 
your  burdens. 

But  those  commissioners,  although  they  offer 
themselves  as  the  ambassadors  of  peace,  and 
invite  you  to  what  they  call  the  mild  and 
gentle  government  of  Britain,  mark  their  foot 
steps  with  blood,  rapine,  and  the  most  unex 
ampled  barbarities,  distributing  their  dreadful 
and  savage  severity  as  well  to  the  submissive 
as  the  obstinate,  while  neither  rank,  sex  or 
age,  exempts  any  from  the  effects  of  their 
brutal  passions. 

Should  America  be  overcome  by,  or  submit 
to  Britain,  the  needy  and  almost  perishing 
tenant  in  Ireland,  disarmed  and  having  but  little 
property  in  the  production  of  his  toil  and  labor, 
selling  the  bread  for  which  his  tender  infants 
are  suffering,  to  pay  the  haughty  landlord's 
rent  or  insulting  collector's  tax,  would  be  but 
a  faint  resemblance  of  your  calamity. 

Society,  where  no  man  is  bound  by  other 
laws  than  those  to  which  he  gives  his  own 
consent,  is  the  greatest  ornament,  and  tends 
most  of  all  things  to  the  felicity  of  human 
nature,  and  is  a  privilege  which  can  never  be 
given  up  by  a  people  without  their  being 
exceedingly  guilty  before  Him,  who  is  the 
bestower  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift. 

We  therefore,  for  the  sake  of  that  religion, 
for  the  enjoyment  whereof  your  ancestors  fled 
to  this  country,  for  the  sake  of  your  laws  and 
future  felicity,  entreat  and  urge  you  to  act 
vigorously  and  firmly  in  this  critical  situation 
of  your  country.  And  we  doubt  not  but  that 
your  noble  exertions,  under  the  smiles  of 
Heaven,  will  ensure  you  that  success  and 
freedom  due  to  the  wise  man  and  the  patriot. 

Above  all  we  earnestly  exhort  you  to  con 
tribute  all  within  your  power  to  the  encourage 
ment  of  those  virtues,  for  which  the  Supreme 
Being  has  declared  that  he  will  bestow  his 
blessings  upon  a  nation,  and  to  the  discourage 
ment  of  those  vices  for  which  he  overturns 
kingdoms  in  his^wrath  ;  and  that  at  all  proper 
times  and  seasons  you  seek  to  Him,  by  prayer 
and  supplication,  for  deliverance  from  the 


136 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


calamities  of  war,  duly  considering  that  with 
out  his  powerful  aid,  and  gracious  interposi 
tion,  all  your  endeavors  must  prove  abortive 
and  vain. 

Sent  up  for  concurrence, 

SAMUEL  FREEMAN,  Speaker  P.  T. 
In    council,   January   28,    1777 — Read  and 
concurred. 

JOHN  AVERY,  D.  Sec'ry. 


A   DECLARATION 

Addressed  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  France, 
to  all  the  ancient  French  in  North  America, 
by  the  Count  U  Estaing,  commander  of  the 
French  Squadron  at  Boston,  Mass.,  October 
28,  1778. 

The  undersigned,  authorized  by  his  majesty, 
and  thence  clothed  with  the  noblest  of  titles, 
with  that  which  effaces  all  others  ;  charged,  in 
the  name  of  the  father  of  his  country,  and  the 
beneficent  protector  of  his  subjects,  to  offer  a 
support  to  those  who  were  born  to  enjoy  the 
blessings  of  his  government — 

To  all  his  countrymen  in  North  America. 
You  were  born  French  :  you  never  could 
cease  to  be  French.  The  late  war,  which  was 
not  declared  but  by  the  captivity  of  nearly  all 
our  seamen,  and  the  principal  advantages  of 
which  our  common  enemies  entirely  owed  to 
the  courage,  the  talents,  and  the  numbers  of 
the  brave  Americans,  who  are  now  fighting 
against  them,  has  wrested  from  you  that 
which  is  most  dear  to  all  men,  even  the  name 
of  your  country.  To  compel  you  to  bear  the 
arms  of  parricides  against  it,  must  be  the  com 
pletion  of  misfortunes  :  With  this  you  are  now 
threatened :  A  new  war  may  justly  make  you 
dread  being  obliged  to  submit  to  this  most  in 
tolerable  law  of  slavery.  It  has  commenced 
like  the  last,  by  depredations  upon  the  most 
valuable  part  of  our  trade.  Too  long  already 
have  a  great  number  of  unfortunate  French 
men  been  confined  in  American  prisons.  You 
hear  their  groans.  The  present  war  was  de 
clared  by  a  message  in  March  last  from  the 
king  of  Great  Britain  to  both  houses  of  par 
liament  ;  a  most  authentic  act  of  the  British 
sovereignty,  announcing  to  all  orders  of  the 
state,  that  to  trade  (with  America)  though 
without  excluding  others  from  the  same  right, 
was  to  offend  ;  that  frankly  to  avow  such  in 
tention,  was  to  defy  this  sovereignty  ;  that  she 
would  revenge  it,  and  deferred  this  only  to  a 
more  advantageous  opportunity,  when  she 
might  do  it  with  more  appearance  of  legality 
than  in  the  last  war.  For  she  declared  that 

\ 


she  had  a  right,  the  will,  and  the  ability  to 
revenge;  and  accordingly  she  demanded  ol 
parliament  the  supplies. 

The  calamities  of  war  thus  proclaimed,  have 
been  restrained  and  retarded  as  much  as  was 
possible,  by  a  monarch  whose  pacific  and  disin 
terested  views  now  reclaim  the  marks  of  your 
former  attachment,  only  for  your  own  hap 
piness.  Constrained  to  repel  force  by  force, 
and  multiplied  hostilities  by  reprisals  which  he 
has  at  last  authorized,  if  necessity  should  carry 
his  arms,  or  those  of  his  allies,  into  a  country 
always  dear  to  him,  you  have  not  to  fear  either 
burnings  or  devastations.  And  if  gratitude, 
if  the  view  of  a  flag  always  revered  by  those 
who  have  followed  it,  should  recall  to  the  ban 
ners  of  France,  or  of  the  United  States,  the 
Indians  who  loved  us,  and  have  been  loaded 
with  presents  by  him,  whom  they  also  call  their 
Father ;  never,  no  never  shall  they  employ 
against  you  their  too  cruel  methods  of  war. 
These  they  must  renounce,  or  they  will  cease 
to  be  our  friends. 

It  is  not  by  menaces  that  we  shall  endeavoi 
to  avoid  combating  with  our  countrymen  ;  nor 
shall  we  weaken  this  declaration  by  invectives 
against  a  great  and  a  brave  nation,  which  we 
know  how  to  respect,  and  hope  to  vanquish. 

As  a  French  gentleman,  I  need  not  mention 
to  those  among  you  who  were  born  such  as 
well  as  myself,  that  there  is  but  one  august 
house  in  the  universe,  under  which  the  French 
can  be  happy,  and  serve  with  pleasure  ;  since 
its  head,  and  those  who  are  most  nearly  allied 
to  him  by  blood,  have  been  at  all  times,  thro'  a 
long  line  of  monarchs,  and  are  at  this  day 
more  than  ever  delighted  with  bearing  that 
very  title  which  Henry  IV.  regarded  as  the 
first  of  his  own.  I  shall  not  excite  your  regrets 
for  those  qualifications,  those  marks  of  distinc 
tion,  those  decorations,  which,  in  our  manner 
of  thinking,  are  precious  treasures,  but  from 
which,  by  our  common  misfortunes,  the  Amer 
ican  French,  who  have  known  so  well  how  to 
deserve  them,  are  now  precluded.  These,  I 
am  bold  to  hope,  and  to  promise,  their  zeal  will 
very  soon  procure  to  be  diffused  among  them. 
They  will  merit  them  when  they  are  to  become 
the  friends  of  our  allies. 

I  shall  not  ask  the  military  companions  of 
the  Marquis  of  Levi ;  those  who  shared  his 
glory,  who  admired  his  talents  and  genius  for 
war,  who  loved  his  cordiality  and  frankness, 
the  principal  characteristics  of  our  nobility, 
whether  there  be  other  names  in  other  nations 
among  which  they  would  be  better  pleased  to 
place  their  own. 

Can   the   Canadians,  who  saw   the    brave 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


137 


Montcalm  fall  in  their  defence,  can  they  be 
come  the  enemies  of  his  nephews  ?  Can  they 
fight  against  their  former  leaders,  and  arm 
themselves  against  their  kinsmen  ?  At  the 
bare  mention  of  their  names,  the  weapons 
would  fall  out  of  their  hands. 

I  shall  not  observe  to  the  ministers  of  the 
altars,  that  their  evangelic  efforts  will  require 
the  special  protection  of  Providence,  to  prevent 
faith  being  diminished  by  example,  by  worldly 
interest,  and  by  sovereigns  whom  force  has 
imposed  upon  them,  and  whose  political  indul 
gence  will  be  lessened  proportionably  as  those 
sovereigns  shall  have  less  to  fear.  I  shall  not 
observe,  that  it  is  necessary  for  religion  that 
those  who  preach  it  should  form  a  body  in  the 
state ;  and  that  in  Canada  no  other  body 
would  be  more  considered,  or  have  more 
power  to  do  good  than  that  of  the  priests,  tak 
ing  a  part  in  the  government ;  since  their  re 
spectable  conduct  has  merited  the  confidence 
of  the  people. 

I  shall  not  represent  to  that  people,  nor  to 
all  my  countrymen  in  general,  that  a  vast 
monarchy,  having  the  same  religion,  the  same 
manners,  the  same  language,  where  they  find 
kinsmen,  old  friends  and  brethren,  must  be  an 
inexhaustible  source  of  commerce  and  wealth, 
more  easil)  acquired,  and  better  secured,  by 
their  union,  with  powerful  neighbors,  than 
with  strangers  of  another  hemisphere,  among 
whom  every  thing  is  different,  and  who,  eal- 
ous  and  despotic  sovereigns,  would  sooner  or 
later  treat  them  as  a  conquered  people,  and 
doubtless  much  worse  than  their  late  country 
men,  the  Americans,  who  made  them  victori 
ous.  I  shall  not  urge  to  a  whole  people  that  to 
join  with  the  United  States,  is  to  secure  their 
own  happiness ;  since  a  whole  people,  when 
they  acquire  the  right  of  thinking  and  acting 
for  themselves,  must  know  their  own  interest. 
But  I  will  declare,  and  I  now  formally  declare 
in  the  name  of  his  majesty,  who  has  authorized 
and  commanded  me  to  do  it,  that  all  his  former 
subjects  in  North  America,  who  shall  no  more 
acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  Great  Britain, 
may  depend  upon  his  protection  and  support. 

Done  on  board  his  majesty's  ship  the  Langue- 
doc,  in  the  harbor  of  Boston,  the  28th  day 
of  October,  in  the  year  1778. 

ESTAING. 

FIOREL  DE  GRANDCLOS,  secretary,  appointed 

by  the  king  to  the  squadron  commanded  by 

the  COUNT  D'ESTAING. 
Printed  on  board  the   Languedoc,  by   F.  P. 

DEMAUGE,  Printer  to  the  king  and  the 

Squadron. 


LETTER  FROM  MAJOR  JOSEPH  HAW- 
LEY, 

Author  of  the  declaration  that  "  we  must  fight," 
addressed  to  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts, 
October  28,  1780. 

The  enclosed  letter,  from  the  venerable  and 
patriotic  major  Hawley*  has  never  been  in 
print.  Its  publication  at  this  time  would  not 
perhaps  be  irrelevant,  and  would  certainly 
gratify  some  of  your  country  friends.  It  was 
written  soon  after  the  adoption  of  the  present 
constitution,  and  shews  his  opinion  of  that 
instrument.  It  is  needless  to  add,  that  we 
here  think  every  thing  from  the  pen  of  that 
great  man  deserving  of  record. 

HAMPSHIRE. 

To  the  Hon.  the  senate  of  Massachusetts. 

May  it  please  your  honors  :  The  intelligence 
given  me  by  the  writ  of  summons,  under  the 
hand  of  the  president  of  the  council,  that  I  am 
chosen  a  senator  by  a  majority  of  the  voters  of 
the  county  of  Hampshire,  affords  me  a  singular 
pleasure,  on  two  accounts :  The  one  is,  that  an 
election  to  that  high  trust,  by  a  majority  of  the 
unsolicited  suffrages  of  the  voters  of  the  county, 
is  a  genuine  proof  of  the  good  opinion  of  the 
people  of  my  dear  county  ;  the  other  is,  the  fair 
occasion  that  it  gives  me  to  bear  a  free  and 
public  testimony  against  one  part  of  our  glo 
rious  constitution :  I  style  it  glorious,  although 
I  humbly  conceive  it  has  several  great  blem 
ishes,  on  account  whereof  it  will,  until  cor 
rected,  be  liable,  in  my  poor  opinion,  to  very 
weighty  exception  ;  but  still  it  remains  glorious 
on  account  of  the  great  quantity  of  excellent 
matter  contained  in  it.  That  part  of  the  con 
stitution  this  event  enables  me  not  impertinently 
to  except  to,  is  the  condition  or  term  which  the 
constitution  holds  every  one  to,  who  has  the 
honor  to  be  elected  a  member  of  the  general 
court  of  Massachusetts,  before  he  may  (as  is 
expressed  in  the  constitution)  proceed  to  execute 
the  duties  of  his  place, 

Be  the  person  ever  so  immaculate  and  exem 
plary  a  Christian ;  although  he  has,  in  the 
proper  place,  that  is,  in  the  Christian  church,, 
made  a  most  solemn,  explicit,  and  public  pro 
fession  of  the  Christian  faith ;  though  he  has 
an  hundred  times,  and  continues  perhaps  every 
month  in  the  year,  by  participating  in  the 
church  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  practi 
cally  recognized  and  affirmed  the  sincerity  of 
that  profession ;  yet,  by  the  constitution,  he  is 
held,  before  he  may  be  admitted  to  execute  the 

*  The  author  of  the  "  Broken  Hints,"  page  107. 


138 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


duties  of  his  office,  to  make  and  subscribe  a 
profession  of  the  Christian  faith,  or  declaration 
that  he  is  a  Christian.  Did  our  father  con 
fessors  imagine,  that  a  man  who  had  not  so 
much  fear  of  God  in  his  heart  as  to  restrain  him 
from  acting  dishonestly  and  knavishly  in  the 
trust  of  a  senator  or  representative,  would  hes 
itate  a  moment  to  subscribe  that  declaration  ? 
Cut  bono,  then,  is  the  declaration  ?  This  extra 
ordinary,  not  to  say  absurd,  condition,  brings 
fresh  to  mind  a  passage  in  the  life  of  the  pious, 
learned,  and  prudent  Mr.  John  Howe,  one  of 
the  strongest  pillars  of  the  dissenting  interest 
in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  ad  and  James  the  2d. 
The  history  is  as  follows : 

"That  Mr.  Howe,  waiting  upon  a  certain 
bishop,  his  lordship  presently  fell  to  expostu 
lating  with  him  about  his  non-conformity.  Mr. 
Howe  told  him  he  could  not  have  time,  without 
greatly  trespassing  on  his  patience,  to  go 
through  the  objections  he  had  to  make  to  the 
terms  of  conformity.  The  bishop  pressed  him 
to  name  any  one  that  he  reckoned  to  be  of 
weight.  He  thereupon  instanced  the  point  of 
re-ordination.  Why  pray  sir,  said  the  bishop, 
what  hurt  is  there  in  being  twice  ordained? 
Hurt,  my  lord,  says  Mr.  Howe  to  him ;  the 
thought  is  shocking — it  hurts  my  understand 
ing.  It  is  an  absurdity ;  for  nothing  has  two 
beginnings.  I  am  sure,  said  he,  I  am  a  min 
ister  of  Christ,  and  I  am  ready  to  debate  that 
matter  with  your  lordship,  if  you  please  :  I 
cannot  begin  again  to  be  a  minister." 

Besides,  this  term  of  executing  the  duties  of 
the  place  is  against  common  right,  and  as  I 
may  say,  the  natural  franchise  of  every  member 
of  the  commonwealth  who  has  not  by  some 
crime  or  delictum  forfeited  his  natural  rights 
and  franchises.  It,  moreover,  reduces  the 
ninth  article  of  the  declaration  of  rights  to  a 
mere  futility,  and,  in  such  a  connection,  it  would 
be  for  the  reputation  of  the  declaration  of 
rights  if  that  same  ninth  article  was  wholly  ex 
punged.  More  than  that,  the  said  condition  is 
plainly  repugnant  to  the  first  great  article  of 
the  said  declaration :  and  I  am  ready  to  debate 
that  matter  with  any  Doctor  who  assisted  in 
framing  the  constitution,  either  in  convention 
or  without  doors.  The  said  declaration  of  faith 
to  be  subscribed,  which  constitutes  the  said 
impolitic  and  unrighteous  condition,  will,  I 
believe,  ever  sound  in  every  good  ear  almost  as 
uncouthly  as  the  Sessions  Justices'  famous 
charge  to  the  standing  grand  jury.  Let  us  hear 
them  successively : 

"  I  do  declare,  that  I  believe  the  Christian 
religion,  and  have  a  firm  persuasion  of  its 
truth ;  and  that  I  am  seized  and  possessed  in 


my  own  right  of  the  property  required  by  the 
constitution,"  &c. 

"Gentlemen  of  the  grand  jury:  You  are 
required  by  your  oath  to  see  to  it,  that  the 
several  towns  in  the  county  be  provided 
according  to  law,  with 

Pounds  and  School-masters, 
Whipping  posts  and  ministers," 

Each  containing  an  odd  jumble  of  sacred  and 
profane ;  but,  to  me,  the  charge  jingles  best. 
By  the  constitution  of  the  commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  I  am,  may  it  please  your  honors, 
one  of  its  senators  ;  and  I  am  strongly  dis 
posed,  according  to  my  poor  abilities,  to 
execute  the  duties  of  my  office;  but,  by  the 
unconscionable,  not  to  say  dishonorable  terms, 
established  by  the  same  constitution,  I  am 
barred  from  endeavoring  to  perform  these 
duties.  I  have  been  a  professed  Christian 
nearly  forty  years,  and,  although  I  have  been 
guilty  of  many  things  unworthy  of  that  charac 
ter,  whereof  I  am  ashamed,  yet  I  am  not 
conscious  that  I  have  been  guilty  of  any  thing 
wholly  inconsistent  with  the  truth  of  that 
profession. 

The  laws  under  the  first  charter  required  of 
the  subjects  of  that  state,  in  order  to  their 
enjoying  some  privileges,  that  they  should  be 
members  in  full  communion  of  some  Christian 
church.  But,  it  never  was  before  required,  in 
the  Massachusetts-Bay,  that  a  subject,  in  order 
to  his  enjoying  or  exercising  any  franchise  or 
office,  should  make  profession  of  the  Christian 
religion  before  a  temporal  court. 

May  it  please  your  honors  :  We  have  all  heard 
of  a  lieutenant  governor  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bay,  and  some  of  us  have  known  him  very 
well,  who  contended  long  and  earnestly  that  he 
had  a  right  to  a  seat  in  council  with  a  voice. 

I  imagine  I  can  maintain  a  better  argument 
than  he  did,  that  I  have  a  right  to  a  seat  in  the 
senate  of  Massachusetts  without  a  voice  ;  but, 
at  present,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  take  it. 

I  am,  may  it  please  your  honors,  with  the 
greatest  respect  to  the  senate,  your  most 
obedient  humble  servant, 

JOSEPH  HAWLEY. 

October  28,  1780. 


REMINISCENCES 
OF  THE  "  OLDEN  TIME  "  BOSTON,  MASS. 

There  is  in  course  of  publication,  in  the  Bos 
ton  Gazette,  the  long-hoarded  literary  treasures 
of  an  accurate  observer's  common-place  book, 
giving  us  an  amusing  view  of  the  society  and 
manners  of  Boston,  rather  less  than  a  century 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


139 


ago — differing  somewhat,  it  will  be  seen,  from 
those  of  the  present  day.  These  sketches,  one 
of  the  numbers  of  which  will  be  found  below, 
are  appropriately  headed. 

REMINISCENCES. 

Dress,  &*c. — Seventy  years  ago  cocked  hats, 
wigs,  and  red  cloaks,  were  the  usual  dress  of 
gentlemen,  boots  were  rarely  seen,  except 
among  military  men.  Shoe  strings  were  worn 
only  by  those  who  could  not  buy  any  sort  of 
buckles.  In  winter  round  coats  were  used, 
made  stiff  with  buckram  ;  they  came  down  to 
the  knees  in  front. 

Before  the  revolution  boys  wore  wigs  and 
cocked  hats ;  and  boys  of  genteel  families 
wore  cocked  hats  till  within  about  thirty 
years. 

Ball  dress  for  gentlemen  was  silk  coat, 
and  breeches  of  the  same,  and  embroidered 
waistcoats — sometimes  white  satin  breeches. 
Buckles  were  fashionable  till  within  15  or  20 
years,  and  a  man  could  not  have  remained  in  a 
ball  room  with  shoe  strings.  It  was  usual  for 
the  bride,  bridegroom  and  maids,  and  men  at 
tending,  to  go  to  church  together  three  suc 
cessive  Sundays  after  the  wedding,  with  a 
change  of  dress  each  day.  A  gentleman  who 
deceased  not  long  since,  appeared  the  first 
Sunday  in  white  broadcloth — the  second  in 
blue  and  gold  ;  the  third  in  peach  bloom  and 
pearl  buttons.  It  was  a  custom  to  hang  the 
escutcheon  of  a  deceased  head  of  a  family  out 
of  the  window  over  the  front  door,  from  the 
time  of  his  decease  until  after  the  funeral.  The 
last  instance  which  is  remembered  of  this,  was 
in  the  case  of  gov.  Hancock's  uncle,  1764. 
Copies  of  the  escutcheon,  painted  on  black  silk, 
were  more  anciently  distributed  among  the 
pall-bearers  —  rings  afterwards  —  and,  until 
within  a  few  years,  gloves.  Dr.  A.  Eliot  had 
a  mug  full  of  rings  which  were  presented  to 
him  at  funerals.  Till  within  about  20  years 
gentlemen  wore  powder,  and  many  of  them 
sat  from  thirty  to  forty  minutes  under  the  bar 
ber's  hands,  to  have  their  hair  craped ;  suffering 
no  inconsiderable  pain  most  of  the  time  from 
hair-pulling,  and  sometimes  from  the  hot  curl 
ing  tongs. — Crape  cushions  and  hoops  were 
indispensable  in  full  dress,  till  within  about  30 
years.  Sometimes  ladies  were  dressed  the  day 
before  the  party,  and  slept  in  easy  chairs,  to 
keep  their  hair  in  fit  condition  for  the  following 
night.  Most  ladies  went  to  parties  on  foot,  if 
they  could  not  get  a  cast  in  a  friend's  carriage 
or  chaise.  Gentlemen  rarely  had  a  chance  to 
ride. 

The  latest  dinner  hour  was  2  o'clock  ;  some 


officers  of  the  colonial  government  dined  later 
occasionally.  In  genteel  families  ladies  went 
to  drink  tea  about  4  o'clock,  and  rarely  staid 
after  candle  light  in  summer.  It  was  the 
fashion  for  ladies  to  propose  to  visit — not  to  be 
sent  for. 

The  drinking  of  punch  in  the  forenoon,  in 
public  houses,  was  a  common  practice  with  the 
most  respectable  men,  till  about  five  and  twenty 
years  ;  and  evening  clubs  were  very  common. 
The  latter,  it  is  said,  were  very  common  for 
merly,  as  they  afforded  the  means  of  com 
munion  on  the  state  of  the  country.  Dinner 
parties  were  very  rare.  Wine  was  very  little  in 
use  ;  convivial  parties  drank  punch  or  toddy. 
Half-boots  came  into  fashion  about  30  years 
ago.  The  first  pair  that  appeared  in  Boston 
were  worn  by  a  young  gentleman  who  came 
here  from  New  York,  and  who  was  more  re 
markable  for  his  boots  than  any  thing  else. 
Within  20  years  gentlemen  wore  scarlet  coats 
with  black  velvet  collars,  and  very  costly  but 
tons,  of  mock  pearl,  cut  steel,  or  painted  glass 
— and  neckcloths  edged  with  lace,  and  laced 
ruffles  over  the  hands.  Before  the  revolution, 
from  5  to  6oo/.  was  the  utmost  of  annual  ex 
penditure  in  those  families  where  carriages  and 
correspondent  domestics  were  kept.  There 
were  only  two  or  three  carriages,  that  is,  cha 
riots  or  coaches,  in  1750.  Chaises  on  four 
wheels,  not  phastons,  were  in  use  in  families  of 
distinction. 

The  history  of  the  Liberty  Tree  is  said  to  be 
this :  That  a  certain  capt. 'Mclntosh  illumi 
nated  the  tree,  and  hung  upon  it  effigies  of 
obnoxious  characters,  and  that  these  were  taken 
down  by  the  liberty  boys  and  burnt ;  and  the 
tree  thus  got  its  name. 

A  man  used  to  ride  on  an  ass,  with  immense 
jack  boots,  and  his  face  covered  with  a  horrible 
mask,  and  was  called  Joyce  Jr.  His  office  was 
to  assemble  men  and  boys  in  mob  style,  and 
ride  in  the  middle  of  them,  and  in  such  com 
pany  to  terrify  the  adherents  to  royal  govern 
ment,  before  the  revolution.  The  tumults  which 
resulted  in  the  massacre,  1770,  was  excited  by 
such  means.  Joyce  Junior  was  said  to  have 
a  particular  whistle,  which  brought  his  adhe 
rents,  &c.,  whenever  they  were  wanted. 

About  1730  to  1740,  there  was  no  meat 
market ;  there  were  only  four  shops  in  which 
fresh  meat  was  sold — one  of  them  was  the 
corner  of  State- street  and  Cornhill,  where  Mr. 
Hartshorn  now  keeps. — Gentlemen  used  to  go 
the  day  before  and  have  their  names  put  down 
for  what  they  wanted.  Outside  of  this  shop 
was  a  large  hook,  on  which  carcasses  used  to 
hang.  A  little  man  who  was  a  justice  of  the 


I4O 


PRINCIPLES   AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


peace,  came  one  day  for  meat ;  but  came  too 
late.  He  was  disappointed,  and  asked  to  whom 
such  and  such  pieces  were  to  go?  One  of 
them  was  to  go  to  a  tradesman —  (it  was  not  a 
common  thing  in  those  days  for  tradesmen  to 
eat  fresh  meat) — the  justice  went  out,  saying, 
he  would  send  the  tradesman  a  salad  for  his 


lamb.  He  sent  an  overdue  and  unpaid  tax- 
bill.  Soon  after,  the  tradesman  met  the  jus 
tice  near  this  place,  and  told  him  he  would 
return  his  kindness  ;  which  he  did,  by  hanging 
the  justice  up  by  the  waistband  of  his  breeches 
to  the  butcher's  hook,  and  leaving  him  to  get 
down  as  he  could. 


RHODE  ISLAND. 


OATH  EXACTED  BY  GENERAL  LEE 

OF    THE    PEOPLE     OF     RHODE     ISLAND, 
DEC.,  1775. 

"  I — here  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God, 
as  I  hope  for  ease,  honor  and  comfort  in  this 
world,  and  happiness  in  the  world  to  come, 
most  earnestly,  devoutly  and  religiously  swear ; 
that  I  will  neither  directly  nor  indirectly  assist 
the  wicked  instruments  of  ministerial  tyranny 
and  villainy,  commonly  called  the  king's  troops 
and  navy,  by  furnishing  them  with  provisions 
and  refreshments  of  any  kind,  unless  author 
ized  by  the  continental  congress  or  legislature 
at  present  established  in  this  particular  colony 
of  Rhode  Island  :  I  do  also  swear  by  the  Tre 
mendous  and  Almighty  God,  that  I  will  neither 
directly  or  indirectly  convey  any  intelligence, 
nor  give  any  advice  to  the  aforesaid  enemies 
described  ;  and  that  I  pledge  myself,  if  I  should 
by  any  accident  get  knowledge  of  such  trea 
sons,  to  inform  immediately  the  committee  of 
safety  :  and  as  it  is  justly  allowed  that  when 
the  rights  and  sacred  liberties  of  a  nation  or 
community  are  invaded,  neutrality  is  not  less 
base  and  criminal  than  open  and  avowed  hos 
tility  :  I  do  further  swear  and  pledge  myself, 
as  I  hope  for  eternal  salvation,  that  I  will 
whenever  called  upon  by  the  voice  of  the  con 
tinental  congress,  or  by  that  of  the  legislature 
of  this  particular  colony  under  their  authority, 
to  take  arms  and  subject  myself  to  military 
discipline  in  defence  of  the  common  rights  and 
liberties  of  America.  So  help  me  God." 


COURT  MARTIAL 

HELD    AT    PROVIDENCE,  RHODE  ISLAND, 
JULY  24,  1778. 

From  the  Providence  (R.  /.)  Patriot. — A 
friend  has  handed  us  the  following  extract 
from  the  orderly  book  of  general  Sullivan,  in 


command  here  during  the  revolution,  as  being 
connected  with  a  case  somewhat  analogous  to 
one  which  occurred  in  the  Seminole  war.  We 
have  omitted  names  for  obvious  reasons. 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  PROVIDENCE, 
July  24,  1778. 

"  The  sentence  of  the  court  martial  whereof 

Colonel  E was  president,  against  M.  A. 

and  D.  C.  the  general  totally  disapproves,  as 
illegal  and  absurd.  The  clearest  evidence 
having  appeared  to  the  court,  that  the  said  A. 
was  employed  by  the  enemy,  repeatedly,  to 
come  on  the  main  as  a  spy,  and  that  he  enticed 
men  to  go  on  to  Rhode  Island,  to  enlist  in  the 
enemy's  service,  and  his  confessions  from  day 
to  day  being  so  different  as  to  prove  him  not 
only  a  spy,  but  to  be  a  person  in  whom  the 
least  confidence  cannot  be  placed ;  the  court 
having  found  him  guilty  of  all  this,  nothing 
could  be  more  absurd  than  to  sentence  him  to 
be  whipped  one  hundred  lashes,  and  after 
wards  to  be  taken  into  a  service  which  he  has 
been  long  endeavoring  in  the  most  malicious 
and  secret  manner  to  injure  !  The  man  who 
is  found  guilty  of  acting  as  a  spy,  can  have  but 
one  judgment  by  all  the  laws  of  war,  which  is 
to  suffer  death ;  and  the  sentence  of  a  man  to 
be  whipped  when  found  guilty  of  this  crime,  is 
as  absurd  as  for  the  common  law  courts  to  order 
a  man  to  be  set  in  the  stocks  for  wilful  murder. 
The  same  absurdity  appearing  in  the  judg 
ment  against  D.  C.  for  the  same  reasons,  [the 
general]  disapproves  them  both,  dissolves  the 
court,  and  orders  another  court  to  sit  for  the 
trial  of  those  persons,  to-morrow  morning,  at 
9  o'clock.  The  adjutant  general  to  lodge  a 
crime  against  A.  for  acting  as  a  spy,  and  for 
enticing  men  to  enlist  into  the  enemy's  service, 
and  against  C.  for  acting  as  a  spy." 

At  the  subsequent  court,  A.  was  found  guilty 
as  before,  and  sentenced  to  be  hung,  which 
sentence  the  general  approved  and  executed. 


CONNECTICUT. 


141 


WILLIAM  ELLERY, 

RHODE   ISLAND,  ONE  OF  THE   SIGNERS  OF 
THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE, 

Extract  of  a  Letter,   dated  Newport,  R.  I. 
March  14,  1820. 

"  Old  Mr.  Ellery  died  like  a  philosopher.  In 
truth,  death,  in  its  common  form,  never  came 
near  him.  His  strength  wasted  gradually  for 
the  last  year,  until  he  had  not  enough  left  to 
draw  in  his  breath,  and  so  he  ceased  to  breathe. 
The  day  on  which  he  died  he  got  up  as  usual 
and  dressed  himself,  took  his  old  flag-bottomed 
chair,  without  arms,  in  which  he  had  sat  for 
more  than  half  a  century,  and  was  reading 
Tully's  Offices,  in  the  Latin,  without  glasses, 
though  the  print  was  as  fine  as  that  of  the 
smallest  pocket  Bible.  Dr.  W.  stopped  in  on 
his  way  to  the  hospital  as  he  usually  did  ;  and 
on  perceiving  the  old  gentleman  could  scarcely 


raise  his  eyelids  to  look  at  him,  took  his  hand, 
and  found  that  his  pulse  was  gone.  After 
drinking  a  little  wine  and  water,  Dr.  W.  told 
him  his  pulse  beat  stronger.  "  O  yes,  doctor, 
I  have  a  charming  pulse.  But,"  he  continued, 
"  it  is  idle  to  talk  to  me  in  this  way.  I  am  going 
off  the  stage  of  life,  and  it  is  a  great  blessing 
that  I  go  free  from  sickness,  pain  and  sorrow." 
Some  time  after,  his  daughter,  finding  him  be 
come  extremely  weak,  wished  him  to  be  put  to 
bed,  which  he  at  first  objected  to,  saying  he  felt 
no  pain,  and  there  was  no  occasion  for  his  going 
to  bed.  Presently  after,  however,  fearing  he 
might  possibly  fall  out  of  his  chair,  he  told 
them  they  might  get  him  upright  in  the  bed,  so 
that  he  could  continue  to  read.  They  did  so, 
and  he  continued  reading  Cicero  very  quietly 
for  some  time :  presently  they  looked  at  him 
and  found  him  dead,  sitting  in  the  same  pos 
ture,  with  the  book  under  his  chin,  as  a  man 
who  becomes  drowsy  and  goes  to  sleep." 


CONNECTICUT. 


DOMESTIC   MANUFACTURES 

RECOMMENDED    BY  THE    INHABITANTS  OF 
NEW  HAVEN,  FEBRUARY  22,  1768. 

"  At  a  Town  Meeting  holden  in  New  Haven 
by  adjournment,  upon  the  22d  day  of  Feb.  1768, 

"  The  committee  appointed  in  consequence 
of  a  letter  from  the  selectmen  of  the  town  of 
Boston  to  the  select  men  of  this  town,  to  con 
sider  of  some  measures  to  be  agreed  upon  for 
promoting  economy,  manufactures,  etc.  report, 
That  it  is  their  opinion,  that  it  is  expedient 
for  the  town  to  take  all  prudent  and  legal 
measures  to  encourage  the  produce  and  manu 
factures  of  this  colony,  and  to  lessen  the  use  of 
superfluities,  and  more  especially  the  following 
articles  imported  from  abroad,  viz  : 

"  Carriages  of  all  sorts,  house  furniture,  men's 
and  women's  hats,  men's  and  women's  apparel, 
ready  made  household  furniture,  men's  and 
women's  shoes,  sole  leather,  gold,  silver,  and 
thread  lace,  gold  and  silver  buttons,  wrought 
plate,  diamond,  stone,  and  paste  ware,  clocks, 
silver-smith's  and  jeweller's  ware,  broad  cloths 
that  cost  above  ten  shillings  sterling  per  yard, 
muffs,  furs,  and  tippets,  starch,  women's  and 
children's  toys,  silk  and  cotton  velvets,  gauze, 
linseed  oil,  malt  liquors,  and  cheese. 

"  And  that  a  subscription  be  recommended 


to  the  several  inhabitants  and  house  holders  of 
the  town,  whereby  they  may  mutually  agree 
and  engage,  that  they  will  encourage  the  use 
and  consumption  of  articles  manufactured  in 
the  British  American  colonies,  and  more  es 
pecially  in  this  colony,  and  that  they  will  not, 
after  the  3ist  day  of  March  next,  purchase  any 
of  the  above  enumerated  articles,  imported 
from  abroad,  after  the  said  3ist  of  March,  and 
that  they  will  be  careful  to  promote  the  saving 
of  linen  rags,  and  other  materials,  proper  for 
making  paper  in  this  colony. 

"  The  foregoing  report  being  considered  by 
the  town,  was  by  a  full  vote  approved  of  and 
accepted. 

A  true  copy  of  record, 
Test,    SAMUEL  BISHOP,  jr.  town  clerk. 


LETTER 

FROM  HON.  JONATHAN  TRUMBULL,  Gov. 
OF  THE  COLONY  OF  CONNECTICUT,  TO 
GENR'L  GAGE. 

HARTFORD,  April  28,  1775. 

SIR — The  alarming  situation  of  public  affairs 
in  this  country,  and  the  late  unfortunate  trans 
actions  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
have  induced  the  general  assembly  of  this 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS   OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


colony,  now  sitting  in  this  place,  to  appoint  a 
committee  of  their  body  to  wait  upon  your  ex 
cellency,  and  to  desire  me,  in  their  name,  to 
write  to  you  relative  to  these  very  interesting 
matters. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  colony  are  intimately 
connected  with  the  people  of  your  province, 
and  esteem  themselves  bound,  by  the  strongest 
ties  of  friendship,  as  well  as  of  common  in 
terest,  to  regard  with  attention,  whatever  con 
cerns  them.  You  will  not,  therefore,  be  sur 
prised,  that  your  first  arrival  at  Boston,  with  a 
body  of  his  Majesty's  troops,  for  the  declared 
purpose  of  carrying  into  execution  certain  acts 
of  parliament,  which,  in  their  apprehension, 
were  unconstitutional  and  oppressive,  should 
have  given  the  good  people  of  this  colony  a 
very  just  and  general  alarm  ;  your  subsequent 
proceedings  in  fortifying  the  town  of  Boston, 
and  other  military  preparations,  greatly  in 
creased  their  apprehensions  for  the  safety  of 
their  friends  and  brethren ;  they  could  not  be 
unconcerned  spectators  of  their  sufferings,  in 
that  which  they  esteemed  the  common  cause 
of  this  country  ;  but  the  late  hostile  and  secret 
inroads  of  some  of  the  troops  under  your  com 
mand,  into  the  heart  of  the  country,  and  the  vio 
lences  they  have  committed,  have  driven  them 
almost  into  a  state  of  desperation.  They  feel 
now  not  only  for  their  friends,  but  for  them 
selves,  and  their  dearest  interests  and  connec 
tions.  We  wish  not  to  exaggerate  ;  we  are  not 
sure  of  every  part  of  our  information  ;  but,  by 
the  best  intelligence  that  we  have  yet  been  able 
to  obtain,  the  late  transaction  was  a  most  un 
provoked  attack  upon  the  lives  and  property  of 
his  majesty's  subjects  ;  and  it  is  represented  to 
us,  that  such  outrages  have  been  committed, 
as  would  disgrace  even  barbarians,  and  much 
more  Britons,  so  highly  famed  for  humanity,  as 
well  as  bravery.  It  is  feared,  therefore,  that 
we  are  devoted  to  destruction,  and  that  you 
have  it  in  command  and  intention,  to  ravage 
and  desolate  the  country.  If  this  is  not  the 
case,  permit  us  to  ask,  why  have  these  outrages 
been  committed  ?  Why  is  the  town  of  Boston 
now  shut  up  ?  And  to  what  end  are  all  the 
hostile  preparations  that  are  daily  making,  and 
why  do  we  continually  hear  of  fresh  destina 
tion  of  troops  for  this  country  ?  The  people  of 
this  colony,  you  may  rely  upon  it,  abhor  the 
idea  of  taking  arms  against  the  troops  of  their 
sovereign,  and  dread  nothing  so  much  as  the 
horrors  of  civil  war  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  we 
beg  leave  to  assure  your  excellency,  that  as 
they  apprehend  themselves  justified  by  the 
principles  of  self  defence,  so  they  are  most 
firmly  resolved  to  defend  their  rights  and  privi 


leges  to  the  last  extremity ;  nor  will  they  be 
restrained  from  giving  aid  to  their  brethren,  if 
any  unjustifiable  attack  is  made  upon  them. 
Be  so  good,  therefore,  as  to  explain  yourself 
upon  this  most  important  subject,  as  far  as  is 
consistent  with  your  duty  to  our  common  sov 
ereign.  Is  there  no  way  to  prevent  this  un 
happy  dispute  from  coming  to  extremities  ?  Is 
there  no  alternative  but  absolute  submission, 
or  the  desolations  of  war  ?  By  that  humanity 
which  constitutes  so  amiable  a  part  of  your 
character  ;  for  the  honor  of  our  sovereign,  and 
by  the  glory  of  the  British  empire,  we  entreat 
you  to  prevent  it,  if  it  be  possible ;  surely,  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  the  temperate  wisdom  of  the 
empire  might,  even  yet,  find  expedients  to  re 
store  peace,  that  so  all  parts  of  the  empire  may 
enjoy  their  particular  rights,  honors,  and  im 
munities  :  Certainly,  this  is  an  event  most 
devoutly  to  be  wished  for ;  and  will  it  not  be 
consistent  with  your  duty  to  suspend  the  opera 
tion  of  war  on  your  part,  and  enable  us  on  ours, 
to  quiet  the  minds  of  the  people,  at  least,  till 
the  result  of  some  further  deliberations  may  be 
known  ?  The  importance  of  the  occasion  will, 
we  doubt  not,  sufficiently  apologize  for  the  ear 
nestness  with  which  we  address  you,  and  any 
seeming  impropriety,  which  may  attend  it,  as 
well  as  induce  you  to  give  us  the  most  explicit 
and  favorable  answer  in  your  power. 

I   am,   with   great  esteem   and   respect,  in 
behalf  of  the  general  assembly,  sir,  &c. 

(Signed)        JONATHAN  TRUMBULL. 
His  Excellency,  THOMAS  GAGE,  esq. 


REDUCTION 

IN   VALUE  OF  STAPLE  ARTICLES 

NEW  LONDON,  (CON.)  Aug.  23, 1776. 

By  means  of  the  great  number  of  prizes  car 
ried  into  the  different  ports  of  this  continent, 
Jamaica  rum  is  sold  at  45.  4d.  per  gallon,  by 
the  hogshead ;  and  sugar  at  five  dollars  per 
hundred  weight,  in  Boston, 


LETTER 

FROM    WILLIAM    TRYON    TO    GOVERNOR 
TRUMBULL,  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

NEW  YORK,  April  17,  1778. 

SIR — Hav'ng  been  honored  with  the  king's 
commands,  to  circulau  the  enclosures  to  the 
people  at  large,  I  take  the  liberty  to  offer  them 
to  you  for  your  candid  consideration,  and  to 
recommend  that,  through  your  means,  the 


CONNECTICUT. 


143 


inhabitants  within  your  province  may  be 
acquainted  with  the  same ;  as  also  the  other 
provinces  to  the  eastward. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  TRYON. 
Governor  TRUMBULL. 


GOVERNOR    TRUMBULL'S    REPLY 
THERETO. 

LEBANON,  April  23, 1778. 

SIR — Your  letter  of  the  I7th  inst.,  from  New 
York,  is  received,  with  its  enclosures,  and  the 
several  similar  packets,  of  various  addresses, 
with  which  it  was  accompanied. 

Proposals  of  peace  are  usually  made  from 
the  supreme  authority  of  one  contending  power, 
to  the  similar  authority  of  the  other ;  and  the 
present  is  the  first  instance,  within  my  recollec 
tion,  when  a  vague,  half  blank,  and  very  in 
definite  draught  of  a  bill,  once  only  read  before 
one  of  the  three  bodies  of  the  legislature  of  the 
nation,  has  ever  been  addressed  to  the  people 
at  large  of  the  opposite  power,  as  an  overture 
of  reconciliation. 

There  was  a  day,  when  even  this  step,  from 
our  then  acknowledged  parent  state,  might 
have  been  accepted  with  joy  and  gratitude,  but 
that  day,  sir,  is  past  irrecoverably.  The  re 
peated  insolent  rejection  of  our  sincere  and 
sufficiently  humble  petitions,  the  unprovoked 
commencement  of  hostilities ;  the  barbarous 
inhumanity  which  has  marked  the  provocations 
of  the  war  on  your  part,  in  its  several  stages  ; 
the  insolence  which  displays  itself  on  every 
petty  advantage ;  the  cruelties  which  have 
been  exercised  on  those  unhappy  men  whom 
the  fortune  of  war  has  thrown  into  your  hands 
— all  these  are  insuperable  bars  to  the  very 
idea  of  concluding  a  peace  with  Great  Britain, 
on  any  other  conditions  than  the  most  absolute 
and  perfect  independence.  To  the  congress 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  therefore,  all 
proposals  of  this  kind  are  to  be  addressed  ;  and 
you  will  give  me  leave,  sir,  to  say  that  the 
present  mode  bears  too  much  the  marks  of  an 
insidious  design  to  disunite  the  people,  and  to 
lull  us  into  a  state  of  quietude,  and  negligence 
of  the  necessary  preparations  for  the  approach 
ing  campaign.  If  this  be  the  real  design,  it  is 
fruitless.  If  peace  be  really  the  object,  let 
your  proposals  be  properly  addressed  to  the 
proper  power,  and  your  negotiations  be  honor 
ably  conducted,  we  shall  then  have  some  pros 
pect  of  (what  is  the  most  ardent  wish  of  every 
honest  American,)  a  lasting  and  honorable 
peace.  The  British  nation  may  then,  perhaps, 
find  us  as  affectionate  and  valuable  friends,  as 


we  now  are  fatal  and  determined  enemies,  and 
will  derive  from  that  friendship,  more  solid  and 
real  advantage,  than  the  most  sanguine  can 
expect  from  conquest. 

I  am,  sir,  your  humble  servant, 

J.  TRUMBULL. 
WILLIAM  TRYON,  Esq. 


MASSACRE  OF  TROOPS 

AT  FORT  GRISWOLD  OR  GROTON,  CONNEC 
TICUT,  BY  BRITISH  TROOPS,  SEPTEMBER 
6,  1781. 

LETTER  TO  THE   EDITOR. 

Mr.  Niles. — The  following  scrap  of  history 
is  recorded  on  a  head  stone  at  the  grave  of 
Colonel  LED  YARD,  half  a  mile  S.  E.  of  Fort  Gris- 
wold,  or  Groton,  Con.,  as  a  public  monument 
of  the  character  of  the  cause,  the  actors  and  the 
act.  Colonel  Ledyard  was  run  through  with  his 
own  sword,  by  a  British  captain  to  whom  he 
had  surrendered  it,  and  most  of  the  garrison 
were  murdered  after  they  had  grounded  their 
arms.  Those  who  survived  saved  themselves 
by  embracing  the  British  soldiers  in  such  a 
manner  that  they  could  not  bayonet  them. 
The  wounded  were  put  into  a  wagon  and  pre 
cipitated  down  the  steep  hill  which  elevates 
the  fort  above  the  river. 

SACRED   TO  THE   MEMORY 
OF 

WILLIAM  LEDYARD,  esq. 

"  Colonel  commandant  of  the  garrisoned 
posts  of  New  London  and  Groton,  who,  after 
a  gallant  defence,  was,  with  a  large  part  of 
the  brave  garrison,  inhumanly  massacred  by 
British  troops  in  Fort  Griswold,  September, 
6th,  1781,  ^Etat,  suae,  43.  By  a  judicious  and 
faithful  discharge 'of  the  various  duties  of  his 
station,  he  rendered  most  essential  services 
to  his  country,  and  stood  confessed  the  un 
shaken  patriot,  and  intrepid  hero.  He  lived 
the  pattern  of  magnanimity,  courtesy  and 
humanity.  He  fell  the  victim  of  ungenerous 
rage  and  cruelty." 

"  There  is  a  white  stone  inscribed — SACRED 
TO  THE  MEMORY  of  captain  JNO.  WIL 
LIAMS,  who  fell  gloriously  fighting  for  the 
liberty  of  his  country  in  fort  Griswold,  Septem 
ber  6th,  1781,  in  the  43d  year  of  his  age." 

"  On  another  stone  is  the  inscription — 
SACRED  TO  THE  MEMORY  of  lieut.  EBENE- 

ZER  AVERY,  who  fell  gloriously  fighting  in 
the  defence  of  fort  Griswold  and  American 
freedom,  September  6th,  1781,  in  the  42d  year 
of  his  age." 


144 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


BENEDICT   ARNOLD'S   CONNECTION 

WITH  THE  MASSACRE  AT  FORT  GRISWOLD 
OR  GROTON,  CONNECTICUT. 

"  ONE  RENAGADO  IS  WORSE  THAN  TEN  TURKS." 

To  complete  the  history  of  this  horrible  trans 
action,  and  further  to  disseminate  a  know 
ledge  of  the  infamy  of  Arnold  and  give  up 
the  butchering  traitor  to  the  execration  of 
posterity — we  extract  the  following  account 
of  the  massacre  from  Gordon's  History,  New 
York  edit.  vol.  III.  page  249.* 
"  The  return  of  Gen.  Arnold  to   New  York 
from   Virginia,  did  not  fix  him   in  a  state  of 
inactivity.     He    was    sent     on   an   enterprise 
against  New  London,  with  a  sufficient  land  and 
marine  force. — The  embarkation  having  pas 
sed  over  from  Long  Island  shore  in  the  night, 
the  troops  were  landed  in  two  detachments  on 
each  side  of  the  harbor,  at  ten   o'clock  in  the 
morning  of  the  6th  of  September ;  that  on  the 
Groton  side  being  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Eyre,  and  that  on   the   New   London 
side  by  the  general,  who  met  no  great  trouble. 
Fort  Trumbull  and  the  redoubt,  which  were  in 
tended  to  cover  the  harbor  and  town,  not  being 
tenable,  were  evacuated  as  he  approached,  and 
the  few  men  in  them  crossed  the  river  to  Fort 
Griswold,  on  Groton-Hill.     Arnold  proceeded 
to  the  town  without  being  otherwise  opposed 
than  by  the  scattered  fire  of  small  parties  that 
had  hastily  collected.     Orders  were  sent  by  the 
general  to  Eyre  for  attacking   Fort  Griswold, 
that  so  the  possession  of  it  might  prevent  the 

*  In  speaking  of  Arnold,  it  may  be  useful  to  observe 
that  Washington  offered  to  exchange  Andre  for  him, 
which  Sir  Henry  Clinton  declined.  Never  were  the  sym 
pathies  of  the  American  people  so  much  misled  as  in  the 
case  of  the  unfortunate  Andre.  He  was  engaged  in  a 
most  vile  business— the  meanest  that  can  be  imagined  for 
an  honorable  man,  the  perfection  of  an  act  of  corruption 
and  treason,  and  justly  merited  his  fate  ;  if  he  had  had  ten 
thousand  lives,  they  were  all  justly  forfeited  by  the  laws 
of  honor  as  well  as  to  those  of  war,  and  every  principle 
of  self-preservation.  Had  he  not  been  put  to  death,  the 
great  WASHINGTON,  himself,  would  at  least  have  merited 
a  dismissal  from  the  command  of  the  revolutionary  army. 
But  it  is  well  known  that  the  private  feelings  of  the  illus 
trious  father  of  his  country  were  greatly  excited  in  favor 
of  that  unlucky  young  man — I  say  unlucky,  because  if  he 
had  succeeded  he  would  have  been  praised  and  rewarded 
for  his  gallantry,  dexterity,  etc.  He  failed — and  instead 
of  being  a  hero  became  a  culprit,  in  the  estimation  of  every 
reflecting  man.  No  personal  accomplishments  or  private 
character  can  palliate  a  public  act  of  shame — they  rather 
aggravate  the  offence  ;  and  an  agency  in  an  act  of  vil 
lainy  entitles  the  agent  to  the  villain's  fare.  Yet  he  was 
treated  with  all  possible  courtesy  and  kindness,  and  had 
all  the  intercourse  with  his  friends  which  the  nature  of 
his  condition  admitted  of.  How  different  the  conduct  of 
the  British  to  Captain  Nathan  Hale — an  American,  whose 
character,  in  any  and  every  light,  was  comparable  with 
that  of  Andre,  a  sketch  of  whose  case  may  be  found  in 
the  Weekly  Register,  vol.  II.  page  139.  EDITOR. 


escape  of  the  American  shipping.  The  militia, 
to  the  amount  of  1 57,  collected  for  its  defence, 
but  so  hastily  as  not  to  be  fully  furnished  with 
fire  arms  and  other  weapons.  As  the  assail 
ants  approached,  a  firing  commenced,  and  the 
flag-staff  was  soon  shot  down,  from  whence 
the  neighboring  spectators  inferred,  that  the 
place  had  surrendered,  till  the  continuance  of 
the  firing  convinced  them  to  the  contrary. 
The  garrison  defended  themselves  with  the 
greatest  resolution  and  bravery;  Eyre  was 
wounded  near  the  works,  and  Major  Mont 
gomery  was  killed  immediately  after,  so  that 
the  command  devolved  on  Major  Broomfield. 
The  British  at  one  time  staggered,  but  the 
fort  being  out  of  repair,  could  not  be  main 
tained  by  a  handful  of  men  against  so  superior 
a  number  as  that  which  assaulted  it.  After  an 
action  of  about  40  minutes,  the  resolution  of 
the  royal  troops  carried  the  place  by  the  point 
of  the  bayonet.  The  Americans  had  not  more 
than  half  a  dozen  killed  before  the  enemy  en 
tered  the  fort,  when  a  severe  execution  took 
place,  though  resistance  ceased.  The  British 
officer  enquired,  on  his  entering  the  fort,  who 
commanded  ?  Colonel  Ledyard  answered — 
"  I  did,  sir,  but  you  do  now  ;"  and  presented 
him  his  sword.  The  colonel  was  immediately 
run  through  and  killed.  The  slain  were  73 ; 
the  wounded  between  30  and  40,  and  'about  40 
were  carried  off  prisoners.  Soon  after  reduc 
ing  the  fort,  the  soldiers  loaded  a  wagon  with 
the  wounded,  as  said,  by  order  of  their  officers 
and  set  the  wagon  off  from  the  top  of  the  hill, 
which  is  long  and  very  steep  ;  the  wagon  went 
a  considerable  distance  with  great  force,  till  it 
was  suddenly  stopt  by  an  apple  tree,  which 
gave  the  faint  and  bleeding  men  so  terrible  a 
shock  that  part  of  them  died  instantly. 
About  fifteen  vessels,  with  effects  of  the  inhabi 
tants,  retreated  up  the  river,  notwithstanding 
the  reduction  of  the  fort,  and  four  others 
remained  in  the  harbor  unhurt ;  a  number 
were  burnt  by  the  fire's  communicating  from 
the  stores  when  in  flames.  Sixty  dwelling 
houses  and  84  stores  were  burned,  including 
those  on  both  sides  of  the  harbor  and  in  New 
London.  The  burning  of  the  town  was  inten 
tional  and  not  accidental.  The  loss  that  the 
Americans  sustained  in  this  destruction  was 
very  great ;  for  there  were  large  quantities  of 
naval  stores,  of  European  goods,  of  East  and 
West  India  commodities,  and  of  provisions 
in  the  several  stores.  The  British  had  two 
commissioned  officers  and  46  privates  kill 
ed  ;  eight  officers  (some  of  whom  are  since 
dead)  with  135  non-commissioned  and  privates 
wounded." 


CONNECTICUT. 


'45 


AN  ELECTION  SERMON, 

DELIVERED  BY  PRESIDENT  STILES,  BEFORE 
THE  CONNECTICUT  LEGISLATURE,  MAY, 
1783- 

"  While  we  render  our  supreme  honors  to 
the  Most  High,  the  God  of  armies,  let  us  recol 
lect,  with  affectionate  honor,  the  bold  and 
brave  sons  of  freedom,  who  willingly  offered 
themselves,  and  bled  in  the  defence  of  their 
country.  Our  fellow  citizens,  the  officers  and 
soldiers  of  the  patriot  army,  who,  with  the 
Manlys,  the  Joneses,  and  other  gallant  com 
manders  and  brave  seamen  of  the  American 
navy,  have  heroically  fought  the  war  by  sea 
and  by  land,  merit,  of  their  once  bleeding,  but 
now  triumphant  country,  laurels,  crowns, 
rewards,  and  the  highest  honors.  Never  was 
the  profession  of  arms  used  with  more  glory, 
or  in  a  better  cause,  since  the  days  of  Joshua 
the  son  of  Nun.  O  WASHINGTON  !  how  do  I 
love .  thy  name  !  how  often  have  I  adored  and 
blessed  thy  God,  for  creating  and  forming  thee 
the  great  ornament  of  human  kind.  Upheld 
and  protected  by  the  omnipotent,  by  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  thou  hast  been  sustained  and  car 
ried  through  one  of  the  most  arduous  and 
important  wars  in  all  history.  The  world  and 
posterity  will,  with  admiration,  contemplate  thy 
deliberate,  cool,  and  stable  judgment,  thy  vir 
tues,  thy  valor  and  heroic  achievements,  as  far 
surpassing  those  of  Cyrus,  whom  the  world 
loved  and  adored.  The  sound  of  thy  fame 
shall  go  out  into  all  the  earth,  and  extend  to 
distant  ages.  Thou  hast  convinced  the  world 
of  the  beauty  of  virtue — for,  in  thee  this  beauty 
shines  with  distinguished  lustre.  Those  who 
would  not  recognize  any  beauty  in  virtue  in  the 
world  beside,  will  yet  reverence  it  in  thee. 
There  is  a  glory  in  thy  disinterested  benevo 
lence,  which  the  greatest  characters  would 
purchase,  if  possible,  at  the  expense  of  worlds, 
and  which  may  excite  indeed  their  emulation, 
but  cannot  be  felt  by  the  venal  great — who 
think  every  thing,  even  virtue  and  true  glory, 
may  be  bought  and  sold,  and  trace  our  every 
action  to  motives  terminating  in  self; 

4  Find  virtue  local,  all  relation  scorn, 
See  all  in  self,  and  but  for  ^//"be  born.' 

But  thou,  O  Washington,  forgottest  thyself, 
when  thou  lovedst  thy  bleeding  country.  Not 
all  the  gold  of  Ophir,  nor  a  world  filled  with 
rubies  and  diamonds,  could  affect  or  purchase 
the  sublime  and  noble  feelings  of  thine  heart, 
in  that  single  self-moved  act,  when  thou 
renouncedst  the  rewards  of  generalship,  and 
heroically  tookest  upon  thyself  the  dangerous 
10 


as  well  as  arduous  office  of  generalissimo — and 
this  at  a  solemn  moment,  when  thou  didst 
deliberately  cast  the  die,  for  the  dubious,  the 
very  dubious  alternative  of  a  gibbet  or  a  tri 
umphal  arch  !— But,  beloved,  enshielded  and 
blessed  by  the  great  Melchisedec,  the  king  of 
righteousness  as  well  as  peace,  thou  hast 
triumphed  gloriously.  Such  has  been  thy 
military  wisdom  in  the  struggles  of  this  arduous 
conflict,  such  the  noble  rectitude,  amiableness 
and  mansuetude  of  thy  character:  something 
is  there  so  singularly  glorious  and  venerable 
thrown  by  Heaven  about  thee,  that  not  only 
does  thy  country  love  thee,  but  our  very 
enemies  stop  the  madness  of  their  fire  in  full 
volley,  stop  the  illiberally  of  their  slander,  at 
thy  name,  as  if  rebuked  from  Heaven  with  a 
'  touch  not  mine  anointed,  and  do  my  hero  no 
harm.'  Thy  fame  is  of  sweeter  perfume  than 
Arabian  spices  in  the  gardens  of  Persia.  A 
baron  de  Steuben  shall  waft  its  fragrance  to  the 
monarch  of  Prussia :  a  marquis  de  la  Fayette 
shall  waft  it  to  a  far  greater  monarch,  and 
diffuse  thy  renown  throughout  Europe.  Listen 
ing  angels  shall  catch  the  odor,  waft  it  to 
heaven,  and  perfume  the  universe." 


AN  ORATION 

DELIVERED  BY  MR.  JOEL  BARLOW,  AI 
HARTFORD,  CONN.,  TO  THE  SOCIETY  OF 
THE  CINCINNATI,  July  4,  1787. 

Mr.  President,  Gentlemen  of  the  Society, 
and  Fellow-citizens, 

On  the  anniversary  of  so  great  an  event  as 
the  birth  of  the  empire  in  which  we  live,  none 
will  question  the  propriety  of  passing  a  few 
moments  in  contemplating  the  various  objects 
suggested  to  the  mind  by  the  important  occa 
sion.  But,  at  the  present  period,  while  the 
blessings,  claimed  by  the  sword  of  victory,  and 
promised  in  the  voice  of  peace,  remain  to  be 
confirmed  by  our  future  exertions — while  the 
nourishment,  the  growth,  and  even  the  existence 
of  our  empire  depend  upon  the  united  efforts 
of  an  extensive  and  divided  people — the  duties 
of  this  day  ascend  from  amusement  and  con 
gratulation  to  a  serious  patriotic  employment. 

We  are  assembled,  my  friends,  not  to  boast, 
but  to  realize — not  to  inflate  our  national  vanity 
by  a  pompous  relation  of  past  achievements  in 
the  council,  or  in  the  field  ;  but,  from  a  modest 
retrospect  of  the  truly  dignified  part  already 
acted  by  our  countrymen — from  an  accurate 
view  of  our  present  situation — and  from  an 


146 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


anticipation  of  the  scenes  that  remain  to  be 
unfolded — to  discern  and  familiarize  the  duties 
that  still  await  us,  as  citizens,  as  soldiers,  and 
as  men. 

Revolutions  in  other  countries  have  been 
effected  by  accident.  The  faculties  of  human 
reason  and  the  rights  of  human  nature  have 
been  the  sport  of  chance  and  the  prey  of 
ambition.  And  when  indignation  has  burst  the 
bands  of  slavery,  to  the  destruction  of  one  tyrant, 
it  was  only  to  impose  the  manacles  of  another. 
This  arose  from  the  imperfection  of  that  early 
stage  of  society,  which  necessarily  occasioned 
the  foundation  of  empires  on  the  eastern  conti 
nent  to  be  laid  in  ignorance,  and  which  induced 
a  total  inability  of  foreseeing  the  improvements 
of  civilization,  or  of  adapting  the  government 
to  a  state  of  social  refinement. 

I  shall  but  repeat  a  common  observation, 
when  I  remark,  that  on  the  western  continent, 
the  scene  was  entirely  different,  and  a  new 
task,  totally  unknown  to  the  legislators  of 
other  nations,  was  imposed  upon  the  fathers  of 
the  American  empire. 

Here  was  a  people  thinly  scattered  over  an 
extensive  territory,  lords  of  the  soil  on  which 
they  trode,  commanding  a  prodigious  length 
of  coast  and  an  equal  breadth  of  frontier — a 
people  habituated  to  liberty,  professing  a  mild 
and  benevolent  religion,  and  highly  advanced 
in  science  and  civilization.  To  conduct  such  a 
people  in  a  revolution,  the  address  must  be 
made  to  reason,  as  well  as  to  the  passions. 
And  to  reason,  to  the  clear  understanding  of 
these  variously  affected  colonies,  the  solemn 
address  was  made. 

A  people  thus  enlightened,  and  capable  of 
discerning  the  connection  of  causes  with  their 
remotest  effects,  waited  not  the  experience  of 
oppression  in  their  own  persons ;  which  they 
well  knew  would  render  them  less  able  to  con 
duct  a  regular  opposition.  But  in  the  moment 
of  their  greatest  prosperity,  when  every  heart 
expanded  with  the  increasing  opulence  of  the 
British  American  dominions,  and  every  tongue 
united  in  the  praises  of  the  parent  state  and 
her  patriot  king,  when  many  circumstances 
concurred,  which  would  have  rendered  an 
ignorant  people  secure  and  inattentive  to  their 
future  interest — at  this  moment  the  eyes  of  the 
American  Argus  were  open  to  the  first  and 
most  plausible  invasion  of  the  colonial  rights. 

In  vain  were  we  told,  and  perhaps  with  the 
greatest  truth  and  sincerity,  that  the  moneys 
levied  in  America  were  all  to  be  expended 
within  the  country,  and  for  our  benefit ;  equally 
idle  was  the  policy  of  Great  Britain,  in  com 
mencing  her  new  system  by  a  small  and  almost 


imperceptible  duty,  and  that  upon  very  few  arti 
cles.  It  was  not  the  quantity  of  the  tax,  it  was 
not  the  mode  of  appropriation,  but  it  was  the 
right  of  the  demand,  which  was  called  in  ques 
tion.  Upon  this  the  people  deliberated :  this  they 
discussed  in  a  cool  and  dispassionate  manner  : 
and  this  they  opposed,  in  every  shape  that  an 
artful  and  systematic  ministry  could  devise,  for 
more  than  ten  years,  before  they  assumed  the 
sword. 

This  single  circumstance,  aside  from  the 
magnitude  of  the  object,  or  the  event  of  the 
contest,  will  stamp  a  peculiar  glory  on  the 
American  revolution,  and  mark  it  as  a  distin 
guished  era  in  the  history  of  mankind  ;  that 
sober  reason  and  reflection  have  done  the  work 
of  enthusiasm,  and  performed  the  miracles  of 
Gods.  In  what  other  age  or  nation  has  a  labo 
rious  and  agricultural  people,  at  ease  upon  their 
own  farms,  secure  and  distant  from  the  ap 
proach  of  fleets  and  armies,  tide-waiters,  and 
stamp-masters,  reasoned  before  they  had  felt, 
and,  from  the  dictates  of  duty  and  conscience, 
encountered  dangers,  distress,  and  poverty,  for 
the  sake  of  securing  to  posterity  a  government 
of  independence  and  peace  ?  The  toils  of  ages 
and  the  fate  of  millions  were  to  be  sustained 
by  a  few  hands.  The  voice  of  unborn  nations 
called  upon  them  for  safety ;  but  it  was  a  still 
small  voice,  the  voice  of  rational  reflection. 
Here  was  no  Cromwell  to  inflame  the  people 
with  bigotry  and  zeal,  no  Caesar  to  reward  his 
followers  with  the  spoils  of  vanquished  foes, 
and  no  territory  to  acquire  by  conquest.  Am 
bition,  superstition,  and  avarice,  those  universal 
torches  of  war,  never  illumined  an  American 
field  of  battle  :  But  the  permanent  principles 
of  sober  policy  spread  through  the  colonies, 
roused  the  people  to  assert  their  rights,  and 
conducted  the  revolution. 

It  would  be  wandering  from  the  objects 
which  ought  to  occupy  our  present  attention, 
again  *  to  recount  the  numerous  acts  of  the 
British  parliament  which  composed  that  system 
of  tyranny  designed  for  the  subjugation  of 
America  :  neither  can  we  indulge  in  the  detail 
of  those  memorable  events,  which  marked  our 
various  stages  of  resistance,  from  the  glooms 
of  unsuccessful  supplication,  to  the  splendor  of 
victory  and  acknowledged  sovereignty.  The 
former  were  the  theme  of  senatorial  eloquence, 
producing  miracles  of  union  and  exertion  in 
every  part  of  the  continent,  till  we  find  them 
preserved  for  everlasting  remembrance  in  that 

*  This  oration  was  preceded  by  the  lecture  of  the  act  of 
independence  ;  which,  by  an  order  of  this  state  society,  is 
in  future  to  make  part  of  their  public  exercises  at  every 
annual  meeting. 


CONNECTICUT. 


147 


declaratory  act  of  independence,  which  gave 
being  to  an  empire,  and  dignified  the  day  we 
now  commemorate  ;  the  latter  are  fresh  in  the 
memory  of  every  person  of  the  least  informa 
tion.  It  would  be  impertinence,  if  not  a  breach 
of  delicacy,  to  attempt  a  recital  of  those  glorious 
achievements,  especially  before  an  audience, 
part  of  whom  have  been  distinguished  actors 
in  the  scene,  others  the  anxious  and  applauding 
spectators.  To  the  faithful  historian  we  resign 
the  task — the  historian,  whom  it  is  hoped  the 
present  age  will  deem  it  their  duty,  as  well  as 
their  interest,  to  furnish,  encourage,  and  sup 
port. 

Whatever  praise  is  due  for  the  task  already 
performed,  it  is  certain  that  much  remains  to 
be  done.  The  revolution  is  but  half  completed. 
Independence  and  government  were  the  two 
objects  contended  for :  and  but  one  is  yet  ob 
tained.  To  the  glory  of  the  present  age,  and 
the  admiration  of  the  future,  our  severance 
from  the  British  empire  was  conducted  upon 
principles  as  noble,  as  they  were  new  and  un 
precedented  in  the  history  of  human  actions. 
Could  the  same  generous  principles,  the  same 
wisdom  and  unanimity  be  exerted  in  effecting  the 
establishment  of  a  permanent  federal  system, 
what  an  additional  lustre  would  it  pour  upon 
the  present  age  !  a  lustre  hitherto  unequalled ; 
a  display  of  magnanimity  for  which  mankind 
may  never  behold  another  opportunity. 

Without  an  efficient  government,  our  inde 
pendence  will  cease  to  be  a  blessing.  Shall 
that  glow  of  patriotism  and  unshaken  perse 
verance,  which  has  been  so  long  conspicuous 
in  the  American  character,  desert  us  at  our 
utmost  need  ?  Shall  we  lose  sight  of  our  own 
happiness,  because  it  has  grown  familiar  by  a 
near  approach  ?  Shall  thy  labors,  O  Washing 
ton,  have  been  bestowed  in  vain  ?  Hast  thou 
conducted  us  to  independence  and  peace, 
and  shall  we  not  receive  the  blessings  at  thy 
hands  ?  Where  are  the  shades  of  our  fallen 
friends  ?  and  what  is  their  language  on  this  oc 
casion  ?  Warren,  Montgomery,  Mercer,  Woos- 
ter,  Scammel,  and  Laurens,  all  ye  hosts  of 
departed  heroes  !  rich  is  the  treasure  you  have 
lavished  in  the  cause,  and  prevalent  the  price 
you  have  paid  for  our  freedom.  Shall  the  pur 
chase  be  neglected  ?  the  fair  inheritance  lie 
without  improvement,  exposed  to  every  daring 
invader  ?  Forbid  it,  honor  ;  forbid  it,  gratitude  ; 
and  oh,  may  Heaven  avert  the  impending  evil. 

In  contemplating  the  price  of  our  independ 
ence,  it  will  never  be  forgotten,  that  it  was  not 
entirely  the  work  of  our  own  hands  ;  nor  could 
it  probably  have  been  established,  in  the  same 
term  of  time,  by  all  the  blood  and  treasure  that 


America,  unassisted,  was  able  to  furnish  for  the 
contest.  Much  of  the  merit  is  due,  and  our 
warmest  acknowledgments  shall  ever  flow  to 
that  illustrious  monarch,  the  father  of  nations 
and  friend  of  the  distrest — the  monarch  who, 
by  his  early  assistance,  taught  us  not  to 
despair  ;  and  who,  when  we  had  given  a  suffi 
cient  proof  of  our  military  virtue  and  persever 
ance,  joined  us  in  alliance,  upon  terms  of 
equality ;  gave  us  a  rank  and  credit  among  the 
maritime  nations  of  Europe ;  and  furnished 
fleets  and  armies,  money  and  military  stores,  to 
put  a  splendid  period  to  the  important  conflict. 
Where  shall  we  find  language  to  express  a 
nation's  gratitude  for  such  unexampled  good 
ness  and  magnanimity  ?  my  friends,  it  is  not 
to  be  done  with  language.  Our  sense  of  obli 
gation  for  favors  received  from  Heaven,  is  best 
expressed  by  a  wise  improvement.  Does  Louis 
ask  for  more  ?  and  can  duty  be  satisfied  with 
less  ?  Unite  in  a  permanent  federal  govern 
ment  :  put  your  commerce  upon  a  respectable 
footing ;  your  arts  and  manufactures,  your 
population,  your  wealth  and  glory  will  increase  ; 
and  when  a  hundred  millions  of  people  are 
comprised  within  your  territory,  and  made 
happy  by  your  sway,  then  shall  it  be  known, 
that  the  hand  of  that  monarch  assisted  in  plant 
ing  the  vine,  from  which  so  great  a  harvest  is 
produced.  His  generous  heart  shall  exult  in 
the  prospect :  his  royal  descendants,  fired  by 
the  great  example,  shall  imitate  his  virtues : 
and  the  world  shall  unite  in  his  praise. 

Here  shall  that  pride  of  the  military  charac 
ter,  the  gallant  FAYETTE,  find  his  compensa 
tion  for  a  life  of  disinterested  service  ;  whose 
toils  have  not  ceased  with  the  termination  of 
the  war ;  and  whose  successful  endeavors  to 
promote  our  interest,  in  commercial  and  politi 
cal  arrangements,  can  only  be  equalled  by  his 
achievements  in  the  field.  How  will  the  pos 
terity  of  that  nobleman,  and  that  of  the  other 
brave  officers  of  his  nation,  who  have  fought  by 
your  sides,  on  reviewing  the  American  history, 
rejoice  in  the  fame  of  their  fathers ;  nor  even 
regret  the  fate  of  those  who  bled  in  so  glorious 
a  field ! 

An  acknowledgment  of  the  merits  of  Rocham- 
beau  and  Chastellux,  D'Estaing,  De  Grasse,  De 
Barras,  and  the  other  heroes  of  the  French 
army  and  navy — affection  to  the  memory  of  our 
brethren  and  companions  who  have  bled  in  our 
battles — reverence  to  the  advice  of  our  illus 
trious  commander  in  chief,  and  of  all  those 
sages  and  patriots  who  have  composed  our 
councils,  from  the  time  of  the  first  congress  to 
the  present  moment — honor  to  our  worthy 
creditors  in  Europe — a  regard  to  the  conduct 


148 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


of  the  imperial  sovereigns  of  Russia  and  Ger 
many,  who  evince  to  the  world  that  they  revere 
the  cause  of  liberty  and  human  happiness,  in 
which  we  drew  the  sword — a  respect  to  the 
memory  of  the  venerable  Frederic  of  Prussia, 
whose  dying  hand  put  the  signature  to  a  treaty 
of  commerce  with  the  United  States,  upon  the 
most  liberal  principles  that  ever  originated  in  a 
diplomatic  council — a  sacred  regard  to  our 
selves  and  to  all  posterity — and,  above  all,  a 
religious  gratitude  to  our  Heavenly  Benefactor, 
who  hath  hitherto  smiled  upon  our  endeavors 
— call  upon  us,  in  the  language  of  a  thousand 
tongues,  for  firmness,  unanimity,  and  persever 
ance,  in  completing  the  revolution,  and  estab 
lishing  the  empire. 

The  present  is  justly  considered  an  alarming 
crisis  :  perhaps  the  most  alarming  that  America 
ever  saw.  We  have  contended  with  the  most 
powerful  nation,  and  subdued  the  bravest  and 
best  appointed  armies :  but  now  we  have  to 
contend  with  ourselves,  and  encounter  passions 
and  prejudices,  more  powerful  than  armies,  and 
more  dangerous  to  our  peace.  It  is  not  for 
glory,  it  is  for  existence  that  we  contend. 

Much  is  expected  from  the  federal  conven 
tion  now  sitting  at  Philadelphia :  and  it  is  a 
happy  circumstance  that  so  general  a  confi 
dence  from  all  parts  of  the  country  is  centred  in 
that  respectable  body.  Their  former  services, 
as  individuals,  command  it,  and  our  situation 
requires  it.  But  although  much  is  expected 
from  them,  yet  more  is  demanded  from  our 
selves. 

The  first  great  object  is  to  convince  the 
people  of  the  importance  of  their  present  situa 
tion  :  for  the  majority  of  a  great  people,  on  a 
subject  which  they  understand,  will  never  act 
wrong.  If  ever  there  was  a  time,  in  any  age 
or  nation,  when  the  fate  of  millions  depended 
on  the  voice  of  one,  it  is  the  present  period  in 
these  states.  Every  free  citizen  of  the  Ameri 
can  empire  ought  now  to  consider  himself  as 
the  legislator  of  half  mankind.  When  he  views 
the  amazing  extent  of  territory,  settled  and  to 
be  settled  under  the  operation  of  his  laws — 
when,  like  a  wise  politician,  he  contemplates 
the  population  of  future  ages — the  changes 
to  be  wrought  by  the  possible  progress  of  arts, 
in  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manufactures — 
the  increasing  connection  and  intercourse  of 
nations,  and  the  effect  of  one  rational  political 
system  upon  the  general  happiness  of  mankind 
— his  mind,  dilated  with  the  great  idea,  will 
realize  a  liberality  of  feeling  which  leads  to 
a  rectitude  of  conduct.  He  will  see  that  the 
system  to  be  established  by  his  suffrage,  is 
calculated  for  the  great  benevolent  purposes 


of  extending  peace,  happiness,  and  progressive 
improvement  to  a  large  proportion  of  his  fel 
low  creatures.  As  there  is  a  probability  that 
the  system  to  be  proposed  by  the  convention 
may  answer  this  description,  there  is  some 
reason  to  hope  it  will  be  viewed  by  the  people 
with  that  candor  and  dispassionate  respect 
which  is  due  to  the  importance  of  the  subject. 
While  the  anxiety  of  the  feeling  heart  is 
breathing  the  perpetual  sigh  for  the  attain 
ment  of  so  great  an  object,  it  becomes  the 
strongest  duty  of  the  social  connection,  to 
enlighten  and  harmonize  the  minds  of  our 
fellow-citizens,  and  point  them  to  a  knowledge 
of  their  interests,  as  an  extensive  federal  peo 
ple,  and  fathers  of  increasing  nations.  The 
price  put  into  their  hands  is  great,  beyond 
all  comparison  ;  and,  as  they  improve  it,  they 
will  entail  happiness  or  misery  upon  a  larger 
proportion  of  human  beings,  than  could  be  the 
conduct  of  all  the  nations  of  Europe  united. 

Those  who  are  possessed  of  abilities  or  infor 
mation  in  any  degree  above  the  common  rank 
of  their  fellow-citizens,  are  called  upon  by 
every  principle  of  humanity,  to  diffuse  a  spirit 
of  candor  and  rational  inquiry  upon  these 
important  subjects. 

Adams,  to  his  immortal  honor  and  the  timely 
assistance  of  his  country,  has  set  the  great 
example.  His  treatise  in  defence  of  the  consti 
tutions,  though  confined  to  the  state  republics, 
is  calculated  to  do  infinite  service,  by  correcting 
thousands  of  erroneous  sentiments  arising 
from  our  inexperience ;  sentiments  which,  if 
uncorrected  in  this  early  stage  of  our  political 
existence,  will  be  the  source  of  calamities  with 
out  measure  and  without  end.  Should  that 
venerable  philosopher  and  statesman  be  in 
duced  to  continue  his  inquiries,  by  tracing  the 
history  of  confederacies,  and  with  his  usual 
energy  and  perspicuity,  delineate  and  defend  a 
system  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
United  States — I  will  not  say  he  could  deserve 
more  from  his  distrest  country,  but  he  would 
crown  a  life  of  patriotic  labors,  and  render  an 
essential  additional  service  to  the  world. 

While  America  enjoys  the  peculiar  felicity  of 
seeing  those  who  have  conducted  her  councils 
and  her  battles,  retire,  like  Cincinnatus,  to  the 
humble  labors  of  the  plow,  it  must  be  remem 
bered  that  she  there  expects  a  continuance  of 
their  patriotic  exertions.  The  society  of  the 
incinnati,  established  upon  the  most  benevo 
lent  principles,  will  never  lose  sight  of  their 
duty,  in  rendering  every  possible  aid,  as  citi 
zens,  to  that  community  which  they  have 
defended  as  soldiers.  They  will  rejoice,  that, 
although  independence  was  the  result  of  force. 


CONNECTICUT. 


149 


yet  government  is  the  child  of  reason.  As 
they  are  themselves  an  example  of  the  noblest 
effort  of  human  nature,  the  conquest  of  self,  in 
obeying  the  voice  of  their  country,  and  ex- 
cjianging  the  habits,  the  splendor,  and  impor 
tance  of  military  life,  for  domestic  labor  and 
poverty — they  will  readily  inculcate  on  others 
the  propriety  of  sacrificing  private  and  territo 
rial  advantages,  to  the  good  of  the  great 
majority,  the  salvation  of  the  United  Statgs. 

Slaves  to  no  party,  but  servants  of  the  whole, 
they  have  wielded  the  sword  of  every  state  in 
the  union,  and  bled  by  the  side  of  her  sons. 
Their  attachments  are  as  extensive  as  their 
labors.  Friendship  and  charity,  the  great 
pillars  of  their  institution,  will  find  their  proper 
objects,  through  the  extended  territory,  and 
seek  the  happiness  of  all. 

While  we  contemplate  the  endearing  objects 
of  our  association — and  indulge  in  the  gloomy 
pleasure  of  recollecting  that  variety  of  suffering 
which  prompted  the  sympathetic  soldier  to 
institute  the  memorial  of  his  friendshp — frater 
nal  affection  recalls  the  scene  of  parting, 
and  inquires  with  solicitude  the  fate  of  our 
beloved  companions. 

Since  the  last  anniversary,  the  death  of 
general  Howe  has  diminished  the  number  of 
our  brethren,  and  called  for  the  tribute  of  a 
tear.  With  some  of  the  foibles,  incident  to 
human  nature,  he  possessed  many  valuable 
accomplishments.  His  moral  good  under 
standing  he  had  embellished  with  considerable 
attention  to  polite  literature.  As  a  soldier,  he 
was  brave — as  an  officer,  attentive  to  discipline; 
he  commanded  with  dignity  and  obeyed  with 
alacrity  ;  and  whatever  talents  he  possessed, 
were  uniformly  and  cheerfully  devoted  to  the 
service  of  his  country. 

But  a  few  weeks  previous  to  that  period, 
the  much  lamented  deaths  of  Tilghman  and 
M'Dougall  were  successively  announced,  and 
the  tidings  received  with  a  peculiar  poignancy 
of  grief.  What  citizen  of  the  American  empire 
does  not  join  the  general  voice  of  gratitude, 
when  contemplating  the  merits  of  those  distin 
guished  officers,  and  swell  the  tide  of  sympa 
thy,  with  his  bereaved  country,  when  deprived 
of  their  future  assistance  ?  They  were  orna 
ments  to  the  states  in  which  they  lived,  as  well 
as  to  the  profession  in  which  they  acquired 
their  glory. 

Amiable  and  heroic  Tilghman  !  short  was 
the  career  of  thy  fame :  but  much  hast  thou 
performed  for  thy  country.  Of  thee  shall  it 
ever  be  remembered,  that  no  social  virtue  was 
a  stranger  to  thy  breast,  and  no  military  achieve 
ment  too  daring  for  thy  sword.  While  we 


condole  with  thy  afflicted  father  for  the  loss  of 
so  dear  a  son,  permit  the  tear  of  friendship  to 
flow  for  its  own  bereavement :  and  as  oft  as 
the  anniversary  of  this  day  shall  assemble  the 
companions  of  thy  life,  to  rejoice  in  the  freedom 
of  their  country  ;  they  shall  mingle  a  sigh  to 
thy  lasting  memory,  and  bewail  thy  untimely 
fate. 

Untimely  also  was  the  death  of  the  brave 
and  patriotic  M'Dougall.  Though  many  years 
were  worn  away  in  his  unremitted  labors  for 
the  public  safety — though  his  early  and  decided 
exertions  against  the  claims  of  Great  Britain 
had  an  essential  influence  in  determining  the 
conduct  of  the  province  in  which  he  resided — 
though  he  was  the  nerve  of  war,  the  wisdom 
of  council  and  one  of  our  principal  supporters 
in  the  acquest  of  independence — yet  these  but 
shew  us  the  necessity  of  such  characters  in 
establishing  the  blessings  of  the  acquisition. 
While  it  shall  require  the  same  wisdom  and 
unshaken  fortitude,  the  same  patience  and  per 
severance,  to  rear  the  fabric  of  our  empire,  as 
it  did  to  lay  the  foundation — patriotism  and 
valor,  in  sympathetic  affection,  will  bemoan 
the  loss  of  M'Dougall. 

Happy  would  it  be  for  America,  thrice  happy 
for  the  feelings  of  sorrowing  friendship,  could 
the  list  of  our  deceased  companions  be  closed 
even  with  the  names  of  those  worthy  heroes. 
But  Heaven  had  bestowed  too  much  glory 
upon  the  life  of  the  favorite  Greene,  to  allow  it 
a  long  duration. 

My  affectionate  auditory  will  anticipate  more 
than  can  be  uttered,  in  the  melancholy  duty 
of  contemplating  his  distinguished  excellence. 
To  any  assembly  that  could  be  collected  in 
America,  vain  would  be  the  attempt  to  illus 
trate  his  character,  or  embellish  the  scene  of 
his  exploits.  It  is  a  subject  to  be  felt,  but  not 
to  be  described.  To  posterity,  indeed,  it  may 
be  told,  as  an  incentive  to  the  most  exalted 
virtue  and  astonishing  enterprise,  that  the  man, 
who  carried  in  his  native  genius  all  the  resources 
of  war,  and  the  balance  of  every  extreme  of 
fortune — who  knew  the  advantages  to  be  de 
rived  from  defeat,  the  vigilance  of  military  ar 
rangement,  the  rapidity  and  happy  moment  of 
assault,  the  deliberate  activity  of  battle,  and 
the  various  important  uses  of  victory — that  the 
man  who  possessed  every  conceivable  quality 
of  a  warrior,  was,  in  his  public  and  private 
character,  without  a  foible  or  a  fault ;  that  all 
the  amiable  as  well  as  the  heroic  virtues  were 
assembled  in  his  soul:  and  that  it  was  the 
love,  of  a  rational  and  enlightened  age,  and  not 
the  stupid  stare  of  barbarity,  that  expressed 
his  praise. 


150 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


The  map  of  America  may  designate  the  vast 
extent  of  conquered  country  recovered  by  his 
sword :  the  future  traveller  in  the  southern 
states,  may  be  pointed,  by  the  peasant,  to  the 
various  regions  containing  monuments  of  his 
valor  and  his  skill ;  where,  amid  marches  and 
counter-marches,  his  studied  retreats  and  his 
rapid  approaches,  every  advantage,  given  to 
the  enemy,  was  resumed  with  ten-fold  utility 
and  certain  conquest.  The  historic  muse,  as  a 
legacy  to  future  ages,  may  transmit  with  heroic 
dignity  the  feats  of  her  favorite  chief:  but  who 
shall  transmit  the  feelings  of  the  heart— or 
give  the  more  interesting  representation  of  his 
worth  ?  the  hero  will  remain  ;  but  the  man  must 
be  lost. 

The  grief  of  his  bereaved  consort,  aggravated 
by  the  universal  testimony  of  his  merit,  we 
hope  will  receive  some  alleviation  from  the  ar 
dent  sympathy  of  thousands,  whose  hearts 
were  penetrated  with  his  virtues,  and  whose 
tears  would  have  flowed  upon  his  hearse. 

But  we  will  not  open  afresh  the  wounds 
which  we  cannot  close.  The  best  eulogium  of 
the  good  and  great  is  expressed  by  an  emula 
tion  of  their  virtues.  As  those  of  the  illustrious 
Greene  were  equally  useful  in  every  depart 
ment,  in  which  human  society  can  call  a  man 
to  act,  every  friend  to  America  must  feel  the 
want  of  his  assistance,  in  the  duties  that  re 
main  to  be  performed.  Yet,  as  these  duties  are 
of  the  rational  and  pacific  kind,  the  perform 
ance  is  more  attainable,  and  emulation  the 
better  encouraged.  In  military  operations, 
none  but  the  soldier  can  be  distinguished,  nor 
any  but  the  fortunate  are  sure  of  rendering 
service  :  but  here  is  a  theatre  of  action  for  every 
citizen  of  a  great  country :  in  which  the  small 
est  circumstance  will  have  its  weight,  and  on 
which  infinite  consequences  will  depend. 

The  present  is  an  age  of  philosophy,  and 
America  the  empire  of  reason.  Here,  neither 
the  pageantry  of  courts,  nor  the  glooms  of 
superstition,  have  dazzled  or  beclouded  the 
mind.  Our  duty  calls  us  to  act  worthy  of  the 
age  and  the  country  that  gave  us  birth. 
Though  inexperience  may  have  betrayed  us 
into  errors — yet  they  have  not  been  fatal :  and 
our  own  discernment  will  point  us  to  their 
proper  remedy. 

However  defective  the  present  confederated 
system  may  appear — yet  a  due  consideration 
of  the  circumstances,  under  which  it  was 
framed,  will  teach  us  rather  to  admire  its 
wisdom,  than  to  murmur  at  its  faults.  The 
same  political  abilities,  which  were  displayed 
in  that  institution,  united  with  the  experience 
we  have  had  of  its  operation,  will  doubtless 


produce  a  system,  which  will  stand  the  test  of 
ages,  in  forming  a  powerful  and  happy  people. 

Elevated  with  the  extensive  prospect,  we  may 
consider  present  inconveniences  as  unworthy 
of  regret.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  an  uncom 
mon  plenty  of  circulating  specie,  and  a  universal 
passion  for  trade,  tempted  many  individuals  to 
involve  themselves  in  ruin,  and  injure  the 
credit  of  their  country.  But  these  are  evils 
which  work  their  own  remedy.  The  paroxysm 
is  already  over.  Industry  is  increasing  faster 
than  ever  it  declined  ;  and,  with  some  excep 
tions,  where  legislative  authority  has  sanctioned 
fraud,  the  people  are  honestly  discharging 
their  private  debts,  and  increasing  the  resources 
of  their  wealth. 

Every  possible  encouragement  for  great  and 
generous  exertions,  is  now  presented  before  us. 
Under  the  idea  of  a  permanent  and  happy  gov 
ernment,  every  point  of  view,  in  which  the 
future  situation  of  America  can  be  placed,  fills 
the  mind  with  peculiar  dignity,  and  opens  an 
unbounded  field  of  thought.  The  natural 
resources  of  the  country  are  inconceivably 
various  and  great.  The  enterprising  genius  of 
the  people  promises  a  most  rapid  improvement 
in  all  the  arts  that  embellish  human  nature. 
The  blessings  of  a  rational  government  will 
invite  emigrations  from  the  rest  of  the  world, 
and  fill  the  empire  with  the  worthiest  and 
happiest  of  mankind ;  while  the  example  of 
political  wisdom  and  felicity,  here  to  be  dis 
played,  will  excite  emulation  through  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth,  and  meliorate  the  condi 
tion  of  the  human  race. 

In  the  pleasing  contemplation  of  such  glori 
ous  events,  and  comparing  the  scenes  of  action 
that  adorn  the  western  hemisphere,  with  what 
has  taken  place  in  the  east,  may  we  not  apply 
to  our  country  the  language  of  the  prophet  of 
Israel,  though  spoken  on  a  different  occasion — 
"  The  glory  of  this  latter  house  shall  be  greater 
than  the  former,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts :  and 
in  this  place  will  I  give  peace,  saith  the  Lord 
of  Hosts  : " — peace  to  any  disorders  that  may 
at  present  subsist  among  us — peace  to  the  con 
tending  passions  of  nations — peace  to  this 
empire,  to  future  ages,  and  through  the 
extended  world  ! 


GATHERING  OF   CONNECTICUT   PEN 
SIONERS 

AT  HARTFORD,  AUGUST  7,   1820. 

The  following  incidents  of  the  actors   in  the 
revolution,  may  aptly  be  placed  in  this  col- 


CONNECTICUT. 


lection  for  preservation.     It  is  copied    from 

the  Connecticut  Mirror,  printed  at  Hartford, 

on  the  7th  August,  1820. 

On  Tuesday  last  the  county  court  for  this 
county  commenced  a  special  session,  for  the 
purpose  of  hearing  the  pensioners  of  the  army 
of  the  revolution  make  oath  to  their  respective 
estates.  The  number  of  applicants  amounted 
to  about  one  hundred  and  fifty,  most  of  them 
indicating,  in  their  appearance,  the  strongest 
evidence,  that  necessity  alone  urged  them  to 
make  claim  for  that  bounty  to  which  they  have 
the  fullest  title.  The  court,  after  having  pa 
tiently  gone  through  with  the  business,  declined 
accepting  any  compensation,  and  several  gen 
tlemen  of  the  bar,  who  assisted,  followed  their 
generous  example.  On  Wednesday,  after  the 
pensioners  had  all  made  oath,  it  happened 
that  among  them  a  drummer  and  fifer  were 
found,  who  were  immediately  furnished  with 
instruments,  at  the  sound  of  which  the  war 
worn  veterans  paraded  in  front  of  the  court 
house.  At  their  head  was  placed  Major  Curtis, 
who  acted  a  distinguished  part  at  the  battle  of 
Monmouth,  and  by  his  side  marched  Captain 
Miller,  equally  distinguished  in  leading  up  the 
" forlorn  hope"  at  Stony  Point. — Colonel  Man- 
ross  acted  as  marshal  of  the  day. — By  urgent 
solicitation  these  gentlemen  permitted  swords 
to  be  buckled  to  their  sides.  The  venerable 
band  then,  almost  without  exception  leaning 
upon  their  staves,  moved  off  at  the  sound  of 
the  drum.  The  scene  now  presented  was 
affecting  beyond  description.  To  see  so  many 
of  the  heroes  of  the  revolution,  bending  be 
neath  the  weight  of  age,  endeavoring  to  step  to 
the  sound  of  music,  which,  for  a  moment, 
seemed  to  strengthen  their  feeble  joints,  and 
kindle  up  in  their  countenances  the  remem 
brance  of  the  deeds  of  other  days,  was  enough 
to  excite  in  the  coldest  bosom  the  strongest 
emotions  of  admiration  and  gratitude.  The 
scenes  of  the  revolution,  associated  with  this 
feeble  remnant  of  those  who  bore  a  part  in 
them — crowded  upon  the  mind,  at  one  moment 
elevated  with  the  proudest  recollections — then 
saddened  by  the  melancholy  reflection  that  the 
same  arm  which,  comparatively  but  a  few 
years  since,  was  nerved  in  battle  for  our  de 
fence,  now  tremblingly  reached  to  the  time- 
worn  staff  for  support. 

Having  marched  up  and  down  almost  the 
whole  extent  of  Main-street,  they  were  led  back 
to  the  north  market,  where  a  frugal  and  substan 
tial  dinner  was  provided  for  them  by  the  citi 
zens.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Cushman  was  invited  to 
officiate  at  the  table,  and  when  the  old  soldiers 
had  assembled  with  cheerful  countenances 


around  the  convivial  board,  he  prefaced  a 
most  pathetic  and  impressive  prayer  with  the 
following  patriotic  observations. 

Venerable  Fathers  : 

The  interesting  occasion  on  which  you  are 
this  day  convened,  awakens  sensations  in  your 
withering  bosoms  more  ardent,  more  solemn, 
and  more  important  than  the  hope  of  pecuniary 
benefit  could  possibly  inspire.  You  recollect, 
with  a  deep  interest,  the  noble  achievements 
which  have  been  narrated  to  us  by  the  fire 
side  : — That  period  which  threatened  the  citi 
zens  of  these  states  with  a  fate  more  cruel  than 
death,  now  rushes  upon  your  remembrance, 
and  almost  restores  that  youthful  vigor  which 
time  had  gradually  stolen  away — that  period, 
when  the  welfare  of  our  country,  the  liberties 
of  your  persons,  the  enjoyment  of  your  inalien 
able  rights,  and  the  destiny  of  your  progeny, 
rolled  with  weight  upon  your  then  distressed 
hearts,  now  arises  to  heighten  the  felicity  you 
then  by  your  valor  procured; — that  love  of 
liberty  which  first  led  our  persecuted  ancestors 
to  prefer  a  howling  wilderness  to  their  native 
soil,  and  prompted  them  to  resist  oppression, 
when  they  could  not  escape  by  flight.  They 
knew  that  the  God  who  had  made  them,  and 
had  endowed  them  with  the  love  of  peace,  in 
tended  that  they  should  have  a  place  on  the 
face  of  the  globe,  and  when  they  had  peace 
ably  withdrawn  to  these  ends  of  the  earth,  they 
planted  their  standard  in  this  territory,  and  re 
solutely  called  it  theirs,  determined,  if  the  gift 
of  Providence  could  not  ensure  a  title  against 
the  claims  of  tyranny,  to  purchase  it  with  their 
blood.  In  this  laudable  determination  you 
took  a  part ;  in  the  conflict  which  ensued,  you 
hazarded  your  lives,  and  while  you  stand  trem 
bling  over  the  graves  you  have  purchased  in  a 
peaceful  soil,  your  children  shall  venerate  your 
grey  hairs,  and  express  their  gratitude  for 
the  privileges  transmitted  from  you.  May 
that  spirit  which  first  inspired  your  bosoms 
with  patriotic  valor,  descend  to  your  posterity 
through  succeeding  generations,  and  perpetu 
ate  the  principles  and  enjoyments  of  national 
independence.  But  while  we  reverence  you, 
our  fathers,  as  the  benefactors  of  our  country, 
we  trace  our  signal  victory  to  a  higher  power, 
and  recognize  in  our  first  triumph,  and  in  every 
subsequent  enjoyment,  the  Almighty  arm  of 
God.— To  him  be  the  praise— to  him  be  our 
gratitude  directed,  and  to  him  let  us  look 
through  a  glorious  Redeemer  for  the  continu 
ance  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

One  hundred  and  twelve  of  these  pensioners 
then  sat  down  to  the  table,  together  with  the 


152 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


judges  of  the  court — Major  Curtis  presiding. 
After  the  cloth  was  removed,  the  following 
sentiments  were  drank,  accompanied  by  cannon 
and  the  whole  scene  was  closed  by  the  patriotic 
and  revolutionary  song  of  '  God  save  America  ' 
in  full  chorus. 

TOASTS. 

I.  The  American  revolution  ; — the  Jordan  of 
death  between  the  Egypt  of  oppression  and  the 
Canaan  of  liberty. 2  guns. 

II.  The  departed  heroes  of  the  revolution  ; 
fallen  beneath  the  harvest  sickle — but  the  sun 
shines  not  upon  a  wider  field  of  liberty  than 
has  sprung  from  their  deeds. 2  guns. 

III.  GENERAL  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 
— our   leader  in  battle  here ;   may  we  all   be 

mustered    with   him   in    Heaven. [Drank 

standing} — 2  guns. 

IV.  The  surviving  patriots  of  the  revolution 
— may  they  not  survive  the  liberty  they  won. 
2  guns. 

V.  General  Joseph  Warren  ; — 

"  Hope  for  a  moment  bade  the  world  farewell, 
"  And  freedom  shriek'd  as  Warren  darkly  fell." 

2  guns. 

VI.  General   Israel   Putnam  —  while  alive, 
neither  Danger  nor  Treason  dared  look  him  in 
the  face  ;  even  his  memory  has  proved  an  over 
match  for  titled  Defamation. 6  cheers  and 

2  guns. 

VII.  The  battle  of  Lexington  ; — "  How  great 
a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth  !  " 2  guns. 

VIII.  Bunker-Hill — let   its   thunders   never 

cease  to  ring  in  the  ears  of  our  enemies. 6 

cheers  and  2  guns. 

IX.  Captain  Nathan    Hale  ; — the  blood  of 
such  martyrs  is  the  sure  seed  of  future  patriots 
and  heroes. 2  gtins. 

X.  Our  pensions  : — 

"  The  broken  soldier  kindly  bade  to  stay — 
"  Sat  by  the  fire  and  talk'd  the  night  away." 

XI.  The   spirit   of  '76 — may  it   descend   to 

posterity,  and   ever  stand  at  4th   proof. 2 

guns. 

XII.  The  rising  generation  ; — while  they  en 
joy  the  blessings   of  liberty,  may  they  never 
forget  those  who  achieved  it. 2  guns. 

XIII.  Ourselves — We   must  all   soon   meet 
where  the  poverty  we  now  plead  shall  be  our 

best  title  to  a  pension  of  eternal  rest. 2  guns 

[Drank  silent  and  standing.'] 

VOLUNTEERS. 

By  major  Curtis.— The  citizens  of  Hartford ; 

— "We  were  hungry,  and  they  gave  us  meat." 

By  captain  Miller.— The  batteries  of  our 


enemies — may  America  never  want  brave  sons 
to  storm  them. 

By  major  Natch. — May  our  sons  never  re 
linquish  the  liberties  purchased  by  their  fathers 
at  the  price  of  their  blood. 

ANECDOTES  AND  INCIDENTS  OF  THE  DAY. 

An  old  officer  to  whom  was  assigned  the  duty 
of  forming  the  company,  after  the  line  was 
formed,  said  with  as  much  strength  as  age 
and  infirmity  would  permit — "  fellow  soldiers  ! 
dress  by  the  right"  finding  that  he  was  not 
heard  upon  the  two  extremes  of  his  company 
he  exclaimed  with  new  energy — "  soldiers,  look 
to  the  right ;  the  soldier's  friends  are  always 
found  on  the  right." 

After  the  company  was  formed,  they  found 
themselves  much  annoyed  by  the  spectators, 
whose  eager  curiosity  led  them  to  encroach  too 
close  upon  these  old  veterans,  upon  which  one 
of  the  sergeants  stepped  briskly  forward — 
"  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  stand  back  ;  these  men 
shall  not  want  for  room  to-day — they  shall  have 
the  whole  city  if  they  want  it :  you  may  look  at 
us  if  you  will,  but  you  must  not  press  upon  our 
ranks — the  British  never  dared  to  do  that. 

In  the  morning  after  the  troops  were  mus 
tered,  it  was  proposed  to  major  Curtis,  an  aged 
and  venerable  patriot,  that  he  should  march  at 
their  head,  and  a  sword  was  accordingly  pro 
cured  for  his  use.  When  it  was  presented  to 
him  he  strongly  declined  wearing  it,  saying 
that  it  was  now  an  unfit  instrument  for  his  fee 
ble  palsied  hand.  Upon  this  an  old  comrade 
stepped  up — "Major,"  said  he  "you  did  not 
behave  thus  at  Monmouth  battle."  "  Mon- 
mouth  !  Monmouth  !  "  said  the  major,  "  let  me 
feel  of  it  ;  "  then  raised  the  sword  aloft,  his 
hand  trembling  like  the  aspen,  he  added — "  I 
once  could  wield  it,  but  the  day  has  gone  by — 
still  if  you  wish  it,  I  will  try  to  carry  it." 

After  a  short  march  the  troops  were  halted 
a  few  moments  in  order  to  give  the  more  aged 
and  infirm  an  opportunity  to  rest.  The  old 
major  mentioned  above,  after  seating  himself 
on  a  stone,  observed  to  the  by-standers  "  that 
it  was  pleasant  to  them  to  measure  their  steps 
once  more  to  the  martial  drum  and  fife,"  but 
added  he  with  feeling — "  Hark  .'from  the  tombs 
is  now  our  appropriate  music." 

The  second  volunteer  toast,  which  was  given 
by  captain  Miller  of  this  town,  may  be  read 
with  additional  interest,  when  it  is  known  that 
he  was  the  hero  who  commanded  the  for 
lorn  hope  at  the  storming  of  Stony-Point. 
The  story,  as  we  heard  it  related  by  a  pen 
sioner  who  was  at  his  side  at  the  time,  is  worth 
preserving.  Miller,  upon  reaching  the  enemy's 


CONNECTICUT. 


153 


works,  from  his  small  size,  was  unable  to  reach 
the  tops  of  the  pickets ;  after  making  one  or 
two  unsuccessful  leaps,  and  fearing  that  he 
should  be  preceded  by  his  companions,  ex 
claimed — "  throw  me  into  the  fort  with  your 
bayonets,"  and  he  was  literally  tossed  over  with 
the  muzzles  of  their  muskets. 

The  age,  infirmities  and  extreme  poverty  of 
these  pensioners,  was  calculated  to  render  the 
scene  peculiarly  affecting.  Most  of  them,  as 
appeared  by  their  declarations,  possessed  little 
or  nothing.  A  great  part  of  the  inventories 
fell  short  of  fifty  dollars,  and  many  of  them 
amounted  to  a  much  smaller  sum :  one,  in  par 
ticular,  contained  but  one  item,  and  that  an 
empty  tobacco  box  ! 

Captain  Nathan  Hale,  whose  virtues  and  mis 
fortunes  suggested  the  sentiment  contained  in 
the  eighth  toast,  was  a  brave  and  valuable 
officer  belonging  to  colonel  Knowlton's  regi 
ment  of  Connecticut  light-infantry.  He  was  a 
native  of  Coventry,  in  this  state,  and  graduated 
at  Yale  College  in  1773.  After  the  unfortunate 
battle  on  Long-Island  and  the  retreat  of  the 
American  troops  to  New  York,  general  Wash 
ington  became  very  solicitous  to  obtain  accurate 
information  of  the  resources  and  movements 
of  the  British  army.  To  spy  out  an  enemy's 
camp  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  hazardous 
undertakings  which  a  soldier  is  ever  called  upon 
to  execute.  But  the  salvation  of  America  was 
at  stake,  and  Washington  had  no  difficulty  in 
finding  enough  who  were  ready  to  yield  up 
their  lives  in  her  defence.  Hale  promptly  vol 
unteered  his  services  and  immediately  set  forth 
upon  the  undertaking.  He  visited  the  British 
army  in  disguise,  and  collected  all  the  necessary 
information,  but,  just  as  he  was  on  the  eve  of 
returning,  he  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  de 
tected.  Circumstances  being  strongly  against 
him  and  his  inflexible  integrity  not  permitting 
him  to  dissemble,  he  frankly  confessed  the 
object  of  his  visit.  He  was  not  allowed  even 
the  form  of  a  trial,  and  was  barbarously 
executed  the  following  morning.  How  unlike 
was  the  conduct  of  the  American  commander 
in  the  case  of  the  unfortunate  Andre. — Wash 
ington  not  only  gave  him  every  indulgence 
which  the  laws  of  war  would  allow,  but  to 
these  he  added  his  sympathy  and  tears.  The 
following  just  tribute  to  the  memory  of  captain 
Hale  is  from  the  pen  of  the  late  president 
Dwight. 

Thus  did  fond  virtue  wish  in  vain  to  save, 
Hale,  bright  and  generous,  from  a  hapless  grave  ; 
With  genius'  living  flame  his  bosom  glow'd, 
And  science  charm'd  him  to  her  blest  abode, 
In  worth's  fair  path  his  feet  had  ventured  far, 
The  pride  of  peace,  the  rising  grace  of  war, 


In  duty  firm,  in  danger  calm  as  ev'n, 
To  friends  unchanging,  and  sincere  to  Heaven. 
How  short  his  course,  the  prize  how  early  won. 
While  weeping  friendship  mourns  her  fav'rite  gone. 

FROM  THE  CONNECTICUT  MIRROR. 

A  view  of  the  march  of  the  veterans  on  Wed 
nesday,  occasioned  the  following : 

They  once  march'd  in  glory — their  banners  were  stream 
ing, 

With  ih?  glance  of  the  sunbeam,  their  armor  v:as  gleam 
ing  ; 

Then  hopes  swelled  their  bosoms— then  firm  was  their 
tread — 

And  round  them  the  garlands  of  victory  were  spread. 

Then  little  they  dream'd  that  the  country  they  sav'd — 
That  the  country  for  whom  every  danger  they  brav'd, 
Would  forget  their  desert  when  old  age  should  come  on 
And  leave  them  forsaken — their  comforts  all  gone. 

They  now  march  in  glory— still  memory  sheds, 
The  brightest  of  haloes  around  their  hoar  heads  ; 
Though  faltering  the  footstep — though  rayless  the  eye, 
Remembrance  still  dwells  on  the  days  long  gone  by. 

Yes  !  Saviours  and  Sires,  though  the  pittance  be  small, 
Which  your  country  awards— and  that  pittance  your  all, 
Though  the  cold  hand  of  Poverty  press  on  your  frames, 
Yet  your  children  shall  bless  you  and  boast  of  your 
names. 

And  when  life  with  its  toils  and  afflictions  shall  cease, 
O  then  may  you  hail  the  bright  Angel  of  peace, 
Then  freemen  shall  weep  o'er  the  veteran's  grave, 
And  round  it  the  laurel  and  cypress  shall  wave. 

Thursday  August  ^d.  A.  T 


INTERESTING   REMINISCENCES   OF 
REVOLUTIONARY   SOLDIERS. 

Among  the  applicants  for  pensions  was  lieut. 
M.,  who  obtained  his  title  by  his  valor.  His 
declaration  was  made  out  in  due  form,  and 
certified  by  the  judge  who  knew  him  well,  and 
could  safely  attest  his  merits  and  his  services. 
The  needy  veteran  possessed  an  infirmity 
which  rendered  him  unable  to  write  his  name, 
and  in  signing  the  necessary  documents,  he 
could  only  make  his  mark.  At  the  storming 
of  Fort  Montgomery,  by  the  British,  he  was  in 
the  act  of  touching  off  a  cannon,  loaded  to  the 
muzzle  with  every  kind  of  missile,  when  a  shot 
carried  away  his  arm,  and  the  match  dropped 
upon  the  ground ;  he  immediately  seized  it 
with  his  left  hand,  and  fired  the  piece,  at  the 
very  point  and  at  the  very  instant  the  enemy 
were  entering  the  fort,  which  swept  down  a 
whole  phalanx  of  the  foe.  For  this  heroic 
action  he  was  honored  with  a  commission ; 
but  in  his  old  age  he  could  not  write  his  name 
with  his  left  hand. 

Another  of  these  venerable  men,  trembling 
with  age,  applied  for  the  necessary  papers  to 


154 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


obtain  a  pension.  The  judge  inquired  where 
he  had  served?  "Why,  first,"  said  he,  "in 
the  old  French  war."  Ah,  said  the  judge,  you 
cannot  obtain  a  pension  for  services  at  that 
period,  did  you  serve  in  the  revolutionary 
army  ?  "  O  yes,  I  served  all  the  war.  I  was 
at  the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill — afterwards  at 
Long  Island,  and  the  capture  of  the  Hessians 
at  Trenton — I  was  at  the  attack  of  German- 
town,  and  the  battle  of  Monmouth, — and, 
finally,  at  the  capture  and  siege  of  Yorktown, 
in  Virginia — and,"  added  the  old  man,  his  eyes 
kindling  with  the  fire  of  '76,  "  /  was  the  first 
American  sentinel  placed  at  the  quarters  of  lord 
Cornivallis,  after  he  was  an  American  pris 
oner." 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 
OF  CAPTAIN  EZRA  LEE,  LYME,  CONN. 

DIED,  at  Lyme,  (Connecticut),  on  the  2pth 
ult.,  Captain  EZRA  LEE,  aged  72,  a  revolu 
tionary  officer.  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable, 
that  this  officer  is  the  only  man,  of  which  it 
can  be  said,  that  he  fought  the  enemy  upon 
land — upon  water — and  under  the  water  ;  the 
latter  mode  of  warfare  was  as  follows  : 

When  the  British  fleet  lay  in  the  North 
River,  opposite  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
while  general  Washington  had  possession  of 
the  city,  he  was  very  desirous  to  be  rid  of  such 
neighbors.  A  Mr.  Bushnell,  of  Saybrook, 
(Conn.)  who  had  the  genius  of  a  Fulton,  con 
structed  a  submarine  machine,  of  a  conical 
form,  bound  together  with  iron  bands,  within 
which  one  person  might  sit,  and  with  cranks 
and  sculls,  could  navigate  it  to  any  depth 
under  water.  In  the  upper  part  was  affixed  a 
vertical  screw  for  the  purpose  of  penetrating 
ships'  bottoms,  and  to  this  was  attached  a 
magazine  of  powder,  within  which  was  a 
clock,  which  on  being  set  to  run  any  given 
time,  would,  when  run  down,  spring  a  gunlock, 
and  an  explosion  would  follow.  This  Marine 
Turtle,  so  called,  was  examined  by  general 
Washington,  and  approved ;  to  preserve  se 
crecy,  it  was  experimented  with  in  an  inclosed 
yard,  over  twenty  to  thirty  feet  water,  and  kept 
during  day-light  locked  in  a  vessel's  hold.  The 
brother  of  the  inventor  was  to  be  the  person  to 
navigate  the  machine  into  action,  but  on  sink 
ing  it  the  first  time,  he  declined  the  service. 

Gen.  Washington,  unwilling  to  relinquish  the 
object,  requested  major  general  Parsons  to 
select  a  person,  in  whom  he  could  confide, 
voluntarily  to  engage  in  the  enterprise ;  the 


latter  being  well  acquainted  with  the  heroic 
spirit,  the  patriotism,  and  the  firm  and  steady 
courage  of  the  deceased  above  mentioned, 
immediately  communicated  the  plan,  and  the 
offer,  which  he  accepted,  observing  that  his 
life  was  at  general  Washington's  service. 
After  practicing  the  machine,  until  he  under 
stood  its  powers  of  balancing  and  moving 
under  water,  a  night  was  fixed  upon  for  the 
attempt.  General  Washington,  and  his  asso 
ciates  in  the  secret,  took  their  stations  upon 
the  roof  a  house  in  Broadway,  anxiously  wait 
ing  the  result.  Morning  came  and  no  intelli 
gence  could  be  had  of  the  intrepid  sub-marine 
navigator,  nor  could  the  boat  who  attended 
him,  give  any  account  of  him  after  parting 
with  him  the  first  part  of  the  night.  While 
these  anxious  spectators  were  about  to  give 
him  up  as  lost,  several  barges  were  seen  to 
start  suddenly  from  Governor'^  Island,  (then 
in  possession  of  the  British),  and  proceed 
toward  some  object  near  the  Asia  ship  of  the 
line, — as  suddenly  they  were  seen  to  put  about 
and  steer  for  the  Island  with  springing  oars. 
In  two  or  three  minutes  an  explosion  took 
place  from  the  surface  of  the  water,  resem 
bling  a  water  spout,  which  aroused  the  whole 
city  and  region ;  the  enemy's  ships  took  the 
alarm — signals  were  rapidly  given — the  ships 
cut  their  cables  and  proceeded  to  the  Hook,  with 
all  possible  dispatch,  sweeping  their  bottoms 
with  chains,  and  with  difficulty  prevented 
their  affrighted  crews  from  leaping  overboard. 
During  this  scene  of  consternation,  the 
deceased  came  to  the  surface,  opened  the  brass 
head  of  his  aquatic  machine  :  rose  up  and 
gave  a  signal  for  the  boat  to  come  to  him,  but 
they  could  not  reach  him,  until  he  again  de 
scended  under  water  to  avoid  the  enemy's 
shot  from  the  Island,  who  had  discovered  and 
commenced  firing  in  his  wake.  Having  forced 
himself  against  a  strong  current  under  water 
until  without  the  reach  of  shot,  he  was  taken  in 
tow  and  landed  at  the  battery  amidst  a  great 
crowd,  and  reported  himself  to  general  Wash 
ington,  who  expressed  his  entire  satisfaction, 
that  the  object  was  effected,  without  the  loss 
of  lives.  The  deceased  was  under  the  Asia's 
bottom  more  than  two  hours,  endeavoring  to 
penetrate  her  copper,  but  in  vain.  He  fre 
quently  came  up  under  her  stern  galleries 
searching  for  exposed  plank,  and  could  hear 
the  sentinel's  cry.  Once  he  was  discovered 
by  the  watch  on  deck,  and  heard  them  specu 
late  upon  him,  but  concluded  a  drifted  log  had 
paid  them  a  visit — he  returned  to  her  keel  and 
examined  it  fore  and  aft,  and  then  proceeded 
to  some  other  ships ;  but  the  impossibility  of 


NEW  YORK. 


155 


penetrating  their  copper,  for  want  of  a  resist 
ing  power,  hundreds  owed  their  lives  to  this  cir 
cumstance.  The  longest  space  of  time  he  could 
remain  under  water  was  two  hours.  For  a 
particular  description  of  this  sub-marine  curi 
osity,  see  Silliman's  Journal  of  arts  and 
sciences. 

The  deceased,  during  the  war,  ever  had  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  the  commander-in- 
chief,  and  was  frequently  employed  by  him  on 
secret  missions  of  importance.  He  fought 
with  him  at  Trenton  and  Monmouth,  at  Bran- 
dywine  the  hilt  of  his  sword  was  shot  away, 
and  his  hat  and  coat  were  penetrated  with  the 
enemy's  balls.  On  the  return  of  peace,  he 
laid  aside  the  habiliments  of  war,  and  returned 
to  his  farm,  where,  like  Cincinnatus,  he  tilled 
his  lands,  until  now  called  by  the  great  com- 
mander-in-chief  to  the  regions  above.  He  died 
without  an  enemy  ;  he  was  universally  beloved. 
The  suavity  of  his  manners — evenness  of  tem 


per,  and  correctness  of  principles,  were  prover 
bial  and  pleasing  to  all  his  acquaintance.  He 
enjoyed  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
to  an  extent  almost  unparalleled.  His  desk 
was  the  repository  of  deeds,  contracts  and 
other  evidences  of  property,  as  well  as  the 
widows' and  orphans' wealth  for  safe  keeping. 
He  constantly  read  the  papers  of  the  day,  and 
was  by  many  considered  a  political  prophet. 
His  Christian  and  moral  life  was  sternly  strict ; 
his  Bible  his  guide  and  rule  of  action.  "  To  do 
unto  others,  as  he  would  they  should  do  unto 
him,"  was  his  universal  maxim  and  rule  of  life. 
His  benevolence  and  charity  was  only  circum 
scribed  by  his  means.  Contented  and  happy, 
he  was  an  example  of  the  great  blessings 
which  flow  from  the  perfect  enjoyment  of  life, 
regulated  by  Christian  and  moral  virtue.  He 
has  left  a  widow  (with  whom  he  has  lived  fifty 
years),  and  a  numerous  offspring  to  mourn  the 
loss  of  one  of  the  best  of  men. 


NEW  YORK. 


JOURNAL  OF  THE    STAMP-ACT    CON 
GRESS, 

HELD  AT  NEW  YORK,  1765. 

We  have  several  times  promised  to  treat  our 
readers  with  a  correct  copy  of  this  venerable 
manuscript,  detailing  the  first  movements  of 
the  friends  of  freedom  in  the  new  world.  It  is 
an  official  copy,  under  the  signature  of  John 
Cotton,  Esq.  clerk  to  that  illustrious  body  ;  and, 
we  have  reason  to  believe,  the  only  one  extant. 
It  was  handed  to  the  editor  by  his  much 
respected  friend,  Caesar  A.  Rodney,  Esq.,  of 
Delaware,  who  found  it  among  the  papers  of 
his  late  revered  uncle,  the  estimable  and  patri 
otic  Caesar  Rodney,  one  of  the  delegates,  and 
for  many  years  the  great  prop  and  stay  of 
Whiggismin  the  lower  parts  of  his  native  state. 
On  a  loose  piece  of  paper,  in  the  manuscript 
book,  is  a  list  of  the  members,  with  which  we 
have  preceded  the  journal  itself,  in  the  hand 
writing  of  Mr.  C.  R.  We  are  thus  particular 
to  shew  the  entire  authenticity  of  the  document : 
which,  we  are  informed,  many  of  our  sages  have 
sought  for  in  vain. 

In  this  journal  the  reader  will  not  find  any 
thing  to  astonish  or  surprise  him  ;  but  there  is 
much  to  admire.  In  every  line  he  will  discover 
a  spirit  of  decision  and  firmness  totally  irrecon 


cilable  with  a  state  of  servitude,  and  highly 
worthy  of  imitation  at  the  present  day.  The 
difficulties  the  people  encountered  in  forming 
this  congress,  unknown  to  the  laws  and 
opposed  by  the  Royalists  invested  with  power, 
are  honorable  to  their  cause  and  its  agents. 
With  an  eye  steadily  fixed  on  freedom,  they 
cast  behind  them  the  cold  maxims  of  prudence, 
and  nobly  resolved  to  systematize  an  opposition 
to  the  growing  tyranny  of  the  "  mother  country." 
They  did  so,  and  therein  generated  a  spirit  of 
union,  that  finally  brought  about  the  independ 
ence  of  these  states,  and  led  to  the  establish 
ment  of  our  present  happy  constitution. — Nile? 
Weekly  Register,  of  July  25,  1812. 

DELEGATES  TO  THE  CONGRESS  OF  1765. 


Massachusetts.  .     . 

Rhode  Island.    .     . 
Connecticut. 


New  York. 


James  Otis, 
Oliver  Partridge, 
Timothy  Ruggles. 
Metcalf  Bowler, 
Henry  Ward. 
Eliphalet  Dyer, 
David  Rowland, 
William  S.  Johnson. 
Robert  R.  Livingston, 
John  Cruger, 
Philip  Livingston, 


IS6 


PRINCIPLES    AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


New  York.    .    . 
New  Jersey. 

Pennsylvania.    . 


Delaware. 
Maryland. 


South  Carolina. 


New  Hampshire^ 
Virginia, 
North  Carolina, 

and 
Georgia, 


.     .    William  Bayard, 

Leonard  Lispenard. 
.     .     Robert  Ogden, 

Hendrick  Fisher, 

Joseph  Bord-en. 
.     .     John  Dickinson, 

John  Morton, 

George  Bryan. 
.     .    Thomas  M'Kean, 

Csesar  Rodney. 
.     .    William  Murdock, 

Edward  Tilghman, 

Thomas  Ringgold. 
.     .    Thomas  Lynch, 

Christopher  Gadsden, 

John  Rutledge. 

1  Were  not  represented  in 
this  congress.  But  their 

>  assemblies  wrote  that  they 
would  agree  to  whatever 

J  was  done  by  the  congress." 


THE  JOURNAL. 

BOSTON,  June,  1765. 

SIR — The  house  of  representatives  of  this 
province,  in  the  present  session  of  general  court, 
have  unanimously  agreed  to  propose  a  meet 
ing,  as  soon  as  may  be,  of  committees  from  the 
houses  of  representatives  or  burgesses,  of  the 
several  British  colonies  on  this  continent,  to 
consult  together  on  the  present  circumstances 
of  the  colonies,  and  the  difficulties  to  which 
they  are  and  must  be  reduced  by  the  operation 
of  the  acts  of  parliament,  for  levying  duties  and 
taxes  on  the  colonies ;  and  to  consider  of  a 
general  and  united,  dutiful,  loyal  and  humble 
representation  of  their  condition  to  his  majesty 
and  to  the  parliament,  and  to  implore  relief. 

The  house  of  representatives  of  this  province 
have  also  voted,  to  propose  that  such  meeting 
be  at  the  city  of  New  York,  in  the  province  of 
New  York,  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  October 
next,  and  have  appointed  the  committee  of 
three  of  their  members  to  attend  that  service, 
with  such  as  the  other  houses  of  representatives 
or  burgesses,  in  the  several  colonies,  may  think 
fit  to  appoint  to  meet  them  :  and  the  committee 
of  the  house  of  representatives  of  this  province, 
are  directed  to  repair  to  the  said  New  York,  on 
the  first  Tuesday  in  October  next,  accordingly : 
if,  therefore  your  honorable  house  should  agree 
to  this  proposal,  it  would  be  acceptable,  that  as 
early  notice  of  it  as  possible  might  be  trans 
mitted  to  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  representa 
tives  of  this  province. 

SAMUEL  WHITE,  Speaker. 

In  consequence  of  the   foregoing    circular 


letter,  the  following  gentlemen  met  at  New 
York,  in  the  province  of  New  York,  on  Monday, 
the  7th  of  October,  1765,  viz: 

From  the  province  (  JAMES  OTIS,  )  t/)- 

of  Massachusetts  \  OLIVER  PARTRIDGE,  V  o* 

•Bay,  (  TIMOTHY  RUGGLES.  )  W 

Who  produced  their  appointment  as  follows,  viz : 

To  James  Otis,  Oliver  Partridge,  and  Timothy 
Ruggles,  Esquires. 

Gentlemen, — The  house  of  representatives  of 
this  province,  have  appointed  you  a  committee 
to  meet  at  New  York  oh  the  first  Tuesday  in 
October  next,  such  committees  as  the  other 
houses  of  representatives  or  burgesses  in  the 
several  colonies  on  this  continent,  may  think  fit 
to  appoint,  to  consult  together  on  the  present 
circumstances  of  the  colonies,  on  the  difficulties 
to  which  they-  are,  and  must  be  reduced  by  the 
operation  of  the  late  acts  of  parliament.  By 
this  choice,  the  house  has  reposed  in  you  a 
trust  of  singular  importance,  and  have  just 
reason  to  expect  you  will  give  your  utmost 
attention  to  it.  In  case  you  should  receive 
advice  that  the  houses  of  representatives  or 
burgesses  of  the  other  colonies,  or  any  of  them, 
agree  to  such  committees,  to  join  you  in  this 
interesting  affair,  you  are  directed  to  repair  to 
New  York  at  the  time  appointed,  and  endeavor 
to  unite  with  them  in  sentiment,  and  agree 
upon  such  representations,  as  may  tend  to  pre 
serve  our  rights  and  privileges.  And  it  is  the 
opinion  of  this  house,  that  no  address  or  repre 
sentation  shall  be  esteemed  the  act  of  this 
house,  unless  it  is  agreed  to  and  signed  by  the 
major  part  of  their  committee. 

If  it  should  be  said,  that  we  are  in  any  man 
ner  represented  in  parliament,  you  must  by  no 
means  concede  to  it ;  it  is  an  opinion  which 
this  house  cannot  see  the  least  reason  to  adopt. 

Further,  the  house  think  that  such  a  repre 
sentation  of  the  colonies  as  British  subjects  are 
to  enjoy,  would  be  attended  with  the  greatest 
difficulty,  if  it  is  not  absolutely  impracticable, 
and  therefore,  you  are  not  to  urge  or  consent 
to  any  proposal  for  any  representation,  if  such 
be  made  in  the  congress. 

It  is  the  expectation  of  the  house,  that  a 
most  loyal  and  dutiful  address  to  his  majesty 
and  the  parliament,  will  be  prepared  by  the 
congress,  praying  as  well  for  the  removal  ot 
the  grievances  the  colonies  labor  under  at  pre 
sent,  as  for  preventing  others  for  the  future ; 
which  petitions,  if  drawn  up,  as  far  as  you 
shall  be  able  to  judge,  agreeable  to  the  mind 
of  the  house,  you  are  empowered  to  sign  and 
forward  ;  and  you  are  to  lay  a  copy  of  the  same 


NEW  YORK. 


157 


before  this  house,  and   make   report  of  your 
proceedings  upon  your  return.* 

It  is  the  hearty  prayer  of  this  house,  that  the 
congress  may  be  endued  with  that  wisdom 
which  is  from  above,  and  that  their  councils  and 
determinations  may  be  attended  with  the  divine 
blessing.  SAMUEL  WHITE,  Speaker. 


he  Colony  of  [METCALF  BOWLER, 
Rhode  Island  and  I  • 

Providence    Plan-     H£NRY  w          £ 
tattons.  l_ 

Wno  produced  the  following  appointment,  viz  : 
By  the  honorable  SAMUEL  WARD,  governor, 
captain  general  and  commander-in-chief  of 
and  over  the  English  colony  of  Rhode  Island 
and  Providence  Plantations  in  New  England 
in  America. 

To    Metcalf  Bowler  and    to   Henry    Ward, 
esquires, 

GREETING  : 

Whereas,  the  general  assembly  of  this  pro 
vince  have  nominated  and  appointed  you,  the 
same  Metcalf  Bowler  and  Henry  Ward,  to  be 
commissioners  in  behalf  of  this  colony  to  meet 
such  commissioners  as  are  or  shall  be  ap 
pointed  by  the  other  British  governments  in 
North  America,  to  meet  at  New  York  the  first 
Tuesday  of  October  next, 

I  do,  therefore,  hereby  authorize  and  em 
power,  and  commissionate  you,  the  said  Met 
calf  Bowler  and  Henry  Ward,  forthwith  to  re 
pair  to  New  York,  and  there,  in  behalf  of  this 
colony,  to  meet  and  join  with  the  other  com 
missioners  in  consulting  together  on  the  pre 
sent  circumstances  of  the  colonies,  and  the 
difficulties  to  which  they  are  and  must  be  re 
duced  by  the  operation  of  the  act  of  parliament 
for  levying  duties  and  taxes  upon  the  colonies  ; 
and  to  consider  of  a  general  and  united,  dutiful, 
loyal  and  humble  representation  to  his  majesty 
and  the  parliament,  and  to  implore  relief.  And 
you  are  also  hereby  empowered  to  conclude 
and  agree  with  the  other  commissioners,  upon 
such  measures  as  you  shall  think  necessary  and 
proper  for  obtaining  redress  of  the  grievances 
of  the  colonies,  agreeably  to  the  instructions 
given  you  by  the  general  assembly  of  this  colony. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  the 
said  colony,  this  sixteenth  day  of  September, 
1765  and  in  the  fifth  year  of  his  majesty's  reign. 
SAMUEL  WARD. 

By  his  honor's  command. 

HENRY  WARD,  Secretary. 

*  The  reader  may  remark  in  all  these  commissions  with 
how  great  authority  the  right  of  instruction  is  assumed. 
-Eo.  REG. 


From  the  col-  f  ELIPHALET  DYER, 
ony  of  Con-  }  DAVID  ROWLAND, 
necticut,  (  WM.  SAML.  JOHNSON,  )  w 

Who  produced  the  following  appointment,  viz  : 
At  a  general  assembly  of  the  governor  and 
company  of  the  colony  of  Connecticut, 
holden  at  Hartford,  by  special  order  of  his 
honor  the  governor  of  said  colony,  on  the 
nineteenth  day  of  September,  Anno  Dom. 
1765. 

Whereas,  it  has  been  proposed  that  a  con 
gress  be  attended  by  commissioners  from  the 
several  governments  on  this  continent,  to  con 
fer  upon  a  general,  united,  humble,  loyal  and 
dutiful  representation  to  his  majesty  and  the 
parliament,  of  the  present  circumstances  of 
the  colonies  and  the  difficulties  to  which  they 
are  and  must  be  reduced  by  the  operation  of 
the  acts  of  parliament  for  laying  duties  and 
taxes  on  the  colonies,  and  to  implore  relief. 

Resolved  by  this  assembly,  That  Eliphalet 
Dyer,  David  Rowland,  and  William  Samuel 
Johnson,  esqrs.,  or  any  two  of  them,  be,  and 
are  hereby  appointed  commissioners,  on  behalf 
of  this  colony,  to  repair  to  New  York  to  attend 
the  proposed  congress,  in  the  matters  above 
referred  to  ;  and  his  honor  is  hereby  desired 
to  commissionate  them  accordingly. 
A  true  copy,  examined  by 

GEORGE  WYLLYS,  Secretary. 

At  a  general  assembly  of  the  governor  and 
company  of  the  colony  of  Connecticut, 
holden  at  Hartford,  by  special  order  of  his 
honor  the  governor  of  the  said  colony,  on  the 
ipth  day  of  September,  Anno  Dom.  1765. 

Instructions  to  the  commissioners  of  this 
colony,  appointed  to  meet  commissioners  from 
the  other  colonies  at  New  York,  on  the  first 
Tuesday  of  October  next : 

Gentlemen. — You  are  to  repair  to  the  said 
city  of  New  York,  at  the  said  time,  or  at  the 
time  which  according  to  the  intelligence  you 
may  receive  of  the  convening  of  the  other  com 
missioners,  it  may  appear  to  you  seasonable 
and  best,  to  consult  together  with  them  on  the 
present  circumstances  of  the  colonies,  and  the 
difficulties  to  which  they  are  and  must  be  re 
duced,,  by  the  operation  of  the  acts  of  parlia 
ment  for  levying  duties  and  taxes  on  the  colo 
nies,  and  to  consider  of  and  prepare  a  general 
and  united,  dutiful,  loyal  and  humble  represen 
tation  of  their  condition  to  his  majesty  and  the 
parliament,  and  to  implore  relief,  etc.  In  your 
proceedings  you  are  to  take  care  that  you  form 
no  such  junction  with  the  other  commissioners 
as  will  subject  you  to  the  major  vote  of  the 
commissioners  present. 


158 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


You  are  to  inform  the  governor  and  general 
assembly  at  the  sessions  in  October  next,  of  all 
such  proceedings,  as  appear  to  you  needful 
and  convenient  to  be  communicated  for  con 
sideration  ;  and  to  observe  all  such  further  in 
structions  as  you  may  receive  ;  and  you  are  to 
report  your  doings  with  the  doings  of  the  com 
missioners  at  such  meeting,  to  the  general  as 
sembly  of  this  colony  for  acceptance  and  ap 
probation. 

A  true  copy,  examined  by 

GEORGE  WYLLYS,  Secretary. 


THOMAS  FITCH,  Esquire,  governor  and  com 
mander  in  chief  of  his  majesty's 
colony  of  Connecticut  in  New-Eng 
land,  in  America, 


(L.  S.) 


To  Eliphalet  Dyer,  David  Rowland,  and  Wil 
liam  Samuel  Johnson,  esquires, 

GREETING  : 

Whereas,  the  general  assembly  of  the 
said  colony  of  Connecticut,  at  their  session 
holden  at  Hartford  on  the  nineteenth  day  of 
this  instant,  September,  nominated  and  ap 
pointed  you,  or  any  two  of  you,  to  be  commis 
sioners  on  behalf  of  this  colony,  to  repair  to 
New-York  to  attend  a  congress  proposed  to  be 
held  there  by  commissioners  from  the  several 
governments  on  this  continent,  to  confer  upon 
a  general  and  united,  loyal,  humble  and  duti 
ful  representation  to  his  majesty  and  the  parlia 
ment,  of  the  present  circumstances  of  the 
colonies,  and  the  difficulties  to  which  they 
are  and  must  be  reduced  by  the  operation  of 
the  acts  of  parliament,  for  levying  duties  and 
taxes  on  the  colonies,  and  to  implore  relief,  etc. 
and  have  desired  me  to  commission  you  ac 
cordingly. 

I  do  therefore,  reposing  a  special  trust  and 
confidence  in  your  loyalty,  ability  and  good 
conduct,  hereby  constitute,  and  authorize  and 
commission  the  said  Eliphalet  Dyer,  David 
Rowland  and  William  Samuel  Johnson,  esquires, 
or  any  two  of  you,  for  and  on  behalf  of  this 
colony,  to  repair  to  the  said  city  of  New  York 
on  the  first  day  of  October  next,  or  at  the  time 
which,  according  to  the  intelligence  you  may 
receive  of  the  convening  of  the  other  commis 
sioners,  may  appear  to  you  seasonable  and  best, 
to  confer  and  consult  with  them  or  such  of 
them  as  shall  be  present  upon  and  convening, 
the  matters  and  things  before  mentioned,  for 
the  purposes  aforesaid ;  wherein  you  are  to 
observe  such  instructions  as  you  have  received, 
or  shall  further  receive  from  the  general  assem 
bly  of  the  said  colony  of  Connecticut,  agreeable 
to  the  important  trust  reposed  in  you. 


Given  under  my  hand,  and  the  public  seal  ot 
said  colony  of  Connecticut,  within  the  same, 
the  twenty-first  day  of  September,  in  the  fifth 
year  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign  lord  George 
the  third,  of  Great  Britain,  France  and  Ireland, 
king,  defender  of  the  faith,  etc.  Anno  Domini, 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-five. 
THOMAS  FITCH. 

By  his  honor's  command 

GEORGE  WYLLYS,  secretary. 

[  ROBERT  R.  LIVINGSTON  ]  ^ 
From  the  col-  |  JOHN  CRUGER, 
onyof  New\  PHILIP  LIVINGSTON, 
York,          |  WILLIAM  BAYARD,          |  w" 
L  LEONARD  LISPENARD,    J  w 

Appeared,  and  informed  the  congress  that 
since  the  above  letter  from  the  speaker  of  the 
house  of  representatives  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
the  general  assembly  of  New-York  have  not 
had  an  opportunity  of  meeting,  but  that  they 
confidently  expect,  from  the  general  sense  of 
the  people,  and  such  of  the  representatives  as 
they  have  had  an  opportunity  of  speaking  to, 
that  when  the  assembly  does  meet,  (which  will 
be  probably  very  soon)  the  congress  will  be 
approved,  and  a  regular  committee  for  the  pur 
pose  appointed ;  in  the  mean  time  they  think 
themselves  in  some  measure  authorized  to 
meet  the  congress,  by  the  following  vote,  viz  : 

Extract  from  the  votes  and  proceedings  of 
the  general  assembly  of  the  colony  of  New  York. 

DIE  SABATI,  ph,  A  M.  the  4th  April,  1761. 

Mr.  Speaker  represented  to  this  house,  that 
his  situation  in  the  country  rendered  it  vastly 
inconvenient  to  him  alone  to  correspond  with 
the  agent  of  this  colony,  at  the  court  of  Great 
Britain,  and  more  especially  so,  during  the 
recess  of  the  house. 

Ordered,  That  the  members  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  or  the  major  part  of  them,  be  a 
committee  of  correspondence  to  correspond 
with  the  agent  of  this  colony  at  the  court  of 
Great  Britain  during  the  recess  of  the  house, 
concerning  the  public  affairs  of  this  colony  ;  and 
that  they  lay  before  the  house  copies  of  all  such 
letters  as  they  may  write  to  him,  and  also  all 
such  letters  and  advices  as  they  may  receive 
from  him  respecting  the  same. 

DIE  Jovis,  ph,  A.  M.  pth  December,  1762. 

Alderman  Livingston,  from  the  committee 
appointed  to  correspond  with  the  agent  of  this 
colony  at  the  court  of  Great  Britain,  acquainted 
the  house,  that  the  committee  conceived  it 
expedient  that  one  or  more  members  should  be 
added  to  the  said  committee  to  correspond 
with  the  said  agent  about  the  affairs  of  this 
colony. 


NEW  YORK. 


159 


Ordered,  That  Robert  R.  Livingston,  esq.  be 
added  to,  and  be  made  one  of  the  said  com 
mittee  of  correspondence. 
DIE  Jovis,  ph,  A.  M.  the    i8th  October,  1764. 

Ordered,  that  the  said  committee  appointed 
to  correspond  with  the  said  agent,  be  also  a 
committee  during  the  recess  of  the  house,  to 
write  to  and  correspond  with  the  several  assem 
blies  or  committees  of  assemblies  on  this  con 
tinent,  on  the  subject  matter  of  the  act,  com 
monly  called  the  stamp  act,  of  the  act  restrain 
ing  paper  bills  of  credit  in  the  colonies,  from 
being  a  legal  tender,  and  of  the  several  other 
acts  of  parliament  lately  passed,  with  relation 
to  the  trade  of  the  northern  colonies  :  and  also 
on  the  subject  of  the  impending  dangers,  which 
threaten  the  colonies  of  being  taxed  by  laws  to 
be  passed  in  Great  Britain. 

Extract  from,  compared  and  examined  with 
the  records  of  the  proceedings  of  the  general 
assembly  of  the  colony  of  New-York. 

By  ABRAHAM  LOTT,  Clerk. 

From  the  col-  (  ROBERT  OGDEN,  )  OT- 
ony  of  New\  HENDRICK  FISHER,  >  £r 
Jersey,  ( JOSEPH  BORDEN,  )  y 

Who  produced  the  following  appointment,  viz  : 
At  a  meeting  of  a  large  number  of  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  colony  of  New- Jersey  at  the 
house  of  Robert  Sproul,  October  3d,  1765  : 
At  the  desire  of  the  speaker  of  the  house  of 
representatives  as  aforesaid,  and  at  the  earnest 
request  of  many  of  our  constitutents,  to  con 
sider  of  some  method  for  humbly,  loyally  and 
dutifully  joining  in  a  petition  to  his  majesty, 
that  he  would  be  graciously  pleased  to  recom 
mend  to  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain  to  re 
dress  our  grievances  by  repealing  several  of  the 
late  acts  of  parliament  affecting  the  northern 
colonies,  particularly  that  called  the  stamp  act. 
Robert  Odgen,  esq.  Hendrick  Fisher,  esq. 
and  Joseph  Borden,  esq.  were  directed  to  at 
tend  at  the  congress  now  met  at  New- York, 
and  join  the  measures  there  to  be  concluded, 
for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  and  to  make  report 
of  their  proceedings  therein,  at  the  next  meeting 
of  the  general  assembly. 

Signed  by  order,        JOHN  LAWRENCE. 

From  the  province  (  JOHN  DICKINSON, 

of  -j  JOHN  MORTON, 

Pennsylvania,      (  GEORGE  BRYAN, 

Who  produced  the  following  appointment  in 
general  assembly,  September  nth,  1765,  A.  M. 
The  house  resumed  the  consideration  of  their 
resolution  of  yesterday,  to  appoint  a  committee 
of  three  or  more  of  their  members,  to  attend 
the  general  congress  of  committees  from  the 


several  assemblies  on  this  continent,  to  be  held 
at  New-York  on  the  first  of  October  next,  and, 
after  some  time  spent  therein, 

Resolved,  That  Mr.  Speaker,  Mr.  Dickinson, 
Mr.  Bryan  and  Mr.  Morton  be,  and  they  are, 
hereby,  nominated  and  appointed  to  that 
service. 

A  true  extract  from  the  journals, 

CHARLES  MOORE. 

Clerk  of  the  assembly. 

Extract  from  the  journals  of  the  house  of  rep 
resentatives  for  the  province  of  Pennsyl 
vania  : 

Wednesday,  September  \\th,  1765,  A.  M. — 
The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  instruc 
tions  for  the  deputies  nominated  by  this  house 
to  attend  the  proposed  congress  at  New-York 
on  the  first  of  next  month,  reported  an  essay 
for  that  purpose,  which  they  presented  to  the 
chair  ;  and  the  same  being  read  and  agreed  to 
by  the  house,  follows  in  these  words,  viz  : 

Instructions  to  the  committee  appointed  to  meet 
the  committees  of  the  other  British  continen 
tal  colonies,  at  New-  York  : 
It  is  desired  by  the  house  that  you  shall,  with 
the  committees  that  have  been  appointed  by 
the  several  British  colonies  on  this  continent  to 
meet  at  New-York,  consult  together  on  the 
present  circumstances  of  the  colonies,  and  the 
difficulties  they  are  and  must  be  reduced  to,  by 
the  late  acts  of  parliament  for  the  levying  du 
ties  and  taxes  upon  these  colonies  ;  and  join 
with  the  said  committees  in  loyal  and  dutiful 
addresses  to  the  king  and  to  the  two  houses  of 
parliament,  humbly  representing  the  condition 
of  these  colonies,  and  imploring  relief,  by  a 
repeal  of  the  said  acts  ;  and  you  are  strictly 
required  to  take  care  that  such  addresses  in 
which  you  join,  are  drawn  up  in  the  most  de 
cent  and  respectful  terms  ;  so  also  avoid  every 
expression  that  can  give  the  least  offence  to 
his  majesty  or  to  either  house  of  parliament. 

You  are  also  directed  to  make  report  of  your 
proceedings  herein  to  the  succeeding  assembly. 
A  true  extract  from  the  journals, 

CHARLES  MOORE, 

Clerk  of  the  assembly. 
September  26th,  1765. 

From  the  government  of  the  counties  of  New 
Castle,  A>«/and  Sus-  (  CESAR  RODNEY,    j  Q 
sex,  on  Delaware,    \  THOMAS  M'KEAN,  /  £j 
Whose  appointment  are  as  follows,  viz : 

Caesar  Rodney  and  Thomas  M'Kean,  esqrs. 
appeared  from  the  government  of  the  counties 
of  New  Castle,  Kent  and  Sussex,  upon  Dela 
ware,  and  informed  this  congress,  that  the 


i6o 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION 


representatives  of  the  said  government  could 
not  meet  in  general  assembly  after  the  above 
letter  was  wrote,  and  before  the  first  day  of 
this  instant:  that  the  said  assembly  consists 
only  of  eighteen  members,  fifteen  of  whom 
have  appointed  the  other  three  to  attend  here, 
&c.  by  three  several  instruments  of  writing, 
which  are  in  the  words  following,  to  wit : 

To  all  whom  these  presents  may  come  : 

KNOW  YE,  That  we,  the  subscribers,  five 
of  the  representatives  of  the  freemen  of  the 
government  of  the  counties  of  New-Castle, 
Kent  and  Sussex,  upon  Delaware,  sensible  of 
the  weighty  and  oppressive  taxes  imposed  upon 
the  good  people  of  this  government  by  divers 
late  acts  of  parliament,  and  of  the  great  in 
fringement  of  the  liberties  and  just  established 
rights  of  all  his  majesty's  colonies  on  this  conti 
nent,  occasioned  by  the  late  measures  in  Eng 
land  ;  and  being  of  opinion  that  the  method 
proposed  by  the  honorable  house  of  assembly 
of  the  province  of  Massachusetts-Bay  is  the 
most  likely  to  obtain  a  redress  of  these  grievan 
ces  ;  and,  taking  into  consideration  the  misfor 
tune  we,  at  present,  labor  under,  in  not  having 
it  in  our  power  to  convene,  as  a  house,  and,  in 
a  regular  manner,  to  appoint  a  committee :  yet, 
zealous  for  the  happiness  of  our  constituents, 
think  it  our  duty,  in  this  way,  to  serve  them  as 
much  as  in  us  lies,  (assured  of  the  hearty  ap 
probation  of  any  future  house  of  assembly  of 
this  government) ;  and,  therefore,  do.  hereby 
nominate  and  appoint  Jacob  Kollock,  Thomas 
M'Kean  and  Caesar  Rodney,  esqrs.  three  of  the 
representatives  of  the  same  government,  a 
committee,  to  repair  to  the  city  of  New-York 
on  the  first  day  in  October  next,  and  there  to 
join  with  the  committee  sent  by  the  other  prov 
inces,  in  one  united  and  loyal  petition  to  his 
majesty,  and  remonstrance  to  the  honorable 
house  of  commons  of  Great  Britain,  against  the 
aforesaid  acts  of  parliament,  therein  dutifully, 
yet  most  firmly,  asserting  the  colonies'  right  of 
exclusion  from  parliamentary  taxation  ;  and 
praying  that  they  may  not,  in  any  instance,  be 
stripped  of  the  ancient  and  most  valuable  privi 
lege  of  a  trial  by  their  peers,  and  most  humbly 
imploring  relief. 

In  testimony  whereof,  we  have  hereunto 
set  our  hands,  at  New-Castle,  the 
twenty-first  day  of  September,  Anno  que 
Domini,  1765. 

EVAN  RICE, 
THOMAS  COOK, 
WILLIAM  ARMSTRONG, 
GEORGE  MONROE, 
JOHN  EVANS. 


Kent  county,  to  wit  : 

WE,  whose  names  are  here  underwritten, 
members  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  counties  of  New-Castle,  Kent 
and  Sussex,  upon  Delaware,  for  the  said  county 
of  Kent,  though  sensible  of  the  impropriety  of 
assuming  the  functions  of  assemblymen  during 
the  recess  of  our  house,  yet,  zealous  to  concur 
in  any  measure  which  may  be  productive  of 
advantage  to  this  government  and  the  other 
British  colonies  on  this  continent  of  America 
in  general,  have  appointed,  and,  as  much  as 
in  us  lies,  do  appoint,  Jacob  Kollock,  esq.  Cas- 
sar  Rodney,  esq.  and  Thomas  M'Kean,  esq. 
members  of  said  assembly,  to  be  a  committee 
to  meet  with  the  other  committees  already  ap 
pointed,  or  to  be  appointed,  by  the  several  and 
respective  assemblies  of  said  other  colonies,  at 
the  city  of  New-York,  on  the  first  Tuesday  in 
October  next,  in  conjunction  with  the  other 
committees,  to  consider  of  the  present  distress 
ful  circumstances  of  the  said  colonies,  occa 
sioned,  in  some  measure,  (as  we  apprehend), 
by  several  late  acts  of  parliament,  and  to  join 
with  them  in  an  humble  address  to  his  most 
gracious  majesty,  and  the  parliament  of  Great 
Britain,  for  the  redress  of  our  grievances,  or  in 
any  other  expedient  that  shall  be  agreed  on,  by 
the  said  committees,  which  may  tend  to  pro 
mote  the  utility  and  welfare  of  the  British  do 
minions  in  America. 

JOHN  VINING, 
JOHN  CATON, 
JOHN  BARNS, 
WILLIAM  KILLEN, 
VINCENT  LOCKERMAN. 
September  \^th,  1765. 

Sussex  county,  to  wit : 

WE,  whose  names  are  here  underwritten, 
members  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  counties  of  New-Castle,  Kent 
and  Sussex,  upon  Delaware,  for  the  said 
county  of  Sussex,  though  sensible  of  the  im 
propriety  of  assuming  the  functions  of  assem 
blymen  during  the  recess  of  our  house,  yet, 
zealous  to  concur  in  any  measure  which  may 
be  productive  of  advantage  to  this  government 
and  the  other  colonies  on  the  continent  of 
America  in  general,  have  appointed,  and,  as 
much  as  in  us  lies,  do  appoint  Jacob  Kollock, 
esq.  Caesar  Rodney,  esq.  and  Thomas  M'Kean, 
esq.  members  of  the  said  assembly,  to  be  a 
committee  to  meet  with  the  other  committees 
already  appointed,  or  to  be  appointed,  by  the 
several  and  respective  assemblies  of  the  said 
other  colonies,  at  the  city  of  New- York,  on  the 
first  Tuesday  in  October  next,  in  conjunction 


NEW   YORK. 


161 


with  the  said  other  committees,  to  consider  of 
the  present  distressful  circumstances  of  the 
said  colonies,  occasioned,  in  some  measure, 
(as  we  apprehend),  by  several  late  acts  of 
parliament  ;  and  to  join  with  them  in  an  hum 
ble  address  to  his  most  gracious  majesty  and 
the  parliament  of  Great  Britain  for  redress  of 
our  grievances  ;  or  on  any  other  expedient, 
that  shall  be  agreed  on  by  the  s'aid  commit 
tees,  which  may  tend  to  promote  the  utility  and 
welfare  of  the  British  dominions  in  America. 

DAVID  HALL, 
BBNJ'N  BURTON, 
LEVIN  CRAPPER, 
THO'S  ROBINSON, 
JACOB  KoLLOCK.jun. 


September 


1765. 


From  the  pro-  l  WILLIAM  MURDOCK, 
vince  of  Ma-\  EDWARD  TILGHMAN, 
ryland,  (  THOMAS  RlNGGOLD, 


W 


Instructions  from  the  honorable  the  lower 
house  of  assembly  of  the  province  of  Mary 
land. 

To  William  Murdock,  Edward  Tilghman  and 
Thomas  Ringgold,  esqrs.  a  committee  ap 
pointed  to  join  the  several  committees  from 
the  several  colonies  in  America,  at  New- 
York  : 

Gentlemen  —  You  are  to  repair  immediately 
to  the  city  of  New-York,  in  the  province  of 
New-York,  and  there  join  with  the  committees 
from  the  houses  of  representatives  of  the  other 
colonies,  in  a  general  and  united,  loyal  and 
humble  representation  to  his  majesty  and  the 
British  parliament,  of  the  circumstances  and 
condition  of  the  British  colonies  and  planta 
tions,  and  to  pray  relief  from  the  burthens  and 
restraints  lately  laid  on  their  trade  and  com 
merce,  and  especially  from  the  taxes  imposed 
by  an  act  of  the  last  session  of  parliament 
granting  and  applying  certain  stamp  duties  and 
other  duties  in  the  British  colonies  and  planta 
tions  in  America,  whereby  they  are  deprived, 
in  some  instances,  of  that  invaluable  privilege 
of  Englishmen  and  British  subjects  —  trials  by 
juries,  that  you  take  care  that  such  representa 
tion  shall  humbly  and  decently,  but  expressly, 
contain  an  assertion  of  the  rights  of  the  colo 
nies  to  be  exempt  from  all  and  every  taxation 
and  imposition  upon  their  persons  and  pro 
perties  to  which  they  do  not  consent  in  a  legis 
lative  way,  either  by  themselves  or  by  their 
representatives,  by  them  freely  chosen  and 
appointed. 

Signed  by  order  of  the  house, 

ROBERT  LLOYD,  Speaker. 
ii 


From  the  province  (  THOMAS  LYNCH, 

of  \  CHRIST'R  GADSDEN, 

South  Carolina.     (  JOHN  RUTLEDGE,      )  W 

Who  produced  the  following  appointment : 

Thursday,  25/7*  July,  1765. — The  house, 
(according  to  order),  took  into  consideration 
the  letter  from  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  rep 
resentatives  of  the of  Massachusetts-bay, 

laid  before  them  on  Friday  last — and,  debate 
arising  thereon,  and  some  time  spent  therein, 
Ordered,  That  the  said  letter  be  referred  to  a 
committee  of  the  following  gentlemen,  viz: 
capt.  Gadsden,  Mr.  Wright,  Mr.  Gaillard,  Mr. 
Wragg,  Mr.  Parsons,  Mr.  Pinckney,  colonel 
Lawrence,  Mr.  Rutledge,  Mr.  Manigault  and 
Mr.  Dray  ton. 

Friday,  26th  July,  1765. — Captain  Gadsden 
reported,  from  the  committee  appointed  to 
consider  of  the  letter  sent  from  the  speaker  of 
the  house  of  representatives  of  the  province  of 
Massachusetts-bay  to  the  speaker  of  this 
house,  and  to  report  their  opinion  thereupon  of 
the  expediency  and  utility  of  the  measures 
therein  proposed,  and  the  best  means  of  effect 
ing  the  relief  therein  mentioned  : 

That  they  are  of  opinion  the  measure  there 
in  proposed  is  prudent  and  necessary,  and 
therefore  recommend  to  the  house  to  send  a 
committee  to  meet  the  committees  from  the 
houses  of  representatives  or  burgesses  of  the 
several  British  colonies  on  the  continent,  at 
New-York,  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  October 
next. 

That  the  said  committee  be  ordered  to  con 
sult  there,  with  those  other  committees,  on  the 
present  circumstances  of  the  colonies,  and  the 
difficulties  which  they  are  and  must  be  re 
duced  to,  by  the  operation  of  the  acts  of  parlia 
ment  for  levying  duties  and  taxes  on  the  colo 
nies,  and  to  consider  of  a  general  and  united, 
loyal  and  humble  representation  of  their  condi 
tion  to  his  majesty  and  the  parliament,  and  to 
implore  relief  that  the  result  of  their  consulta 
tion  shall,  at  their  return,  be  immediately  laid 
before  the  house,  to  be  confirmed  or  not,  as 
the  house  shall  think  proper. 

And  the  said  report  being  delivered  in  at 
the  clerk's  table  and  read  a  second  time,  the 
question  was  severally  put,  that  the  house  do 
agree  to  the  first,  second  and  third  paragraphs 
of  this  report ;  It  was  resolved  in  the  affir 
mative. 

Friday,  2d  August,  1765.— Motion  being 
made,  Resolved,  that  this  house  will  provide  a 
sum  sufficient  to  defray  the  charges  and  ex 
penses  of  a  committee  of  three  gentlemen  on 
account  of  their  going  to,  convening  at,  and 
returning  from  the  meeting  of  the  several  com- 


1 62 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


mittees  proposed  to  assemble  at  New-York  on 
the  ist  Tuesday  in  October  next,  to  consult 
there  with  those  other  committees  on  the  pre 
sent  circumstances  of  the  colonies,  and  the 
difficulties  which  they  are  and  must  be  re 
duced  to  by  the  operation  of  the  acts  of 
parliament  for  levying  duties  and  taxes  on  the 
colonies,  and  to  consider  of  a  general,  united, 
dutiful,  loyal,  and  humble  representation  of 
their  condition  to  his  majesty  and  the  par 
liament,  and  to  implore  relief. 

Ordered,  That  the  public  treasurer  do  ad 
vance  out  of  any  monies  in  his  hands,  to  the 
said  committee,  a  sum  not  exceeding  six-hun 
dred  pounds  sterling,  for  the  purpose  aforesaid. 

Resolved,  That  this  house  will  reimburse  the 
treasurer  the  said  sum. 

Ordered,  That  the  following  gentlemen  be 
appointed  a  committee  for  the  purpose  afore 
said,  viz  :  Mr.  Thomas  Lynch,  Mr.  Christopher 
Gadsden  and  Mr.  John  Rutledge. 

Thursday,  %th  August,  1765. — Ordered,  That 
the  said  speaker  inform  Thomas  Lynch,  Chris 
topher  Gadsden  and  John  Rutledge,  esquires, 
that  they  are  appointed  a  committee  to  meet 
the  committees  of  the  several  other  colo 
nies  on  the  continent,  on  the  first  Tuesday  in 
October  next,  at  New  York ;  and  that  he  do 
acquaint  them  it  is  the  desire  of  the  house,  that 
they  repair  to  New  York  on  the  said  first  Tues 
day  in  October  next,  for  the  purpose  mentioned 
in  the  report  of  the  committee,  as  agreed  to  by 
this  house  on  Friday  the  26th  day  of  July  last. 

Ordered,  That  three  copies  of  the  proceed 
ings  of  this  house  relative  to  the  said  matter, 
be  made  out  and  signed  by  the  speaker,  and 
that  he  deliver  one  of  the  said  copies  to  each 
of  the  said  gentlemen. 

RAW.  LOWNDES,  Speaker. 

Then  the  said  committees  proceeded  to 
choose  a  chairman  by  ballot ;  and  TIMOTHY 
RUGGLES,  esq.  on  sorting  and  counting  the 
votes,  appeared  to  have  a  majority — and  there 
upon  was  placed  in  the  chair. 

Resolved,  nem.  con.  That  Mr.  John  Cotton, 
be  clerk  to  this  congress  during  the  continu 
ance  thereof. 

Then  the  congress  took  into  consideration 
the  several  appointments  of  the  committees 
from  New- York,  New  Jersey,  and  the  govern 
ment  of  the  lower  counties  on  Delaware — and 

Resolved,  nem.  con.  That  the  same  are  suffi 
cient  to  qualify  the  gentlemen  therein  named,  to 
sit  in  the  congress. 

Resolved  also,  That  the  committee  of  each 
colony,  shall  have  one  voice  only,  in  determining 
any  questions  that  shall  rise  in  the  congress. 


Then  the  congress  adjourned  until  to  morrow 
morning,  9  o'clock. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  8th,  1765,  A.  M.— The  con 
gress  met  according  to  adjournment.  Upon 
motion,  voted,  that  provinces  be  *  is  adjourned 
to.  Voted,  that  Mr.  justice  Livingston,  Mr. 
McKean  and  Mr.  Rutledge  be  a  committee  to 
inspect  the  proceedings  and  minutes,  and  cor 
rect  the  same. 

Then  the  congress  took  into  consideration 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  British  Ameri 
can  colonists,  with  the  several  inconveniences 
and  hardships  to  which  they  are  and  must  be 
subjected  by  the  operation  of  several  late  acts 
of  parliament,  particularly  the  act  called  the 
stamp  act ;  and  after  some  time  spent  therein, 
the  same  was  postponed  for  further  considera 
tion. 

Then  the  congress  adjourned  until  to-mor 
row  morning,  9  o'clock. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  gth,  1765,  A.  M. — Then  the 
congress  met  according  to  adjournment.  The 
congress  resumed  the  consideration  of  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  British  American 
colonists,  etc.,  the  same  was  referred  after  sun 
dry  debates,  for  further  consideration. 

Then  the  congress  adjourned  until  to  morrow 
morning,  1 1  o'clock. 

Thursday,  Oct.  loth,  1765,  A.  M. — Then 
the  congress  met  according  to  adjournment,  and 
resumed,  etc.,  as  yesterday — and  then  adjourned 
to  10  o'clock,  to-morrow  morning. 

Friday,  Oct.  nth,  1765,  A.  M. — The  con 
gress  met  according  to  adjournment,  and  re 
sumed,  etc.,  as  yesterday — and  then  adjourned 
to  10  o'clock,  to-morrow  morning.  _ 

Saturday,  Oct.  \2th,  1765,  A.  M. — The  con 
gress  met  according  to  adjournment,  and  re 
sumed,  etc.,  as  yesterday — and  then  adjourned 
to  Monday  morning  next,  10  o'clock. 

Monday,  Oct.  i^th,  1765,  A.  M. — The  con 
gress  met  according  to  adjournment,  and  re 
sumed,  etc.,  as  on  Saturday  last — and  then 
adjourned  to  to-morrow  morning,  9  o'clock. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  i$th,  1765,  A.  M. — The  con 
gress  met  according  to  adjournment,  and 
resumed,  etc.  as  yesterday — and  then  adjourned 
to  to-morrow  morning,  9  o'clock. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  idth,  1765,  A.  M.— The 
congress  met  according  to  adjournment,  and  re 
sumed,  etc.,  as  yesterday — and  then  adjourned 
to  to-morrow  morning,  9  o'clock. 

Thursday,  Oct.  17 'th,  1765,  A.  M. — The  con 
gress  met  according  to  adjournment,  and  re^- 
sumed,  etc.,  as  yesterday — and  then  adjourned 
to  to-morrow  morning,  9  o'clock. 

Friday,  Oct.  \%th,  1765,  A.  M.—  The  con- 
*  There  appears  to  be  some  error  here.— ED.  REG. 


NEW   YORK. 


163 


gress  met  according  to  adjournment,  and  re 
sumed,  etc.,  as  yesterday — and  then  adjourned 
to  to-morrow  morning,  9  o'clock. 

Saturday,  Oct.  igth,  1765,  A.  M. — The  con 
gress  met  according  to  adjournment,  and  re 
sumed,  etc.,  as  yesterday  ;  and  upon  mature 
deliberation,  agreed  to  the  following  declara 
tions  of  the  rights  and  grievances  of  the  colo 
nists  in  America,  which  were  ordered  to  be 
inserted. 

The  members  of  this  congress,  sincerely 
devoted,  with  the  warmest  sentiments  of 
affection  and  duty  to  his  majesty's  person  and 
government  ;  inviolably  attached  to  the  present 
happy  establishment  of  the  protestant  succes 
sion,  and  with  minds  deeply  impressed  by  a 
sense  of  the  present  and  impending  misfortunes 
of  the  British  colonies  on  this  continent ;  hav 
ing  considered  as  maturely  as  time  would  per 
mit,  the  circumstances  of  the  said  colonies, 
esteem  it  our  indispensable  duty  to  make  the 
following  declarations,  of  our  humble  opinion, 
respecting  the  most  essential  rights  and  liber 
ties  of  the  colonists,  and  of  the  grievances 
under  which  they  labor,  by  reason  of  several 
late  acts  of  parliament. 

1st.  That  his  majesty's  subjects  in  these 
colonies,  owe  the  same  allegiance  to  the  crown 
of  Great  Britain,  that  is  owing  from  his  sub 
jects  born  within  the  realm,  and  all  due  subor 
dination  to  that  august  body,  the  parliament 
of  Great  Britain. 

2d.  That  his  majesty's  liege  subjects  in 
these  colonies  are  entitled  to  all  the  inherent 
rights  and  privileges  of  his  natural  born  sub 
jects  within  the  kingdom  of  Great  Britain. 

3d.  That  it  is  inseparably  essential  to  the 
freedom  of  a  people,  and  the  undoubted  rights 
of  Englishmen,  that  no  taxes  should  be  imposed 
on  them,  but  with  their  own  consent,  given 
personally,  or  by  their  representatives. 

4th.  That  the  people  of  these  colonies  are 
not,  and  from  their  local  circumstances,  cannot 
be  represented  in  the  house  of  commons  in 
Great  Britain. 

5th.  That  the  only  representatives  of  the 
people  of  these  colonies,  are  persons  chosen 
therein,  by  themselves  ;  and  that  no  taxes  ever 
have  been,  or  can  be  constitutionally  imposed 
on  them,  but  by  their  respective  legislatures. 

6th.  That  all  supplies  to  the  crown,  being  free 
gifts  of  the  people,  it  is  unreasonable  and  in 
consistent  with  the  principles  and  spirit  of  the 
British  constitution,  for  the  people  of  Great 
Britain  to  grant  to  his  majesty  the  property  of 
the  colonists. 

7th.  That  trial  by  jury  is  the  inherent  and 


invaluable  right  of  every  British  subject  in  these 
colonies. 

8th.  That  the  late  act  of  parliament,  entitled, 
an  act  for  granting  and  applying  certain  stamp 
duties,  and  other  duties  in  the  British  colonies 
and  plantations  in  America,  etc.,  by  imposing 
taxes  on  the  inhabitants  of  these  colonies,  and 
the  said  act,  and  several  other  acts,  by  extend 
ing  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  admiralty 
beyond  its  ancient  limits,  have  a  manifest  ten 
dency  to  subvert  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the 
colonists. 

9th.  That  the  duties  imposed  by  several  late 
acts  of  parliament,  from  their  peculiar  circum 
stances  of  these  colonies,  will  be  extremely 
burthensome  and  grievous,  and  from  the  scar 
city  of  specie,  the  payment  of  them  absolutely 
impracticable. 

loth.  That  as  the  profits  of  the  trade  of  these 
colonies  ultimately  centre  in  Great  Britain,  to 
pay  for  the  manufactures  which  they  are  obliged 
to  take  from  thence,  they  eventually  contribute 
very  largely  to  all  supplies  granted  there  to  the 
crown. 

nth.  That  the  restrictions  imposed  by  seve 
ral  late  acts  of  parliament,  on  the  trade  of 
these  colonies,  will  render  them  unable  to  pur 
chase  the  manufactures  of  Great  Britain. 

1 2th.  That  the  increase,  prosperity  and  hap 
piness  of  these  colonies,  depend  on  the  full  and 
free  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  liberties,  and 
an  intercourse,  with  Great  Britain,  mutually 
affectionate  and  advantageous. 

I3th.  That  it  is  the  right  of  the  British  sub 
jects  in  these  colonies,  to  petition  the  king  or 
either  house  of  parliament. 

Lastly,  That  it  is  the  indispensable  duty  of 
these  colonies  to  the  best  of  sovereigns,  to  the 
mother  country,  and  to  themselves,  to  endeavor 
by  a  loyal  and  dutiful  address  to  his  majesty, 
and  humble  application  to  both  houses  of  par 
liament,  to  procure  the  repeal  of  the  act  for 
granting  and  applying  certain  stamp  duties,  of 
all  clauses  of  any  other  acts  of  parliament, 
whereby  the  jurisdiction  of  the  admiralty  is 
extended  as  aforesaid,  and  of  the  other  late 
acts  for  the  restriction  of  the  American  com 
merce. 

Upon  motion,  voted,  that  Robert  R.  Living 
ston,  William  Samuel  Johnson  and  William 
Murdock,  Esqrs.  be  a  committee  to  prepare  an 
address  to  his  majesty,  and  lay  the  same  before 
the  congress  on  Monday  next. 

Voted  also,  that  John  Rutledge,  Edward 
Tilghman  and  Philip  Livingston,  Esqrs.  be  a 
committee  to  prepare  a  memorial  and  petition 
to  the  lords  in  parliament,  and  lay  the  same 
before  the  congress  on  Monday  next. 


164 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


Voted  also,  that  Thomas  Lynch,  James  Otis 
and  Thomas  McKean,  Esqrs.  be  a  committee 
to  prepare  a  petition  to  the  house  of  commons 
of  Great  Britain,  and  lay  the  same  before  the 
congress  on  Monday  next. 

Then  the  congress  adjourned  to  Monday 
next,  at  twelve  o'clock. 

Monday,  Oct.  21  st,  1765,  A.  M. — The  com 
mittee  appointed  to  prepare  and  bring  in  an 
address  to  his  majesty,  did  report,  that  they 
have  essayed  a  draught  for  that  purpose,  which 
they  laid  on  the  table,  and  humbly  submitted 
to  the  correction  of  the  congress. 

The  said  address  was  read,  and,  after  sun 
dry  amendments,  the  same  was  approved  of 
by  the  congress,  and  ordered  to  be  engrossed. 

The  committee,  appointed  to  prepare  and 
bring  in  a  memorial  and  petition  to  the  lords 
in  parliament  did  report  that  they  had  essayed 
a  draught  for  that  purpose,  which  they  laid  on 
the  table,  and  humbly  submitted  to  the  correc 
tion  of  the  congress. 

The  said  address  was  read,  and  after  sundry 
amendments,  the  same  was  approved  of  by 
the  congress,  and  ordered  to  be  engrossed. 

The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  and 
bring  in  a  petition  to  the  house  of  commons  of 
Great  Britain,  did  report  that  they  had  essayed 
a  draught  for  that  purpose,  which  they  laid  on 
the  table,  and  humbly  submitted  to  the  correc 
tion  of  the  congress. 

The  said  address  was  read,  and  after  sundry 
amendments,  the  same  was  approved  of  by  the 
congress,  and  ordered  to  be  engrossed. 

Then  the  congress  adjourned  to  to-morrow 
morning,  at  9  o'clock. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  22d,  1765,  A,  M. — The  con 
gress  met  according  to  adjournment.  The 
address  to  his  majesty  being  engrossed,  was 
read  and  compared,  and  is  as  follows,  viz  : 

To  the  King's  Most  Excellent  Majesty, 
The  petition  of  the  freeholders  and  other  in 
habitants  of  the  Massachusets  Bay,  Rhode 
Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  the  government  of  the 
counties  of  New  Castle,  Kent  and  Sussex 
upon  Delaware,  and  province  of  Maryland,* 

Most  humbly  sheweth, 

That  the  inhabitants  of  these  colonies,  unan 
imously  devoted  with  the  warmest  sentiments 
of  duty  and  affection  to  your  sacred  person 
and  government,  and  inviolably  attached  to  the 
present  happy  establishment  of  the  protestant 
succession  in  your  illustrious  house,  and  deeply 
sensible  of  your  royal  attention  to  their  pros- 

*  South  Carolina,  we  presume,  is  omitted  in  the 
copy.— ED. 


perity  and  happiness,  humbly  beg  leave  to 
approach  the  throne,  by  representing  to  your 
majesty,  that  these  colonies  were  originally 
planted  by  subjects  of  the  British  crown  :  who, 
animated  with  the  spirit  of  liberty,  encouraged 
by  your  majesty's  royal  predecessors,  and  con 
fiding  in  the  public  faith  for  the  enjoyment  of 
all  the  rights  and  liberties  essential  to  freedom, 
emigrated  from  their  native  country  to  this  con 
tinent,  and,  by  their  successful  perseverance 
in  the  midst  of  innumerable  dangers  and  diffi 
culties,  together  with  a  profusion  of  their  blood 
and  treasure,  have  happily  added  these  vast  and 
extensive  dominions  to  the  empire  of  Great 
Britain. 

That,  for  the  enjoyment  of  these  rights  and 
liberties,  several  governments  were  early  formed 
in  the  said  colonies,  with  full  power  of  legisla 
tion,  agreeably  to  the  principles  of  the  English 
constitution ; — that  under  those  governments, 
these  liberties,  thus  vested  in  their  ancestors, 
and  transmitted  to  their  posterity,  have  been 
exercised  and  enjoyed,  and  by  the  inestimable 
blessings  thereof,  under  the  favor  of  Almighty 
God,  the  inhospitable  deserts  of  America  have 
been  converted  into  flourishing  countries ; 
science,  humanity  and  the  knowledge  of  divine 
truths  diffused  through  remote  regions  of 
ignorance,  infidelity,  barbarism  ;  the  number  of 
British  subjects  wonderfully  increased,  and  the 
wealth  and  power  of  Great  Britain  proportion- 
ably  augmented. 

That,  by  means  of  these  settlements  and  the 
unparalleled  success  of  your  majesty's  arms,  a 
foundation  is  now  laid  for  rendering  the  British 
empire  the  most  extensive  and  powerful  of  any 
recorded  in  history ;  our  connection  with  this 
empire  we  esteem  our  greatest  happiness  and 
security,  and  humbly  conceive  it  may  now  be  so 
established  by  your  royal  wisdom,  as  to  endure 
to  the  latest  period  of  time  ;  this  with  the  most 
humble  submission  to  your  majesty,  we  appre 
hend  will  be  most  effectually  accomplished  by 
fixing  the  pillars  thereof  on  liberty  and  justice, 
and  securing  the  inherent  rights  and  liberties 
of  your  subjects  here,  upon  the  principles  of 
the  English  constitution.  To  this  constitution 
these  two  principles  are  essential ;  the  right  of 
your  faithful  subjects  freely  to  grant  your 
majesty  such  aids  as  are  required  for  the  sup 
port  of  your  government  over  them,  and  other 
public  exigencies,  and  trials  by  their  peers.  By 
the  one  they  are  secured  from  unreasonable 
impositions,  and  by  the  other  from  the  arbitrary 
decisions  of  the  executive  power.  The  con 
tinuation  of  these  liberties,  to  the  inhabitants  of 
America,  we  ardently  implore,  as  absolutely 
necessary  to  unite  the  several  parts  of  your  wide 


NEW  YORK. 


I65 


extended  dominions,  in  that  harmony  so  essen 
tial  to  the  preservation  and  happiness  of  the 
whole.  Protected  in  these  liberties,  the  emolu 
ments  Great  Britian  receives  from  us,  however 
great  at  present,  are  inconsiderable,  compared 
with  those  she  has  the  fairest  prospect  of  ac 
quiring-.  By  this  protection,  she  will  forever 
secure  to  herself  the  advantages  of  conveying 
to  all  Europe,  the  merchandise  which  America 
furnishes,  and  for  supplying,  through  the  same 
channel,  whatsoever  is  wanted  from  thence. 
Here  opens  a  boundless  source  of  wealth  and 
naval  strength.  Yet  these  immense  advan 
tages,  by  the  abridgement  of  those  invaluable 
rights  and  liberties,  by  which  our  growth  has 
been  nourished,  are  in  danger  of  being  forever 
lost,  and  our  surbordinate  legislatures  in  effect 
rendered  useless  by  the  late  acts  of  parliament 
imposing  duties  and  taxes  on  these  colonies, 
and  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts 
of  admiralty  here,  beyond  its  ancient  limits  ; 
statutes,  by  which  your  majesty's  commons  in 
Britain  undertake  absolutely  to  dispose  of  the 
property  of  their  fellow  subjects  in  America 
without  their  consent,  and  for  the  enforcing 
whereof,  they  are  subjected  to  the  determina 
tion  of  a  single  judge,  in  court  unrestrained  by 
the  wise  rules  of  the  common  law,  the  birth 
right  of  Englishmen,  and  the  safeguard  of 
their  persons  and  their  properties. 

The  invaluable  rights  of  taxing  ourselves  and 
trial  by  our  peers,  of  which  we  implore  your 
majesty's  protection,  are  not,  we  most  humbly 
conceive,  unconstitutional,  but  confirmed  by 
the  Great  Charter  of  English  liberties.  On  the 
first  of  these  rights  the  honorable  house  of  com 
mons  found  their  practice  of  originating  money  ; 
a  right  enjoyed  by  the  kingdom  of  Ireland,  by 
the  clergy  of  England,  until  relinquished  by 
themselves  ;  a  right,  in  fine,  which  all  other 
your  majesty's  English  subjects,  both  within 
and  without  the  realm,  have  hitherto  enjoyed. 

With  hearts,  therefore,  impressed  with  the 
most  indelible  characters  of  gratitude  to  your 
majesty,  and  to  the  memory  of  the  kings  of 
your  illustrious  house,  whose  reigns  have  been 
signally  distinguished  by  their  auspicious  influ 
ence  on  the  prosperity  of  the  British  dominions, 
and  convinced  by  the  most  affecting  proofs  of 
your  majesty's  paternal  love  to  all  your  people, 
however  distant,  and  your  unceasing  and  be 
nevolent  desires  to  promote  their  happiness, 
we  most  humbly  beseech  your  majesty  that  you 
will  be  graciously  pleased  to  take  into  your 
royal  consideration  the  distresses  of  your  faith 
ful  subjects  on  this  continent,  and  to  lay  the 
same  before  your  majesty's  parliament,  and  to 
afford  them  such  relief,  as  in  your  royal  wisdom 


their  unhappy  circumstances  shall  be  judged 
to  require. 

And  your  petitioners  will  pray,  etc. 
The  memorial   to   the  lords   in   parliament 
being  engrossed,  was  read  and  compared,  and 
is  as  follows,  viz : 

To  the  Right  Honorable,  the  Lords  Spiritual 
and  Temporal  of  Great  Britain,  in  parlia 
ment  assembled. 

The  memorial  of  the  freeholders  and  other 
inhabitants  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode 
Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  New-Jer 
sey,  Pennsylvania,  the  government  of  the 
counties  of  New-Castle,  Kent  and  Sussex 
upon  Delaware,  and  province  of  Maryland,  in 
America. 

Most  humbly  sheweth, 

That  his  majesty's  liege  subjects  in  his 
American  colonies,  though  they  acknowledge 
a  due  subordination  to  that  august  body,  the 
British  parliament,  are  entitled,  in  the  opinion, 
of  your  memorialists,  to  all  the  inherent  rights 
and  liberties  of  the  natives  of  Great  Britain, 
and  have,  ever  since  the  settlement  of  the  said 
colonies,  exercised  those  rights  and  liberties,  as 
far  as  their  local  circumstances  would  permit. 

That  your  memorialists  humbly  conceive 
that  one  of  the  most  essential  rights  of  these 
colonists,  which  they  have  ever  till  lately  unin 
terruptedly  enjoyed,  to  be  trial  by  jury. 

That  your  memorialists  also  humbly  conceive 
another  of  these  essential  rights,  to  be  the 
exemption  from  all  taxes,  but  such  as  are 
imposed  on  the  people  by  the  several  legisla 
tures  in  these  colonies,  which  rights  they 
have  also,  till  of  late  enjoyed.  But  your 
memorialists  humbly  beg  leave  to  represent 
to  your  lordships,  that  the  act  for  granting 
certain  stamp  duties  in  the  British  colonies  In 
America,  etc.,  fills  his  majesty's  American 
subjects  with  the  deepest  concern,  as  it  tends 
to  deprive  them  of  the  two  fundamental  and 
invaluable  rights  and  liberties  above  mentioned; 
a»d  that  several  other  late  acts  of  parliament, 
which  extend  the  jurisdiction  and  power  of 
courts  of  admiralty  in  the  plantations  beyond 
their  limits  in  Great  Britain,  thereby  make  an 
unnecessary,  unhappy  distinction,  as  to  the 
modes  of  trial  between  us  and  our  fellow  sub 
jects  there,  by  whom  we  never  have  been 
excelled  in  duty  and  loyalty  to  our  sovereign. 

That,  from  the  natural  connection  between 
Great  Britain  and  America,  the  perpetual  con 
tinuance  of  which  your  memorialists  most 
ardently  desire,  they  conceive  that  nothing  can 
conduce  more  to  the  interest  of  both,  than  the 


i66 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS   OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


colonists'  free  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and 
liberties,  and  an  affectionate  intercourse  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  them.  But  your 
memorialists  (not  waiving  their  claim  to  these 
rights,  of  which,  with  the  most  becoming  ven 
eration  and  deference  to  the  wisdom  and  jus 
tice  of  your  lordships,  they  apprehend--  they 
cannot  reasonably  be  deprived)  humbly  repre 
sent,  that  from  the  peculiar  circumstances  of 
these  colonies,  the  duties  imposed  by  the 
aforesaid  act,  and  several  other  late  acts  of 
parliament,  are  extremely  grievous  and  bur- 
thensome ;  and  the  payment  of  the  several 
duties  will  very  soon,  for  want  of  specie,  be 
come  absolutely  impracticable :  and  that  the 
restrictions  on  trade  by  the  said  acts,  will  not 
only  distress  the  colonies,  but  must  be  ex 
tremely  detrimental  to  the  trade  and  true 
interest  of  Great  Britain. 

Your  memorialists,  therefore,  impressed  with 
a  just  sense  of  the  unfortunate  circumstances 
of  the  colonies,  the  impending  destructive 
consequences  which  must  necessarily  ensue 
from  the  execution  of  these  acts,  and  animated 
with  the  warmest  sentiments  of  filial  affection 
for  their  mother  country,  most  earnestly  and 
humbly  entreat  your  lordships  will  be  pleased 
to  hear  their  council  in  support  of  this  memo 
rial,  and  take  the  premises  into  your  most 
serious  consideration,  and  that  your  lordships 
will  also  be  thereupon  pleased  to  pursue  such 
measures  for  restoring  the  just  rights  and 
liberties  of  the  colonies,  and  preserving  them 
forever  inviolate,  for  redressing  their  present, 
and  preventing  future  grievances,  thereby  pro 
moting  the  united  interest  of  Great  Britain  and 
America,  as  to  your  lordships,  in  your  great 
wisdom,  shall  seem  most  conducive,  and  effec 
tual  to  that  important  end. 

And  your  memorialists  will  pray,  etc. 

Then  the  congress  adjourned  to  to-morrow 
morning,  9  o'clock. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  23  J,  1765,  A.  M.—  The 
congress  met  according  to  adjournment. 

The  petition  to  the  house  of  commons  being 
engrossed,  was  read  and  compared,  and  is  a* 
follows,  viz  : 

To  the  Honorable  the  Knights,  Citizens  and 
Burgesses  of  Great  Britain,  in  parliament 
assembled. 

The  petition  of  his  majesty's  dutiful,  loyal  sub 
jects,  the  freeholders  and  other  inhabitants 
of  the  colonies  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay, 
Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  the  government 
of  the  counties  of  New  Castle,  Kent,  and 


Sussex  upon   Delaware,   and    province    of 
Maryland,  in  America, 

Most  humbly  sheweth, 

That  the  several  late  acts  of  parliament, 
imposing  divers  duties  and  taxes  on  the  colo 
nies,  and  laying  the  trade  and  commerce  under 
very  burthensome  restrictions,  but  above  all, 
the  act  for  granting  and  applying  certain  stamp 
duties  in  America,  have  rilled  them  with  the 
deepest  concern  and  surprise,  and  they  humbly 
conceive  the  execution  of  them  will  be  attended 
with  consequences  very  injurious  to  the  com 
mercial  interest  of  Great  Britain  and  her  colo 
nies,  and  must  terminate  in  the  eventual  ruin 
of  the  latter.  Your  petitioners,  therefore,  most 
ardently  implore  the  attention  of  the  honorable 
house  to  the  united  and  dutiful  representation 
of  their  circumstances,  and  to  their  earnest 
supplications  for  relief  from  their  regulations 
that  have  already  involved  this  continent  in 
anxiety,  confusion,  and  distress.  We  most  sin 
cerely  recognize  our  allegiance  to  the  crown, 
and  acknowledge  all  due  subordination  to  the 
parliament  of  Great  Britain,  and  shall  always 
retain  the  most  grateful  sense  of  their  assis 
tance  and  approbation ;  it  is  from  and  under 
the  English  constitution  we  derive  all  our  civil 
and  religious  rights  and  liberties  ;  we  glory  in 
being  subjects  of  the  best  of  kings,  having  been 
born  under  the  most  perfect  form  of  government. 
But  it  is  with  the  most  ineffable  and  humiliating 
sorrow  that  we  find  ourselves  of  late,  deprived 
of  the  right  of  granting  our  own  property  for 
his  majesty's  service,  to  which  our  lives  and 
fortunes  are  entirely  devoted,  and  to  which  on 
his  royal  requisitions,  we  have  been  ready  to 
contribute  to  the  utmost  of  our  abilities. 

We  have  also  the  misfortune  to  find,  that  all 
the  penalties  and  forfeitures  mentioned  in  the 
stamp  act,  and  divers  late  acts  of  trade  ex 
tending  to  the  plantations,  are,  at  the  election  of 
the  informers,  recoverable  in  any  court  of  ad 
miralty  in  America.  This,  as  the  newly  erected 
court  of  admiralty  has  a  general  jurisdiction 
over  all  British  America,  renders  his  majesty's 
subjects  in  these  colonies,  liable  to  be  carried 
at  an  immense  expense  from  one  end  of  the 
continent  to  the  other.  It  always  gives  us  great 
pain  to  see  a  manifest  distinction  made  therein 
between  the  subjects  of  our  mother  country 
and  the  colonies,  in  that  the  like  penalties  and 
forfeitures  recoverable  there  only  in  his  maj 
esty's  courts  of  record,  are  made  cognizable 
here  by  a  court  of  admiralty.  By  this  means 
we  seem  to  be  in  effect,  unhappily  deprived  of 
two  privileges  essential  to  freedom,  and  which 
all  Englishmen  have  ever  considered  as  their 


NEW  YORK. 


best  birth-rights  ;  that  of  being  free  from  all 
taxes  but  such  as  they  have  consented  to  in 
person,  or  by  their  representatives,  and  of  trial 
by  their  peers. 

Your  petitioners  further  shew,  that  the 
remote  situation  and  other  circumstances  of 
the  colonies,  render  it  impracticable  that  they 
should  be  represented  but  in  their  respective 
subordinate  legislatures,  and  they  humbly  con 
ceive  that  the  parliament  adhering  strictly  to 
the  principle  of  the  constitution,  have  never 
hitherto  taxed  any  but  those  who  were  therein 
actually  represented :  for  this  reason,  we  hum 
bly  apprehend,  they  never  have  taxed  Ireland, 
nor  any  other  of  the  subjects  without  the  realm. 
— But  were  it  ever  so  clear,  that  the  colonies 
might  in  law  be  reasonably  represented  in  the 
honorable  house  of  commons,  yet  we  conceive 
that  very  good  reasons  from  inconvenience, 
from  the  principles  of  true  policy,  and  from  the 
spirit  of  the  British  constitution,  may  be  adduced 
to  shew,  that  it  would  be  for  the  real  interest 
of  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  her  colonies,  that 
the  late  regulations  should  be  rescinded,  aed 
the  several  acts  of  parliament  imposing1  duties 
and  taxes  on  the  colonies,  and  extending  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  admiralty  here 
beyond  their  ancient  limits,  should  be  repealed. 

We  shall  not  attempt  a  minute  detail  of  all 
the  reasons  which  the  wisdom  of  the  honorable 
house  may  suggest,  on  this  occasion,  but  would 
humbly  submit  the  following  particulars  to  their 
consideration  : 

That  money  is  already  very  scarce  in  these 
colonies,  and  is  still  decreasing  by  the  necessary 
exportation  of  specie  from  the  continent  for  the 
discharging  of  our  debts  to  British  merchants, 
that  an  immensely  heavy  debt  is  yet  due  from 
the  colonies  for  British  manufactures,  and  that 
they  are  still  heavily  burthened  with  taxes  to 
discharge  the  arrearages  due  for  aids  granted 
by  them  in  the  late  war ;  that  the  balance  of 
trade  will  ever  be  much  against  the  colonies, 
and  in  favor  of  Great  Britain,  whilst  we  con 
sume  her  manufactures  ;  the  demand  of  which 
must  ever  increase  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  inhabitants  settled  here,  with  the  means  of 
purchasing  them.  We  therefore  humbly  con 
ceive  it  to  be  the  interest  of  Great  Britain  to 
increase  rather  than  diminish  those  means,  as 
the  profit  of  all  the  trade  of  the  colonies  ulti 
mately  centre  there  to  pay  for  her  manu 
factures,  as  we  are  not  allowed  to  purchase 
elsewhere,  and  by  the  consumption  of  which, 
at  the  advanced  prices  the  British  taxes  oblige 
the  makers  and  venders  to  set  on  them,  we 
eventually  contribute  very  largely  to  the  reve 
nues  of  the  crown. 


That,  from  the  nature  of  American  business, 
the  multiplicity  of  suits  and  papers  used  in  mat 
ters  of  small  value,  in  a  country  where  freeholds 
are  so  minutely  divided,  and  property  so 
frequently  transferred,  a  stamp  duty  must  be 
ever  very  burthensome  and  unequal. 

That  it  is  extremely  improbable  that  the 
honorable  house  of  commons  should  at  all 
times  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with  our  condi 
tion,  and  all  facts  requisite  to  a  just  and  equal 
taxation  of  the  colonies. 

It  is  also  humbly  submitted  whether  there 
be  not  a  material  distinction,  in  reason  and 
sound  policy  at  least,  between  the  necessary 
exercise  of  parliamentary  jurisdiction  in  general 
acts,  and  the  common  law,  and  the  regulations 
of  trade  and  commerce,  through  the  whole 
empire,  and  the  exercise  of  that  jurisdiction  by 
imposing  taxes  on  the  colonies. 

That  the  several  subordinate  provincial  legis 
latures  have  been  moulded  into  forms  as  nearly 
resembling  that  of  the  mother  country,  as  by 
his  majesty's  royal  predecessors  was  thought 
convenient ;  and  these  legislatures  seem  to  have 
been  wisely  and  graciously  established,  that  the 
subjects  in  the  colonies  might,  under  the  due 
administration  thereof,  enjoy  the  happy  fruits 
of  the  British  government,  which  in  their  pres 
ent  circumstances  they  cannot  be  so  fully  and 
clearly  availed  of  any  other  way. 

Under  these  forms  of  government  we  and 
our  ancestors  have  been^born  or  settled,  and 
have  had  our  lives,  liberties  and  properties  pro 
tected  ;  the  people  here  as  every  where  else, 
retain  a  great  fondness  of  their  old  customs 
and  usages,  and  we  trust  that  his  majesty's 
service,  and  the  interest  of  the  nation,  so  far 
from  being  obstructed,  have  been  vastly  pro 
moted  by  the  provincial  legislatures. 

That  we  esteem  our  connection  with  and 
dependence  on  Great  Britain,  as  one  of  our 
greatest  blessings ;  and  apprehend  the  latter 
will  be  sufficiently  secure,  when  it  is  considered 
that  the  inhabitants  in  the  colonies  have  the 
most  unbounded  affection  for  his  majesty's  per 
son,  family  and  government,  as  well  as  for  the 
mother  country,  and  that  their  subordination 
to  the  parliament  is  universally  acknowledged. 

We,  therefore,  most  humbly  entreat  that  the 
honorable  house  would  be  pleased  to  hear  our 
council  in  support  of  this  petition,  and  take  our 
distressed  and  deplorable  case  into  their  serious 
consideration,  and  that  the  acts  and  clauses  of 
acts  so  grievously  restraining  our  trade  and 
commerce,  imposing  duties  and  taxes  on  our 
property,  and  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court  of  admiralty  beyond  its  ancient  limits, 
may  be  repealed  ;  or  that  the  honorable  house 


1 68 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


would  otherwise  relieve  your  petitioners  as  in 
your  great  wisdom  and  goodness  shall  seem 
meet. 

And  your  petitioners  shall  ever  pray,  etc. 

Then  the  congress  adjourned  until  to-mor 
row  morning,  10  o'clock. 

Thursday,  Oct.  ztfh,  1765,  A.  M—  The 
congress  met  according  to  adjournment. 

The  congress  took  into  consideration  the 
manner  in  which  their  several  petitions  should 
be  preferred  and  solicited  in  Great  Britain,  and 
thereupon  came  to  the  following  determina 
tion,  viz : 

It  is  recommended  by  the  congress  to  the 
several  colonies  to  appoint  special  agents  for 
soliciting  relief  from  their  present  grievances, 
and  to  unite  their  utmost  interest  and  endeavors 
for  that  purpose. 

Voted  unanimously,  that  the  clerk  of  this 
congress  sign  the  minutes  of  their  proceedings, 
and  deliver  a  copy  for  the  use  of  each  colony 
and  province. 

By  order  of  the  congress, 

JOHN  COTTON,  Clerk. 

A  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  the  province  of 
New-Hampshire,  as  transmitted  to  the  con 
gress. 

Province    of    New  <  In  the  house  of  represen- 
Hampshire,  \    tatives,  June  2<)th,  1765. 

Mr.  Speaker  laid  before  the  house  a  letter 
from  the  honorable  Speaker  of  the  honorable 
representatives  of  the  province  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Bay,  to  the  speaker  of  this  assembly, 
proposing  a  meeting  of  committees  from  the 
several  assemblies  of  the  British  colonies  on 
the  continent,  at  New- York,  to  consider  of  a 
general,  united,  dutiful,  loyal  and  humble  rep 
resentation  of  our  committees,  and  for  implor 
ing  his  majesty  and  the  parliament  for  relief; 
which  being  read, 

Resolved,  That,  notwithstanding  we  are  sen 
sible  that  such  a  representation  ought  to  be 
made,  and  approve  of  the  proposed  method 
for  obtaining  thereof,  yet  the  present  situation 
of  our  governmental  affairs,  will  not  permit  us 
to  appoint  a  committee  to  attend  such  meet 
ing;  but  shall  be  ready  to  join  in  any  address, 
to  his  majesty  and  the  parliament  we  may  be 
honored  with  the  knowledge  of,  probable  to 
answer  the  proposed  end. 

A.  CLARKSON,  Clerk. 

A  copy  of  a  letter  received  from  Georgia, 
during  the  sitting  of  the  congress  : 

Savannah,  in  Georgia,  September  6th,  1765. 

SIR — Your  letter  dated  in  June  last,  acquaint 
ing  me  that  the  house  of  representatives  of 


your  province,  had  unanimously  agreed  to  pro 
pose  a  meeting  at  the  city  of  New  York,  of 
committees  from  the  houses  of  representatives 
of  the  several  British  colonies  on  this  continent, 
on  the  first  Tuesday  in  October  next,  to  consult 
together  on  the  present  circumstances  of  the 
colonies,  and  the  difficulties  to  which  they  are 
and  must  be  reduced  by  the  operation  of  the 
acts  of  parliament,  for  laying  duties  and  taxes 
on  the  colonies,  and  to  consider  of  an  humble 
representation  of  their  condition  to  his  majesty 
and  the  parliament,  and  to  implore  relief,  came 
to  hand  at  an  unlucky  season,  it  being  in  the 
recess  of  the  general  assembly  of  this  province. 
Nevertheless,  immediately  upon  the  receipt  of 
your  letter,  I  dispatched  expresses  to  the  seve 
ral  representatives  of  this  province,  acquaint 
ing  them  with  the  purport  thereof,  and  re 
questing  them  to  meet  at  this  place  without 
delay. 

And  accordingly  they  met  here  on  Monday 
last,  to  the  number  of  sixteen,  being  a  large 
majority  of  the  representatives  of  this  province  ; 
the  whole  consisting  of  twenty-five  persons, 
but  his  excellency  our  governor,  being  applied 
to,  did  not  think  it  expedient  to  call  them  to 
gether  on  the  occasion  ;  which  is  the  reason  of 
not  sending  a  committee  as  proposed  by  your 
house,  for  you  may  be  assured,  no  representa 
tives  on  this  sentiment  can  more  sincerely  con 
cur  in  the  measures  proposed,  than  do  the  rep 
resentatives  of  the  province  now  met  together : 
neither  can  any  people,  as  individuals,  more 
warmly  espouse  the  common  cause  of  the  colo 
nies,  than  do  the  people  of  this  province. 

The  gentlemen  now  present,  request  it  as  a 
favor,  you'll  be  pleased  to  send  me  a  copy  of 
such  representation  as  may  be  agreed  upon  by 
the  several  committees  at  New  York,  and 
acquaint  me  how,  and  in  what  manner  the 
same  is  to  be  laid  before  the  king  and  parlia 
ment  ;  whether  by  any  person  particularly 
authorized  for  that  purpose,  or  by  the  colony 
agents  ?  The  general  assembly  of  this  prov 
ince  stands  prorogued  to  the  22d  day  of  Octo 
ber  next,  which  is  the  time  it  generally  meets 
for  the  dispatch  of  the  ordinary  business  of  the 
province  ;  and  I  doubt  not  the  representatives 
of  this  province  will  then,  in  their  legislative  ca 
pacity,  take  under  consideration  the  grievances 
so  justly  complained  of,  and  transmit  their  sense 
of  the  same  to  Great  Britain,  in  such  way  as 
may  seem  best  calculated  to  obtain  redress, 
and  so  as  to  convince  the  sister  colonies  of 
their  inviolable  attachment  to  the  common 
cause. 

I  am,  sir,  your  most  obedient  and  most  hum 
ble  servant,  ALEX.  WYLLY. 


NEW  YORK. 


169 


To  Samuel  White,  esqr.  speaker  of  the  ) 
house  of  representatives  of  Massachu-  > 
setts  Bay,  in  New  England.  j 

The  two  foregoing  letters,  are  true  copies 
from  the  original. 

Attest,  JOHN  COTTON,  Clerk. 


ASSOCIATION      OF      THE      SONS      OF 
LIBERTY 

To    THE    PUBLIC. 

New  York,  December  15,  1773. 

The  following  association  is  signed  by  a  great 
number  of  the  principal  gentlemen  of  the 
city,  merchants,  lawyers,  and  other  inhabi 
tants  of  all  ranks,  and  it  is  still  carried  about 
the  city,  to  give  an  opportunity  to  those  who 
have  not  yet  signed  to  unite  with  their  fel 
low-citizens,  to  testify  their  abhorrence  to 
the  diabolical  project  of  enslaving  America. 

The    association  of  the   Sons  of  Liberty  of 
New  York. 

It  is  essential  to  the  freedom  and  security  of 
a  free  people,  that  no  taxes  be  imposed  upon 
them  but  by  their  own  consent,  or  their  repre 
sentatives.  For  "  what  property  have  they 
in  that  which  another  may,  by  right,  take 
when  he  pleases  to  himself?  "  The  former  is 
the  undoubted  right  of  Englishmen,  to  secure 
which  they  expended  millions  and  sacrificed 
the  lives  of  thousands.  And  yet,  to  the  aston 
ishment  of  all  the  world,  and  the  grief  of 
America,  the  commons  of  Great  Britain,  after 
the  repeal  of  the  memorable  and  detestable 
stamp-act,  reassumed  the  power  of  imposing 
taxes  on  the  American  colonies  ;  and,  insisting 
on  it  as  a  necessary  badge  of  parliamentary 
supremacy,  passed  a  bill,  in  the  seventh  year 
of  his  present  majesty's  reign,  imposing  duties 
on  all  glass,  painters'  colors,  paper  and  teas, 
that  should,  after  the  2oth  of  November,  1767, 
be  "  imported  from  Great  Britain  into  any 
colony  or  plantation  in  America."— This  bill, 
after  the  concurrence  of  the  lords,  obtained  the 
royal  assent.  And  thus  they  who,  from  time 
immemorial,  have  exercised  the  right  of  giving 
to,  or  withholding  from  the  crown,  their  aids 
and  subsidies,  according  to  their  own  free  will 
and  pleasure,  signified  by  their  representatives 
in  parliament,  do,  by  the  act  in  question,  deny 
us,  their  brethren  in  America,  the  enjoyment 
of  the  same  right.  As  this  denial,  and  the  ex 
ecution  of  that  act,  involves  our  slavery,  and 
would  sap  the  foundation  of  our  freedom, 
whereby  we  should  become  slaves  to  our 


brethren  and  fellow  subjects,  born  to  no 
greater  stock  of  freedom  than  the  Americans 
— the  merchants  and  inhabitants  of  this  city, 
in  conjunction  with  the  merchants  and  inhabi 
tants  of  the  ancient  American  colonies,  entered 
into  an  agreement  to  decline  a  part  of  their  com 
merce  with  Great  Britain,  until  the  above  men 
tioned  act  should  be  totally  repealed.  This 
agreement  operated  so  powerfully  to  the  dis 
advantage  of  the  manufacturers  of  England 
that  many  of  them  were  unemployed.  To  ap 
pease  their  clamors,  and  to  provide  the  subsis 
tence  for  them,  which  the  non-importation  had 
deprived  them  of,  the  parliament,  in  1770,  re 
pealed  so  much  of  the  revenue  act  as  imposed 
a  duty  on  glass,  painters'  colors,  and  paper, 
and  left  the  duty  on  tea,  as  a  test  of  the  parlia 
mentary  right  to  tax  us.  The  merchants  of 
the  cities  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  hav 
ing  strictly  adhered  to  the  agreement,  so  far 
as  it  is  related  to  the  importation  of  articles 
subject  to  an  American  duty,  have  convinced 
the  ministry,  that  some  other  measures  must 
be  adopted  to  execute  parliamentary  supremacy 
over  this  country,  and  to  remove  the  distress 
brought  on  the  East  India  company,  by  the  ill- 
policy  of  that  act.  Accordingly,  to  increase 
the  temptation  to  the  shippers  of  tea  from 
England,  an  act  of  parliament  passed  the  last 
session,  which  gives  the  whole  duty  on  tea,  the 
company  were  subject  to  pay,  upon  the  impor 
tation  of  it  into  England,  to  the  purchasers  and 
exporters  ;  and  when  the  company  have  ten 
millions  of  pounds  of  tea,  in  their  ware-houses 
exclusive  of  the  quantity  they  may  want  to  ship, 
they  are  allowed  to  export  tea,  discharged 
from  the  payment  of  that  duty,  with  which 
they  were  before  chargeable.  In  hopes  of  aid 
in  the  execution  of  this  project,  by  the  influence 
of  the  owners  of  the  American  ships,  applica 
tion  was  made  by  the  company  to  the  captains 
of  those  ships  to  take  the  tea  on  freight ;  but 
they  virtuously  rejected  it.  Still  determined  on 
the  scheme,  they  have  chartered  ships  to  bring 
the  tea  to  this  country,  which  may  be  hourly 
expected,  to  make  an  important  trial  of  our 
virtue.  If  they  succeed  in  the  sale  of  that  tea, 
we  shall  have  no  property  that  we  can  call  our 
own,  and  then  we  may  bid  adieu  to  American 

liberty. Therefore,  to  prevent  a  calamity 

which,  of  all  others,  is  the  most  to  be  dreaded 
—  slavery,  and  its  terrible  concomitants — 
we,  the  subscribers,  being  influenced  from  a 
regard  to  liberty,  and  disposed  to  use  all  lawful 
endeavors  in  our  power,  to  defeat  the  pernici 
ous  project,  and  to  transmit  to  our  posterity, 
those  blessings  of  freedom  which  our  ances 
tors  have  handed  down  to  us  ;  and  to  contri- 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


bute  to  the  support  of  the  common  liberties  of 
America,  which  are  in  danger  to  be  subverted, 
do,  for  those  important  purposes,  agree  to  as 
sociate  together,  under  the  (name  and  style  of 
the  sons  of  New  York,  and  engage  our  honor 
to,  and  with  each  other  faithfully  to  observe 
and  perform  the  following  resolutions,  viz. 

ist.  Resolved,  That  whoever  shall  aid,  or 
abet,  or  in  any  manner  assist,  in  the  introduc 
tion  of  tea,  from  any  place  whatsoever,  into 
this  colony,  while  it  is  subject,  by  a  British  act 
of  parliament,  to  the  payment  of  a  duty,  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  a  revenue  in  America,  he 
shall  be  deemed  an  enemy  to  the  liberties  of 
America. 

2d.  Resolved,  That  whoever  shall  be  aiding, 
or  assisting,  in  the  landing,  or  carting  of  such 
tea,  from  any  ship,  or  vessel,  or  shall  hire  any 
house,  store-house,  or  cellar  or  any  place  what 
soever,  to  deposit  the  tea,  subject  to  a  duty  as 
aforesaid,  he  shall  be  deemed  an  enemy  to  the 
liberties  of  America. 

3d.  Resolved,  That  whoever  shall  sell,  or 
buy,  or  in  any  manner  contribute  to  the  sale, 
or  purchase  of  tea,  subject  to  a  duty  as  afore 
said,  or  shall  aid,  or  abet,  in  transporting  such 
tea,  by  land  or  water,  from  this  city,  until  the 
7th  George  III.  chap.  46,  commonly  called  the 
revenue  act,  shall  be  totally  and  clearly  repealed, 
he  shall  be  deemed  an  enemy  to  the  liberties 
of  America. 

4th.  Resolved,  That  whether  the  duties  on 
tea,  imposed  by  this  act,  be  paid  in  Great 
Britain  or  in  America,  our  liberties  are  equally 
affected. 

5th.  Resolved,  That  whoever  shall  transgress 
any  of  these  resolutions,  we  will  not  deal 
with,  or  employ,  or  have  any  connection  with 
him. 

MEETING 

OF  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  NEW  YORK,  JULY 

6,  1774- 
At  a  numerous  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of 

the  city  of  New-York,  convened  in  the  fields, 

by  public  advertisement,  on  Wednesday  the 

6th  of  July,  1774, 

MR.  ALEXANDER  M'DOUGALL  chairman— 

The  business  of  the  meeting  being  fully  ex 
plained  by  the  chairman,  and  the  dangerous 
tendency  of  the  numerous  and  vile  arts  used  by 
the  enemies  of  America,  to  divide  and  distract 
her  councils,  as  well  as  the  misrepresentations 
of  the  virtuous  intentions  of  the  citizens  of  this 
metropolis,  in  this  interesting  and  alarming 
state  of  the  liberties  of  America,  the  following 
resolutions  were  twice  read,  and  the  question 


being  separately  put  on  each  of  them,  they 
were  passed  without  one  dissentient. 

i  st.  Resolved,  nem.  con.  That  the  statute 
commonly  called  the  Boston  port  act,  is  op 
pressive  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  town,  uncon 
stitutional  in  its  principles,  and  dangerous  to  the 
liberties  of  British  America  ;  and  that  therefore, 
we  consider  our  brethren  at  Boston  as  now 
suffering  in  the  common  cause  of  these  colonies. 

2d.  Resolved,  nem.  con.  That  any  attack  or 
attempt  to  abridge  the  liberties,  or  invade  the 
constitution  of  any  of  our  sister  colonies  is 
immediately  an  attack  upon  the  liberties  and 
constitution  of  all  the  British  colonies. 

3d.  Resolved,  nem.  con.  That  the  shutting 
up  of  any  of  the  ports  in  America,  with  intent 
to  exact  from  Americans,  a  submission  to 
parliamentary  taxations,  or  extort  a  reparation 
of  private  injuries,  is  highly  unconstitutional, 
and  subversive  of  the  commercial  rights  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  continent. 

4th.  Resolved,  nem.  con.  That  it  is  the  opin 
ion  of  this  meeting,  that  if  the  principal  colonies 
on  this  continent,  shall  come  into  a  joint  reso 
lution,  to  stop  all  importation  from,  and  expor 
tation  to  Great  Britain,  till  the  act  of  parliament 
for  blocking  up  the  harbor  of  Boston  be  re 
pealed,  the  same  will  prove  the  salvation  of 
North  America  and  her  liberties,  and  that,  on 
the  other  hand,  if  they  continue  their  exports 
and  imports,  there  is  great  reason  to  fear  that 
fraud,  power,  and  the  most  odious  oppression, 
will  rise  triumphant  over  right,  justice,  social 
happiness,  and  freedom  : — Therefore, 

5th.  Resolved,  nem.  con.  That  the  deputies 
who  shall  represent  this  colony  in  the  congress 
of  American  deputies,  to  be  held  at  Philadel 
phia,  about  the  first  of  September  next,  are 
hereby  instructed,  empowered,  and  directed  to 
engage  with  a  majority  of  the  principal  colo 
nies,  to  agree,  for  this  city,  upon  a  non-impor 
tation  from  Great  Britain,  of  all  goods,  wares  and 
merchandises,  until  the  act  for  blocking  up  the 
harbor  of  Boston  be  repealed,  and  American 
grievances  be  redressed  ;  and  also  to  agree  to 
all  such  other  measures  as  the  congress  shall, 
in  their  wisdom,  judge  advansive  of  these  great 
objects,  and  a  general  security  of  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  America. 

6th.  Resolved,  nem.  con.  That  this  meeting 
will  abide  by,  obey,  and  observe  all  such  resolu 
tions,  determinations,  and  measures,  which  the 
congress  aforesaid  shall  come  into,  and  direct 
or  recommend  to  be  done,  for  obtaining  and 
securing  the  important  ends  mentioned  in  the 
foregoing  resolutions.  And  that  an  engage 
ment  to  this  effect  be  immediately  entered  into 
and  sent  to  the  congress,  to  evince  to  them, 


NEW  YORK. 


171 


our  readiness  and  determination  to  co-operate 
with  our  sister  colonies,  for  the  relief  of  our 
distressed  brethren  of  Boston,  as  well  as  for  the 
security  of  our  common  rights  and  privileges. 

7th.  Resolved,  nem.  con.  That  it  is  the 
opinion  of  this  meeting,  that  it  would  be  proper 
for  every  county  in  the  colony,  without  delay, 
to  send  two  deputies,  chosen  by  the  people,  or 
from  the  committee,  chosen  by  them  in  each 
county,  to  hold  in  conjunction  with  deputies 
for  this  city  and  county,  a  convention  for  the 
colony  (on  a  day  to  be  appointed)  in  order  to 
elect  a  proper  number  of  deputies,  to  represent 
the  colony  in  the  general  congress  :  but  that,  if 
the  counties  shall  conceive  this  mode  impracti 
cable,  or  inexpedient,  they  be  requested  to  give 
their  approbation  to  the  deputies  who  shall  be 
chosen  for  this  city  and  county,  to  represent 
the  colony  in  congress. 

8th.  Resolved,  nem.  con.  That  a  subscrip 
tion  should  immediately  be  set  on  foot,  for  the 
relief  of  such  poor  inhabitants  of  Boston  as  are, 
or  may  be  deprived  of  the  means  of  subsist 
ence,  by  the  operation  of  the  act  of  parliament 
for  stopping  up  the  port  at  Boston.  The  money 
which  shall  arise  from  such  subscription,  to  be 
laid  out  as  the  city  committee  of  correspondence 
shall  think  will  best  answer  the  end  proposed. 

9th.  Resolved,  nem.  con.  That  the  city  com 
mittee  of  correspondence  be,  and  they  are 
hereby  instructed  to  use  their  utmost  endeavors 
to  carry  these  resolutions  into  execution. 

Ordered,  That  these  resolutions  be  printed 
in  the  public  newspapers  of  this  city,  and  trans 
mitted  to  the  different  counties  in  this  colony, 
and  to  the  committees  of  correspondence,  for 
the  neighboring  colonies. 

New- York,  July  7,  1774. 
On  Monday  evening  the  committee  met  and 
nominated  five  gentlemen  as  delegates  at  the 
grand  congress  on  the  first  of  next  September, 
who  are  to  be  proposed  to  the  citizens  sum 
moned  to  assembly  this  day  at  12  o'clock,  at 
the  city  hall,  for  their  approbation  ;  or  to  make 
such  alterations  as  may  be  agreed  upon. 


LETTER, 

From  the  committee  of  New  York,  to  the  lord 
mayor,  aldermen,  and  common  council  of  Lon 
don,  laid  before  the  court  of  common  council 
by  the  mayor,  on  the  2$d  of  June,  1775. 

COMMITTEE  CHAMBER,  i 

NEW-YORK,  May  5,  1775.  f 
My  Lord  and  Gentlemen — Distinguished  as 
you  are,  by  your  noble  exertions  in  the  cause 


of  liberty,  and  deeply  interested  in  the  expiring 
commerce  of  the  empire,  you -necessarily  com 
mand  the  most  respectful  attention.  The 
general  committee  of  association,  for  the  city 
and  county  of  New  York,  beg  leave,  therefore, 
to  address  you,  and  the  capital  of  the  British 
empire,  through  its  magistrates,  on  the  subject 
of  American  wrongs.  Born  to  the  bright  inher 
itance  of  English  freedom,  the  inhabitants  of 
this  extensive  continent,  can  never  submit  to 
the  ignominious  yoke,  nor  move  in  the  galling 
fetters  of  slavery.  The  disposal  of  their  own 
property,  with  perfect  spontaneity,  and  in  a 
manner  wholly  divested  of  every  appearance 
of  constraint,  is  their  indefeasible  birthright. 
This  exalted  blessing,  they  are  resolutely  de 
termined  to  defend  with  their  blood,  and  trans 
fer  it,  uncontaminated,  to  their  posterity. 

You  will  not  then,  wonder  at  their  early  jeal 
ousy  of  the  design,  to  erect  in  this  land  of 
liberty,  a  despotism  scarcely  to  be  paralleled 
in  the  pages  of  antiquity,  or  the  volumes  of 
modern  times ;  a  despotism,  consisting  in 
power,  assumed  by  the  representatives  of  a 
part  of  his  majesty's  subjects,  at  their  sover 
eign  will  and  pleasure,  to  strip  the  rest  of 
their  property  : — and  what  are  the  engines  of 
administration  to  execute  this  destructive  pro 
ject  ?  The  duty  on  tea  ;  oppressive  restraints 
on  the  commerce  of  the  colonies  ;  the  blockade 
of  the  port  of  Boston ;  the  change  of  internal 
police  in  the  Massachusetts,  and  Quebec,  the 
establishment  of  popery  in  the  latter ;  the 
extension  of  its  bounds ;  the  ruin  of  our  In 
dian  commerce,  by  regulations  calculated  to 
aggrandize  that  arbitrary  government ;  uncon 
stitutional  admiralty  jurisdiction  throughout 
the  colonies ;  the  invasion  of  our  right  to  a 
trial,  in  the  most  capital  cases,  by  a  jury  of  the 
vicinage ;  the  horrid  contrivance  to  screen 
from  punishment  the  bloody  executioners  of 
ministerial  vengeance  ;  and  not  to  mention  the 
rest  of  the  black  catalogue  of  our  grievances, 
the  hostile  operations  of  an  army,  who  have 
already  shed  the  blood  of  our  countrymen. 
The  struggles  excited  by  the  detestable  stamp 
act,  have  so  lately  demonstrated  to  the  world 
that  Americans  will  not  be  slaves ;  that  we 
stand  astonished  at  the  gross  impolicy  of  the 
minister. — Recent  experience  had  evinced,  that 
the  possessors  of  this  extensive  continent 
would  never  submit  to  a  tax,  by  pretext  of 
legislative  authority  in  Britain  ;  disguise,  there 
fore,  became  the  expedient.  In  pursuit  of  the 
same  end,  parliament  declared  their  absolute 
supremacy  in  attempting  to  raise  a  revenue, 
under  the  specious  pretence  of  providing  for 
their  good  government  and  defence.  Admin- 


172 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


istration,  to  exhibit  a  degree  of  moderation, 
purely  ostensible  and  delusory,  while  they 
withdrew  their  hands  from  our  most  necessary 
articles  of  importation,  determined  with  an 
eager  grasp  to  hold  the  duty  on  tea,  as  a 
badge  of  their  taxative  power.  Zealous  on  our 
part,  for  an  indissoluble  union  with  the  parent 
state,  studious  to  promote  the  glory  and  happi 
ness  of  the  empire,  impressed  with  a  just 
sense  of  the  necessity  of  a  controlling  autho 
rity  to  regulate  and  harmonize  the  discordant 
commercial  interests  of  its  various  parts ;  we 
cheerfully  submit  to  a  regulation  of  commerce, 
by  the  legislature  of  a  parent  state,  excluding, 
in  its  nature,  every  idea  of  taxation. 

Whither,  therefore,  the  present  machinations 
of  arbitrary  power  infallibly  tend,  you  may 
easily  judge  ;  if  unremittedly  pursued,  as  they 
were  inhumanly  devised,  they  will,  by  a  fatal 
necessity,  terminate  in  a  total  dissolution  of  the 
empire. 

The  subjects  of  the  country  will  not,  we 
trust,  be  deceived  by  any  measures  conciliatory 
in  appearance,  while  it  is  evident  that  the  min 
ister  aims  at  a  sordid  revenue,  to  be  raised  by 
grievous  and  oppressive  acts  of  parliament,  and 
by  fleets  and  armies  employed  to  enforce  the 
execution.  They  never  will,  we  believe,  submit 
to  an  auction  on  the  colonies,  for  the  more 
effectual  augmentation  of  the  revenue,  by  hold 
ing  it  up  as  a  temptation  to  them,  that  the 
highest  bidder  shall  enjoy  the  greatest  share 
of  government  favor.  This  plan,  as  it  would 
tend  to  sow  the  seeds  of  discord,  would  be  far 
more  dangerous  than  hostile  force,  in  which  we 
hope  the  king's  troops  will  ever  be,  as  they 
have  already  been,  unsuccessful.  Instead  of 
those  unusual,  extraordinary,  and  unconstitu 
tional  modes  of  procuring  levies  from  the  sub 
jects,  should  his  majesty  graciously  be  pleased, 
upon  suitable  emergencies,  to  make  requisi 
tions  in  ancient  form,  the  colonies  have  ex 
pressed  their  willingness  to  contribute  to  the 
support  of  the  empire — but  to  contribute  of 
their  voluntary  gift,  as  Englishmen  ;  and  when 
our  unexampled  grievances  are  redressed,  our 
prince  will  find  his  American  subjects  testify 
ing,  on  all  proper  occasions,  by  as  ample  aids 
as  their  circumstances  will  permit,  the  most 
unshaken  fidelity  to  their  sovereign,  and  invio 
lable  attachment  to  the  welfare  of  his  realm 
and  dominions.  Permit  us  further  to  assure 
you  that  America  is  grown  so  irritable  by  op 
pression,  that  the  least  shock,  in  any  part,  is  by 
the  most  powerful  and  sympathetic  affection, 
instantaneously  felt  through  the  whole  conti 
nent.  That  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  New 
York,  have  already  stopped  their  exports  to  the 


fishing  islands,  and  those  colonies,  which  at 
this  dangerous  juncture,  have  refused  to  unite 
with  their  brethren  in  the  common  cause  ;  and 
all  supplies  to  the  navy  and  army  at  Boston  ; 
and  that  probably  the  day  is  at  hand,  when 
our  continental  congress  will  totally  shut  up 
our  ports. 

The  minions  of  power  here,  may  now  inform 
administration,  if  they  can  ever  speak  the  lan 
guage  of  truth,  that  this  city  is  as  one  man  in 
the  cause  of  liberty  ;  that  to  this  end,  our  in 
habitants  are  almost  unanimously  bound  by 
the  inclosed  association  ;  that  it  is  continually 
advancing  to  perfection,  by  additional  subscrip 
tions;  that  they  are  resolutely  bent  on  sup 
porting  their  committee,  and  the  intended  pro 
vincial  and  continental  congresses ;  that  there 
is  not  the  least  doubt  of  the  efficacy  of  their 
example  in  the  other  colonies ;  in  short,  that 
while  the  whole  continent  are  ardently  wish 
ing  for  peace  on  such  terms  as  can  be  acceded 
to  by  Englishmen,  they  are  indefatigible  in 
preparing  for  the  last  appeal.  That  such 
are  the  language  and  conduct  of  our  fellow- 
citizens,  will  be  further  manifested  by  a  repre 
sentation  of  the  lieutenant  governor  and  coun 
cil  of  the  ist  inst.  to  general  Gage,  at  Boston, 
and  to  his  majesty's  ministers  by  the  packet. 
Assure  yourselves,  my  lord  and  gentlemen, 
that  we  speak  the  real  sentiments  of  the  con 
federated  colonies  on  the  continent,  from  Nova 
Scotia  to  Georgia,  when  we  declare,  that  all 
the  horrors  of  a  civil  war,  will  never  compel 
America  to  submit  to  taxation,  by  authority  of 
parliament. 

A  sincere  regard  to  the  public  weal,  and  the 
cause  of  humanity  ;  in  hearty  desire  to  spare 
the  further  effusion  of  human  blood ;  our  loy 
alty  to  our  prince,  and  the  love  we  bear  to  all  our 
fellow  subjects  in  his  majesty's  realm  and  do 
minions  ;  a  full  conviction  of  the  warmest 
attachment  in  the  capital  of  the  empire,  to  the 
cause  of  justice  and  liberty,  have  induced  us  to 
address  you  on  this  momentous  subject,  confi 
dent  that  the  same  cogent  motives  will  induce 
the  most  vigorous  exertions  of  the  city  of  Lon 
don  to  restore  union,  mutual  confidence,  and 
peace  to  the  whole  empire. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be,  my  lord  and  gen 
tlemen,  your  most  obedient  and  affectionate 
fellow-subjects,  and  humble  servants, 

ISAAC  Low,  Chairman. 

John  Jay,  Frederick  Lewis,  John  Alsop, 
Philip  Livingston,  James  Duane,  E.  Duyckorch, 
William  Seton,  William  W.  Ludlow,  Cornelius 
Clopper,  Abm.  Brinkerhoff,  Henry  Remsen, 
Robert  Ray,  Ever.  Bancker,  Joseph  Totten, 


NEW  YORK. 


173 


Abm.  P.  Lott,  David  Buckman,  Isaac  Rooswelt, 
Gabriel  H.  Ludlow,  Wm.  Walton,  Daniel 
Phenix,  Frederick  Jay,  Samuel  Broome,  Jno. 
De  Lancey,  Alexander  M'Dougall,  Jno.  Reade, 
Joseph  Bull,  George  Janeway,  John  White, 
Gab.  W.  Ludlow,  John  Lasher,  Theoph.  An 
thony,  Thomas  Smith,  Richard  Yates,  Oliver 
Templeton,  Jacobus  Van  Landby,  Jeremiah 
Platt,  Peter  S.  Curtenius,  Thos.  Randall,  Aug. 
V.  Home,  Ab.  Duryee,  Samuel  Verplanck, 
Rudolphus  Ritzeman,  John  Morton,  Joseph 
Hellett,  Robert  Benson,  Abraham  Brasher, 
Leonard  Lispenard,  Thomas  Marstory,  Nicho 
las  Hoffman,  P.  V.  B.  Livingston,  Lewis  Pin- 
tard,  John  Imlay,  Eleazer  Miller,  jun.  John 
Broom,  John  B.  Moore,  Nicholas  Bogert,  John 
Anthony,  Victor  Bicker,  William  Goforth,  Her 
cules  Mulligen,  Nich.  Roosevelt,  Corn.  P.  Low, 
Francis  Basset,  James  Beekman,  Thomas 
Ivers,  William  Denning,  John  Berrien,  Benja 
min  Helme,  William  W.  Gilbert,  Dan.  Duns- 
comb,  John  Lamb,  Rich.  Sharp,  John  Morin 
Scott,  Jacob  Vanvoorstis,  Comfort  Sands, 
Edward  Fleming,  Lancaster  Burling,  Benj. 
Kissauv,  Jacob  Lefferts,  Ant.  Van  Dane,  Abra 
ham  Walton,  Hamilton  Young,  Peter  Goelet, 
Gerret  Kitettas,  Thomas  Buchanan,  James 
Desbrosses,  jun.  Petrus  Byvanck,  Laurence 
Embren. 

To  the  right  honorable  the  lord  mayor,  the 

aldermen,  and  common  council  of  the  city 

of  London. 


PASTORAL    LETTER 

OF  SYNOD  OF  NEW  YORK  AND  PHILADEL 
PHIA,  JUNE  29TH,  1775. 

The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
published  a  pastoral  letter,  which  was  read  in 
the  churches  under  their  care  on  Thursday, 
June  29,  1775,  being  the  day  of  the  general 
fast.  This  letter  begins  with  entreating  all 
ranks  of  people  to  acknowledge  their  sins,  and 
turn  from  the  errors  of  their  ways  :  and  "  as  the 
whole  continent,  with  hardly  any  exception, 
seem  determined  to  defend  their  rights  by 
force  of  arms,  it  becomes  the  peculiar  duty  of 
those  who  profess  a  willingness  to  hazard  their 
lives  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  to  be  prepared  for 
death,  which  to  many  must  be  a  certain,  and 
to  every  one  is  a  possible  or  probable  event. 
It  is  well  known  to  you,  (otherwise  it  would  be 
imprudent  thus  publicly  to  profess)  that  we  have 
not  been  instrumental  in  inflaming  the  minds 
of  the  people,  or  urging  them  to  acts  of  vio 
lence  and  disorder.  Perhaps  no  instance  can 


be  given  on  so  interesting  a  subject,  in  which 
political  sentiments  have  been  so  long  and  so 
fully  kept  from  the  pulpit,  and  even  malice  itself 
has  not  charged  us  with  laboring  for  the  press  ; 
but  things  are  now  come  to  such  a  height, 
that  we  do  not  wish  to  conceal  our  opinions  as 
men.  Suffer  us  therefore  to  exhort  you,  by 
assuring  you,  that  there  is  no  army  so  formid 
able  as  those  who  are  superior  to  the  fear  of 
death.  Let  therefore  every  one  who,  from 
generosity  of  spirit,  or  benevolence  of  heart, 
offers  himself  as  a  champion  in  his  country's 
cause,  be  persuaded  to  reverence  the  Lord  of 
Hosts,  and  walk  in  the  fear  of  the  Prince  of  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  and  then  he  may,  with  the 
most  unshaken  firmness,  expect  the  issue  even 
in  death  or  victory. 


ADDRESS 

OF  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS  OF  NEW  YORK  TO 
HIS  EXCELLENCY  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

NEW  YORK,  July  3,  1773. 

The  following  address  of  the  provincial  con 
gress  of  the  colony  of  New  York,  was  presented 
on  the  a6th  ult.  to  his  excellency  George  Wash 
ington,  generalissimo  of  all  the  forces  in  the 
confederated  colonies  of  America. 

"  May  it  please  your  excellency  : — At  a  time 
when  the  most  loyal  of  his  majesty's  subjects, 
from  a  regard  to  the  laws  and  constitution,  by 
which  he  sits  on  the  throne,  feel  themselves 
reduced  to  the  unhappy  necessity  of  taking  up 
arms  to  defend  their  dearest  rights  and  privi 
leges  ;  while  we  deplore  the  calamities  of  this 
divided  empire,  we  rejoice  in  the  appointment 
of  a  gentleman,  from  whose  abilities  and  virtue, 
we  are  taught  to  expect  both  security  and 
peace. 

"  Confiding  in  you,  sir,  and  in  the  worthy 
generals  immediately  under  your  command,  we 
have  the  most  flattering  hopes  of  success  in  the 
glorious  struggle  for  American  liberty,  and  the 
fullest  assurances,  that  whenever  this  important 
contest  shall  be  decided,  by  that  fondest  wish 
of  each  American  soul,  an  accommodation  with 
our  mother  country,  you  will  cheerfully  resign 
the  important  deposit  committed  into  your 
hands,  and  reassume  the  character  of  our 
worthiest  citizen. 
By  order, 

P.  V.  B.  LIVINGSTON,  Pres't. 

WASHINGTON'S  REPLY. 

To  the  above  address,  his  excellency  returned 
the  following  answer : 


174 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE    REVOLUTION. 


"  Gentlemen : — At  the  same  time  that  with 
you  I  deplore  the  unhappy  necessity  of  such  an 
appointment,  as  that  with  which  I  am  now 
honored,  I  cannot  but  feel  sentiments  of  the 
highest  gratitude  for  this  affecting  instance  of 
distinction  and  regard. 

"  May  your  warmest  wishes  be  realized  in 
the  success  of  America,  at  this  important  and 
interesting  period ;  and  be  assured,  that  every 
exertion  of  my  worthy  colleagues  and  myself, 
will  be  equally  extended  to  the  re-establish 
ment  of  peace  and  harmony,  between  the 
mother  country  and  these  colonies :  as  to  the 
fatal  but  necessary  operations  of  war,  when  we 
assumed  the  soldier,  we  did  not  lay  aside  the 
citizen,  and  we  shall  most  sincerely  rejoice, 
with  you,  in  that  happy  hour,  when  the  estab 
lishment  of  American  liberty,  on  the  most  firm 
and  solid  foundations,  shall  enable  us  to  return 
to  our  private  stations,  in  the  bosom  of  a  free, 
peaceful,  and  happy  country. 

G.  WASHINGTON." 


ADDRESS   OF   THE   MECHANICS 
OF  NEW  YORK  CITY,  JUNE  14,  1776. 

To  the  honorable  the  delegates  elected  by  the 
several  counties  and  districts  within  the  gov 
ernment  of  New  York,  in  colonial  congress 
convened. 

The  respectful  address  of  the  mechanics  in 
union,  for  the  city  and  county  of  New  York, 
represented  by  their  general  committee. 
Elected  Delegates, — With  due  confidence  in 
the  declaration  which  you  lately  made  to  the 
chairman  of  our  general  committee,  that  you 
are  at  all  times  ready  and  willing  to  attend  to 
every  request  of  your  constituents,  or  any  part 
of  them  ;  we,  the  mechanics  in  union,  though 
a  very  inconsiderable  part  of  your  constituents, 
beg  leave  to  represent,  that  one  of  the  clauses 
in  your  resolve,  respecting  the  establishment 
of  a  new  form  of  government,  is  erroneously 
construed,  and  for  that  reason  may  serve  the 
most  dangerous  purposes  ;  for  it  is  well  known 
how  indefatigable  the  emissaries  of  the  British 
parliament  are  in  the  pursuit  of  every  scheme 
which  is  likely  to  bring  disgrace  upon  our 
rulers,  and  ruin  upon  us  all.  At  the  same  time 
we  cheerfully  acknowledge  that  the  genuine 
spirit  of  liberty  which  animates  the  other  part 
of  that  resolve,  did  not  permit  us  to  interpret  it 
in  any  other  sense  than  that  which  is  the  most 
obvious,  and  likewise  the  most  favorable  to  the 
natural  rights  of  man.  We  could  not,  we 
never  can  believe  you  intended  that  the  future 
delegates,  or  yourselves,  should  be  vested  with 


the  power  of  framing  a  new  constitution  for 
this  colony ;  and  that  its  inhabitants  at  large 
should  not  exercise  the  right  which  God  has 
given  them,  in  common  with  all  men,  to  judge 
whether  it  be  consistent  with  their  interest  to 
accept  or  reject  a  constitution  framed  for  that 
state  of  which  they  are  members.  This  is  the 
birthright  of  every  man  to  whatever  state  he 
may  belong.  There  he  is,  or  ought  to  be  by 
inadmissible  fight,  a  co-legislator  with  all  the 
other  members  of  that  community. 

Conscious  of  our  own  want  of  abilities,  we 
are,  alas  !  but  too  sensible  that  every  individual 
is  not  qualified  for  assisting  in  the  framing  of 
a  constitution  :  but,  that  share  of  common  sense 
which  the  Almighty  has  bountifully  distributed 
among  mankind  in  general,  is  sufficient  to 
quicken  every  one's  feeling,  and  enable  him  to 
judge  rightly  what  degree  of  safety,  and  what 
advantages  he  is  likely  to  enjoy,  or  be  deprived 
of,  under  any  constitution  proposed  to  him. 
For  this  reason,  should  a  preposterous  confi 
dence  in  the  abilities  and  integrity  of  our  future 
delegates,  delude  us  into  measures  which  might 
imply  a  renunciation  of  our  inalienable  right  to 
ratify  our  laws,  we  believe  that  your  wisdom, 
your  patriotism,  your  own  interest,  nay,  your 
ambition  itself,  would  urge  you  to  exert  all  the 
powers  of  persuasion  you  possess,  and  try  every 
method  which,  in  your  opinion,  could  deter  us 
from  perpetrating  that  impious  and  frantic  act 
of  self-destruction  ;  for,  as  it  would  precipitate 
us  into  a  state  of  absolute  slavery,  the  lawful 
power  which,  till  now,  you  have  received  from 
your  constituents,  to  be  exercised  over  a  free 
people,  would  be  annihilated  by  that  unnatural 
act.  It  might  probably  accelerate  our  political 
death ;  but  it  must  immediately  cause  your 
own. 

The  continued  silence  of  the  bodies  which 
are,  by  election,  vested  with  an  authority  subor 
dinate  to  that  of  your  house,  would  strike  us 
with  amazement,  should  we  suppose  that,  in 
their  presence,  your  resolve  ever  was  inter 
preted  by  a  sense  that  was  not  favorable  to  the 
free  exercise  of  our  inalienable  rights.  But  we, 
who  daily  converse  with  numbers  who  have 
been  deceived  bjj-  such  misconstruction,  con 
ceive  that  we  ought  to  inform  you  in  due  time, 
that  it  has  alarmed  many  zealous  friends  to  the 
general  cause  which  the  United  Colonies  are 
defending  with  their  lives  and  fortunes. 

As  the  general  opinion  of  your  uprightness 
depends,  in  a  great  measure,  on  your  explana 
tion  of  that  matter  ;  and  it  being  self-evident 
that  the  political  happiness  or  misery  of  the 
people  under  your  government,  must  be  deeply 
affected  by  the  measures  which  they  may  adopt 


NEW  YORK. 


175 


In  consequence  of  such  explanation,  we  trust 
that  you  will  receive  this  respectful  address 
with  indulgence,  and  that  all  our  brethren  in 
this,  and  the  other  colonies  in  the  union,  will 
do  us  the  justice  to  believe,  that  it  was  dictated 
by  the  purest  sentiments  of  unconfined  pa 
triotism. 

The  resolve  which  contains  the  obnoxious 
clause  already  mentioned,  is,  together  with  the 
introduction  to  it,  in  the  following  words,  to 
wit : 

"  And  whereas  doubts  have  arisen,  whether 
this  congress  are  invested  with  sufficient  power 
and  authority  to  deliberate  and  determine  on 
so  important  a  subject  as  the  necessity  of 
erecting  and  constituting  a  new  form  of  govern 
ment  and  internal  police,  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  foreign  jurisdiction,  dominion  and  control 
whatever.  And  whereas  it  appertains  of  right, 
solely  to  the  people  of  this  colony  to  determine 
the  said  doubts.  Therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the 
electors  in  the  several  counties  in  this  colony, 
by  election  in  the  manner  and  form  prescribed 
for  the  election  of  the  present  congress,  either 
to  authorize,  (in  addition  to  the  powers  vested 
in  this  congress)  their  present  deputies,  or 
others  in  the  stead  of  their  present  deputies,  or 
either  of  them,  to  take  into  consideration  the 
necessity  and  propriety  of  instituting  such  new 
government  as  in  and  by  the  said  resolution  of 
the  continental  congress  is  described  and  rec 
ommended  :  And  if  the  majority  of  the  coun 
ties,  by  their  deputies  in  provincial  congress, 
shall  be  of  the  opinion  that  such  new  govern 
ment  ought  to  be  instituted  and  established ; 
then  to  institute  and  establish  such  a  govern 
ment  as  they  shall  deem  best  calculated  to 
secure  the  rights,  liberties,  and  happiness,  of 
the  good  people  of  this  colony,  and  to  continue 
in  force  until  a  future  peace  with  Great  Britain 
shall  render  the  same  unnecessary." 

We  cannot  forbear  expressing  our  astonish 
ment  at  the  existence  of  the  doubts  alluded  to 
in  the  introduction  just  quoted.  But  when  in 
comparison  to  those  weak  minds  which  gave 
them  birth,  you  condescended  to  declare,  that 
4  It  appertains  solely  to  the  people  of  this  col 
ony  to  determine  the  said  doubts  ; '  you  have  in 
the  spirit  of  the  recommendations  of  the  general 
congress,  demonstrated  to  your  constituents, 
that  you  will  on  all  occasions  warn  them  to 
destroy  in  its  embryo,  every  scheme  that  you 
may  discover  to  have  the  least  tendency  to 
wards  promoting  the  selfish  views  of  any  foreign 
or  domestic  oligarchy.  Your  enemies  never 
can  persuade  people  of  reflection,  that  you  fully 
instructed  the  most  ignorant  among  us  by 


such  a  positive  declaration  of  our  rights,  for 
the  purpose  of  surreptitiously  obtaining  our  re 
nunciation  of  them.  Human  nature,  depraved 
as  it  is,  has  not  yet,  and  we  hope  never  will  be 
guilty  of  so  much  hypocrisy  and  treachery. 

We  observe  on  the  contrary,  that  your  resolve 
is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  liberal  principle 
on  which  it  is  introduced  ;  for  after  having  set 
forth  what  relates  to  the  election  of  deputies 
you  recommend  to  the  electors, '  If  the  majority 
of  the  counties  shall  be  of  opinion  that  such 
new  government  ought  to  be  instituted,  then  to 
institute  and  establish  such  a  government.' 

Posterity  will  behold  that  resolve  as  the  test 
of  their  rectitude.  It  will  prove  that  you  have 
fully  restored  to  us  the  exercise  of  our  right, 
finally  to  determine  on  the  laws  by  which  this 
colony  is  to  be  governed  ;  a  right  of  which,  by 
the  injustice  of  the  British  government,  we 
have  till  now  been  deprived.  But  a  forced  and 
most  unnatural  misconstruction,  which  is  art 
fully  put  upon  your  resolve,  has  deceived  many, 
who  really  believe  that  we  will  not  be  allowed 
to  approve  or  reject  the  new  constitution  ;  they 
are  terrified  at  the  consequences,  although  a 
sincere  zeal  for  the  general  cause  inspire  them 
to  suppress  their  remonstrances,  lest  the  com 
mon  enemy  should  avail  himself  of  that  circum 
stance,  to  undermine  your  authority. 

Impressed  with  a  just  fear  of  the  conse 
quences  which  result  from  that  error,  we  con 
ceive  it  would  be  criminal  in  us  to  continue 
silent  any  longer ;  and  therefore  we  beseech 
you  to  remove  by  a  full  and  timely  explanation, 
the  groundless  jealousies  which  arise  from  a 
misconception  of  your  patriotic  resolve. 

As  to  us,  who  do  not  entertain  the  least 
doubt  of  the  purity  of  your  intentions  ;  who 
well  know,  that  your  wisdom  could  not  suffer 
you  to  aim  at  obtaining  powers,  of  which  we 
cannot  lawfully  divest  ourselves  ;  which,  if 
repeatedly  declared  by  us,  to  have  been  freely 
granted,  would  only  proclaim  our  insanity,  and 
for  that  reason,  be  void  of  themselves  ;  we  beg 
leave,  as  a  part  of  your  constituents,  to  tender 
you  that  tribute  of  esteem  and  respect,  to  which 
you  are  justly  entitled,  for  your  zeal  in  so  nobly 
asserting  the  rights  which  the  people  at  large 
have  to  legislation  ;  and  in  promoting  their  free 
exercise  of  those  rights. 

You  have  most  religiously  followed  the  lines 
drawn  by  the  general  congress  of  the  United 
Colonies.  Their  laws,  issued  in  the  style  of  re 
commendations,  leave  inviolate,  in  the  conven 
tions,  the  committees,  and  finally  the  people  at 
large,  the  right  of  rejection  or  ratification.  But 
thpugh  it  be  decreed  by  that  august  body,  that 
the  punishments  of  death  shall,  in  some  cases 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


be  inflicted,  the  people  have  not  rejected  any  of 
their  laws,  nor  even  remonstrated  against  them. 
The  reason  of  such  general  submission,  is,  that 
the  whole  of  their  proceedings  is  calculated  to 
promote  the  greatest  good  to  be  expected  from 
the  circumstances  which  occasion  their  resolves, 
and  scarcely  admit  the  delays  attending  more 
solemn  forms.  The  conduct  of  their  constitu 
ents  in  this  instance,  clearly  shews,  what  an 
unbounded  confidence  virtuous  rules  may  place 
in  the  sound  judgment,  integrity,  and  modera 
tion  of  a  free  people. 

Whatever  the  interested  supporters  of  oli 
garchy  may  assert  to  the  contrary,  there  is  not, 
perhaps,  one  man,  nor  any  set  of  men  upon 
earth,  who,  without  the  special  inspiration  of 
the  Almighty,  could  frame  a  constitution,  which 
in  all  its  parts,  would  be  truly  unexceptionable 
by  the  majority  of  the  people  for  whom  it  might 
be  intended.  And  should  God  bless  any  man, 
or  any  set  men,  with  such  eminent  gifts,  that 
man,  or  those  men,  having  no  separate  interest 
to  support,  in  opposition  to  the  general  good, 
would  fairly  submit  the  work  to  the  collective 
judgment  of  all  the  individuals  who  might  be 
interested  in  its  operation.  These  it  is  pro 
bable,  would  after  due  examination,  unani 
mously  concur  in  establishing  that  constitution. 
It  would  become  their  own  joint  work,  as  soon 
as  the  majority  of  them  should  have  freely  ac 
cepted  it ;  and  by  its  having  received  their  free 
assent,  the  only  characteristic  of  the  true  law 
fulness  and  legality  that  can  be  given  to  human 
institutions,  it  would  be  truly  binding  on  the 
people.  Any  other  concurrence  in  the  acts  of 
legislation  is  illusory  and  tyrannical ;  it  proceeds 
from  the  selfish  principles  of  corrupt  oligarchy ; 
and  should  a  system  of  laws  appear,  or  even  be 
good  in  every  other  respect,  which  is  scarcely 
admissible,  yet  it  would  be  imperfect.  It  could 
be  lawfully  binding  on  none  but  the  legislators 
themselves,  and  must  continue  in  that  state  of 
imperfection  which  disgraces  the  best  laws,  now 
and  then  made  in  governments  established  on 
oligarchic  principles,  and  deprives  them  of  true 
legality.  As  such  is  the  case  with  Great  Bri 
tain  herself,  it  is  evident  that  her  parliament  are 
so  far  from  having  a  lawful  claim  to  our  obedi 
ence,  that  they  have  it  not  to  that  of  their  own 
constituents  ;  that  all  our  former  laws  have  but 
a  relative  legality,  and  that  not  one  of  them  is 
lawfully  binding  upon  us,  though  even  now  for 
the  sake  of  common  conveniency  the  operation 
of  most  of  them  be  and  ought  to  be  tolerated, 
until  a  new  system  of  government  shall  have 
been  freely  ratified  by  the  co-legislative  power 
of  the  people,  the  sole  lawful  legislature  of  this 
colony.  It  would  be  an  act  of  despotism  to 


put  it  in  force  by  any  other  means,  which  God 
avert !  The  people  it  is  true  might  be  awed,  or 
openly  forced  to  obey,  but  they  would  abhor  the 
tyranny  and  execrate  its  authors.  They  would 
justly  think  that  they  were  no  longer  bound  to 
submit  than  despotism  could  be  maintained  by 
the  same  violent  or  artful  means  which  would 
have  produced  its  existence. 

But  the  free  ratification  of  the  people  will 
not  be  sufficient  to  render  the  establishment 
lawful,  unless  they  exercise  in  its  fulness  an 
uncontrolled  power  to  alter  the  constitution  in 
the  same  manner  that  it  shall  have  been  re 
ceived.  This  power  necessarily  involves  that 
of  every  district,  occasionally  to  renew  their 
deputies  to  committees  and  congresses  when 
the  majority  of  such  district  shall  think  fit ; 
and  therefore,  without  the  intervention  of  the 
executive,  or  any  other  power,  foreign  to  the 
body  of  the  respective  electors,  that  right  is  so 
essential  to  our  safety,  that  we  firmly  believe 
you  will  recommend  to  all  your  constituents 
immediately  to  exercise  it,  and  never  suffer  its 
being  wrested  from  them  ;  otherwise  the  sen 
sibility  of  our  delegates  could  not  allow  them 
to  say  that  they  hold  their  offices  from  the 
voluntary  choice  of  a  free  people. 

We  likewise  conceive  that  this  measure  will 
more  effectually  and  more  speedily  than  any 
other,  remove  disaffected  persons  from  all  our 
councils,  and  give  our  public  proceedings  a 
much  greater  weight  than  they  have  hitherto 
obtained  among  our  neighbors. 

We  never  did  as  a  body,  nor  never  will, 
assume  any  authority  whatsoever  in  the  public 
transactions  of  the  present  times.  Common 
sense  teaches  us,  that  the  absurdity  of  the 
claim  would  not  only  destroy  our  usefulness 
as  a  body  of  voluntary  associators,  who  are 
warmly  attached  to  the  cause  of  liberty ;  but 
that  it  would  likewise  expose  every  one  of  us 
to  deserved  derision.  At  the  same  time,  we 
assure  your  honorable  house,  that  on  all  occa 
sions  we  will  continue  to  testify  our  zeal  in 
supporting  the  measures  adopted  by  congresses 
and  committees,  in  the  prosecution  of  their 
grand  object,  the  restoration  of  human  rights 
in  the  United  Colonies.  And  if  at  any  future 
time,  the  silence  of  the  bodies  in  power  give  us 
reason  to  conceive  that  our  representations 
may  be  useful,  we  then  will  endeavor  to  dis 
charge  our  duty  with  propriety,  and  rely  on 
public  indulgence  for  any  imperfection  which 
cannot  affect  our  uprightness. 

Signed  by  order  of  the  committee, 

MALCOLM  M'EUEN,  Chairman. 
Mechanics-hall,   'June  14,  1776. 


NEW  YORK. 


1/7 


RESIGNATION  OF   MILITIA  OFFICERS. 

In  convention  of  the  representatives  of  the 
state  of  New  York,  August  10,  1776. 

Resolved,  That  if  any  of  the  militia  officers  in 
the  service  of  this  state  shall,  during  the 
present  invasion,  resign  his  commission  after 
having  received  orders  to  proceed  upon  duty 
from  this  convention  or  his  superior  officer, 
without  the  permission  of  this  state,  or  shall 
not  repair  with  all  possible  dispatch  to  such 
place  or  places,  as  he  or  they  may  be  ordered 
to  by  the  convention  of  this  state,  or  by  his 
superior  officer,  shall,  upon  proof  before  a 
general  court  martial,  be  rendered  incapable  of 
holding  any  military  employment  under  this 
state,  and  his  name  held  up  as  a  deserter  of  his 
country's  cause. 

ROBERT  BENSON,  Sec. 


mediately  removed  from  the  said  city,  agree 
able  to  General  Washington's  request  of  this 
louse,  in  his  letter  of  this  date. 

ROBERT  BENSON,  Secretary. 


A    PROCLAMATION 

BY  HIS  EXCELLENCY  GENERAL  WASHING 
TON,  GENERAL  AND  COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 

OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF 
NORTH  AMERICA.    AUG.  17,  1776. 

Whereas  a  bombardment  and  attack  upon 
the  city  of  New  York  by  our  cruel  and  invete 
rate  enemy  may  be  hourly  expected  ;  and  as 
there  are  great  numbers  of  women,  children, 
and  infirm  persons  yet  remaining  in  the  city, 
whose  continuance  will  rather  be  prejudicial 
than  advantageous  to  the  army,  and  their  per 
sons  exposed  to  great  danger  and  hazard  ;  I 
do  therefore  recommend  it  to  all  persons,  as 
they  value  their  own  safety  and  preservation, 
to  remove  with  all  expedition  out  of  the  said 
town  at  this  critical  period — trusting  that  with 
the  blessing  of  heaven  upon  the  American 
arms  they  may  soon  return  to  it  in  perfecl 
security.  And  I  do  enjoin  and  require  all  the 
officers  and  soldiers  in  the  army  under  my 
command,  to  forward  and  assist  all  such  per 
sons  in  their  compliance  with  this  recommen 
dation. 

Given  under  my  hand,  at  head-quarters,  Nev\ 
York,  August  17,  1776. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

RESPONSE  OF  CONVENTION. 

In  Convention  of  the  Representatives  of  th 
State  of  New  York,  held  at  Harlem,  Aug 
17,  1776. 

Resolved,  That  the  women  and  children,  anc 
infirm  persons  in  the  city  of  New  York,  be  im 


LETTER 

FROM  MAJOR  GENERAL  ROBERTSON  TO  HIS 
EXCELLENCY  GOVERNOR  LIVINGSTON. 

New- York,  January  4,  1777. 

SIR — I  am  interrupted  in  my  daily  attempts 
to  soften  the  calamities  of  persons  and  recon 
cile  their  case  with  our  security,  by  a  general 
cry  of  resentment,  arising  from  an  informa 
tion • 

That  officers  in  the  king's  service,  taken  on 
the  27th  of  November,  and  Mr.  John  Brown,  a 
deputy  commissary,  are  to  be  tried  in  Jersey 
for  high  treason ;  and  that  Mr.  Iliff  and  an 
other  prisoner  have  been  hanged. 

Though  I  am  neither  authorized  to  threaten 
or  to  sooth,  my  wish  to  prevent  an  increase  of 
horrors,  will  justify  my  using  the  liberty  of  an 
old  acquaintance,  to  desire  your  interposition 
to  put  an  end  to,  or  prevent  measures  which, 
if  pursued  on  one  side,  would  tend  to  prevent 
every  act  of  humanity  on  the  other,  and  render 
every  person  who  exercises  this  to  the  king's 
enemies,  odious  to  his  friends. 

I  need  not  point  out  to  you  all  the  cruel  con 
sequences  of  such  a  procedure.     I  am  hopeful 
you'll  prevent  them,  and  excuse  this  trouble  from, 
Sir,  your  obedient  humble  servant, 
JAMES  ROBERTSON. 

N.  B.  At  the  moment  that  the  cry  of  murder 
reached  my  ears,  I  was  signing  orders  that  Fell's 
request  to  have  the  liberty  of  the  city,  and  colo 
nel  Reynold  may  be  set  free  on  his  parole,  should 
be  complied  with.  I  have  not  recalled  the  order, 
because,  though  the  evidence  be  strong,  I  can 
not  believe  it  possible,  a  measure  so  cruel  and 
unpolitic,  could  be  adopted  where  you  bear  sway. 
To  WILLIAM  LIVINGSTON,  Esq.,  etc.  etc. 


GOVERNOR  LIVINGSTON'S  ANSWER. 

January  7,  1777. 

SIR — Having  received  a  letter  under  your 
signature,  dated  the  4th  instant,  which  I  have 
some  reason  to  think  you  intended  for  me,  I 
sit  down  to  answer  your  enquiries  concerning 
certain  officers  in  the  service  of  your  king 
taken  on  Staten  Island,  and  one  Browne,  who 
calls  himself  a  deputy  commissary  ;  and  also 


178 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


respecting  one  Iliff  and  another  prisoner,  (I  sup 
pose  you  must  mean  John  Mee  he  having  shared 
the  fate  you  mention)  who  have  been  hanged. 

Buskirk,  Earl  and  Hammel,  who  are,  I 
presume,  the  officers  intended,  with  the  said 
Browne,  were  sent  to  me  by  general  Dick- 
enson  as  prisoners  taken  on  Staten-Island. 
Finding  them  all  to  be  subjects  of  this  state, 
and  to  have  committed  treason  against  it,  the 
council  of  safety  committed  them  to  Trenton 
jail.  At  the  same  time  I  acquainted  general 
Washington,  that  if  he  chose  to  treat  the  three 
first,  who  were  British  officers,  as  prisoners  of 
war,  I  doubted  not  the  council  of  safety  would 
be  satisfied.  General  Washington  has  since 
informed  me  that  he  intends  to  consider  them 
as  such  ;  and  they  are  therefore  at  his  service, 
whenever  the  commissary  of  prisoners  shall 
direct  concerning  them.  Browne,  I  am  told, 
committed  several  robberies  in  this  state  be 
fore  he  took  sanctuary  on  Staten  Island,  and  I 
should  scarcely  imagine  that  he  has  expiated 
the  guilt  of  his  former  crimes  by  committing 
the  greater  one  of  joining  the  enemies  of  his 
country.  However  if  general  Washington 
chooses  to  consider  him  also  as  a  prisoner 
of  war,  I  shall  not  interpose  in  the  matter. 

Iliff  was  executed  after  a  trial  by  a  jury,  for 
enlisting  our  subjects,  himself  being  one,  as 
recruits  in  the  British  army,  and  he  was  ap 
prehended  on  his  way  with  them  to  Staten- 
Island.  Had  he  never  been  subject  to  this 
state,  he  would  have  forfeited  his  life  as  a  spy. 
Mee  was  one  of  his  company,  and  had  also 
procured  our  subjects  to  enlist  in  the  service 
of  the  enemy. 

If  these  transactions,  sir,  should  induce  you 
to  countenance  greater  severities  towards  our 
people,  whom  the  fortune  of  war  has  thrown 
into  your  power,  than  they  have  already  suf 
fered,  you  will  pardon  me  for  thinking  that  you 
go  farther  out  of  your  way  to  find  palliatives 
for  inhumanity  than  necessity  seems  to  re 
quire  ;  and  if  this  be  the  cry  of  murder  to 
which  you  allude  as  having  reached  your  ears, 
I  sincerely  pity  your  ears  for  being  so  fre 
quently  assaulted  with  cries  of  murder  much 
more  audible,  because  much  less  distant. — I 
mean  the  cries  of  your  prisoners  who  are 
constantly  perishing  in  the  jails  of  New- York 
(the  coolest  and  most  deliberate  kind  of  murder) 
from  the  rigorous  manner  of  their  treatment. 

I  am,  with  all  due  respect,  your  most 
humble  servant, 

WILLIAM  LIVINGSTON. 
JAMES  ROBERTSON,  Esq.  etc.  etc. 

P.  S.  You  have  distinguished  me  by  a  title 


which  I  have  neither  authority  nor  ambition  to 
assume.  I  know  of  no  man,  sir,  who  bears  sway 
in  this  state.  It  is  our  peculiar  felicity,  and  our 
superiority  over  the  tyrannical  system  we  have 
discarded,  that  we  are  not  swayed  by  men. — 
In  New-Jersey,  sir,  the  laws  alone  bear  sway. 


PROCLAMATION 

BY  JOHN  BURGOYNE,  ESQ.,  LIEUTENANT 
GENERAL  OF  HIS  MAJESTY'S  ARMIES  IN 
AMERICA,  COLONEL  OF  THE  QUEEN'S  REGI 
MENT  OF  LIGHT  DRAGOONS,  GOVERNOR  OF 
FORT  WILLIAM  IN  NORTH  BRITAIN,  ONE 
OF  THE  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE  COM 
MONS  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN,  AND  COMMAND 
ING  AN  ARMY  AND  FLEET  EMPLOYED  ON 
AN  EXPEDITION  FROM  CANADA,  ETC.,  ETC. 

The  forces  entrusted  to  my  command,  are 
designed  to  act  in  concert,  and  upon  a  common 
principle,  with  the  numerous  armies  and  fleets 
which  already  display  in  every  quarter  of 
America,  the  power,  the  justice,  and,  when 
properly  sought,  the  mercy  of  the  king. 

The  cause  in  which  the  British  arms  is  thus 
exerted,  applies  to  the  most  affecting  interests 
of  the  human  heart ;  and  the  military  servants 
of  the  crown,  at  first  called  forth  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  restoring  the  rights  of  the  constitu 
tion,  now  combine  with  love  of  their  country, 
and  duty  to  their  sovereign,  the  other  extensive 
incitements,  which  form  a  due  sense  of  the  gen 
eral  privileges  of  mankind.  To  the  eyes  and  ears 
of  the  temperate  part  of  the  public,  and  the 
breasts  of  suffering  thousands,  in  the  provinces, 
be  the  melancholy  appeal,  whether  the  present 
unnatural  rebellion  has  not  been  made  a  foun 
dation  for  the  completest  system  of  tyranny 
that  ever  God,  in  his  displeasure,  suffered  for  a 
time  to  be  exercised  over  a  froward  and  stub 
born  generation. 

Arbitrary  imprisonment,  confiscation  of  pro 
perty,  persecution,  and  torture,  unprecedented 
in  the  inquisition  of  the  Romish  church,  are 
among  the  palpable  enormities  that  verify  the 
affirmative.  These  are  inflicted,  by  assem 
blies  and  committees,  who  dare  to  profess 
themselves  friends  to  liberty,  upon  the  most 
quiet  subjects,  without  distinction  of  age  or 
sex,  for  the  sole  crime,  often  for  the  sole  sus 
picion,  of  having  adhered  in  principle  to  the 
government  under  which  they  were  born,  and 
to  which,  by  every  tie,  divine  and  human, 
they  owe  allegiance.  To  consummate  these 
shocking  proceedings,  the  profanation  of  reli 
gion  is  added  to  the  most  profligate  prosti 
tution  of  common  reason,  the  consciences  of 


NEW   YORK. 


1/9 


men  are  set  at  nought ;  and  multitudes  are 
compelled  not  only  to  bear  arms,  but  also 
to  swear  subjection  to  an  usurpation  they 
ibhor. 

Animated  by  these  considerations — at  the 
head  of  troops  in  the  full  powers  of  health,  dis 
cipline,  and  valor — determined  to  strike  where 
necessary — and  anxious  to  spare  where  pos 
sible — I,  by  these  presents,  invite  and  exhort 
all  persons,  in  all  places  where  the  progress 
of  this  army  may  point — and  by  the  bless 
ing  of  God  I  will  extend  it  far — to  maintain 
such  a  conduct  as  may  justify  me  in  pro 
tecting  their  lands,  habitations,  and  families. 
The  intention  of  this  address  is  to  hold  forth 
security,  not  depredation  to  the  country.  To 
those,  whom  spirit  and  principle  may  induce  to 
partake  the  glorious  task  of  redeeming  their 
countrymen  from  dungeons,  and  re-establish 
ing  the  blessings  of  legal  government,  I  offer 
encouragement  and  employment;  and,  upon 
the  first  intelligence  of  their  association,  I  will 
find  means  to  assist  their  undertakings.  The 
domestic,  the  industrious,  the  infirm,  and  even 
the  timid  inhabitants,  I  am  desirous  to  protect, 
provided  they  remain  quietly  at  their  houses ; 
that  they  do  not  suffer  their  cattle  to  be  re 
moved,  nor  their  corn  or  forage  to  be  secreted 
or  destroyed ;  that  they  do  not  break  up  their 
bridges  or  roads  ;  nor  by  any  other  act,  directly 
or  indirectly,  endeavor  to  obstruct  the  opera 
tions  of  the  king's  troops,  or  supply  or  assist 
those  of  the  enemy. 

Every  species  of  provision,  brought  to  my 
camp,  will  be  paid  for  at  an  equitable  rate,  and 
in  solid  coin. 

In  consciousness  of  Christianity,  my  royal 
master's  clemency,  and  the  honor  of  soldier 
ship,  I  have  dwelt  upon  this  invitation,  and 
wished  for  more  persuasive  terms  to  give 
it  impression.  And  let  not  people  be  led 
to  disregard  it,  by  considering  their  distance 
from  the  immediate  situation  of  my  camp.  I 
have  but  to  give  stretch  to  the  Indian 
forces  under  my  direction — and  they  amount 
to  thousands  —  to  overtake  the  hardened 
enemies  of  Great  Britain  and  America.  I 
consider  them  the  same,  wherever  they  may 
lurk. 

If,  notwithstanding  these  endeavors,  and  sin 
cere  inclination  to  effect  them,  the  frenzy  of 
hostility  should  remain,  I  trust  I  shall  stand 
acquitted  in  the  eyes  of  God  and  man  in  de 
nouncing  and  executing  the  vengeance  of  the 
state  against  the  wilful  outcasts.  The  mes 
sengers  of  justice  and  of  wrath  await  them  in 
the  field ;  and  devastation,  famine,  and  every 
concomitant  horror,  that  a  reluctant,  but  indis 


pensable   prosecution   of  military   duty   must 
occasion,  will  bar  the  way  to  their  return. 

JOHN  BURGOYNE. 

Camp,  at  Ticonderoga,  July  2,  1777. 
By  order  of  his  excellency  the  lieut.  general. 
ROBERT  KINGSTON,  Secretary. 

A  REPLY  TO  BURGOYNE'S  PROCLAMATION. 

To  JOHN  BURGOYNE,  Esq.  lieutenant  general 
of  his  majesty's  armies  in  America,  colonel 
of  the  queen's  regiment  of  light  dragoons, 
governor  of  Fort  William  in  North  Britain, 
one  of  the  representatives  of  Great  Britain, 
and  commanding  an  army  and  fleet  employed 
on  an  expedition  from  Canada,  etc.  etc. 

Most  high,  most  mighty,  most  puissant   and 
sublime  general ! 

When  the  forces  under  your  command 
arrived  at  Quebec  in  order  to  act  in  concert 
and  upon  a  common  principle  with  the  numer 
ous  fleets  and  armies  which  already  display 
in  every  quarter  of  America,  the  justice  and 
mercy  of  your  king,  we,  the  reptiles  of  Amer 
ica,  were  struck  with  unusual  trepidation  and 
astonishment.  But  what  words  can  express 
the  plenitude  of  our  horror,  when  the  colonel 
of  the  queen's  regiment  of  light  dragoons 
advanced  toward  Ticonderoga.  The  moun 
tains  shook  before  thee,  and  the  trees  of  the 
forest  bowed  their  lofty  heads — the  vast  lakes 
of  the  north  were  chilled  at  thy  presence,  and 
the  mighty  cataracts  stopped  their  tremendous 
career,  and  were  suspended  in  awe  at  thy 
approach.  Judge,  then,  Oh  !  ineffable  gover 
nor  of  Fort  William  in  North  Britain,  what 
must  have  been  the  terror,  dismay,  and  despair 
that  overspread  this  paltry  continent  of  Amer 
ica,  and  us,  its  wretched  inhabitants.  Dark 
and  dreary  indeed,  was  the  prospect  before  us, 
till,  like  the  sun  in  the  horizon,  your  most  gra 
cious,  sublime,  and  irresistible  proclamation, 
opened  the  doors  of  mercy,  and  snatched  us, 
as  it  were,  from  the  jaws  of  annihilation. 

We  foolishly  thought,  blind  as  we  were,  that 
your  gracious  master's  fleets  and  armies  were 
come  to  destroy  us  and  our  liberties ;  but  we 
are  happy  in  hearing  from  you  (and  who  can 
doubt  what  you  assert  ?)  that  they  were  called 
forth  for  the  sole  purpose  of  restoring  the 
rights  of  the  constitution,  to  a  froward  and 
stubborn  generation. 

And  is  it  for  this,  Oh !  sublime  lieutenant 
general,  that  you  have  given  yourself  the 
trouble  to  cross  the  wide  Atlantic,  and  with 
incredible  fatigue  traverse  uncultivated  wilds  ? 
And  we  ungratefully  refuse  the  proffered 


i8o 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


blessing  ? — To  restore  the  rights  of  the  consti 
tution  you  have  called  together  an  amiable 
host  of  savages,  and  turned  them  loose  to 
scalp  our  women  and  children,  and  lay  our 
country  waste — this  they  have  performed  with 
their  usual  skill  and  clemency  ;  and  yet  we 
remain  insensible  of  the  benefit,  and  unthankful 
for  so  much  goodness. 

Our  congress  have  declared  independence, 
and  our  assemblies,  as  your  highness  justly 
observes,  have  most  wickedly  imprisoned  the 
avowed  friends  of  that  power  with  which  they 
are  at  war,  and  most  profanely  compelled  those, 
whose  consciences  will  not  permit  them  to 
fight,  to  pay  some  small  part  toward  the  ex 
penses  their  country  is  at,  in  supporting  what 
is  called  a  necessary  defensive  war.  If  we  go 
on  thus  in  our  obstinacy  and  ingratitude,  what 
can  we  expect,  but  that  you  should,  in  your 
anger,  give  a  stretch  to  the  Indian  forces  under 
your  direction  amounting  to  thousands,  to 
overtake  and  destroy  us  !  or,  which  is  ten 
times  worse,  that  you  should  withdraw  your 
fleets  and  armies,  and  leave  us  to  our  own  mis 
ery,  without  completing  the  benevolent  task 
you  have  begun,  of  restoring  to  us  the  rights 
of  the  constitution. 

We  submit — we  submit — most  puissant  col 
onel  of  the  queen's  regiment  of  light  dragoons, 
and  governor  of  Fort  William  in  North  Bri 
tain  !  We  offer  our  heads  to  the  scalping 
knife,  and  our  bellies  to  the  bayonet.  Who 
can  resist  the  force  of  your  eloquence?  Who 
can  withstand  the  terror  of  your  arms  ?  The 
invitation  you  have  made,  in  the  consciousness 
of  Christianity,  your  royal  master's  clemency, 
and  the  honor  of  soldiership,  we  thankfully 
accept.  The  blood  of  the  slain,  the  cries  of  in 
jured  virgins  and  innocent  children,  and  the 
never  ceasing  sighs  and  groans  of  starving 
wretches,  now  languishing  in  the  jails  and 
prison  ships  of  New  York,  call  on  us  in  vain  ; 
while  your  sublime  proclamation  is  sounded  in 
our  ears.  Forgive  us,  O  our  country  !  For 
give  us,  dear  posterity  !  Forgive  us,  all  ye  for 
eign  powers,  who  are  anxiously  watching  our 
conduct  in  this  important  struggle,  if  we  yield 
implicitly  to  the  persuasive  tongue  of  the  most 
elegant  colonel  of  her  majesty's  regiment  of 
light  dragoons. 

Forbear,  then,  thou  magnanimous  lieutenant 
general !  Forbear  to  denounce  the  vengeance 
against  us — Forbear  to  give  a  stretch  to  those 
restorers  of  constitutional  rights,  the  Indian 
forces  under  your  direction. — Let  not  the  mes 
sengers  of  justice  and  wrath  await  us  in  the 
field,  and  devastation,  and  ever)7  concomitant 
horror,  bar  our  return  to  the  allegiance  of  a 


prince,  who,  by  his  royal  will,  would  deprive  us 
of  every  blessing  of  life,  with  all  possible 
clemency. 

We  are  domestic,  we  are  industrious,  we  are 
infirm  and  timid :  we  shall  remain  quietly  at 
home,  and  not  remove  our  cattle,  our  corn,  or 
forage,  in  hopes  that  you  will  come,  at  the 
head  of  troops,  in  the  full  powers  of  health,  dis 
cipline,  and  valor,  and  take  charge  of  them  for 
yourselves.  Behold  our  wives  and  daughters, 
our  flocks  and  herds,  our  goods  and  chattels, 
are  they  not  at  the  mercy  of  our  lord  the  king, 
and  of  his  lieutenant  general,  member  of  the 
house  of  commons,  and  governor  of  Fort  Wil 
liam  in  North  Britain  ?  A.  B. 

C.  D. 
E.  F.  etc.  etc. 

Saratoga,  loth  July,  1777. 


JUDGE   JAY'S   CHARGE. 

THE  CHARGE  DELIVERED  BY  JOHN  JAY,  ESQ. 
CHIEF  JUSTICE  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW 
YORK,  TO  THE  GRAND  JURY  OF  THE  SU 
PREME  COURT,  HELD  AT  KINGSTON,  IN 
ULSTER  COUNTY,  SEPT.  9,  1777. 

Advertisement,  The  following  charge  was 
given  at  a  time  when  the  assembly  and  senate 
were  convening,  and  the  whole  system  of  govern 
ment,  established  by  the  constitution,  about  being 
put  in  motion —  The  grand  inquest  was  com 
posed  of  the  most  respectable  characters  in  the 
county,  and  no  less  than  twenty-two  of  them 
attended  and  were  sworn. 

GENTLEMEN — It  affords  me  very  sensible 
pleasure  to  congratulate  you  on  the  dawn  of 
that  free,  mild  and  equal  government,  which 
now  begins  to  rise  and  break  from  amidst  those 
clouds  of  anarchy,  confusion  and  licentious 
ness,  which  the  arbitrary  and  violent  domina 
tion  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain  has  spread,  in 
greater  or  less  degree,  throughout  this  and 
the  other  American  states.  And  it  gives  me 
particular  satisfaction  to  remark,  that  the  first 
fruits  of  our  excellent  constitution  appear  in  a 
part  of  this  state,  whose  inhabitants  have  dis 
tinguished  themselves,  by  having  unanimously 
endeavored  to  deserve  them. 

This  is  one  of  those  signal  instances,  in  which 
Divine  Providence  has  made  the  tyranny  of 
princes  instrumental  in  breaking  the  chains  of 
their  subjects  ;  and  rendered  the  most  inhuman 
designs,  productive  of  the  best  consequences, 
to  those  against  whom  they  were  intended. 

The  infatuated  sovereign  of  Britain,  forgetful 
that  kings  were  the  servants,  not  the  proprie- 


NEW  YORK. 


ISI 


tors,  and  ought  to  be  the  fathers,  not  the  in 
cendiaries  of  their  people,  hath,  by  destroying 
our  former  constitutions,  enabled  us  to  erect 
more  eligible  systems  of  government  on  their 
ruins  ;  and,  by  unwarrantable  attempts,  to  bind 
us,  m  all  cases  "whatever,  has  reduced  us  to  the 
happy  necessity  of  being  free  from  his  control 
in  any. 

Whoever  compares  our  present  with  our 
former  constitution,  will  find  abundant  reason 
to  rejoice  in  the  exchange,  and  readily  admit, 
that  all  the  calamities,  incident  to  this  war,  will 
be  amply  compensated  by  the  many  blessings 
flowing  from  this  glorious  revolution.  A  revo 
lution  which,  in  the  whole  course  of  its  rise 
and  progress,  is  distinguished  by  so  many 
marks  of  the  Divine  favor  and  interposition, 
that  no  doubt  can  remain  of  its  being  finally 
accomplished. 

It  was  begun,  and  has  been  supported,  in  a 
manner  so  singular,  and  I  may  say,  miracu 
lous,  that  when  future  ages  shall  read  its  his 
tory,  they  will  be  tempted  to  consider  great 
part  of  it  as  fabulous.  What,  among  other 
things,  can  appear  more  unworthy  of  credit, 
than  that  in  an  enlightened  age,  in  a  civilized 
and  Christian  country,  in  a  nation  so  celebrated 
for  humanity,  as  well  as  love  of  liberty  and 
justice,  as  the  English  once  justly  were,  a 
prince  should  arise,  who,  by  the  influence  of 
corruption  alone,  should  be  able  to  seduce 
them  into  a  combination,  to  reduce  three  mill 
ions  of  his  most  loyal  and  affectionate  subjects, 
to  absolute  slavery,  under  pretence  of  a  right, 
appertaining  to  GOD  alone,  of  binding  them  in 
all  cases  whatever,  not  even  excepting  cases  of 
conscience  and  religion  ?  What  can  appear 
more  improbable,  although  true,  than  that  this 
prince,  and  this  people,  should  obstinately  steel 
their  hearts,  and  shut  their  ears,  against  the 
most  humble  petitions  and  affectionate  remon 
strances  ;  and  unjustly  determine,  by  violence 
and  force,  to  execute  designs  which  were  re 
probated  by  every  principle  of  humanity,  equity, 
gratitude  and  policy — designs  which  would 
have  been  execrable,  if  intended  against  sava 
ges  and  enemies,  and  yet  formed  against  men 
descended  from  the  same  common  ancestors 
with  themselves  ;  men,  who  had  literally  con 
tributed  to  their  support,  and  cheerfully  fought 
their  battles,  even  in  remote  and  baleful  cli 
mates  ?  Will  it  not  appear  extraordinary,  that 
thirteen  colonies,  the  object  of  their  wicked 
designs,  divided  by  variety  of  governments  and 
manners,  should  immediately  become  one  peo 
ple,  and  though  without  funds,  without  maga 
zines,  without  disciplined  troops,  in  the  face  of 
their  enemies,  unanimously  determine  to  be 


free  ;  and,  undaunted  by  the  power  of  Britain, 
refer  their  cause  to  the  justice  of  the  Almighty, 
and  resolve  to  repel  force  by  force  ?  Thereby- 
presenting  to  the  world  an  illustrious  example 
of  magnanimity  and  virtue  scarcely  to  be  par 
alleled.  Will  it  not  be  matter  of  doubt  and 
wonder,  that,  notwithstanding  these  difficul 
ties,  they  should  raise  armies,  establish  iunds, 
carry  on  commerce,  grow  rich  by  the  spoils  of 
their  enemies,  and  bid  defiance  to  the  armies 
of  Britain,  the  mercenaries  of  Germany  and  the 
savages  of  the  wilderness  ? — But,  however  in 
credible  these  things  may  in  future  appear,  we 
know  them  to  be  true,  and  we  should  always 
remember,  that  the  many  remarkable  and  un 
expected  means  and  events,  by  which  our 
wants  have  been  supplied,  and  our  enemies  re 
pelled  or  restrained,  are  such  strong  and  striking 
proofs  of  the  interposition  of  heaven,  that  our 
having  been  hitherto  delivered  from  the  threat 
ened  bondage  of  Britain,  ought,  like  the  eman 
cipation  of  the  Jews  from  Egyptian  servitude, 
to  be  forever  ascribed  to  its  true  cause,  and 
instead  of  swelling  our  breasts  with  arrogant 
ideas  of  our  prowess  and  importance,  kindle 
in  them  a  flame  of  gratitude  and  piety,  which 
may  consume  all  remains  of  vice  and  irreligion. 

Blessed  be  God !  the  time  will  now  never 
arrive  when  the  prince  of  a  country,  in  another 
quarter  of  the  globe,  will  command  your  obedi 
ence  and  hold  you  in  vassalage.  His  consent 
has  ceased  to  be  necessary  to  enable  you  to 
enact  laws  essential  to  your  welfare ;  nor  will 
you,  in  future,  be  subject  to  the  imperious  sway 
of  rulers,  instructed  to  sacrifice  your  happiness, 
whenever  it  might  be  inconsistent  with  the 
ambitious  views  of  their  royal  master. 

The  Americans  are  the  first  people  whom 
heaven  has  favored  with  an  opportunity  of 
deliberating  upon,  and  choosing  the  forms  of 
government  under  which  they  should  live  ; — all 
other  constitutions  have  derived  their  existence 
from  violence  or  accidental  circumstances,  and 
are  therefore  probably  more  distant  from  their 
perfection,  which,  though  beyond  our  reach, 
may  nevertheless  be  approached  under  the 
guidance  of  reason  and  experience. 

How  far  the  people  of  this  state  have  im 
proved  this  opportunity,  we  are  at  no  loss  to 
determine. — Their  constitution  has  given  gen 
eral  satisfaction  at  home,  and  been  not  only 
approved,  but  applauded  abroad.  It  would  be 
a  pleasing  task  to  take  a  minute  view  of  it,  to 
investigate  its  principles,  and  remark  the  con 
nection  and  use  of  its  several  parts — but  that 
would  be  a  work  of  too  great  length  to  be 
proper  on  this  occasion.  I  must  therefore  con 
fine  myself  to  general  observations  ;  and  among 


1 82 


PRINCIPLES   AND  ACTS   OF    THE   REVOLUTION. 


those  which  naturally  arise  from  a  considera 
tion  of  this  subject,  none  are  more  obvious, 
than  that  the  highest  respect  has  been  paid  to 
those  great  and  equal  rights  of  human  nature, 
which  should  forever  remain  inviolate  in  every 
society — and  that  such  care  has  been  taken  in 
the  disposition  of  the  legislative,  executive  and 
judicial  powers  of  government,  as  to  promise 
permanence  to  the  constitution,  and  give  energy 
and  impartiality  to  the  distribution  of  justice. 
So  that,  while  you  possess  wisdom  to  discern 
and  virtue  to  appoint  men  of  worth  and  abilities 
to  fill  the  offices  of  the  state,  you  will  be  happy 
at  home  and  respectable  abroad. — Your  life, 
your  liberties,  your  property,  will  be  at  the 
disposal  only  of  your  Creator  and  yourselves. 
You  will  know  no  power  but  such  as  you  will 
create  ;  no  authority  unless  derived  from  your 
grant ;  no  laws,  but  such  as  acquire  all  their 
obligations  from  your  consent. 

Adequate  security  is  also  given  to  the  rights 
of  conscience  and  private  judgment.  They  are, 
by  nature,  subject  to  no  control  but  that  of  the 
Deity,  and  in  that  free  situation  they  are  now 
left.  Every  man  is  permitted  to  consider,  to 
adore  and  to  worship  his  Creator  in  the  manner 
most  agreeable  to  his  conscience.  No  opinions 
are  dictated ;  no  rules  of  faith  prescribed  ;  no 
preference  given  to  one  sect  to  the  prejudice  of 
others. — The  constitution,  however,  has  wisely 
declared,  that  the  "  liberty  of  conscience,  there 
by  granted,  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to 
excuse  acts  of  licentiousness,  or  justify  practices 
inconsistent  with  the  peace  or  safety  of  this 
state."  In  a  word,  the  convention,  by  whom 
that  constitution  was  formed,  were  of  opinion, 
that  the  gospel  of  CHRIST,  like  the  ark  of  GOD, 
would  not  fall,  though  unsupported  by  the  arm 
of  flesh ;  and  happy  would  it  be  for  mankind, 
if  that  opinion  prevailed  more  generally. 

But  let  it  be  remembered,  that  whatever 
marks  of  wisdom,  experience  and  patriotism 
there  may  be  in  your  constitution,  yet,  like  the 
beautiful  symmetry,  the  just,  proportions,  and 
elegant  forms  of  our  first  parents,  before  their 
maker  breathed  into  them  the  breath  of  life,  it 
is  yet  to  be  animated,  and  till  then,  may  indeed 
excite  admiration,  but  will  be  of  no  use — from 
the  people  it  must  receive  its  spirit,  and  by 
them  be  quickened.  Let  virtue,  honor,  the  love 
of  liberty  and  of  science  be,  and  remain,  the 
soul  of  this  constitution,  and  it  will  become  the 
source  of  great  and  extensive  happiness  to  this 
and  future  generations.  Vice,  ignorance,  and 
want  of  vigilance,  will  be  the  only  enemies  able 
to  destroy  it.  Against  these  provide,  and,  of 
these,  be  forever  jealous.  Every  member  of 
the  state,  ought  diligently  to  read  and  study 


the  constitution  of  his  country,  and  teach  the 
rising  generation  to  be  free.  By  knowing  their 
rights,  they  will  sooner  perceive  when  they  are 
violated,  and  be  the  better  prepared  to  defend 
and  assert  them. 

This,  gentlemen,  is  the  first  court  held  under 
the  authority  of  our  constitution,  and  I  hope  its 
proceedings  will  be  such,  as  to  merit  the  appro 
bation  of  the  friends,  and  avoid  giving  cause  of 
censure  to  the  enemies  of  the  present  establish 
ment. 

It  is  proper  to  observe,  that  no  person  in  this 
state,  however  exalted  or  low  his  rank,  however 
dignified  or  humble  his  station,  but  has  a  right 
to  the  protection  of,  and  is  amenable  to  the 
laws  of  the  land ;  and  that  if  those  laws  be 
wisely  made  and  duly  executed,  innocence  will 
be  defended,  oppression  punished,  and  vice 
restrained.  Hence  it  becomes  the  common 
duty,  and  indeed  the  common  interest,  of  every 
subject  of  the  state,  and  particularly  of  those 
concerned  in  the  distribution  of  justice,  to  unite 
in  repressing  the  licentious,  in  supporting  the 
laws,  and  thereby  diffusing  the  blessings  of 
peace,  security,  order  and  good  government, 
through  all  degrees  and  ranks  of  men  among  us. 

I  presume  it  will  be  unnecessary  to  remind 
you,  that  neither  fear,  favor,  resentment,  or  other 
personal  and  partial  considerations,  should  in 
fluence  your  conduct.  Calm,  deliberate  reason, 
candor,  moderation,  a  dispassionate,  and  yet  a 
determined  resolution  to  do  your  duty,  will,  I 
am  persuaded,  be  the  principles  by  which  you 
will  be  directed. 

You  will  be  pleased  to  observe,  that  all 
offences  committed  in  this  county  against  the 
peace  of  the  people  of  this  state,  from  treason 
to  trespass,  are  proper  objects  of  your  attention 
and  enquiry. 

You  will  pay  particular  attention  to  the 
practice  of  counterfeiting  the  bills  of  credit, 
emitted  by  the  general  CONGRESS,  or  other  of 
the  AMERICAN  STATES,  and  of  knowingly  pass 
ing  such  counterfeits.  Practices  no  less  crimi 
nal  in  themselves,  than  injurious  to  the  interest 
of  that  great  cause,  on  the  success  of  which  the 
happiness  of  AMERICA  so  essentially  depends. 


AN   ADDRESS 

FROM  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  THE  STATE  OF 
NEW  YORK,  TO  THEIR  CONSTITUENTS, 
MARCH  13,  1781. 

EXPLANATORY    LETTER. 

Permit  me  to  solicit  to  treat  your  readers 
and  patrons  with  the  publication  of  the  follow 
ing  address.  The  journal  of  the  assembly  of 


NEW  YORK. 


I83 


the  year  1781,  at  their  second  meeting,  was 
never  printed  ;  it  appears  that  the  state  printer 
for  that  year  could  not  procure  the  necessary 
paper  for  the  purpose.  Three  hundred  copies 
of  this  address  were  printed  in  a  pamphlet 
form  for  the  whole  state,  and  the  same  was 
ordered  to  be  printed  in  the  friendly  news 
papers.  New  York  city  being  then  in  the  pos 
session  of  the  enemy,  this  latter  means  of  cir 
culation  must  have  been  small.  In  the  manu 
script  journal  of  1781,  above  mentioned,  is  the 
original  state  address,  from  which  I  have 
made  this  exact  copy.  It  appears  from  this 
journal,  that  previous  to  the  publication  of  this 
interesting  document,  the  great  body  of  the 
people  of  this  state,  although  they  loved  their 
country  and  still  wished  and  prayed  for  liberty, 
yet  found  themselves  fatigued,  distressed,  em- 
ban  assed,  drained  of  property  and  deprived  of 
the  services  of  their  useful,  hardy  husbandmen 
— surrounded  and  daily  encroached  upon  by 
the  ravaging  enemy,  and  pressed  by  a  merciless 
savage  foe.  The  record  of  their  complaints 
and  entreaties  for  relief,  transmitted  to  the 
legislature  from  every  part  of  the  state,  prove 
them  to  have  been  greatly  disquieted,  and 
anxious  to  put  a  speedy  termination  to  taxes,  im 
presses,  assessments,  and  levies  of  militia.  By 
the  history  of  the  succeeding  year,  this  admir 
able  address  seems  to  have  had  the  desired 
effect.  The  committee  for  drafting  and  pre 
paring  the  same  were  Mr.  L'Hommedieu,  Mr. 
Tayler,  and  Mr.  Benson,  of  the  assembly,  and 
Mr.  Schulyer,  Mr.  Yates,  and  Mr.  Platt,  of  the 
senate.  It  was  first  reported  in  the  assembly 
by  Mr.  Benson. 

By  its  publication  in  your  state  paper,  you 
will  deserve  the  thanks  of  the  present  genera 
tion,  and  preserve  to  posterity  an  important 
item  of  the  history  of  the  MEMORABLE  AMERI 
CAN  REVOLUTION. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  very  humble 
servant,  AARON  CLARK. 

Albany,  Nov.  3,  1819. 


ADDRESS. 

ALBANY,  MARCH  13,  1781. 

"FRIENDS  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS— While 
government  is  without  corruption,  the  repre 
sentatives  of  a  free  people  cannot  be  inatten 
tive  to  the  opinions  of  their  constituents  :  They 
will  hear  their  complaints  and  examine  into 
the  causes  of  them  ;  if  they  proceed  from  errors 
in  government,  they  will  endeavor  to  correct 
such  errors ;  if  they  originate  in  evils  which 


arise  from  their  peculiar  situation,  they  will 
explain  the  necessity  which  gives  them  birth — 
well  satisfied  that  such  evils  will  be  borne  with 
patience,  by  those  virtuous  citizens,  who  count 
temporary  inconveniences  as  dust  in  the  balance 
when  weighed  against  their  own  freedom,  and 
the  happiness  of  posterity. 

The  weight  of  taxes,  the  rigorous  measures 
that  have  been  used  to  restrain  the  disaffected, 
exertions  oppressive  to  individuals,  by  which 
supplies  have  been  obtained,  the  wants  of  the 
army,  the  calls  upon  the  militia,  and  the  de 
struction  of  our  frontiers,  and  the  principal 
sources  from  which  the  present  discontents 
are  supposed  to  flow.  At  first  view,  it  will  ap 
pear  that  most  of  these  complaints  militate 
against  each  other,  and  that  to  diminish  the 
causes  of  some  evils,  others  must  be  increased  : 
Thus,  to  procure  supplies  without  force,  money 
must  be  obtained  and  taxes  rendered  more 
burthensome ;  to  relieve  the  frontiers,  great 
demands  must  be  made  upon  the  militia  ;  to 
conduct  military  operations  with  success,  vigor 
and  energy  must  be  given  to  government,  and 
temporary  restraint  be  imposed  upon  the  liberty 
of  the  subject.  Those  who  candidly  admit 
these  truths,  will  judge  of  the  embarrassments 
which  perplex  the  legislature — will  make  pro 
per  allowances  for  them,  and  by  aiding  and 
supporting  government,  enable  their  rulers  to 
distinguish  between  the  manly  representations 
of  freemen  and  real  patriots,  and  the  insidious 
murmurs  of  those  grovelling  souls,  whom  the 
flesh  pots  of  Egypt  would  lure  back  to  the 
land  of  bondage. 

But  to  enter  more  minutely  into  particulars  : 
With  respect  to  the  weight  and  inequality  ot 
taxes,  let  the  sincere  and  zealous  friend  of  his 
country,  for  to  such  characters  only  we  mean 
to  address  ourselves,  look  back  to  the  begin 
ning  of  this  controversy,  and  test  the  justice  of 
present  complaints  by  past  promises.  Greater 
evils  than  any  we  have  yet  experienced,  were 
apprehended  when  we  entered  into  the  present 
contest.  Cowards  shuddered  and  attempted 
to  fly  from  them  ;  you  set  them  at  defiance ; 
and  animated  with  the  spirit  of  freedom  in 
your  public  assemblies,  at  your  private  meet 
ings,  by  your  solemn  acts,  and  in  your  familiar 
conversations,  repeatedly  pledged  your  lives 
and  fortunes  to  prosecute  the  war  with  vigor. 

That  the  taxes  are  burthensome,  will  readily 
be  admitted  ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  we  submit 
to  your  candor,  whether  they  are  not  far  short 
of  what  you  had  reason  to  expect ;  especially 
when  you  consider  the  raz/and  not  the  nominal 
sum  demanded ;  and  take  into  the  account, 
that  the  war  had  been  carried  on  for  several 


1 84 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


campaigns,  at  a  considerable  expense,  before 
any  taxes  were  collected,  and  we  are  persuaded 
your  justice  will  not  permit  you  to  ascribe  to 
the  legislature,  hardships  arising  from  taxes 
which  it  was  their  duty  to  lay,  in  conformity  to 
the  resolutions  of  that  august  body,  whom  the 
common  voice  of  America  has  rendered  supreme 
in  matters  relative  to  the  war.  If  congress, 
urged  by  their  necessities,  have  unhappily 
called  for  more  than  you  are  in  circumstances 
to  grant — if  they  have  not  duly  weighed  the 
various  events  which  have  impoverished  and 
distressed  this  state,  it  becomes  us,  without 
deranging  the  general  system,  faithfully  to 
represent  our  situation,  while  we  endeavor  to 
comply  with  their  requisitions.  This  we  have 
done  ;  and  have  reason  to  hope  for  every  relief 
which  the  present  emergencies  will  permit 
them  to  afford.  In  this  expectation  we  have 
also  taken  measures  to  suspend  the  operation 
of  the  law  for  raising  a  sum  equal  to  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  specie. 

As  the  vast  debt  due  to  individuals  of  this 
state  from  the  United  States  remains  unpaid, 
and  therefore  you  are  destitute  of  a  circulating 
medium  :  and  also  because  the  desolation  on 
the  frontiers  in  the  last  campaign,  has  com 
pelled  us  to  require  you  to  raise  an  extraor 
dinary,  but  necessary  number  of  men  for-  their 
security,  we  have  given  further  time  for  the 
payment  of  the  tax,  which  will  be  due  on  the 
first  of  April,  and  we  propose  .in  the  mean 
time  to  digest  some  plan  for  a  more  just  and 
equal  distribution  of  that  and  the  other  bur 
thens  of  the  war.  To  this,  your  represen 
tatives  engage  to  turn  their  earnest  attention. 
They  lament  that  the  wants  of  the  army,  and 
the  negligence  of  states  who  have  built  too 
much  upon  our  efforts,  have  so  frequently 
rendered  it  necessary  to  disturb  the  common 
course  of  trade ;  and  in  some  measure  to 
violate  the  rights  of  property  :  we  trust,  how 
ever,  that  this  necessity  will  justify  us  in  the 
opinion  of  those  who  sincerely  believe  the 
relief  of  the  troops  a  national  object,  and  their 
wants  a  national  grievance. 

We  have  stated  to  congress  the  difficulties 
into  which  we  are  involved,  and  flatter  our 
selves  that  they  will  take  measures  to  procure 
from  every  state  its  just  quota,  and  thereby 
render  exertions  beyond  our  proportion,  un 
necessary  in  future.  And  we  presume  so 
much  on  your  attachment  to  the  cause  of 
freedom,  as  not  to  doubt  that  you  will  cheer 
fully  submit  to  every  equitable  mode  which  the 
legislature  may  devise  to  draw  forth  the  re 
sources  of  this  state,  and  by  that  means 
prevent  us  from  being  exposed  to  the  cen 


sure  of  those   whom  we  charge  with  neg 
lect. 

We  have  already  hinted,  that  we  feel  the 
inconvenience  to  which  the  non-payment  of 
the  continental  debts,  as  well  as  those  con 
tracted  by  the  state,  has  subjected  many  of 
you.  To  this  subject  we  have  again  earnestly 
entreated  the  attention  of  congress,  and  pointed 
out  a  mode  of  redress.  We  have  now  under 
consideration,  a  plan  for  calling  to  account 
such  persons  as  have  been  entrusted  with 
public  money,  and  thereby  to  restrain  im 
proper  expenditures.  We  sincerely  wish  that 
the  charge  against  public  officers  had  been  so 
particular  as  to  direct  us  in  our  enquiries  to  the 
persons  aimed  at,  and  still  hope  that  where 
abuses  have  crept  into  any  department,  the 
same  zeal  which  dictated  the  complaint,  will, 
by  regular  information  to  the  prosecutor  for 
the  public,  to  a  grand  jury,  composed  of  the 
body  of  each  country,  or  to  your  representa 
tives,  in  assembly,  enable  them  to  bring  the 
offenders  to  justice. 

The  extraordinary  powers  given  to  com 
missioners  for  defeating  conspiracies,  may 
undoubtedly  be  justified  by  our  peculiar  situa 
tion,  and  by  the  practice  of  all  nations  under 
similar  circumstances.  On  this  occasion,  we 
are  again  impelled  to  call  on  your  candor,  and 
to  ask,  beset  as  we  are  by  avowed  enemies, 
and  infested  with  concealed  traitors,  who  with 
facility  maintain  criminal  intercourse,  scatter 
the  seeds  of  disaffection,  and  take  advantage 
of  the  credulity  of  the  honest  but  misinformed 
— whether  it  is  not  absolutely  necessary  to 
be  attentive  to  their  motions — to  compare  in 
telligence  received  from  different  quarters — 
to  counteract  the  various  machinations  they 
are  incessantly  practising  to  subjugate  us  to 
British  tyranny — that  the  legislature  should 
delegate  such  powers  as  these  commissioners 
are  invested  with.  From  a  persuasion  that 
you  conceived  their  proceedings  may,  in  some 
instances,  have  been  improper,  we  do  you  the 
justice  to  believe,  that  hence  your  complaints 
have  originated ;  and  we  flatter  ourselves  that 
in  a  more  serious  consideration,  you,  as  friends 
to  your  country,  will  be  impressed  with  the 
necessity  of  such  powers,  and  that  they  will 
be  obnoxious  to  none  but  the  disaffected.  The 
proceedings  of  these  commissioners  will,  how 
ever,  be  submitted  to  the  inspection  of  a  com 
mittee  of  both  houses,  in  order  to  discover 
whether  they  have  abused  their  authority. 

We  have  already  taken  measures  for  the 
defence  of  the  frontiers,  which,  if  successful, 
will  greatly  relieve  the  militia  ;  and  we  indulge 
ourselves  in  a  hope  that  our  endeavors  will  be 


NEW  YORK. 


I85 


warmly  seconded  by  those,  at  least,  whose 
zeal  has  justly  led  them  to  consider  the  de 
struction  of  the  frontiers  as  a  national  misfor 
tune. 

We  see  with  pain,  many  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  state  remonstrating  against  that  as  a 
grievance  which,  as  a  part  of  the  original  con 
stitution,  is  so  intimately  interwoven  therewith, 
as  not  to  be  rent  from  it  without  destroying  the 
fabric,  namely  the  share  which  the  representa 
tives  of  the  southern  part  of  the  state  have  in 
legislation.  We  find  ourselves  constrained  to 
declare,  that  we  cannot  consider  this  as  a  proper 
subject  of  complaint.  A  convention  was  chosen 
for  the  whole  state,  and  consisted  of  deputies 
from  every  county,  with  unlimited  powers 
to  institute  and  establish  a  government  which 
should  conclude  the  whole.  Whilst  this  great 
business  was  in  agitation,  the  southern  counties 
became  under  a  restraint  from  the  enemy  and 
the  convention  made  provision  for  affording  to 
the  inhabitants  of  those  counties  as  much  of  the 
benefits  of  the  constitution  as  their  situation 
and  circumstances  would  admit.  We  presume 
the  convention  were  convinced,  that  as  legisla 
tion  and  representation  is  the  leading  principle 
in  our  constitution,  it  would,  therefore,  be  highly 
unjust,  if  because  our  brethren  were  unfortu 
nate  and  could  not  enjoy  the  whole  of  their 
inheritance,  we  should  deprive  them  of  that  in 
which  they  could  participate.  To  prevent  this 
injustice,  and  influenced  by  motives  of  necessity 
and  expediency,  the  convention  passed  the 
Ordinance  which  we  cannot,  without  violating 
the  rights  of  the  people,  consider  otherwise  than 
as  part  of  the  constitution,  from  which  we  de 
rive  our  powers,  and  therefore  not  to  be  altered 
or  annulled  by  us.  Independent  of  these  con 
clusions,  which  we  have  drawn  from  the  strict 
principles  of  the  constitution,  we  find  our  con 
duct  supported  by  the  example  of  the  great 
council  of  the  United  States.  Congress  has 
allowed,  and  doth  still  permit  the  delegates  from 
Georgia  and  South  Carolina  to  sit,  debate,  and 
vote,  although  the  former  is  entirely  in  posses 
sion  of  the  enemy,  and  the  capital  of  the  latter, 
with  a  great  part  of  the  state,  experience  the 
same  misfortune.  Indeed,  should  the  delegates 
of  those  states,  or  the  representatives  of  those 
counties  be  deprived  of  their  seats,  the  former 
might  of  right,  and  agreeable  to  the  law  of 
nations,  separate  from  the  federal  union,  enter 
into  compacts  with  other  nations,  and  even 
unite  with  Great  Britain — and  the  latter  might 
on  the  same  principles  hold  a  similar  conduct 
with  respect  to  us.  We  forbear  to  enter  into 
a  further  detail  of  reasoning  on  this  subject, 
presuming  that  the  least  reflection  will  discover 


that,  as  in  the  one  case  the  jurisdiction  of  con 
gress  could  '  not,  of  right,  extend  to  Georgia 
and  Soufli  Carolina,  so  in  the  other,  our  sover 
eignty  would  be  restricted  in  point  of  territory, 
and  our  act  could  not  rightfully  bind  the  in 
habitants  of  the  counties  in  the  power  of  the 
enemy.  Consequences  so  detrimental  to  both, 
we  are  persuaded,  were  not  foreseen  by  those 
among  our  constituents  who  wish  well  to  the 
cause  of  their  country,  otherwise  we  flatter  our 
selves  that  this  matter  would  not  have  been 
suggested  as  a  grievance. 

Thus,  friends  and  fellow-citizens,  impelled  by 
the  laudable  principle  that  the  public  weal  only 
ought  to  influence  the  conduct  of  its  servants, 
have  we  admitted  the  justice  of  some  of  your 
complaints,  promised  our  endeavors  to  lessen 
the  cause  of  others,  submitted  to  your  candor 
our  observations  on  those  which  we  cannot 
deem  grievous,  pointed  at  the  embarrassments 
which  surround  us,  and  the  means  we  have 
pursued  to  remove  them  ;  but  while  duty  dic 
tated  this  line  of  conduct  on  our  part,  it  be 
comes  us,  the  temporary  representatives  of  the 
majesty  of  the  people,  to  prosecute  this  address 
in  a  style  which  freemen  ought  to  use  to  their 
equals  ;  and  we  therefore  cannot  hesitate  to 
assert,  that  it  is  incumbent  on  you  candidly  to 
distinguish  between  errors  in  the  general  sys 
tem  of  the  laws  themselves,  and  the  persons 
employed  in  the  execution  of  them;  between 
those  which  care  and  attention  in  your  legisla 
ture  and  magistrates  may  remedy,  those  which 
your  situation  and  circumstances  render  un 
avoidable.  Your  representations  have  been 
useful  in  pointing  out  defects,  but  in  your  forti 
tude,  in  a  due  obedience  to  the  laws,  and  in  a 
determination  to  support  the  authority  of  govern 
ment  can  relief  only  be  obtained  against  partial 
burdens,  and  although  we  cannot  suspect  that 
you  will  be  remiss  in  these  great  duties  of  the 
good  citizens,  yet  it  behoves  us  to  advise  you, 
that  a  criminal  negligence  has  been  lately  too 
prevalent  with  some ;  that  it  is  your  duty  to 
interfere,  especially  whilst  the  British  tyrant 
insults  you  with  his  unmeaning  offers  of  peace 
and  pardon,  and  whilst  his  infamous  emissaries 
industriously  attempt  to  excite  the  honest,  but 
credulous  friends  of  his  country,  to  unwarrant 
able  commotions,  and  induce  him  to  mix  with 
well  founded  grievances,  those  that  do  not 
exist.  We  mention  this  to  sound  the  alarm  to 
you  whose  zeal  and  firmness  have  remained 
unshaken  in  every  vicissitude  of  the  present 
contest,  that  the  weak  and  unwary  may,  by 
your  example,  be  led  to  the  bettei  policy  of 
removing  the  difficulties  and  embarrassments 
which  lay  between  us  and  the  great  objects  we 


1 86 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


have  in  view,  INDEPENDENCE,  LIBERTY  and 
PEACE,  and  not,  by  throwing  fresh  difficulties 
in  the  way,  remove  to  a  more  remote  period  the 
completion  of  your  wish. 

Listen,  friends,  fellow-citizens,  and  country 
men,  to  the  recommendations  of  that  great  and 
good  man,  whose  virtues  and  patriotism,  as 
the  soldier  and  the  citizen,  have  drawn  down 
the  admiration,  not  of  America  only,  but  all 
Europe ;  whose  well-earned  fame  will  roll 
down  the  tide  of  time  until  it  is  absorbed  in  the 
abyss  of  eternity  :  listen  to  what  he  recom 
mended  to  your  army  on  a  recent  and  an 
alarming  occasion,  and  seriously  apply  it  to 
yourselves  and  to  us :  "  The  general  is  deeply 
sensible  of  the  sufferings  of  the  army ;  he 
leaves  no  expedient  unused  to  relieve  them, 
and  he  is  persuaded  that  congress  and  the  sev 
eral  states  are  doing  everything  in  their  power 
for  the  same  purpose.  But  while  we  look  to 
the  public  for  the  fulfilment  of  its  engagements, 
we  should  do  it  with  proper  allowance  for  the 
embarrassments  of  public  affairs  ;  we  began  a 
contest  for  liberty  and  independence,  ill  provided 
for  with  the  means  of  war,  relying  on  our  pat 
riotism  to  supply  deficiencies ;  we  expected  to 
encounter  many  wants  and  difficulties,  and  we 
should  neither  shrink  from  them  when  they 
happen,  nor  fly  in  the  face  of  law  and  govern 
ment  to  procure  redress.  There  is  no  doubt 
the  public  will,  in  the  event,  do  ample  justice 
to  the  men  fighting  and  suffering  in  their  de 
fence  ;  but  it  is  our  duty  to  bear  present  evils 
with  fortitude,  looking  forward  to  the  period 
when  our  country  will  have  it  more  in  its 
power  to  reward  our  services.  History  is  full  of 
examples  of  armies  suffering,  with  patience,  the 
extremities  of  distress  which  exceed  those  we 
have  experienced,  and  those  in  the  cause  of  am 
bition  and  conquest,  not  in  that  of  the  rights  of 
humanity,  of  their  country,  of  their  families,  and 
of  themselves.  Shall  we,  who  aspire  to  the  dis 
tinction  of  a  patriot  army,  who  are  contending 
for  everything  precious  in  society,  against 
everything  hateful  and  degrading  in  slavery  ; 
shall  we,  who  call  ourselves  citizens,  discover 
less  constancy,  and  military  virtue,  than  the 
mercenary  instruments  of  ambition  ?  " 

These  are  the  sentiments  of  a  Washington, 
and  although  he  had  not  us  immediately  in 
view,  yet  every  sentence  is  replete  with  whole 
some  admonition  to  all  orders  of  men  in  these 
states.  The  force  and  artifice  of  the  enemy, 
have  hitherto  proved  equally  abortive.  Britain's 
proud  boasts  of  conquest  are  no  more,  and  all 
Europe  detests  her  cause.  You  are  already 
within  sight  of  the  promised  land,  and,  by  the 
blessing  of  Heaven,  and  adequate  efforts  on 


your  part,  you  may  shortly  hope,  under  your 
own  vine  and  your  own  fig-tree,  to  spend  the 
remainder  of  your  days  in  tranquility  and  ease 
when  the  dangers  you  have  passed,  and  the 
difficulties  you  sustain,  will  only  seem  to  heigh 
ten  your  enjoyments  ;  when  you  will  look  for 
ward  to  the  applauses  of  succeeding  ages,  and 
extend  your  happiness  to  the  most  remote  pe 
riod,  by  anticipating  that  which  your  exertions 
shall  transmit  to  your  posterity. 

But,  friends,  fellow  citizens  and  countrymen, 
vain  is  your  hope  to  experience  these  glorious 
rewards,  for  all  your  toils,  and  quaff  the  cup 
of  bliss ;  in  vain  has  our  hardy  ancestor  trav 
ersed  the  trackless  ocean  to  seek  in  the  wilds 
of  the  new  world  a  refuge  from  the  oppres 
sions  of  the  old  ;  in  vain  for  our  sakes  has  he 
fled  from  that  tyranny  which,  by  taxing  indus 
try,  transmits  poverty  as  an  inheritance  from 
one  generation  to  another ;  in  vain  has  he 
strove  with  the  ruthless  barbarian,  and  with  the 
various  difficulties  incident  on  the  emigration 
to  countries  untrodden  by  civilized  man ;  if,  by 
internal  discord,  by  a  pusillanimous  impatience 
under  unavoidable  burthens,  by  an  immoderate 
attachment  to  perishable  property,  by  an  intem 
perate  jealousy  of  those  servants  whom  each 
revolving  year  may  displace  from  your  confi 
dence,  by  forgetting  those  fundamental  princi 
ples  which  induced  America  to  separate  from 
Britain,  we  play  into  the  hands  of  a  haughty 
nation,  spurred  on  to  perseverance  in  injury,  by 
a  despairing  yet  unrelenting  tyrant,  and  his  ra 
pacious  minions. 

Your  representatives  feel  themselves  incapa 
ble  of  believing  that  any  but  the  misguided, 
the  weak  and  the  unwary  among  our  fellow- 
citizens,  can  be  guilty  of  so  foully  staining  the 
honor  of  the  state,  and  wantonly  becoming 
parricides  of  their  own,  and  the  peace  and  hap 
piness  of  their  posterity. — Let  us  then  all,  for 
our  interest  is  the  same,  with  one  heart  and 
one  voice,  mutually  aid  and  support  each 
other.  Let  us  steadily,  unanimously,  and  vig 
orously,  prosecute  the  great  business  of  estab 
lishing  our  independence.  Thus  shall  we  be 
free  ourselves,  and  leave  the  blessings  of  free 
dom  to  millions  yet  unborn. 

By  order  of  the  Senate, 
(Signed)      PIERRE  VAN  CORTLANDT,  Pres't. 

By  order  of  the  Assembly, 
(Signed)  EVERT  BANCKER,  Speaker. 

Albany,  March  \^th,  1781 


NEW  YORK. 


ADDRESS 


OF  CITIZENS  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 
TO  GENERAL  WASHINGTON,  AND  GOVER 
NOR  CLINTON,  AFTER  THE  EVACUATION 
OF  THE  CITY  BY  THE  BRITISH  FORCES 

IN    1783. 

A  committee  had  been  appointed  by  the 
citizens  to  wait  upon  General  Washington  and 
Governor  Clinton  and  other  American  officers, 
and  to  express  their  joyful  congratulation  to 
them  upon  this  occasion.  A  procession  for 
this  purpose  formed  in  the  Bowery,  marched 
through  a  part  of  the  city,  and  halted  at  a 
tavern,  then  known  by  the  name  of  Cape's 
tavern,  in  Broadway,  where  the  following  ad 
dresses  were  delivered.  Mr.  Thomas  Tucker, 
late  of  this  town,  and,  at  that  time,  a  reputable 
merchant  in  New  York,  a  member  of  the  com 
mittee,  was  selected  to  perform  the  office  on 
the  part  of  the  committee. 


TO  HIS  EXCELLENCY  GEORGE  WASH 
INGTON,    ESQ. 

GENERAL  AND  COMMANDER  IN  CHIEF  OF 
THE  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
OF  AMERICA. 

The  address  of  the  citizens  of  New  York, 
who  have  returned  from  exile,  in  behalf 
of  themselves  and  their  suffering  breth 
ren  : 

SIR — At  a  moment  when  the  army  of  ty 
ranny  is  yielding  up  its  fondest  usurpations,  we 
hope  the  salutations  of  long  suffering  exiles, 
but  now  happy  freemen,  will  not  be  deemed  an 
unhappy  tribute.  In  this  place,  and  at  this 
moment  of  exultation  and  triumph,  while  the 
ensigns  of  slavery  still  linger  in  our  sight,  we 
look  up  to  you,  our  deliverer,  with  unusual 
transports  of  gratitude  and  joy.  Permit  us  to 
welcome  you  to  this  city,  long  torn  from  us  by 
the  hard  hand  of  oppression,  but  now,  by  your 
wisdom  and  energy,  under  the  guidance  of 
Providence,  once  more  the  seat  of  peace  and 
freedom  We  forbear  to  speak  our  gratitude 
or  your  praise.  We  should  but  echo  the  voice 
of  applauding  millions.  But  the  citizens  of 
New  York  are  eminently  indebted  to  your  vir 
tues  ;  and  we,  who  have  now  the  honor  to  ad 
dress  your  excellency,  have  often  been  com 
panions  of  your  sufferings  and  witnesses  of 
your  exertions.  Permit  us,  therefore,  to  ap 
proach  your  excellency  with  the  dignity  and 


sincerity  of  freemen,  and  to  assure  you  that  we 
shall  preserve,  with  our  latest  breath,  our  grati 
tude  for  your  services,  and  veneration  for  your 
character;  and  accept  of  our  sincere  and 
earnest  wishes  that  you  may  long  enjoy  that 
calm  domestic  felicity,  which  you  have  so  gen 
erously  sacrificed  —  that  the  cries  of  injured 
liberty  may  never  more  interrupt  your  repose 
—  and  that  your  happiness  may  be  equal  to 
your  virtues. 

Signed,  at  the  request  of  the  meeting, 


Thomas  Randall, 
Danl.  Phoenix, 
Saml.  Broome, 
Wm.  Gilbert,  Sen, 
Francis  Van  Dyck, 
Geo.  Janeway, 
Ephraim  Brashier, 

New  York,  Nov.  25,  1783. 


Thomas  Tucker, 
Henry  Kipp, 
Pat.  Dennison, 
Wm.  Gilbert,  jun. 
Jeremiah  Wool, 
Abrm.  P.  Lott. 


GEN.  WASHINGTON'S  REPLY 

TO  THE   FOREGOING   ADDRESS,  NEW   YORK, 

Nov.  25,  1783. 

GENTLEMEN — I  thank  you  sincerely  for 
your  affectionate  address,  and  entreat  you  to 
be  persuaded  that  nothing  could  be  more 
agreeable  to  me  than  your  polite  congratula 
tions.  Permit  me,  in  return,  to  felicitate  you 
on  the  happy  repossession  of  your  city. 

Great  as  your  joy  must  be  on  this  pleasing 
occasion,  it  can  scarcely  exceed  that  which  I 
feel  at  seeing  you,  gentlemen,  who,  from  the 
noblest  motives,  have  suffered  a  voluntary 
exile  of  many  years,  return  again  in  peace  and 
triumph  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  your  virtuous 
conduct. 

The  fortitude  and  perseverance  which  you 
and  your  suffering  brethren  have  exhibited  in 
the  course  of  the  war,  have  not  only  endeared 
you  to  your  countrymen,  but  will  be  remem 
bered  with  admiration  and  applause,  to  the 
latest  posterity. 

May  the  tranquility  of  your  city  be  perpetual 
— may  the  ruins  soon  be  repaired,  commerce 
flourish,  science  be  fostered,  and  all  the  civil 
and  social  virtues  be  cherished  in  the  same 
llustrious  manner  which  formerly  reflected  so 
much  credit  on  the  inhabitants  of  New  York. 
In  fine,  may  every  species  of  felicity  attend 
you,  gentlemen,  and  your  worthy  fellow-citi 
zens. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


i88 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


THE     ADDRESS     TO     GOV.     CLINTON 
WITH  THE  ANSWER. 

TO  HIS  EXCELLENCY  GEORGE  CLINTON, 
ESQUIRE,  GOVERNOR  OF  THE  STATE  OF 
NEW  YORK,  COMMANDER  IN  CHIEF  OF 
THE  MILITIA,  AND  ADMIRAL  OF  THE 
NAVY  OF  THE  SAME. 

The  address  of  the  citizens  of  New  York,  who 
have  returned  from  exile,  in  behalf  of  them 
selves  and  their  suffering  brethren  : 

SIR — When  we  consider  your  faithful  labors 
at  the  head  of  the  government  of  this  state, 
devoid,  as  we  conceive  every  free  people  ought 
to  be,  of  flattery,  we  think  we  should  not  be 
wanting  in  gratitude  to  your  vigilant  and  assid 
uous  sendees  in  the  civil  line. 

The  state,  sir,  is  highly  indebted  to  you  in 
your  military  capacity  ;  a  sense  of  your  real 
merit  will  secure  to  you  that  reputation  which 
a  brave  man  opposing  himself  in  defence  of 
his  country,  will  ever  deserve. 

We  most  sincerely  congratulate  you  on  your 
happy  arrival  at  the  capital  of  the  state.  Your 
excellency  hath  borne  a  part  with  us  in  the 
general  distress,  and  was  ever  ready  to  alle 
viate  the  calamities  you  could  not  effectually 
remove.  Your  example  taught  us  to  suffer 
with  dignity. 

We  beg  leave  to  assure  your  excellency  that, 
as  prudent  citizens  and  faithful  subjects  to  the 
people  of  the  state  of  New  York,  we  will  do 
every  thing  in  our  power  to  enable  you  to  support 
order  and  good  government  in  the  community 
over  which  you  have,  by  the  suffrages  of  a  free 
and  discerning  people,  been  elected  to  preside. 

Signed,  at  request  of  the  meeting, 

Thomas  Randall,  Thomas  Tucker, 

Danl.  Phoenix,  Henry  Kipp, 

Saml.  Broome,  Pat.  Dennison, 

Wm.  Gilbert,  sen.  Wm.  Gilbert,  jun. 

Francis  Van  Dyck,  Jeremiah  Wool, 

Geo.  Janeway,  Abrm.  P.  Lott. 
Ephraim  Brasher, 
New  York,  Nov.  25,  1783. 

His  EXCELLENCY'S  REPLY. 

GENTLEMEN  —  Accept  my  most  sincere 
thanks  for  your  very  affectionate  and  respect 
ful  address.  Citizens  who,  like  you,  to  vindi 
cate  the  sacred  cause  of  freedom,  quitted  their 
native  city,  their  fortunes  and  possessions,  and 
sustained  with  manly  fortitude,  the  rigors  of  a 
long  and  painful  exile,  superadded  to  the  griev 
ous  calamities  of  a  vengeful  war,  merit,  in  an 
eminent  degree,  the  title  of  patriots  and  the 


esteem  of  mankind  ;  and  your  confidence  and 
approbation  are  honors  which  cannot  be  re 
ceived  without  the  utmost  sensibility  or  con 
templated  without  gratitude  and  satisfaction. 

To  your  sufferings  and  to  the  invincible  spirit 
with  which  they  were  surmounted,  I  have  been 
witness,  I  have  deeply  lamented  that  I  had  not 
means  to  alleviate  them  equal  to  my  inclina 
tion. 

The  assurances  of  your  firm  support  in  the 
administration  of  government,  give  me  singu 
lar  pleasure.  A  reverence  for  the  laws  is 
peculiarly  essential  to  public  safety  and  pros 
perity  under  our  free  constitution  ;  and  should 
we  suffer  the  authority  of  the  magistrate  to  be 
violated  for  the  sake  of  private  vengeance,  we 
should  be  unworthy  of  the  numberless  bless 
ings  which  an  indulgent  Providence  hath  placed 
in  our  reach.  I  shall  endeavor  steadily  to  dis 
charge  my  duty,  and  I  flatter  myself  that  this 
state  will  become  no  less  distinguished  for 
justice  and  public  tranquility,  in  peace,  than  it 
has  hitherto  been  marked,  in  war,  for  vigor, 
fortitude  and  perseverance. 

GENTLEMEN — Your  kind  congratulations  on 
my  arrival  at  this  metropolis,  after  so  long  an 
absence,  are  highly  acceptable,  and  I  most 
cordially  felicitate  you  on  the  joyful  events  which 
have  restored  us  to  the  free  and  uncontrolable 
enjoyment  of  our  rights.  While  we  regard, 
with  inviolable  gratitude  and  affection  all  who 
have  aided  us  by  their  counsel  or  their  arms, 
let  us  not  be  unmindful  of  that  Almighty- 
Being,  whose  gracious  Providence  has  been 
manifestly  interposed  for  our  deliverance  and 
protection,  and  let  us  shew  by  our  virtues  that 
we  deserve  to  partake  of  the  freedom,  sover 
eignty  and  independence  which  are  so  happily 
established  throughout  these  United  States. 
GEORGE  CLINTON. 

New- York,  lyh  Nov.  1783. 


DR.  TUSTEN, 
SOUTHOLD,  LONG  ISLAND. 

Sketch  of  Revolutionary  History. — At  the  late 
anniversary  meeting  of  the  Medical  Society  of 
Orange  county,  an  address  was  delivered  by 
Dr.  Arnell,  in  which  he  introduced  a  biography 
of  DR.  TUSTEN,  a  native  of  Southold,  L.  I.,  who 
was  a  distinguished  practitioner  in  the  early 
settlement  of  that  county.  In  relation  to  the 
death  of  Dr.  Tusten,  his  biographer  gives  the 
following  interesting  sketch  of  our  revolutionary 
history : 

In  June,   1779,  colonel  Brandt,  who  com- 


NEW  YORK. 


189 


manded  the  six  nations  of  Indians,  left  Niagara, 
with  about  300  warriors  and  a  number  of 
tories,  who  had  joined  that  murderous  crew, 
with  an  intention  of  destroying  the  settlements 
upon  the  Delaware  river,  which  was  then  con 
sidered  as  the  frontier  of  our  unsettled  country. 
On  the  2oth  of  July,  he  appeared  on  the  west 
of  Minisink — he  sent  down  a  party  which 
destroyed  the  settlement,  burnt  several  houses, 
and  plundered  the  inhabitants,  returning  with 
their  ill-gotten  booty  to  the  main  body,  which 
lay  then  at  Grassy  Swamp  Brook.  An  express 
was  immediately  dispatched  to  colonel  Tusten, 
his  superior  officer,  General  Allison,  being 
then  confined  in  New  York,  having  been  taken 
prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Fort  Montgomery — 
the  colonel  received  the  news  that  evening — he 
instantly  issued  orders  to  the  officers  of  the 
regiment  to  rendezvous  at  Minisink,  where  he 
would  meet  them.  Having  taken  an  affection 
ate,  and  it  proved  a  final,  leave  of  his  family,  he 
collected  what  few  he  could,  and  was  at  the 
appointed  place  by  morning.  In  the  after  part 
of  that  day,  about  120  men  were  collected, 
when  a  council  was  held,  to  determine  whether 
it  would  be  best  to  pursue  the  Indians  into  the 
woods  ;  a  majority  of  the  officers  were  in  favor 
of  that  measure ;  colonel  Tusten,  who  viewed 
things  in  a  calm  manner  and  judicious  light, 
was  opposed  to  that  plan ;  he  gave,  as  his 
reasons  for  his  opposition,  that  the  men  were 
not  sufficiently  supplied  with  ammunition  for  a 
battle — that  there  were  probably  a  much 
greater  number  of  Indians  than  had  been  seen 
— that  they  were  piloted  by  tories  and  Indians 
well  acquainted  with  the  woods,  and  com 
manded  by  Brandt,  a  well  known  warrior,  who 
would  never  risk  a  battle  unless  he  had  superior 
advantages.  To  this  was  answered,  that  there 
was  no  danger  of  their  numbers — that  the 
Indians  dare  not  fight — that  they  had  several 
cattle  and  horses  which  they  had  plundered 
from  the  inhabitants  which  they  must  guard 
or  leave  upon  the  appearance  of  an  enemy — 
that  they  might  be  pursued  with  deliberation 
until  they  came  to  the  fording  place  of  the 
Delaware  river,  which  was  near  the  entrance 
of  Lacawac  river  into  the  Delaware,  and  finally, 
major  Meeker  mounted  his  horse  and  flourished 
his  sword,  requesting  all  those  who  were  men 
of  courage  to  follow  him,  and  let  the  cowards 
stay  behind.  This  last  appeal  was  too  much 
for  American  valor,  and  the  men  immediately 
turned  out,  determined  to  pursue  and  destroy 
the  Indians  or  perish  in  the  attempt.  They 
marched  that  eA'ening  about  seventeen  miles, 
when  they  encamped  for  the  night. 

In  the   morning  they    were    overtaken    by 


colonel  Hathorn,  of  the  Warwick  regiment, 
who,  being  the  oldest  colonel  and  highest 
officer  in  rank,  took  the  command.  He  called 
a  council  and  himself  opposed  the  pursuit,  but 
here  it  was  urged  that  they  had  a  pilot,  captain 
Tyler,  who  was  as  well  acquainted  with  the 
woods  as  any  among  their  enemies,  and  who 
could  bring  them  to  a  spot  most  eligible  for  an 
attack  with  perfect  safety,  and  the  same  scene 
of  bullying  was  acted  by  major  Meeker,  who  is 
well  calculated  by  the  poet,  "  a  fool  devoid  of 
rule,"  and  the  fatal  line  of  march  was  again 
commenced.  They  had  not  proceeded  far 
before  Brandt  discovered  them — he  ordered  a 
few  of  his  Indians  to  keep  in  sight  and  decoy 
them  to  the  very  spot  where  they  intended  to 
surprise  him ;  but  before  they  reached  the 
place  captain  Tyler  was  shot,  which  damped 
the  spirits  of  our  men.  During  this  confusion 
a  party  of  Indians  hove  in  sight — colonel  H. 
ordered  that  no  man  should  fire  until  they  had 
prepared  for  a  general  battle  ;  a  large  Indian 
however  rode  past  on  a  horse  which  had  been 
stolen  from  Minisink,  and  which  one  of  our 
men  knew;  the  temptation  was  too  great,  and 
our  hero  fired  his  rifle  and  brought  the  Indian 
to  the  ground.  The  advanced  Indians  then 
fired  and  rushed  towards  our  men,  in  order  to 
divide  them,  and  about  thirty  were  separated 
from  the  main  body,  who  could  not  afterwards 
be  brought  into  action.  In  a  few  minutes 
Brandt  appeared  with  his  whole  force,  when 
the  firing  became  general.  A  very  confused 
and  irregular  fire  was  kept  up  from  behind 
trees  and  rocks  both  by  the  Indians  and  our 
men.  From  the  situation  in  which  they  were 
placed  every  one  fought  in  his  own  way,  and  it 
was  impossible  for  any  one  to  command : 
colonel  Tusten  retired  to  a  spot  surrounded  by 
rocks,  where  he  directed  the  wounded  to  be 
conveyed  to  him,  and  he  now  became  the 
surgeon  and  friend  of  the  wounded.  Early  in 
the  battle  he  had  received  a  slight  wound  in 
the  hand,  though  not  sufficient  to  prevent  his 
dressing  the  wounds  of  the  soldiers.  The 
battle  lasted  the  whole  day ;  the  Indians  con 
stantly  endeavoring  to  divide  and  break  the 
main  body  which  had  possession  of  the  ground 
until  sunset,  when  their  ammunition  was 
expended,  and  a  general  retreat  was  ordered — 
no  regularity  could  be  preserved,  and  every  one 
was  left  to  effect  his  escape  in  the  best  manner 
he  could — some  crossed  the  river,  while  others 
were  shot  in  it ;  some  retreated  through  the 
woods,  while  others  were  destroyed  in  the 
attempt;  but  now  a  scene  presented  itself 
which  of  all  others  was  the  most  trying.  Dr. 
Tusten  had  seventeen  with  him,  whose  wounds 


190 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


he  had  dressed,  and  whose  lives  might  have 
been  saved — the  cries  they  kept  up  for  mercy 
and  protection  when  they  heard  the  retreat 
ordered,  beggared  all  description ;  they  were 
necessarily  left  to  be  sacrificed  by  savage  bar 
barity  ;  and  whether  Dr.  Tusten  stayed  and 
perished  with  his  wounded  countrymen,  or 
attempted  to  make  his  retreat,  is  not  known. 
This  is  the  last  time  he  was  ever  seen  by  any 
white  man,  though  it  is  generally  believed  that 
he  suffered  by  the  same  tomahawk  which 
destroyed  those  that  were  with  him.  On  this 
fatal  day  forty-four  of  our  countrymen  fell, 
some  of  whom  might  emphatically  be  called  the 
pride  and  flower  of  Goshen.  Among  them  was 
a  Jones,  a  Little,  a  Duncan,  a  Wisner,  a  Vail,  a 
Townsend,  and  a  Knapp  ;  and  there  perished 
our  friend  and  brother  in  profession,  Dr. 
Tusten,  a  sacrifice  for  the  independence  and 
liberty  of  our  country. 


REFERENCE 

To  CHURCHES  OF  NEW  YORK  DURING  THE 
REVOLUTION. 

The  Churches.  Extract  from  a  sermon  preached 
at  New  York,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rodgers,  Dec. 
n,  1783,  the  day  appointed  by  congress  as 
a  public  thanksgiving  throughout  the  United 
States. 

"  It  is  much  to  be  lamented,  that  the  troops 
of  a  nation  who  had  been  considered  as  one  of 
the  bulwarks  of  the  reformation,  should  act  as 
if  they  had  waged  war  with  the  God  whom 
Christians  adore.  They  have,  in  the  course  of 
this  war,  utterly  destroyed  more  than  fifty  pla 
ces  of  worship  in  these  states.  Most  of  these 
were  burnt,  others  they  levelled  with  the 
ground,  and  in  some  places  left  not  a  vestige 
of  their  former  situation  ;  while  they  have  wan 
tonly  defaced,  or  rather  destroyed  others,  by 


converting  them  into  barracks,  jails,  hospitals, 
riding  schools,  etc.  Boston,  Newport,  Phila 
delphia  and  Charlestown,  all  furnished  melan 
choly  instances  of  this  prostitution  and  abuse  of 
the  house  of  God  ; — and  of  nineteen  places  of 
public  worship  in  this  city,  when  the  war  began, 
there  were  but  nine  fit  for  use  when  the  British 
troops  left  it.  It  is  true,  Trinity  church,  and 
the  old  Lutheran,  were  destroyed  by  the  fire, 
that  laid  waste  so  great  part  of  the  city,  a  few 
nights  after  the  enemy  took  possession  of  it ; 
the  fire  was  occasioned  by  the  carelessness  of 
their  people ;  and  they  prevented  its  more 
speedy  extinguishment.  But  the  ruinous  sit 
uation  in  which  they  left  two  of  the  Low  Dutch 
Reformed  churches,  the  three  Presbyterian 
churches,  the  French  Protestant  church,  the 
Anabaptist  church,  and  the  Friends  new  meet 
ing  house,  was  the  effect  of  design,  and  strongly 
marks  their  enmity  to  those  societies." 


THE  MIDDLE  DUTCH  CHURCH. 

Of  this  church,  which,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  was  used  by  the  British  as  a  prison,  and 
afterwards  converted  into  a  riding  school, 
the  venerable  Dr.  Livingston  thus  expresses 
himself,  in  a  sermon,  delivered  July  4,  1790, 
when  it  was  for  the  first  time  opened  for 
public  worship,  after  being  repaired. 

"  I  dare  not  speak  of  the  wanton  cruelty  of 
those  who  destroyed  this  temple,  nor  repeat 
the  various  indignities  which  have  been  per 
petrated.  It  would  be  easy  to  mention  facts 
which  would  chill  your  blood  !  A  recollection 
of  the  groans  of  dying  prisoners,  which  pierced 
this  ceiling,  or  the  sacrilegious  shouts  and 
rough  feats  of  horsemanship  exhibited  within 
these  walls,  might  raise  sentiments  in  your 
minds  which  would,  perhaps,  not  harmonize 
with  those  religious  affections,  which  I  wish,  at 
present,  to  promote,  and  always  to  cherish." 


NEW  JERSEY. 


NEW  JERSEY, 


APPROPRIATION   OF   MONEY 

IN  THE  PUBLIC  TREASURY  BY  THE  PEOPLE 
OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

NEWPORT,  May  33,  1775. 

The  people  of  New  Jersey  have  taken  pos 
session  of  the  treasury  of  that  province,  in 
which  was  the  amount  of  between  twenty  and 
thirty  thousand  pounds  ;  which  money  is  to  be 
appropriated  to  the  payment  of  the  troops  now 
raised  in  that  province,  for  the  defence  of  the 
liberties  of  America. 


VOTE   OF   CENSURE 

ON  GOVERNOR   WM.    FRANKLIN,  BY   THE 
PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS,  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

BURLINGTON,  June  14,  1776. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  con 
gress,  the  proclamation  of  William  Franklin, 
esq.  late  governor  of  New  Jersey,  bearing 
date  the  thirtieth  day  of  May  last,  in  the  name 
of  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  appointing  a 
meeting  of  the  general  assembly,  to  be  held 
on  the  twentieth  of  this  instant,  June,  ought 
not  to  be  obeyed. 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  con 
gress,  the  said  William  Franklin,  esq.  by  such 
his  declaration,  has  acted  in  direct  contempt 
and  violation  of  the  resolve  of  the  continental 
congress  of  the  I5th  day  of  May  last. 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  con 
gress,  all  payments  of  money  on  account  of 
salary  or  otherwise,  to  the  said  William  Frank 
lin,  esq.  as  governor,  ought  from  henceforth,  to 
cease  ;  and  that  the  treasurer  or  treasurers  of 
this  province,  shall  account  for  the  monies  in 
their  hands  to  this  congress,  or  to  the  future 
legislation  of  this  colony. 

By  order  of  the  congress, 

SAMUEL  TUCKER,  President. 

A  true  copy, 

WILLIAM  PATTERSON,  Secretary. 


ADDRESS, 

TO  THE  INHABITANTS  OF    NEW  JERSEY  BY 

THE  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS,  JUNE  isth, 
1776. 

Countrymen  and  friends — This  province  has 


been  requested  by  the  continental  congress  to 
send,  without  delay,  from  their  militia,  three 
thousand  three  hundred  men  to  New- York,  in 
consequence  of  authentic  information  that  the 
grand  attack  of  our  common  enemy  this  sum 
mer,  which  will  probably  prove  the  decisive 
campaign,  is  to  be  upon  that  city  ;  and  that 
their  force  may  be  expected  there  in  a  few 
days. — Your  representatives  in  this  congress 
have,  with  all  the  despatch  in  their  power,  and 
with  the  utmost  unanimity,  prepared  an  ordin 
ance  for  raising  the  number  called  for,  as 
equally  from  the  different  parts  of  the  pro 
vince  as  possible.  They  have  determined  to 
raise  the  men  by  voluntary  enlistment  in  the 
several  counties,  in  full  confidence  that,  in  this 
war,  they  will  be  raised  most  speedily,  as  well 
as  consist  of  persons  of  the  greatest  spirit  and 
alacrity  for  the  important  service.  Filled  with 
the  same  zeal  for  the  defence  of  their  country, 
they  apply  to  you  by  this  short  address — and, 
in  the  most  earnest  and  affectionate  manner 
entreat  you  not  to  sully  the  reputation  ac 
quired  on  all  former  occasions  ;  but  to  give  a 
new  proof  to  the  public  of  your  courage  and 
intrepidity,  as  men,  of  your  unalterable  attach 
ment  to  the  liberties  of  America,  and  the  sin 
cerity  of  your  unanimous  resolutions  from  the 
beginning  of  this  contest.  Were  there  time  to 
draw  up  a  long  discourse  in  this  hour  of  dan 
ger,  the  arguments  that  might  be  used  are 
innumerable,  and  as  some  of  them  are  of  the 
most  urgent,  so  (blessed  be  God)  others  aje  of 
the  most  encouraging  and  animating  kind. 

The  danger  is  not  only  certain,  but  immedi 
ate  and  imminent.  It  does  not  admit  of  a 
moment's  delay,  for  our  unjust  and  implacable 
enemy  is  at  hand.  The  place  where  the  attack 
is  expected  is  of  the  last  importance  ;  not  only 
a  city  of  great  extent,  the  interest  of  whose 
numerous  inhabitants  must  be  exceedingly 
dear  to  us,  but  situated  in  the  middle  of 
the  colonies,  and  where  the  success  of  the 
enemy  would  separate  the  provinces,  and 
disunite  their  efforts  by  land,  which  are  of 
necessity  liable  to  interruption  from  the  ene 
my's  fleet  by  sea.  It  is  scarce  worth  while  to 
add,  that  this  province,  by  its  vicinity,  would 
then  be  exposed  to  the  cruel  depredations  of 
the  enemy,  who  happily,  hitherto  have  been 
able  to  do  us  little  or  no  mischief  but  by  theft 
and  rapine.  It  would  seem  to  carry  unjust 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


suspicion  of  you  to  say  any  more  on  our  own 
private  interest,  as  we  hope  every  honest  man 
is  chiefly  concerned  for,  and  will  strain  every 
nerve  in  support  of,  the  common  cause  of  the 
united  colonies. 

We  cannot  help  putting  you  in  mind  how 
signally  Almighty  God  has  prospered  us  hith 
erto,  and  crowned  our  virtuous  efforts  with 
success.  The  expulsion  of  the  enemy  from 
Boston,  where  they  first  took  possession,  and 
began  their  oppressive  measures,  was  an  event 
as  disgraceful  to  them,  as  it  was  advantageous 
to  the  public  cause,  and  honorable  to  that 
brave  and  resolute  army  by  which  it  was 
accomplished.  It  will  certainly  be  no  small 
encouragement  to  those  who  shall  now  pro 
ceed  to  the  place  of  danger,  that  they  shall 
join  with  many  of  the  same  soldiers,  who 
have  gained  immortal  honor  by  their  past 
conduct,  as  well  as  serve  under  that  wise 
and  able  leader,  whose  prudence,  firmness 
and  attention  to  his  great  charge,  have  pro 
cured  him  the  most  unlimited  confidence,  both 
of  those  who  direct  the  public  counsels,  and 
of  those  who  are  in  arms  under  his  command. 

We  must  not  forget  the  activity  and  success 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern  colonies. 
They  ran  to  arms  in  thousands  the  moment 
they  heard  of  an  attack,  both  in  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina.  God  was  pleased,  in  both 
cases,  to  reward  their  alacrity,  for  they  ob 
tained  a  complete  victory  over  their  ene 
mies  with  so  little  loss  of  blood,  as  was  not 
barely  wonderful,  but  scarcely  credible.  At 
the  battle  of  Moor-Creek  Bridge,  there  were 
but  few  men  killed  and  at  Norfolk  Great- 
Bridge  we  did  not  lose  a  single  life. 

Time  does  not  permit  us  to  enlarge  on  the 
past  events  of  this  war,  in  which  the  kindness 
of  Providence  is  so  clearly  to  be  seen.  We 
therefore  only  further  observe,  that,  by  the 
preparations  in  Britain  for  this  campaign,  and 
by  all  the  intelligence  received  from  Europe,  it 
is  plain  that  not  honor  and  advantage  only, 
but  absolute  necessity  requires  us  to  exert  our 
utmost  efforts,  for  our  all  is  at  stake.  Every 
one  now  is  obliged  to  confess  what  many  saw 
long  ago,  that  entire  and  unconditional  sub 
mission  is  the  point  to  which  our  enemies  are 
determined  to  bring  us,  if  in  their  power ;  so 
that  nothing  remains  for  us  but  either  the 
abject  slavery  of  tributary  states,  or  to  main 
tain  our  rights  and  liberties  by  force  of  arms, 
and  hand  down  the  fair  inheritance  to  our 
posterity,  by  a  brave  and  determined  defence. 

We  desire  and  expect,  that,  in  such  a  situa 
tion  of  things,  all  particular  difference  of  small 
moment,  arising  from  whatever  cause,  whether 


religious  denominations,  rivalship  of  different 
classes  of  men,  scarcity  of  some  articles  of 
commerce,  or  any  other,  may  be  entirely  laid 
aside.  The  present  danger  requires  the  most 
perfect  union.  Let  every  enemy  perceive,  that 
the  representatives  of  the  colonies,  as  soon  as 
they  determine  upon  any  measure,  are  able 
to  bring  out  the  whole  strength  of  this  vast 
country  to  carry  it  into  execution. 

That  you  may  be  under  no  apprehension 
either  of  inequality  in  the  burden,  or  that  our 
own  coasts  will  be  left  unguarded  by  the  des 
tination  of  this  brigade,  we  have  thought  it 
best  to  inform  you,  that  the  continental  con 
gress  have  amply  provided  for  the  defence  of 
this  province,  and  have  made  such  arrange 
ment  of  the  continental  army  for  the  ensuing 
campaign,  as  lays  an  equal  burden  on  the 
inhabitants  of  the  different  colonies  ;  in  par 
ticular,  that  a  flying  camp  of  ten  thousand  men 
is  now  forming  for  the  protection  of  the  mid 
dle  colonies,  which,  we  are  credibly  informed, 
is  to  have  its  chief  station  in  this  province. 
We  add  no  more,  but  that  we  trust  and  hope, 
that,  while  every  province  is  making  the  most 
spirited  efforts,  New  Jersey  in  its  place  and 
duty  will  be  second  to  none. 

Signed  in  name,  and  by  appointment  of  con 
gress,  Burlington,  June  15,  1776. 

SAMUEL  TUCKER,  President. 

A  true  copy, 

WM.  PATTERSON,  Secretary. 


SPEECH 

OF  HIS  EXCELLENCY  WILLIAM  LIVINGSTON, 
GOVERNOR  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  JERSEY 
TO  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  THAT  STATE. 
HADDONFIELD,  N.  J.  FEB.  25,  1777. 

GENTLEMEN — Having  already  laid  before 
the  assembly,  by  messages,  the  several  mat 
ters  that  have  occurred  to  me,  as  more  particu 
larly  demanding  their  attention  during  the 
present  session,  it  may  seem  less  necessary  to 
address  you  in  the  more  ceremonious  form  of  a 
speech.  But  conceiving  it  my  duty  to  the 
state,  to  deliver  my  sentiments  on  the  present 
situation  of  affairs,  and  the  eventful  contest 
between  Great  Britain  and  America,  which 
could  not,  with  any  propriety,  be  conveyed  in 
occasional  messages,  you  will  excuse  my  giv 
ing  you  the  trouble  of  attending  for  that 
purpose. 

After  deploring  with  you,  the  desolation 
spread  through  this  state  by  an  unrelenting 
enemy,  who  have  indeed  marked  their  progress 


NEW  JERSEY. 


193 


with  a  devastation  unknown  to  civilized  na 
tions,  and  evincive  of  the  most  implacable 
vengeance — I  heartily  congratulate  you  upon 
that  subsequent  series  of  success  wherewith  it 
has  pleased  the  Almighty  to  crown  the  Ameri 
can  arms  ;  and  particularly  on  the  important 
enterprise  against  the  enemy  at  Trenton — and 
the  signal  victory  obtained  over  them  at  Prince 
ton,  by  the  gallant  troops  under  the  command 
of  his  excellency  general  Washington. 

Considering  the  contemptible  figure  they 
make  at  present,  and  the  disgust  they  have 
given  to  many  of  their  own  confederates 
among  us,  by  their  more  than  Gothic  rava 
ges — (for  thus  doth  the  Great  Disposer  of 
events  often  deduce  good  out  of  evil) — their 
irruption  into  our  dominion  will  probably  re 
dound  to  the  public  benefit.  It  has  certainly 
enabled  us  the  more  effectually  to  distinguish 
our  friends  from  our  enemies.  It  has  winnowed 
the  chaff  from  the  grain.  It  has  discriminated 
the  temporizing  politician,  who,  at  the  first  ap 
pearance  of  danger,  was  determined  to  secure 
his  idol,  property,  at  the  hazard  of  the  general 
weal,  from  the  persevering  patriot — who,  hav 
ing  embarked  his  all  in  the  common  cause, 
chooses  rather  to  risk — rather  to  lose  that  all, 
for  the  preservation  of  the  more  estimable 
treasure,  liberty,  than  to  possess  it — (enjoy  it 
he  certainly  could  not) — upon  the  ignominious 
terms  of  tamely  resigning  his  country  and  pos 
terity  to  perpetual  servitude.  It  has,  in  a  word, 
opened  the  eyes  of  those  who  were  made  to 
believe,  that  their  impious  merit,  in  abetting  our 
persecutors,  would  exempt  them  from  being 
involved  in  the  general  calamity.  Bat  as  the 
rapacity  of  the  enemy  was  boundless — their 
havoc  was  indiscriminate,  and  their  barbarity 
unparalleled.  They  have  plundered  friends  and 
foes.  Effects  capable  of  division,  they  have 
divided.  Such  as  were  not,  they  have  destroyed. 
They  have  warred  upon  decrepit  age — warred 
upon  defenceless  youth.  They  have  committed 
hostilities  against  the  professors  of  literature, 
and  the  ministers  of  religion — against  public 
records,  and  private  monuments,  and  books  of 
improvement,  and  papers  of  curiosity,  and 
against  the  arts  and  sciences.  They  have 
butchered  the  wounded,  asking  for  quarter ; 
mangled  the  dying,  weltering  in  their  blood  ; 
refused  to  the  dead  the  rites  of  sepulture  ;  suf 
fered  prisoners  to  perish  for  want  of  sustenance  ; 
violated  the  chastity  of  women  ;  disfigured  pri 
vate  dwellings,  of  taste  and  elegance  ;  and,  in 
the  rage  of  impiety  and  barbarism,  profaned 
and  prostrated  edifices  dedicated  to  Almighty 
God. 

And  yet  there  are  among  us,  who,  either 
13 


from  ambitious  or  lucrative  motives — or  intimi 
dated  by  the  terror  of  their  arms — dr  from  a 
partial  fondness  for  the  British  constitution — or 
deluded  by  insidious  propositions — are  secretly 
abetting,  or  openly  aiding  their  machinations, 
to  deprive  us  of  that  liberty,  without  which  man 
is  a  beast,  and  government  a  curse. 

Besides  the  inexpressible  baseness  of  wish 
ing  to  rise  on  the  ruins  of  our  country — or  to 
acquire  riches  at  the  expense  of  the  liberties 
and  fortunes  of  millions  of  our  fellow-citizens — 
how  soon  would  these  delusive  dreams,  upon 
the  conquest  of  America,  end  in  disappoint 
ment  ?  For  where  is  the  fund  to  recompense 
those  retainers'  to  the  British  arms  ?  Was 
every  estate  in  America  to  be  confiscated,  and 
converted  into  cash,  the  product  would  not 
satiate  the  avidity  of  their  national  dependents  ; 
nor  furnish  an  adequate  repast  for  the  keen 
appetites  of  their  own  ministerial  beneficiaries. 
Instead  of  gratuities  and  promotion,  these  un 
happy  accomplices  in  their  tyranny,  would  meet 
with  supercilious  looks  and  cold  disdain  ;  and, 
after  tedious  attendance,  be  finally  told  by  their 
haughty  masters,  that  they  indeed  approved  the 
treason,  but  despised  the  traitor.  Insulted, 
in  fine,  by  their  pretended  protectors,  but 
real  betrayers — and  goaded  with  the  stings  of 
their  own  consciences — they  would  remain 
the  frightful  monuments  of  human  contempt 
and  divine  indignation,  and  linger  out  the 
rest  of  their  days  in  self-condemnation  and 
remorse — and  in  weeping  over  the  ruins  of 
their  country,  which  themselves  had  been  in 
strumental  in  reducing  to  desolation  and 
bondage. 

Others  there  are,  who,  terrified  by  the  power 
of  Britain,  have  persuaded  themselves  that  she 
is  not  only  formidable,  but  irresistible.  That 
her  power  is  great,  is  beyond  question  ;  that  it 
is  not  to  be  despised,  is  the  dictate  of  common 
prudence.  But  then  we  ought  also  to  consider 
her,  as  weak  in  council,  and  ingulfed  in  debt 
—  reduced  in  her  trade — reduced  in  her 
revenue — immersed  in  pleasure — enervated  with 
luxury — and,  in  dissipation  and  venality,  sur 
passing  all  Europe.  We  ought  to  consider  her 
as  hated  by  a  potent  rival,  her  natural  enemy 
and  particularly  exasperated  by  her  imperious 
conduct  in  the  last  war,  as  well  as  her  insolent 
manner  of  commencing  it;  and  thence  inflamed 
with  resentment,  and  only  watching  a  favorable 
juncture  for  open  hostilities.  We  ought  to 
consider  the  amazing  expense  and  difficulty  of 
transporting  troops  and  provisions  above  three 
thousand  miles,  with  the  impossibility  of  re 
cruiting  their  army  at  a  less  distance,  save  only 
with  such  recreants,  whose  conscious  guilt 


194 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


must  at  the  first  approach  of  danger,  appal  the 
stoutest  heart.  Those  insuperable  obstacles 
are  known  and  acknowledged  by  every  virtuous 
and  impartial  man  in  the  nation.  Even  the 
author  of  this  horrid  war  is  incapable  of  conceal 
ing  his  own  confusion  and  distress.  Too  great 
to  be  wholly  suppressed,  it  frequently  discovers 
itself  in  the  course  of  his  speech — a  speech  ter 
rible  in  word,  and  fraught  with  contradiction 
—breathing  threatenings,  and  betraying  terror — 
a  motley  mixture  of  magnanimity  and  consterna 
tion — of  grandeur  and  abasement. — With  troops 
invincible  he  dreaded  a  defeat,  and  wants  re 
inforcements.  Victorious  in  America,  and 
triumphant  on  the  ocean,  he  is  an  humble  de 
pendent  on  a  petty  prince  ;  and  apprehends  an 
attack  upon  his  own  metropolis ;  and,  with  full 
confidence  in  the  friendship  and  alliance  of 
France,  he  trembles  upon  his  throne,  at  her 
secret  designs  and  open  preparations. 

With  all  this,  we  ought  to  contrast  the 
numerous  and  hardy  sons  of  America,  inured 
to  toil— seasoned  alike  to  heat  and  cold — hale 
— robust — patient  of  fatigue — and,  from  their 
ardent  love  of  liberty,  ready  to  face  danger  and 
death — the  immense  extent  of  continent,  which 
our  infatuated  enemies  have  undertaken  to 
subjugate — the  remarkable  unanimity  of  its 
inhabitants,  notwithstanding  the  exception  of  a 
few  apostates  and  deserters — their  unshaken 
resolution  to  maintain  their  freedom,  or  perish 
in  the  attempt — the  fertility  of  our  soil  in  all 
kinds  of  provisions  necessary  for  the  support  of 
war — our  inexhaustible  internal  resources  for 
military  stores  and  naval  armaments — our  com 
parative  economy  in  public  expenses — and  the 
millions  we  save  by  having  reprobated  the 
farther  exchange  of  our  valuable  staples  for  the 
worthless  baubles  and  finery  of  English  manu 
facture.  Add  to  this,  that  in  a  cause  so  just 
and  righteous  on  our  part,  we  have  the  highest 
reason  to  expect  the  blessing  of  Heaven  upon 
our  glorious  conflict.  For  who  can  doubt  the 
interposition  of  the  supremely  just,  in  favor  of 
a  people  forced  to  recur  to  arms  in  defence  of 
every  thing  dear  and  precious,  against  a  nation 
deaf  to  our  complaints  —  rejoicing  in  our 
misery — wantonly  aggravating  our  oppressions 
— determined  to  divide  our  substance — and  by 
fire  and  sword  to  compel  us  into  submission  ? 

Respecting  the  constitution  of  Great  Britain, 
bating  certain  royal  prerogatives,  of  dangerous 
tendency,  it  has  been  applauded  by  the  best 
judges  ;  and  displays,  in  its  original  structure, 
illustrious  proofs  of  wisdom  and  the  knowledge 
of  human  nature.  But  what  avails  the  best 
constitution,  with  the  worst  administration  ? 
For  what  is  their  present  government — and 


what  has  it  been  for  years  past,  but  a  pensioned 
confederacy  against  reason,  and  virtue,  and 
honor,  and  patriotism,  and  the  rights  of  man  ? 
What  were  their  leaders,  but  a  set  of  political 
craftsmen,  flagitiously  conspiring  to  erect  the 
babel,  despotism,  upon  the  ruins  of  the  ancient 
and  beautiful  fabric  of  law— a  shameless  cabal, 
notoriously  employed  in  deceiving  the  prince, 
corrupting  the  parliament,  debasing  the  people, 
depressing  the  most  virtuous,  and  exalting  the 
most  profligate — in  short,  an  insatiable  junto 
of  public  spoilers,  lavishing  the  national  wealth 
and,  by  peculation  and  plunder,  accumulating  a 
debt  already  enormous  ?  And  what  was  the 
majority  of  their  parliament,  formerly  the  most 
august  assembly  in  the  world,  but  venal  pen 
sioners  to  the  crown — a  perfect  mockery  of  all 
popular  representation — and  at  the  absolute 
devotion  of  every  minister  ?  What  were  the 
characteristics  of  their  administration  of  the 
provinces  ?  The  substitution  of  regal  instruc 
tions  in  the  room  of  law  ;  the  multiplication  of 
officers  to  strengthen  the  court  interest ;  per 
petually  extending  the  prerogatives  of  the  king, 
and  retrenching  the  rights  of  the  subject,  ad 
vancing  to  the  most  eminent  stations,  men 
without  education,  and  of  the  most  dissolute 
manners  ;  employing,  with  the  people's  money, 
a  band  of  emissaries  to  misrepresent  and  traduce 
the  people ;  and,  to  crown  the  system  of  mis 
rule,  sporting  with  our  persons  and  estates  by 
filling  the  highest  seats  of  justice,  with  bank 
rupts,  bullies,  and  blockheads. 

From  such  a  nation  (though  all  this  we  bore, 
and  should  perhaps  have  borne  for  another 
century,  had  they  not  avowedly  claimed  the 
unconditional  disposal  of  life  and  property)  it 
is  evidently  our  duty  to  be  detached.  To 
remain  happy  or  safe  in  our  connection  with 
her,  became  thenceforth  utterly  impossible. 
She  is  moreover  precipitating  her  own  fall,  or 
the  age  of  miracles  is  returned — and  Britain 
a  phenomenon  in  the  political  world,  without 
a  parallel. 

The  proclamations  to  ensnare  the  timid  and 
credulous,  are  beyond  expression  disingenuous 
and  tantalizing.  In  a  gilded  pill  they  conceal 
real  poison  :  they  add  insult  to  injury.  After 
repeated  intimations  of  commissioners  to  treat 
with  America,  we  are  presented,  instead  of  the 
peaceful  olive-branch,  with  the  devouring  sword  : 
instead  of  being  visited  by  plenipotentiaries  to 
bring  matters  to  an  accommodation,  we  are 
invaded  by  an  army,  in  their  opinion,  able  to 
subdue  us — and  upon  discovering  their  error, 
the  terms  propounded  amount  to  this,  "  If  you 
will  submit  without  resistance,  we  are  content 
to  take  your  property,  and  spare  your  lives  ;  and 


NEW   JERSEY. 


195 


then  (the  consummation  of  arrogance  !)  we 
will  graciously  pardon  you,  for  having  hitherto 
defended  both." 

Considering  then  their  bewildered  councils, 
their  blundering  ministry,  their  want  of  men 
and  money,  their  impaired  credit,  and  declining 
commerce,  their  lost  revenues,  and  starving 
islands,  the  corruption  of  their  parliament, 
with  the  effeminacy  of  their  nation — and  the 
success  of  their  enterprise  is  against  all  proba 
bility.  Considering  farther,  the  horrid  enormity 
of  their  waging  war  against  their  own  brethren, 
expostulating  for  an  audience,  complaining  of 
injuries,  and  supplicating  for  redress,  and  wag 
ing  it  with  a  ferocity  and  vengeance  unknown 
to  modern  ages,  and  contrary  to  all  laws, 
human  and  divine ;  and  we  can  neither  ques 
tion  the  justice  of  our  opposition,  nor  the 
assistance  of  Heaven  to  crown  it  with  victory. 

Let  us  not,  however,  presumptuously  rely 
on  the  interposition  of  Providence,  without 
exerting  those  efforts  which  it  is  our  duty  to 
exert,  and  which  our  bountiful  Creator  has 
enabled  us  to  exert.  Let  us  do  our  part  to 
open  the  next  campaign  with  redoubled  vigor  ; 
and  until  the  United  States  have  humbled  the 
pride  of  Britain,  and  obtained  an  honorable 
peace,  cheerfully  furnish  our  proportion  for 
continuing  the  war— a  war,  founded  on  our  side 
on  the  immutable  obligation  of  self-defence 
and  in  support  of  freedom,  of  virtue,  and  every 
thing  tending  to  ennoble  our  nature,  and  render 
a  people  happy — on  their  part,  prompted  by 
boundless  avarice,  and  a  thirst  for  absolute 
sway,  and  built  on  a  claim  repugnant  to  every 
principle  of  reason  and  equity — a  claim  subver 
sive  of  all  liberty,  natural,  civil,  moral,  and 
religious  ;  incompatible  with  human  happiness, 
and  usurping  the  attributes  of  deity,  degrading 
man,  and  blaspheming  God. 

Let  us  all,  therefore,  of  every  rank  and 
degree,  remember  our  plighted  faith  and  honor, 
to  maintain  the  cause  with  our  lives  and  for 
tunes.  Let  us  inflexibly  persevere  in  prosecut 
ing  to  a  happy  period,  what  has  been  so  glori 
ously  begun,  and  hitherto  so  prosperously  con 
ducted.  And  let  those  in  more  distinguished 
stations  use  all  their  influence  and  authority, 
to  rouse  the  supine  ;  to  animate  the  irreso 
lute  ;  to  confirm  the  wavering ;  and  to  draw 
from  his  lurking  hole,  the  skulking  neutral, 
who,  leaving  to  others  the  heat  and  burden  of 
the  day,  means  in  the  final  result  to  reap  the 
fruits  of  that  victory,  for  which  he  will  not  con 
tend.  Let  us  be  peculiarly  assiduous  in  bring 
ing  to  condign  punishment,  those  detestable 
parricides  who  have  been  openly  active  against 
their  native  country.  And  may  we,  in  all  our 


deliberations  and  proceedings,  be  influenced 
and  directed  by  the  Great  Arbiter  of  the  fate 
of  nations,  by  whom  empires  rise  and  fall,  and 
who  will  not  always  suffer  the  sceptre  of  the 
wicked  to  rest  on  the  lot  of  the  righteous,  but 
in  due  time  avenge  an  injured  people  on  their 
unfeeling  oppressor,  and  his  bloody  instru 
ments. 

Haddonfield,  Feb.  25,  1777. 


INSTRUCTIONS 

FROM  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  NEW  JERSEY 
TO  ITS  DELEGATES  IN  CONGRESS,  DECEM 
BER  4,  1777. 

The  Council  and  Assembly  of  the  State  of  New- 
Jersey,  in  j  oint  meeting . 

To  the  Hon.  John  Witherspoon,  Abraham 
Clark,  Jonathan  Elmer,  Nathaniel  Scudder 
and  Elias  Boudinot,  Esquires,  and  each  and 
every  of  you : 

We  have  called  you  to  the  important  and 
interesting  service  of  representing  this  state  in 
the  congress  of  the  United  States  of  North 
America.  A  higher  proof  cannot  be  given  of 
the  confidence  we  repose  in  your  abilities  and 
integrity  ;  and  we  rest  assured  your  best  en 
deavors  will,  at  all  times,  be  exerted  to  promote 
the  freedom,  independence,  and  happiness  of 
the  whole  union,  particularly  to  that  part  to 
which  you  stand  in  more  immediate  relation. 

Numerous  and  diversified  as  the  objects  of 
your  attention  will  be,  we  attempt  not  to  point 
out  either  the  line  or  the  extent  of  your  mission. 
Keep  in  constant  view  the  cause  of  your  dele 
gation,  and  let  all  your  conduct  be  directed  to 
the  general  good  and  the  prosperity  of  your 
country.  We  cannot,  however,  omit  the  fol 
lowing  particulars,  suggested  by  the  present 
posture  of  affairs,  and  to  which  we  require  you 
carefully  to  attend. 

I.  We  hope  you  will  habitually  bear  in  mind 
that  the  success  of  the  great  cause  in  which 
the  United  States  are  engaged,  depends  upon 
the  favor  and  blessing  of  Almighty  God.  and, 
therefore,  you  will  neglect  nothing  which  is 
competent  to  the  assembly  of  the  states,  for 
promoting  piety  and  good  morals  among  the 
people  at  large.  But,  especially,  we  desire  that 
you  may  give  attention  to  this  circumstance 
in  the  government  of  the  army,  taking  care 
that  such  of  the  articles  of  war  as  forbid  pro- 
faneness,  riot  and  debauchery,  be  observed  and 
enforced  with  all  due  strictness  and  severity. 
This,  we  apprehend,  is  absolutely  necessary 
for  the  encouragement  and  maintenance  of 


196 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


good  discipline,  and  will  be  a  means  of  recruit 
ing  the  army  with  men  of  credit  and  principle 
— an  object  ardently  to  be  wished,  but  not  to  be 
expected,  if  the  warmest  friends  of  the'r  coun 
try  should  be  deterred  from  sending  their  sons 
and  connections  into  the  service,  lest  they 
should  be  tainted  with  impious  and  immoral 
notions,  and  contract  vicious  habits. 

2.  We  have  no  doubt  that,  as  guardians  of 
the  state  of  New-Jersey,  you  will  be  particu 
larly  attentive  to  its  interests  ;  but  we  also  ex 
pect  you  will  be  watchful  to  guard  against  every 
thing  which   will  be   hurtful   to    the  general 
union,  or  injurious  to  the  common  interests  of 
the  United  States.     Extinguish,  by  all  means 
in  your  power,  the  least  appearance  of  jealousy 
in  its  earliest  rise.     Discountenance  all  local 
and  partial  reflections  in  every  instance,  and 
reprove,  by  your  example,  and  suppress,  as  far 
as    your  authority   extends,   party   feuds   and 
factions,  be  the  offenders  who  they  may. 

3.  Let  the  wants  of  the  soldiery  be  amply 
supplied   and    due   provision   made    for  their 
health  and  comfort ;  and,  as  we  think  this  can 
be  done,  so  we  wish  it  always  may,  in  such 
manner  as  to  guard  the  civil  rights  of  the  people 
against  military  encroachment,  and   the  arbi 
trary  oppression  of  officers  of  the  army,  or  of 
persons  employed  in  the  commissary's,  quar 
ter-master's    or    hospital    departments.      We 
contemplate  with  concern,  the  slightest  appear 
ance   of  such  an  evil,  and  wish  you  to   take 
proper  pains  to  prevent  it.     This  state  is  for- 
wardly  disposed  to  use  every  exertion  in  behalf 
of  their  troops,  and,  as  far  as  can  reasonably 
be  expected,  of  the  army  in  general ;  but  we 
desire,  when  a  requisition  for  this  effect  is  nec 
essary,  it   may  be   seasonably   made,  without 
waiting  till  the  very  hour  of  necessity,  when  it 
is  impossible  to  take  due  and  legal  means  of 
complying  with  it  so  as  to  answer  any  good 
purpose. 

4.  We  desire  you  may  be  cautious  of  mul 
tiplying  offices,  or  the  number  of  the  officers  in 
the  several  continental  departments,  and  there 
by  unnecessarily  increasing  the  public  expense. 
Especially,  you  will  use  your  utmost  influence 
that  the   departments  be  filled  with  men   of 
probity,  and  discretion,  well  qualified  in  point 
of  capacity,  and  of  unsuspected  attachment  to 
the  liberties  of  America.     We  need  not  urge 
the  reasons  for  calling  your  attention  to  this 
object,  they  are  daily  before  your  eyes. 

5.  We  recommend  the  immediate  completing 
of  the  establishment  for  wounded  and  disabled 
soldiers   and  seamen,  by  extending  it  to   the 
militia  in  the  continental  sendee,  and  making 
some  provision   for  the  widows  and  children 


of  those  who  fall  in  battle,  or  die  in  the  service, 
whether  in  the  regular  or  militia  troops.  The 
necessity  of  a  law,  in  this  as  well  as  the  several 
states  in  the  union,  grounded  upon  such  estab 
lishment,  requires  that  it  be  attended  to  as 
speedily  as  possible. 

6.  You  are  to  take  the  earliest  opportunity  of 
having  some  effectual  mode  adopted  for  nego- 
ciating  the  exchange  of  citizens  and  civil  pris 
oners,   no  adequate  provisions  being,  as   we 
conceive,  made  for  this  end  in  the  cartel  now 
subsisting.     Numbers  of  civil  officers,  inhabi 
tants  and  subjects  of  this  state,  in  captivity, 
and,  we  doubt  not,  the  case  is  similar  in  other 
states,  where  the  operations  of  war  have  ex 
tended,  not  being  taken  in  arms,  and,  therefore, 
not  within  the  description  of  prisoners  of  war, 
are  languishing  in  jails  and  chains,  under  the 
power  of  the  enemy,  without  the  means  of  hope 
or  relief.     As  their  sufferings  are  in   conse 
quence  of  their  zeal  and  activity  in  the  common 
cause,  they  are  entitled  to  the  most  vigorous 
exertions  of  their  country  in  their  behalf. 

7.  The  great  irregularities  and  abuses  which 
have  been,  and  continue  to  be,  committed  in 
this  state,  and,  probably,  in  others  where  the 
army  hath  been,  or  now  is,  by  the  impressing 
horses,  teams  and  carriages,  and  taking  pro 
visions,  forage  and  fuel  for  the  troops  on  march 
or  in   camp,  and   in   delaying,   neglecting,  or 
totally  refusing,  upon   the  application   of  the 
inhabitants,  with  their  receipts  or  certificates, 
to  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  make  satisfaction, 
have  given  rise   to   such  universal  uneasiness 
and   complaint,  that  it  cannot   have   escaped 
your  notice.     The  ill  consequences  of  such  a 
grievance,  not  only  to  individuals,  but  to  the 
cause  in  general,  are  so  obvious,  we  need  only 
remind   you  of  it,  and  desire  you  would  use 
your  endeavors  to  procure  a  speedy  remedy. 

8.  We  wish  you  to  consider  whether  it  may 
not  be  advisable,  and  even  necessary,  that  con 
gress  digest   and   recommend  to   the  several 
states,  some  general  plan  for  a  treason  law, 
lest  inconveniences  and  difficulties  should  arise 
from  such  laws  being  drawn  in  different  forms 
and  settled  on  different  principles,  either  as  to 
the  crimes  or  penalty,  in  the  different  states  ; 
and  particularly  that  treason  against  the  union 
may  be  properly  described,  and  the  punishment 
thereof  suitably  defined.     Such  a  general  foun 
dation  being  once  laid,  the  law  can  be  varied 
and  accommodated,  if  necessary,  to  the  local 
and  special  circumstances  of  each  state,  without 
substantially  departing  from  it. 

9.  That  your  attendance  on  the  duties  of  your 
appointment  may  be  the  more  easy  and  con 
venient,  and  that  you  may  have  leisure  and 


NEW  JERSEY. 


197 


opportunity  occasionally  to  attend  to  your  do 
mestic  concerns,  from  which,  otherwise,  you 
must  have  been  totally  abstracted,  we  have 
made  the  representation  to  consist  of  five,  some 
three  to  be  constantly  present  in  congress,  un 
less  when  precluded  by  unavoidable  accident. 
Arid  that  the  state  may  not  be  put  to  unneces 
sary  expense,  not  more  than  three  are  to  attend 
at  the  same  time. 

By  order  of  the  joint-meeting. 

JOHN  STEVENS,  Chairman. 
Princeton,  December  4,  1777. 


PROPOSALS   FOR  AN  EXCHANGE 

OF  GENERAL  BURGOYNE,  AFTER  HIS  SUR 
RENDER  TO  GENERAL  GATES,  AT  SARA 
TOGA,  DECEMBER  8,  1777. 

Ascribed  to  his  Excellency  William  Living 
ston,  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey* 

Should  the  report  of  General  Burgoyne's 
having  infringed  the  capitulation,  between 
Major  General  Gates  and  himself,  prove  to  be 
true,  our  superiors  will  doubtless  take  proper 
care  to  prevent  his  reaping  any  benefit  from  it ; 
and  should  he  be  detained  as  a  prisoner  for  his 
infraction  of  any  of  the  articles,  I  would  hum 
bly  propose  to  exchange  him  in  such  manner, 
as  will  at  the  same  time  flatter  his  vanity  and 
redound  to  the  greatest  emolument  of  America. 
To  evince  the  reasonableness  of  my  proposal, 
I  would  observe,  that  by  the  same  parity  of 
reason,  that  a  general  is  exchanged  for  a  gene 
ral,  a  colonel  for  a  colonel,  and  so  on,  with  re 
spect  to  other  officers,  mutually  of  equal  rank, 
we  ought  to  have  for  one  and  the  same  gentle 
man,  who  shall  happen  to  hold  both  those 
offices,  both  a  general  and  a  colonel.  This 
will  appear  evident  from  the  consideration 
that  those  exchanges  are  never  regulated  by 
viewing  the  persons  exchanged  in  the  light  of 
men,  but  as  officers  ;  since  otherwise,  a  colonel 
might  as  well  be  exchanged  for  a  sergeant  as 
for  an  officer  of  his  own  rank  a  sergeant  be 
ing,  undoubtedly,  equally  a  man,  and,  as  the 
case  sometimes  happens,  more  of  a  man  too. 
One  prisoner,  therefore,  having  twenty  differ- 

*  The  turgid,  bombastic  proclamation  (for  which  see 
American  Museum,  vol  II.  page  495)  which  gave  rise  to 
this  elegant  and  poignant  satire,  was  prefaced  in  the  fol 
lowing  manner  :  "  Proclamation  by  John  Burgoyne,  es 
quire,  lieutenant  general  of  his  majesty's  armies  in 
America,colonel  of  the  queen's  regiment  of  light  dragoons, 
governor  of  Fort  William,  in  North  Britain,  one  of  the  re 
presentatives  of  the  commons  of  Great  Britain,  and  com 
manding  an  army  and  fleet  on  an  expedition  from  Canada, 
etc.  etc.  etc."— C. 


ent  offices,  ought  to  redeem  from  captivity 
twenty  prisoners  aggregately  holding  the  same 
offices ;  or  such  greater  or  less  number  as 
shall,  with  respect  to  rank,  be  equal  to  his 
twenty  offices.  This  being  admitted,  I  think 
General  Burgoyne  is  the  most  profitable  pris 
oner  we  could  have  taken,  having  more  offices, 
or  (what  amounts  to  the  same  thing  in  Old 
England)  more  titles,  than  any  gentleman  on 
this  side  the  Ganges.  And  as  his  impetuous 
excellency  certainly  meant  to  avail  himself  of 
his  titles,  by  their  pompous  display  in  his  pro 
clamation,  had  he  proved  conqueror,  it  is  but 
reasonable  that  we  should  avail  ourselves  of 
them  now  he  is  conquered ;  and,  till  I  meet 
with  a  better  project  for  that  purpose,  I  per 
suade  myself  that  the  following  proposal  will 
appropriate  them  to  a  much  better  use,  than 
they  were  ever  applied  to  before. 

The  exchange  I  propose  is  as  follows : 

I.  For  John  Burgoyne,  esquire. 

Some  worthy  justice  of  the  peace,  magnani 
mously  stolen  out  of  his  bed,  or  taken  from  his 
farm  by  a  band  of  ruffians  in  the  uniform  of 
British  soldiers,  and  now  probably  perishing 
with  hunger  and  cold  in  a  loathsome  jail  in 
New  York. 

II.  For  John  Burgoyne,  lieutenant  general  of 
his  majesty's  armies  in  America, 

Two  majors  general. 

III.  For  John  Burgoyne,  colonel  of  the  queen  s 
regiment  of  light  dragoons. 

As  the  British  troops  naturally  prize  every 
thing  in  proportion  as  it  partakes  of  royalty, 
and  under  value  whatever  originates  from  a 
republican  government,  I  suppose  a  colonel  of 
her  majesty  s  own  regiment  will  procure  at 
least  three  continental  colonels  of  the  horse. 

IV.  For    John    Burgoyne,   governor    of  fort 
William  in  North  Britain. 

Here  I  would  demand  one  governor 'of  one 
of  the  United  States,  as  his  multitulary  excel- 
cellency  is  governor  of  a  fort ;  and  two  more, 
as  that_/i?r/  is  in  North  Britain,  which  his  Bri 
tannic  majesty  may  be  presumed  to  value  in 
that  proportion  ;  but  considering  that  the  said 
fort  is  called  William,  which  may  excite  in  his 
majesty's  mind  the  rebellious  idea  of  liberty,  I 
deduct  one  upon  that  account,  and  rather  than 
puzzle  the  cartel  with  any  perplexity,  I  am 
content  with  two  governors. 

V.  For  John  Burgoyne,  one  of  the  representa 
tives  of  Great  Britain. 

The  first  member  of  congress  who  may  fall 
into  the  enemy's  hands. 

VI.  For  John  Burgoyne,  commander  of  a  fleet 
employed  in  an  expedition  from  Canada. 
The  admiral  of  our  navy.  . 


198 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


VII.  For  John   Burgoyne,  commander  of  an 
army    employed    in    an    expedition   from 
Canada. 

One  commander-in-chief  in  any  of  our  de 
partments. 

VIII.  For  John  Burgoyne,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 
Some  connoisseurs  in  hieroglyphics  imagine 

that  these  three  et  ceteras  are  emblematical  of 
three  certain  occult  qualities  in  the  general, 
which  he  never  intends  to  exhibit  in  more  legi 
ble  characters,  viz.,  prudence,  modesty,  and 
humanity.  Others  suppose  that  they  stand  for 
king  of  America  ;  and  that,  had  he  proved 
successful,  he  would  have  fallen  upon  general 
Howe,  and  afterward  have  set  upon  for  him 
self.  Be  this  as  it  may,  (which  it  however 
behoves  a  certain  gentleman  on  the  other  side 
of  the  water  seriously  to  consider)  I  insist 
upon  it,  that  as  all  dark  and  cabalistical  char 
acters  are  suspicious,  these  incognoscible  enig 
mas  may  portend  much  more  than  is  generally 
apprehended.  At  all  events,  general  Burgoyne 
has  availed  himself  of  their  importance,  and  I 
doubt  not  they  excited  as  much  terror  in  his 
proclamation,  as  any  of  his  more  luminous 
titles.  As  his  person,  therefore,  is  by  the  cap 
ture,  become  the  property  of  the  congress,  all 
his  titles,  (which  some  suppose  to  constitute 
his  very  essence)  whether  more  splendid  or 
opaque,  latent  or  invisible,  are  become,  ipso 
facto  the  lawful  goods  and  chattels  of  the  conti 
nent,  and  ought  not  to  be  restored  without  a  con 
sideration  equivalent.  If  we  should  happen  to 
over-rate  them,  it  is  his  own  fault,  it  being  in 
his  power  to  ascertain  their  intrinsic  value  ; 
and  it  is  a  rule  in  law,  that  when  a  man  is  pos 
sessed  of  evidence  to  disprove  what  is  alleged 
against  him,  and  refuses  to  produce  it,  the 
presumption  raised  against  him,  is  to  be  taken 
for  granted.  Certain  it  is,  that  these  three  et 
ceteras  must  stand  for  three  somethings,  and  as 
these  three  somethings  must,  at  least,  be  equal 
to  three  somethings  without  rank  or  title,  I 
had  some  thoughts  of  setting  them  down  for 
three  privates ;  but  then  as  they  are  three 
somethings  in  general  Burgoyne,  which  must 
be  of  twice  the  value  of  three  any  things,  in 
any  three,  privates,  I  shall  only  double  them, 
and  demand  in  exchange  for  these  three  prob 
lematical,  enigmatical,  hieroglyphical,  mystic, 
necromantic,  cabalistical  and  portentous  et 
ceteras,  six  privates. 

So  that,  according  to  my  plan,  we  ought  to 
detain  this  ideal  conqueror  of  the  North,  now 
a  real  prisoner  in  the  East,  till  we  have  got  in 
exchange  for  him,  one  esquire,  two  major  gen 
erals,  three  colonels  of  light  horse,  two  govern 
ors,  one  member  of  congress,  the  admiral  of 


our  navy,  one  commander  in  chief  in  a  sepa 
rate  department,  and  six  privates ;  which  is 
probably  more  than  this  extraordinary  hero 
would  fetch  in  any  part  of  Great  Britain,  were 
he  exposed  at  public  auction  for  a  day  and  a 
year.  All  which  is  nevertheless,  humbly  sub 
mitted  to  the  consideration  of  the  honorable 
the  congress,  and  his  excellency  general  Wash 
ington. 

Princetown,  December  8,  1777. 


CORRESPONDENCE 

BETWEEN  COL.  CHARLES  MAWHOOD,  COM 
MANDING  BRITISH  FORCES,  AND  COL. 
ELIJAH  HAND,  COMMANDING  AMERICAN 
MILITIA,  SALEM,  NEW  JERSEY,  MARCH, 
1778. 

The  following  correspondence,  which  passed 
between  the  commanding  officers  of  the  British 
troops  and  American  militia,  at  this  place,  in 
the  time  that  "  tried  men's  souls,"  in  the  revo 
lutionary  struggle,  was  handed  us  by  a  venera 
ble  old  man ;  who  bore  the  fatigues  and  pri 
vation  of  a  soldier  in  those  days.  It  was 
presented  for  publication,  for  the  purpose 
of  reviving  and  keeping  alive  our  gratitude 
to  those  who  so  nobly  contended  for  liberty, 
and  adoration  to  the  supreme  Ruler  of  the 
universe,  for  causing  the  seemingly  just, 
though  apparently  weaker  power,  to  prevail. 
The  proposal  of  the  British  commander  is 
cruel  and  insulting :  the  answer  ingenious 
and  bold.  They  are  as  follows  : 

LETTER  FROM  COL.  MAWHOOD. 

"  Colonel  Mawhood,  commanding  a  detach 
ment  of  the  British  army  at  Salem,  induced  by 
motives  of  humanity,  proposes  to  the  militia 
at  Quinton's  Bridge  and  the  neighborhood,  as 
well  officers  as  private  men,  to  lay  down  their 
arms  and  depart,  each  man  to  his  own  home  ; 
on  that  condition  he  solemnly  promises  to  re- 
embark  his  troops  without  delay,  doing  no  fur 
ther  damage  to  the  country,  and  he  will  cause 
his  commissaries  to  pay  for  the  cattle,  hay  and 
corn,  that  have  been  taken,  in  sterling  money. 

"  If,  on  the  contrary,  the  militia  should  be 
deluded  and  blind  to  their  true  interest  and 
happiness,  he  will  put  the  arms  which  he  has 
brought  with  him,  into  the  hands  of  the  in 
habitants  well  affected,  called  tories,  and  will 
attack  all  such  of  the  militia  as  remain  in 
arms ;  burn  and  destroy  their  houses  and 
other  property,  and  reduce  them,  their  un 
fortunate  wives  and  children  to  beggary  and 


NEW  JERSEY. 


199 


distress. —  And  to  convince  them  that  these  are 
not  vain  threats,  he  has  subjoined  a  list  of  the 
names  of  such  as  will  be  the  first  objects  to 
feel  the  vengeance  of  the  British  nation. 

"Given   under  my  hand   at  head-quarters, 
Salem,  2ist  day  of  March,  1778. 

Cs.  MAWHOOD,  COL." 


ANSWER  OF  COL.  HAND. 

"  SIR — I  have  been  favored  with  what  you 
say  humanity  has  induced  you  to  propose. 
It  would  have  given  me  much  pleasure  to 
have  found  that  humanity  had  been  the  line 
of  conduct  to  our  troops  since  you  have  come 
to  Salem.  Not  only  denying  quarters,  but 
butchering  our  men  who  surrendered  them 
selves  prisoners  in  the  skirmish  at  Quinton's 
Bridge  last  Thursday:  and  bayoneting  yes 
terday  morning,  at  Hancock's  Bridge,  in  the 
most  cruel  manner,  in  cold  blood,  men  who 
were  taken  by  surprise,  in  a  situation,  in  which 
they  neither  could  nor  did  attempt  to  make 
any  resistance  ;  and  some  of  whom  were  not 
fighting  men,  are  instances  too  shocking  for 
me  to  relate,  and  I  hope  for  you  to  hear. 
The  brave  are  ever  generous  and  humane  ! 
After  expressing  your  sentiments  of  humanity, 
you  proceed  to  make  a  request  which  I  think 
you  would  despise  us  if  we  complied  with. 
Your  proposal  that  we  should  lay  down  our 
.arms,  we  absolutely  reject.  We  have  taken 
them  up  to  maintain  rights  which  are  dearer 
to  us  than  our  lives,  and  will  not  lay  them 
down,  till  either  success  has  crowned  our 
cause  with  victory,  or  like  many  ancient 
worthies  contending  for  liberty,  we  meet  with 
an  honorable  death. — You  mention,  that  if  we 
reject  your  proposal,  you  will  put  arms  into 
the  hands  of  the  tories  against  us.  We  have 
no  objections  to  the  measure,  for  it  would  be 
a  very  good  one  to  fill  our  arsenals  with  arms. 
Your  threat  to  wantonly  burn  and  destroy  our 
houses  and  other  property,  and  reduce  wives 
and  children  to  beggary  and  distress,  is  a  sen 
timent  which  my  humanity  almost  forbids  me 
only  to  recite  !  and  induces  me  to  imagine  that 
I  am  reading  the  cruel  order  of  a  barbarous 
Attila,  and  not  of  a  gentleman,  brave,  gene 
rous  and  polished  with  a  genteel  European 
education. — To  wantonly  destroy  will  injure 
your  cause  more  than  ours.  It  will  increase 
your  enemies  and  our  army.  To  destine  to 
destruction  the  property  of  our  most  distin 
guished  men,  as  you  have  done  in  your  pro 
posal,  is,  in  my  opinion,  unworthy  a  generous 
foe,  and  more  like  a  rancorous  feud  between 
two  contending  barons,  than  a  war  carried  on 


by  one  of  the  greatest  powers  on  earth  against 
a  people  nobly  struggling  for  liberty.  A  line 
of  honor  would  mark  out  that  these  men 
should  share  the  fate  of  their  country.  If  your 
arms  should  be  crowned  with  victory,  which 
God  forbid,  they  and  their  property  will  be 
entirely  at  the  disposal  of  your  power,  will 
only  make  them  desperate,  and,  as  I  said 
before,  increase  your  foes  and  our  army ;  and 
retaliation  upon  tories  and  their  property  is 
not  entirely  out  of  our  power.  Be  assured 
that  these  are  the  humble  sentiments  and 
determined  resolution  not  only  of  myself,  but 
of  all  the  officers  and  privates  under  me. 

"  My  prayer  is,  sir,  that   this  answer   may 
reach  you  jn  good  health  and  happiness. 

"  Given    at    head-quarters,     at     Quinton's 
Bridge,  March  22d,  1778. 

ELIJAH  HAND,  Colonel. 
"  To  Cs.  Mawhood,  Colonel." 


REMARKS  ON  LIBERTY  OF  CON 
SCIENCE. 

ASCRIBED  TO  HIS  EXCELLENCY  WILLIAM 
LIVINGSTON,  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  JER 
SEY,  1778. 

If,  in  our  own  estimate  of  things,  we  ought 
to  be  regulated  by  the  importance,  doubtless 
every  encroachment  upon  religion,  of  all  things 
the  most  important,  ought  to  be  considered  as 
the  greatest  imposition ;  and  the  unmolested 
exercise  of  it,  a  proportionable  blessing. 

By  religion,  I  mean  an  inward  habitual  rev 
erence  for,  and  devotedness  to  the  Deity,  with 
such  external  homage,  either  public  or  private, 
as  the  worshipper  believes  most  acceptable  to 
him.  According  to  this  definition,  it  is  impos 
sible  for  human  laws  to  regulate  religion  with 
out  destroying  it ;  for  they  cannot  compel 
inward  religious  reverence,  that  being  alto 
gether  mental  and  of  a  spiritual  nature  ;  nor 
can  they  enforce  outward  religious  homage, 
because  all  such  homage  is  either  a  man's  own 
choice,  and  then  it  is  not  compelled,  or  it  is 
repugnant  to  it,  and  then  it  cannot  be  religious. 

The  laws  of  England,  indeed,  do  not  peremp 
torily  inhibit  a  man  from  worshipping  God, 
according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience, 
nor  positively  constrain  him  to  violate  it,  by 
conforming  to  the  religion  of  the  state  :  But 
they  punish  him  for  doing  the  former,  or  what 
amounts  to  the  same  thing,  for  omitting  the 
latter,  and  consequently  punish  him  for  his  reli 
gion.  For  what  are  the  civil  disqualifications 
and  the  privation  of  certain  privileges  he  there- 


2OO 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


by  incurs,  but  so  many  punishments  ?  And 
what  else  is  the  punishment  for  not  embracing 
the  religion  of  others,  but  the  punishment  for 
practising  one's  own  ?  With  how  little  pro 
priety  a  nation  can  boast  of  its  freedom  under 
such  restraints  on  religious  liberty,  requires  no 
great  sagacity  to  determine.  They  affect,  'tis 
true,  to  abhor  the  imputation  of  tolerance,  and 
applaud  themselves  for  their  pretended  tolera 
tion  and  lenity.  As  contra-distinguished,  in 
deed,  from  actual  prohibition,  a  permission 
may  doubtless  be  called  a  toleration  ;  for  as  a 
man  is  permitted  to  enjoy  his  religion  under 
whatever  penalties  or  forfeitures,  he  is  certainly 
tolerated  to  enjoy  it.  But  as  far  as  he  pays 
for  such  enjoyment,  by  suffering  those  penalties 
and  forfeitures,  he  as  certainly  does  not  enjoy 
it  freely.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  persecuted  in 
the  proportion  that  his  privilege  is  so  regulated 
and  qualified.  I  call  it  persecution,  because  it 
is  harassing  mankind  for  their  principles  ;  and 
I  deny  that  such  punishments  derive  any  sanc 
tion  from  law,  because  the  consciences  of  men 
are  not  the  objects  of  human  legislation.  And 
to  trace  this  stupendous  insult  on  the  dignity 
of  reason  to  any  other  source  than  the  one 
from  which  I  induced  it  in  the  preceding  essay, 
I  mean  the  abominable  combination  of  king 
craft  and  priest-craft,  (in  everlasting  indissolu 
ble  league  to  extirpate  liberty,  and  erect  on  its 
ruins  boundless  and  universal  despotism,) 
would  I  believe  puzzle  the  most  assiduous 
enquirer.  For  what  business,  in  the  name  of 
common  sense,  has  the  magistrate  (distinctly 
and  singly  appointed  for  our  political  and  tem 
poral  happiness)  with  our  religion,  which  is  to 
secure  our  happiness  spiritual  and  eternal? 
And  indeed  among  all  the  absurdities  charge 
able  upon  human  nature,  it  never  yet  entered 
into  the  thoughts  of  any  one  to  confer  such 
authority  upon  another.  The  institution  of 
civil  society  I  have  pointed  out  as  originat 
ing  from  the  unbridled  rapaciousness  of  indi 
viduals,  and  as  a  necessary  curb  to  prevent 
that  violence  and  other  inconveniences  to  which 
men  in  a  state  of  nature  were  exposed.  But 
whoever  fancied  it  a  violence  offered  to  himself, 
that  another  should  enjoy  his  own  opinion  ? 
Or  who,  in  a  state  of  nature,  ever  deemed  it 
an  inconvenience  that  every  man  should  choose 
his  own  religion  ?  Did  the  free  denizens  of 
the  world,  before  the  monstrous  birth  of 
priest-craft,  aiding  by  and  aided  by  the  secu 
lar  arm,  ever  worry  one  another  for  not  prac 
tising  ridiculous  rites,  or  for  disbelieving  things 
incredible  ?  Did  men  in  their  aboriginal  con 
dition  ever  suffer  persecution  for  conscience 
sake?  The  most  frantic  enthusiast  will  not 


pretend  it.  Why  then  should  the  members  of 
society  be  supposed,  on  their  entering  into  it, 
to  have  had  in  contemplation  the  reforming  an 
abuse  which  never  existed  ?  Or  why  are  they 
pretended  to  have  invested  the  magistrate  with 
authority  to  sway  and  direct  their  religious 
sentiment  ?  In  reality,  such  delegation  of 
power,  had  it  ever  been  made,  would  be  a 
mere  nullity,  and  the  compact  by  which  it  was 
ceded,  altogether  nugatory,  the  rights  of  con 
science  being  immutably  personal  and  absolutely 
inalienable,  nor  can  the  state  or  community  as 
such  have  any  concern  in  the  matter.  For  in 
what  manner  doth  it  affect  society,  which  is 
evidently  and  solely  instituted  to  prevent  per 
sonal  assault,  the  violation  of  property  and  the 
defamation  of  character;  and  hath  not  (these 
remaining  inviolate)  any  interest  in  the  actions 
of  men — how  doth  it,  I  say,  affect  society  what 
principles  we  entertain  in  our  own  minds,  or 
in  what  outward  form  we  think  it  best  to  pay 
our  adoration  to  God?  But  to  set  the  absurd 
ity  of  the  magistrate's  authority  to  interfere  in 
matters  of  religion,  in  the  strongest  light,  I 
would  fain  know  what  religion  it  is  that  he  has 
authority  to  establish  ?  Has  he  a  right  to 
establish  only  the  true  religion,  or  is  any  reli 
gion  true  because  he  does  not  establish  it  ?  It 
the  former,  his  trouble  is  as  vain  as  it  is  arro 
gant,  because  the  true  religion  being  not  of 
this  world,  wants  not  the  princes  of  this  world 
to  support  it ;  but  has  in  fact  either  languished 
or  been  adulterated  wherever  they  meddled  with 
it.  If  the  supreme  magistrate,  as  such,  has 
authority  to  establish  any  religion  he  thinks  to 
be  true,  and  the  religion  so  established  Is 
therefore  right  and  ought  to  be  embraced,  It 
follows,  since  all  supreme  magistrates  have  the 
same  authority,  that  all  established  religions 
are  equally  right,  and  ought  to  be  embraced. 
The  emperor  of  China,  therefore,  having,  as 
supreme  magistrate  in  his  empire,  the  same 
right  to  establish  the  precepts  of  Confucius,  and 
the  Sultan  in  his,  the  imposture  of  Mahomet, 
as  hath  the  king  of  Great  Britain  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  in  his  dominion,  it  results  from  these 
principles,  that  the  religions  of  Confucius  and 
Mahomet  are  equally  true  with  the  doctrine  of 
our  blessed  Saviour  and  his  Apostles,  and  equally 
obligatory  upon  the  respective  subjects  of  China 
and  Turkey,  as  Christianity  is  on  those  within 
the  British  realm  ;  a  josition  which,  I  presume, 
the  most  zealous  advocate  for  ecclesiastical 
domination  would  think  it  blasphemy  to  avow. 
The  English  ecclesiastical  government, 
therefore,  is,  and  all  the  RELIGIOUS  ESTAB 
LISHMENTS  IN  THE  WORLD  are  manifest  viola 
tions  of  the  right  of  private  judgment  in  mat- 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


2O I 


ters  of  religion.  They  are  impudent  outrages 
on  common  sense,  in  arrogating  a  power  of  con- 
troling  the  devotional  operations  of  the  mind 
and  external  acts  of  divine  homage  not  cogniz 
able  by  any  human  tribunal,  and  for  which  we 
are  accountable  only  to  the  Great  Searcher  of 
hearts,  whose  prerogative  it  is  to  judge  them. 

In  contrast  with  this  spiritual  tyranny,  how 
beautiful  appears  our  Catholic  constitution  in 
disclaiming  all  jurisdiction  over  the  souls  of 
men,  and  securing,  by  a  law  never  to  be  re 


pealed,  the  voluntary,  unchecked  moral  suasion 
of  every  individual,  and  his  own  self-directed 
intercourse  with  the  father  of  spirits,  either  by 
devout  retirement  or  public  worship  of  his  own 
election  !  How  amiable  the  plan  of  entrench 
ing,  with  the  sanction  of  an  ordinance,  immut 
able  and  irrevocable,  the  sacred  rights  of  con 
science,  and  renouncing  all  discrimination  be 
tween  men  on  account  of  their  sentiments  about 
the  various  modes  of  church  government,  or 
the  different  articles  of  their  faith  !  " 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


ACTION 

OF  THE  CITIZENS  OF  PHILADELPHIA,  IN 
OPPOSITION  TO  THE  IMPORTATION  OF 
TEA. 

PHILADELPHIA,  January  3,  1774. 

The  unanimity,  spirit  and  zeal'  which  have 
heretofore  animated  all  the  colonies,  from  Bos 
ton  to  South  Carolina,  have  been  so  eminently 
displayed  in  the  opposition  to  the  pernicious 
project  of  the  East  India  company,  in  sending 
tea  to  America,  while  it  remains  subject  to  a 
duty,  and  the  Americans  at  the  same  time  con 
fined  by  the  strongest  prohibitory  laws  to 
import  it  only  from  Great  Britain,  that  a  par 
ticular  account  of  the  transactions  of  this  city 
cannot  but  be  acceptable  to  all  our  readers, 
and  every  other  friend  of  American  liberty. 

Upon  the  first  advice  of  this  measure,  a 
general  dissatisfaction  was  expressed,  that,  at 
a  time  when  we  were  struggling  with  this 
oppressive  act,  and  an  agreement  not  to  import 
tea  while  subject  to  the  duty,  our  fellow  sub 
jects  in  England  should  form  a  measure  so 
directly  tending  to  enforce  that  act,  and  again 
embroil  us  with  our  parent  state.  When  it 
was  also  considered,  that  the  proposed  mode 
of  disposing  of  the  tea,  tended  to  a  mono 
poly,  ever  odious  in  a  free  country,  a  universal 
disapprobation  shewed  itself  throughout  the 
city.  A  public  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  was 
held  at  the  state  house  on  the  i8th  October, 
at  which  great  numbers  attended,  and  the 
sense  of  the  city  was  expressed  in  the  fol 
lowing  resolves — 

I.  That  the  disposal  of  their  own  property  is 
the  inherent  rights  of  freemen  ;  that  there  can 
be  no  property  in  that  which  another  can,  of 
right,  take  from  us  without  our  consent ;  that 


the  claim  of  parliament  to  tax  America  is,  in 
other  words,  a  claim  of  right  to  levy  contribu 
tions  on  us  at  pleasure. 

2.  That  the  duty  imposed  by  parliament  upon 
tea  landed  in  America,  is  a  tax  on  the  Ameri 
cans,  or  levying  contributions  on  them  without 
their  consent. 

3.  That  the  express  purpose  for  which  the 
tax  is  levied  on  the  Americans,  namely,  for  the 
support  of  government,  administration  of  jus 
tice,  and  defence  of  his  majesty's  dominions  in 
America,  has   a    direct    tendency    to    render 
assemblies  useless,  and  to  introduce  arbitrary 
government  and  slavery. 

4.  That  a  virtuous  and  steady  opposition  to 
this  ministerial  plan  of  governing  America,  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  preserve  even  the  sha 
dow  of  liberty,  and  is  a  duty  which  every  free 
man  in  America  owes  to  his  country,  to  himself 
and  to  his  posterity. 

5.  That  the  resolution  lately  entered  into  by 
the  East  India  company  to  send  out  their  tea 
to  America,  subject  to  the  payment  of  duties 
on  its  being  landed  here,  is  an  open  attempt  to 
enforce   this   ministerial   plan,  and   a    violent 
attack  upon  the  liberties  of  America. 

6.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  American  to 
oppose  this  attempt. 

7.  That  whoever  shall,  directly  or  indirectly, 
countenance  this  attempt,  or  in  any  wise  aid  or 
abet  in   unloading,  receiving  or  vending  the 
tea  sent,  or  to  be  sent  out  by  the  East  India 
company,  while  it  remains  subject  to  the  pay 
ment  of  duty  here,  is  an  enemy  to  his  country. 

8.  That  a  committee  be  immediately  chosen 
to  wait  on  those  gentlemen  who,  it  is  reported, 
are  appointed  by  the  East  India  company  to 
receive  and  sell  the  said  tea,  and  request  them 
from  a  regard  to  their  own  character,  and  the 


202 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


peace  and  good  order  of  the  city  and  province, 
immediately  to  resign  their  appointment. 

In  consequence  of  this  appointment,  the 
committee  waited  upon  the  gentlemen  in  this 
city,  who  had  been  appointed  consignees  of 
the  expected  cargo.  They  represented  to  them 
the  detestation  and  abhorrence  in  which  this 
measure  was  held  by  their  fellow-citizens,  the 
danger  and  difficulties  which  must  attend  the 
execution  of  so  odious  a  trust,  and  expressed 
the  united  desires  of  the  city,  that  they  would 
renounce  the  commission,  and  engage  not  to 
intermeddle  with  the  ship  or  cargo  in  any 
shape  whatever.  Some  of  the  commissioners 
resigned,  in  a  manner  that  gave  general  satis 
faction,  others  in  such  equivocal  terms  as 
required  further  explanation.  However  in  a 
few  days  the  resignation  was  complete.  In 
this  situation  things  remained  for  a  few  days. 
In  the  meantime,  the  general  spirit  and  indig 
nation  rose  to  such  a  height,  that  it  was  thought 
proper  to  call  another  general  meeting  of  the 
principal  citizens  to  consider  and  resolve  upon 
such  farther  steps  as  might  give  weight,  and 
insure  success  to  the  unanimous  opposition 
now  formed.  Accordingly  a  meeting  was  held, 
for  the  above  purpose,  at  which  a  great  num 
ber  of  respectable  inhabitants  attended,  and  it 
appeared  to  be  the  unanimous  opinion  that  the 
entry  of  the  ship  at  the  custom-house,  or  the 
landing  any  part  of  her  cargo,  would  be  at 
tended  with  great  danger  and  difficulty,  and 
would  directly  tend  to  destroy  that  peace  and 
good  order  which  ought  to  be  preserved.  An 
addition  of  twelve  other  gentlemen  was  then 
made  to  the  former  committee,  and  the  gen 
eral  meeting  adjourned  till  the  arrival  of  the 
tea  ship.  Information  being  given  of  that,  the 
price  of  tea  was  suddenly  advanced,  though  it 
was  owing  to  a  general  scarcity  of  that  article  ; 
yet  all  the  possessors  of  tea,  in  order  to  give 
strength  to  the  opposition,  readily  agreed  to 
reduce  the  price,  and  sell  what  remained  in 
their  hands  at  a  reasonable  rate.  Nothing  now 
remained,  but  to  keep  up  a  proper  correspon 
dence  and  connection  with  the  other  colonies, 
and  to  take  all  prudent  and  proper  precautions 
on  the  arrival  of  the  tea  ship. 

It  is  not  easy  to  describe  the  anxiety  and 
suspense  of  the  city  in  this  interval.  Sundry 
reports  of  her  arrival  were  received,  which 
proved  premature.— But  on  Saturday  evening 
the  25th  ult.  an  express  came  up  from  Chester, 
to  inform  the  town  that  the  tea  ship,  com 
manded  by  captain  Ayres,  with  her  detested 
cargo,  was  arrived  there,  having  followed 
another  ship  up  the  river  so  far. 

The  committee  met  early  the  next  morning, 


and  being  apprized  of  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Gilbert 
Barclay,  the  other  consignee,  who  came  passen 
ger  in  the  ship,  they  immediately  went  in  a 
body  to  request  his  renunciation  of  the  com 
mission.  Mr.  Barclay  politely  attended  the 
committee,  at  the  first  request ;  and  being 
made  acquainted  with  the  sentiments  of  the 
city,  and  the  danger  to  which  the  public  liber 
ties  of  America  were  exposed  by  this  measure, 
he,  after  expressing  the  particular  hardship  of 
his  situation,  also  resigned  the  commission,  in 
a  manner  which  affected  every  one  present. 

The  committee  then  appointed  three  of  their 
members  to  go  to  Chester,  and  two  others  to 
Gloucester  Point,  in  order  to  have  the  earliest 
opportunity  of  meeting  captain  Ayres,  and 
representing  to  him  the  sense  of  the  public, 
respecting  his  voyage  and  cargo.  The  gentle 
men  who  had  set  out  for  Chester,  receiving 
intelligence  that  the  vessel  had  weighed  anchor 
about  12  o'clock,  and  proceeded  to  town, 
returned.  About  2  o'clock  she  appeared  in 
sight  of  Gloucester  Point,  where  a  number  of 
inhabitants  from  the  town  had  assembled  with 
the  gentlemen  from  the  committee.  As  she 
passed  along,  she  was  hailed,  and  the  captain 
requested  not  to  proceed  further,  but  to  come 
on  shore.  This  the  captain  complied  with,  and 
was  handed  through  a  lane  made  by  the  people, 
to  the  gentlemen  appointed  to  confer  with  him. 
They  represented  to  him  the  general  senti 
ments,  together  with  the  danger  and  difficulties 
that  would  'attend  his  refusal  to  comply  with 
the  wishes  of  the  inhabitants ;  and  finally 
desired  him  to  proceed  with  them  to  town, 
where  he  would  be  more  fully  informed  of  the 
temper  and  resolution  of  the  people.  He  was 
accordingly  accompanied  to  town  by  a  number 
of  persons,  where  he  was  soon  convinced  of  the 
truth  and  propriety  of  the  representations' 
which  had  been  made  to  him — and  agreed 
that,  upon  the  desire  of  the  inhabitants  being 
publicly  expressed,  he  would  conduct  himself 
accordingly.  Some  small  rudeness  being 
offered  to  the  captain  afterwards  in  the  street, 
by  some  boys,  several  gentlemen  interposed, 
and  suppressed  it  before  he  received  the  least 
injury.  Upon  an  hour's  notice  on  Monday 
morning,  a  public  meeting  was  called,  and  the 
state-house  not  being  sufficient  to  hold  the 
numbers  assembled,  they  adjourned  into  the 
square.  This  meeting  is  allowed  by  all  to  be 
the  most  respectable,  both  in  the  numbers  and 
rank  of  those  who  attended  it,  that  has  been 
known  in  this  city.  After  a  short  introduction, 
the  following  resolutions  were  not  only  agreed 
to,  but  the  public  approbation  testified  in  the 
warmest  manner : 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


203 


1.  Resolved,  That  the  tea,  on  board  the  ship 
Polly,  captain  Ayres,  shall  not  be  landed. 

2.  That  captain  Ayres  shall  neither  enter  nor 
report  his  vessel  at  the  custom-house. 

3.  That  captain  Ayres  shall  carry  back  the 
tea  immediately. 

4.  That    captain    Ayres    shall    immediately 
send  a  pilot  on  board  his  vessel,  with  orders  to 
take  charge  of  her,   and   proceed   to    Reedy 
island  next  high  water. 

5.  That  the  captain  shall  be  allowed  to  stay 
in  town  till  to-morrow,  to  provide  necessaries 
for  his  voyage. 

6.  That  he  shall  then  be  obliged  to  leave  the 
town  and  proceed  to  his  vessel,  and  make  the 
best  of  his  way  out  of  our  river  and  bay. 

7.  That  a  committee  of  four  gentlemen  be 
appointed  to   see   these  resolves  carried  into 
execution. 

The  assembly  were  then  informed  of  the 
spirit  and  resolution  of  New  York,  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  and  the  conduct  of  the  people 
of  Boston,  whereupon  it  was  unanimously 
resolved : 

That  this  assembly  highly  approve  of  the 
conduct  and  spirit  of  the  people  of  New  York, 
Charleston,  and  Boston,  and  return  their  hearty 
thanks  to  the  people  of  Boston  for  their  resolu 
tion  in  destroying  the  tea,  rather  than  suffering 
it  to  be  landed. 

The  whole  business  was  conducted  with  a 
decorum  and  order  worthy  the  importance  of 
the  cause.  Captain  Ayres  being  present  at 
this  meeting,  solemnly  and  publicly  engaged, 
that  he  would  literally  comply  with  the  sense 
of  the  city,  as  expressed  in  the  above  resolu 
tions. 

A  proper  supply  of  necessaries  and  fresh 
provisions  being  then  procured,  in  about  two 
hours  the  tea  ship  weighed  anchor  from  Glou 
cester  Point,  where  she  lay  within  sight  of  the 
town,  and  has  proceeded,  with  her  whole  cargo, 
on  her  return  to  the  East  India  company. 

The  public  think  the  conduct  of  those  gentle 
men,  whose  goods  are  returned  on  board  the 
tea  ship,  ought  not  to  pass  unnoticed,  as  they 
have,  upon  this  occasion,  generously  sacrificed 
their  private  interest  to  the  public  good. 

Thus  this  important  affair,  in  which  there 
has  been  so  glorious  an  exertion  of  public  virtue 
and  spirit,  has  been  brought  to  a  happy  issue  ; 
by  which  the  force  of  a  law  so  obstinately  per 
sisted  in,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  national  com 
merce,  for  the  sake  of  the  principle  on  which  it 
is  founded,  (a  right  of  taxing  the  Americans 
without  their  consent)  has  been  effectually 
broken  —  and  the  foundations  of  American 
liberty  more  deeply  laid  than  ever. 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF  FREEHOLDERS  AND  FREEMEN  OF  THE 
CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  PHILADELPHIA; 
HELD  ON  SATURDAY  JUNE  :8th,  1774,  ON 
THE  BOSTON  PORT-BILL. 

PHILADELPHIA,  SATURDAY,  June  18,  1774. 

I.  Resolved,  That  the  act  of  parliament,  for 
shutting  up  the  port  of  Boston,  is  unconstitu 
tional  ;  oppressive  to  the  inhabitants   of  that 
town  ;  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  British 
colonies  ;  and  that  therefore,  we  consider  our 
brethren,  at  Boston,  as  suffering   in  the  com 
mon  cause  of  America. 

II.  That  a  congress  of  deputies   from  the 
several  colonies,  in  North  America,  is  the  most 
probable  and  proper  mode  of  procuring  relief 
for  our  suffering  brethren,  obtaining  redress  of 
American  grievances,  securing  our  rights  and 
liberties,  and   re-establishing  peace  and  har 
mony  between  Great  Britain  and  these  colonies 
on  a  constitutional  foundation. 

III.  That  a  large  and  respectable  committee 
be  immediately    appointed   for    the  city    and 
county  of  Philadelphia,  to  correspond  with  their 
sister  colonies  and  with  the  several  counties  in 
this  province,  in   order  that  all  may  unite  in 
promoting  and  endeavoring  to  attain  the  great 
and  valuable  ends,  mentioned  in  the  foregoing 
resolution. 

IV.  That  the  committee  nominated  by  this 
meeting  shall  consult  together,  and  on  mature 
deliberation  determine,  what  is  the  most  proper 
mode  of  collecting  the  sense  of  this  province, 
and  appointing  deputies  for  the  same,  to  attend 
a  general  congress :  and   having  determined 
thereupon,   shall   take   such   measures,   as  by 
them  shall  be  judged  most  expedient,  for  pro 
curing  this  province  to  be  represented   at  the 
said  congress,  in  the  best  manner  that  can  be 
devised  for  promoting  the  public  welfare. 

V.  That  the  commitee  be  instructed  immedi 
ately  to    set  on   foot  a  subscription    for  the 
relief  of  such  poor  inhabitants  of  the  town  of 
Boston,  as   may  be   deprived  of  the  means  ot 
subsistence  by  the  operation  of  the  act  of  par 
liament,  commonly   styled  the  Boston  port-bill. 
The  money  arising  from  such  subscription  to 
be  laid  out  as  the  committee  shall  think  will 
best  answer  the  ends  proposed. 

VI.  That   the   committee   consist   of    forty- 
three   persons,    viz.  John   Dickinson,   Edward 
Pennington,    John    Nixon,    Thomas    Willing, 
George  Clymer,  Samuel  Howell,  Joseph  Reade, 
John  Roberts,  (miller)  Thomas  Wharton,  jun. 
Charles  Thomson,  Jacob  Barge,  Thomas  Bar 
clay,  William  Rush,  Robert  Smith,  (carpenter,) 


2O4 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


Thomas  Fitzimons,  George  Roberts,  Samuel 
Ervin,  Thomas  Mifflin,  John  Cox,  George  Gray, 
Robert  Morris,  Samuel  Miles,  John  M.  Nesbit, 
Peter  Chevalier,  William  Moulder,  Joseph 
Moulder,  Anthony  Morris,  jun.  John  Allen, 
Jeremiah  Warder,  jun.  rev.  D.  William  Smith, 
Paul  Engle,  Thomas  Penrose,  James  Mease, 
Benjamin  Marshall,  Reuben  Haines,  John  Bay 
ard,  Jonathan  B.  Smith,  Thomas  Wharton, 
Isaac  Howell,  Michael  Hillegas,  Adam  Hub- 
ley,  George  Schlosser,  and  Christopher  Lud- 
wick. 

Thomas  Willing,  John  Dickinson,  esquires, 
chairmen. 


AN  ADDRESS 
To  THE  ASSEMBLY  BY  THE  PEOPLE,  1774. 

PHILADELPHIA,  JULY  23, 1774. 

The  committee  chosen  by  the  several  counties  in 
Pennsylvania,  having  brought  in  a  draught 
of  instructions,  the  same  were  debated  and 
amended,  and  being  agreed  to,  were  ordered 
to  be  signed  by  the  chairman.  The  commit 
tee  in  a  body  then  waited  on  the  assembly, 
and  presented  the  same. 

GENTLEMEN — The  dissensions  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  colonies  on  this  contin 
ent,  commencing  about  ten  years  ago,  since 
continually  increasing,  and  at  length  grown  to 
such  an  excess  as  to  involve  the  latter  in  deep 
distress  and  danger,  have  excited  the  good 
people  of  this  province  to  take  into  their  serious 
consideration,  the  present  situation  of  public 
affairs. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  several  counties  quali 
fied  to  vote  at  elections,  being  assembled  on 
due  notice,  have  appointed  us  their  deputies  ; 
and  in  consequence  thereof,  we  being  in  pro 
vincial  committee  met,  esteem  it  our  indispen 
sable  duty,  in  pursuance  of  the  trust  reposed  in 
us,  to  give  you  such  instructions  as,  at  this  im 
portant  period,  appear  to  us  to  be  proper. 

We,  speaking  in  their  names  and  our  own, 
acknowledge  ourselves  liege  subjects  of  his 
majesty  king  George  the  third,  to  whom  "  we 
will  be  faithful  and  bear  true  allegiance." 

Our  judgments  and  affections  attach  us,  with 
inviolable  loyalty,  to  his  majesty's  person, 
family  and  government. 

We  acknowledge  the  prerogatives  of  the  so 
vereign,  among  which  are  included  the  great 
powers  of  making  peace  and  war,  treaties, 
leagues  and  alliances  binding  us — of  appoint 


ing  all  officers,  except  in  cases  where  other 
provision  is  made,  by  grants  from  the  crown, 
or  laws  approved  by  the  crown — of  confirming 
or  annulling  every  act  of  our  assembly  within 
the  allowed  time—  and  of  hearing  and  deter 
mining  finally,  in  council,  appeals  from  our 
courts  of  justice.  "  The  prerogatives  are  lim 
ited,"  *  as  a  learned  judge  observes,  :<  by 
bounds  so  certain  and  notorious,  that  it  is  im 
possible  to  exceed  them,  without  the  consent 
of  the  people  on  the  one  hand,  or  without,  on 
the  other,  a  violation  of  that  original  contract, 
which,  in  all  states  impliedly,  and  in  ours  most 
expressly,  subsists  between  the  prince  and  sub 
ject  : — For  these  prerogatives  are  vested  in  the 
crown  for  the  support  of  society,  and  do  not 
intrench  any  further  on  our  natural  liberties, 
than  is  expedient  for  the  maintenance  of  our 
cfvil" 

But  it  is  our  misfortune,  that  we  are  com 
pelled  loudly  to  call  your  attention  to  the  con 
sideration  of  another  power,  totally  different  in 
kind,  limited  as  it  is  alleged,  by  no  "  bounds," 
andf  "  wearing  a  most  dreadful  aspect  "  with 
regard  to  America.  We  mean  the  power 
claimed  by  parliament,  of  right,  to  bind  the 
people  of  these  colonies  by  statutes,  "  IN  ALL 
CASES  WHATSOEVER." — A  power,  as  we  are 
not,  and,  from  local  circumstances,  can  not  be 
represented  there,  utterly  subversive  of  our 
natural  and  civil  liberties — past  events  and 
reasons  convincing  us,  that  there  never  existed, 
and  never  can  exist,  a  state  thus  subordinate  to 
another,  and  yet  retaining  the  slightest  portion 
of  freedom  or  happiness. 

The  import  of  the  words  above  quoted  needs 
no  descant ;  for  the  wit  of  man,  as  we  appre 
hend,  cannot  possibly  form  a  more  clear,  con 
cise,  and  comprehensive  definition  and  sentence 
of  slavery,  than  these  expressions  contain. 

This  power,  claimed  by  Great  Britain,  and 
the  late  attempts  to  exercise  it  over  these  colo 
nies,  present  to  our  view  two  events,  one  of 
which  must  inevitably  take  place,  if  she  shall 
continue  to  insist  on  her  pretensions.  Either, 
the  colonists  will  sink  from  the  rank  of  free 
men  into  the  class  of  slaves,  overwhelmed  with 
all  the  miseries  and  vices,  proved  by  the  history 
of  mankind  to  be  inseparably  annexed  to  that 
deplorable  condition — or,  if  they  have  sense 
and  virtue  enough  to  exert  themselves  in  striv 
ing  to  avoid  this  perdition,  they  must  be  in 
volved  in  an  opposition,  dreadful  even  in  con 
templation. 

Honor,  justice,  and  humanity  call  upon  us 
to  hold,  and  to  transmit  to  our  posterity,  that 
liberty  which  we  received  from  our  ancestors. 


*  Blackstone,  237. 


t  Ibid.,  270. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


2O5 


It  is  not  our  duty  to  leave  wealth  to  our  chil 
dren  ;  but  it  is  our  duty  to  leave  liberty  to 
them.  No  infamy,  iniquity,  or  cruelty,  can 
exceed  our  own,  if  we,  born  and  educated  in  a 
country  of  freedom,  entitled  to  its  blessings, 
and  knowing  their  value,  pusillanimously  de 
serting  the  post  assigned  us  by  Divine  Provi 
dence,  surrender  succeeding  generations  to  a 
condition  of  wretchedness,  from  which  no  hu 
man  efforts,  in  all  probability,  will  be  sufficient 
to  extricate  them  ;  the  experience  of  all  states 
mournfully  demonstrating  to  us,  that  when 
arbitrary  power  has  been  established  over 
them,  even  the  wisest  and  bravest  nations, 
that  ever  flourished,  have,  in  a  few  years,  de 
generated  into  abject  and  wretched  vassals. 

So  alarming  are  the  measures  already  taken 
for  laying  the  foundation  of  a  despotic  author 
ity  of  Great  Britain  over  us,  and  with  such  art 
ful  and  incessant  vigilance  is  the  plan  prosecu 
ted,  that  unless  the  present  generation  can  in 
terrupt  the  work,  while  it  is  going  forward, 
can  it  be  imagined,  that  our  children,  debilita 
ted  by  our  imprudence  and  supineness,  will  be 
able  to  overthrow  it  when  completed?  populous 
and  powerful  as  these  colonies  may  grow,  they 
will  still  find  arbitrary  domination  not  only 
strengthening  with  their  strength,  but  exceed 
ing,  in  the  swiftness  of  its  progression,  as  it 
ever  has  done,  all  the  artless  advantages  that 
can  accrue  to  the  governed.  These  advance 
with  a  regularity,  which  the  Divine  Author  of 
our  existence  has  impressed  on  the  laudable 
pursuits  of  his  creatures  :  but  despotism,  un 
checked  and  unbounded  by  any  laws — never 
satisfied  with  what  has  been  done,  while  any 
thing  remains  to  be  done,  for  the  accomplish 
ment  of  its  purposes — confiding,  and  capable 
of  confiding  only,  in  the  annihilation  of  all  op 
position — holds  its  course  with  such  unabating 
and  destructive  rapidity,  that  the  world  has 
become  its  prey,  and  at  this  day,  Great  Britain 
and  her  dominions  excepted,  there  is  scarce  a 
spot  on  the  globe  inhabited  by  civilized  nations, 
where  the  vestiges  of  freedom  are  to  be  observed. 

To  us,  therefore,  it  appears,  at  this  alarming 
period, our  duty  to  God,  to  our  country,  to  our 
selves,  and  to  our  posterity,  to  exert  our  utmost 
abilities,  in  promoting  and  establishing  har 
mony  between  Great  Britain  and  these  colo 
nies,  ON  A  CONSTITUTIONAL  FOUNDATION. 

For  attaining  this  great  and  desirable  end, 
we  request  you  as  soon  as  you  meet,  to  ap 
point  a  proper  number  of  persons  to  attend  a 
congress  of  deputies  from  the  several  colonies, 
appointed,  or  to  be  appointed,  by  the  represen 
tatives  of  the  people  of  the  colonies  respectively, 
in  assembly  or  convention,  or  by  delegates 


chosen  by  the  counties  generally  in  the  respec 
tive  colonies,  and  met  in  provincial  committee, 
at  such  time  and  place  as  shall  be  generally 
agreed  on  :  and  that  the  deputies  from  this 
province  may  be  induced  and  encouraged  to 
concur  in  such  measures,  as  may  be  devised 
for  the  common  welfare,  we  think  it  proper, 
particularly  to  inform  you  how  far,  we  appre 
hend,  they  will  be  supported  in  their  conduct 
by  their  constituents. 

The  assumed  parliamentary  power  of  inter 
nal  legislation,  and  the  power  of  regulating 
trade,  as  of  late  exercised,  and  designed  to  be 
exercised,  we  are  thoroughly  convinced,  will 
prove  unfailing  and  plentiful  sources  of  dissen 
sions  to  our  mother  country  and  these  colonies, 
unless  some  expedients  can  be  adopted  to 
render  her  secure  of  receiving  from  us  every 
emolument  that  can,  in  justice  and  reason,  be 
expected,  and  as  secure  in  our  lives,  liberties, 
properties,  and  an  equitable  share  of  commerce. 

Mournfully  revolving  in  our  minds  the  calam 
ities  that,  arising  from  these  dissensions,  will 
most  probably  fall  on  us  or  our  children,  we 
will  now  lay  before  you  the  particular  points  we 
request  of  you  to  procure,  if  possible,  to  be 
finally  decided  ;  and  the  measures  that  appear 
to  us  most  likely  to  produce  such  a  desirable 
period  of  our  distresses  and  dangers.  We 
therefore  desire  of  you — 

First,  That  the  deputies  you  appoint  may 
be  instructed  by  you  strenuously  to  exert 
themselves  at  the  ensuing  congress,  to  obtain  a 
renunciation,  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  of 
all  powers  under  the  statute  of  the  35th  of 
Henry  the  eighth,  chapter  the  2d — of  all  powers 
of  internal  legislation — of  imposing  taxes  or 
duties,  internal  or  external — and  of  regulating 
trade,  except  with  respect  to  any  new  articles 
of  commerce,  which  the  colonies  may  hereafter 
raise,  as  silk,  wine,  etc.,  reserving  a  right  to 
carry  these  from  one  colony  to  another — a  re 
peal  of  all  statutes  for  quartering  troops  in  the 
colonies,  or  subjecting  them  to  any  expense  on 
account  of  such  troops — of  all  statutes  imposing 
duties  to  be  paid  in  the  colonies,  that  were 
passed  at  the  accession  of  his  present  majesty 
or  before  this  time :  which  ever  period  shall 
be  judged  most  advisable — of  the  statutes 
giving  the  courts  of  admiralty  in  the  colonies 
greater  power  than  courts  of  admiralty  have  in 
England — of  the  statutes  of  the  5th  of  George 
the  second,  chapter  the  22d,  and  of  the  23d,  of 
George  the  second,  chapter  the  2pth — of  the 
statute  for  shutting  up  the  port  of  Boston — and 
of  every  other  statute  particularly  effecting  the 
province  of  Massachusetts-Bay,  passed  in  the 
last  session  of  parliament. 


206 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


In  case  of  obtaining  these  terms,  it  is  our 
opinion,  that  it  will  be  reasonable  for  the  colo 
nies  to  engage  their  obedience  to  the  acts  of 
parliament,  commonly  called  the  acts  of  navi 
gation,  and  to  every  other  act  of  parliament 
declared  to  have  force,  at  this  time,  in  these 
colonies,  other  than  those  above  mentioned, 
and  to  confirm  such  statutes  by  acts  of  the 
several  assemblies.  It  is  also  our  opinion,  that, 
taking  example  from  our  mother  country,  in 
abolishing  the  "  courts  of  wards  and  liveries, 
tenures  in  capite,  and  by  knights  service  and 
purveyance,"  it  will  be  reasonable  for  the  colo 
nies,  in  case  of  obtaining  the  terms  before 
mentioned,  to  settle  a  certain  annual  revenue 
on  his  majesty,  his  heirs  and  successors,  sub 
ject  to  the  control  of  parliament,  and  to  sat 
isfy  all  damages  done  to  the  East-India  com 
pany. 

This  our  idea  of  settling  a  revenue,  arises 
jrom  a  sense  of  duty  to  our  sovereign  and  es 
teem  for  our  mother  country.  We  know  and 
have  felt  the  benefits  of  subordinate  connection 
with  her.  We  neither  are  so  stupid  as  to  be 
ignorant  of  them,  nor  so  unjust  as  to  deny 
them.  We  have  also  experienced  the  pleasures 
of  gratitude  and  love,  as  well  as  advantages 
from  that  connection.  The  impressions  are 
not  yet  erased.  We  consider  her  circumstan 
ces  with  tender  concern.  We  have  not  been 
wanting,  when  constitutionally  called  upon,  to 
assist  her  to  the  utmost  of  our  abilities  ;  inso 
much  that  she  has  judged  it  reasonable  to 
make  us  recompenses  for  our  overstrained 
exertions  :  and  we  now  think  we  ought  to  con 
tribute  more  than  we  do,  to  the  alleviation  of 
her  burthens. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  these  proposals  on 
either  side  of  the  Atlantic,  this  is  not  a  time, 
either  for  timidity  or  rashness.  We  perfectly 
know  that,  the  great  cause  now  agitated,  is  to 
be  conducted  to  a  happy  conclusion,  only  by 
that  well  tempered  composition  of  councils, 
with  firmness,  prudence,  loyalty  to  our  sover 
eign,  respect  to  our  parent  state,  and  affection 
to  our  native  country,  united,  must  form. 

By  such  a  compact,  Great  Britain  will  secure 
every  benefit,  that  the  parliamentary  wisdom 
of  ages  has  thought  proper  to  attach  to  her. 
From  her  alone  we  shall  still  continue  to  re 
ceive  manufactures.  To  her  alone  we  shall 
continue  to  carry  the  vast  multitude  of  enu 
merated  articles  of  commerce,  the  exportation 
of  which  her  policy  has  thought  fit  to  confine  to 
herself.  With  such  parts  of  the  world  only, 
as  she  has  appointed  us  to  deal,  we  shall  con 
tinue  to  deal,  and  such  commodities  only,  as 
she  has  permitted  us  to  bring  from  them,  we 


shall  continue  to  bring.  The  executive  and 
controling  power  of  the  crown  will  retain  their 
present  full  force  and  operation.  We  shall 
contentedly  labor  for  her  as  affectionate/r/^rfj, 
in  time  of  tranquility  :  and  cheerfully  spend  for 
her,  as  dutiful  children,  our  treasure  and  our 
blood,  in  time  of  war.  She  will  receive  a  cer 
tain  income  from  us,  without  the  trouble  or 
expense  of  collecting  it — without  being  con 
stantly  disturbed  by  complaints  of  grievances 
which  she  cannot  justify  and  will  not  redress. 
In  case  of  war,  or  in  any  emergency  of  distress 
to  her,  we  shall  also  be  ready  and  willing  to 
contribute  all  aids  within  our  power :  and  we 
solemnly  declare,  that  on  such  occasions,  if  we 
or  our  posterity  shall  refuse,  neglect  or  decline 
thus  to  contribute,  it  will  be  a  mean  and  mani 
fest  violation  of  a  plain  duty,  and  a  weak  and 
wicked  desertion  of  the  true  interests  of  this 
province,  which  ever  have  been  and  must  be 
bound  up  in  the  prosperity  of  our  mother  coun 
try.  Our  union,  founded  on  mutual  compacts 
and  mutual  benefits,  will  be  indissoluble,  at 
least  more  firm,  than  an  union  perpetually  dis 
turbed  by  disputed  right  and  retorted  injuries. 

Secondly.  If  all  the  terms  above  mentioned 
cannot  be  obtained,  it  is  our  opinion,  that  the 
measures  adopted  by  the  congress  for  our 
relief  should  never  be  relinquished  or  inter- 
mitt£d,  until  those  relating  to  the  troops — 
internal  legislation — imposition  of  taxes  or 
duties  hereafter — the  35th  of  Henry  the  8th, 
chapter  the  2d — the  extension  of  admiralty 
courts, — the  ports  of  Boston,  and  the  province 
of  Massachusetts  Bay,  are  obtained. — Every 
modification  or  qualification  of  these  points,  in 
our  judgment,  shall  be  inadmissible.  To  obtain 
them,  we  think  it  may  be  prudent  to  settle  a 
revenue  as  above  mentioned,  and  to  satisfy  the 
East  India  company. 

Thirdly.  If  neither  of  these  plans  should  be 
agreed  to,  in  congress,  but  some  other  of  a 
similar  nature  shall  be  framed,  though  on  the 
terms  of  a  revenue  and  satisfaction  to  the  East 
India  company,  and  though  it  shall  be  agreed 
by  the  congress  to  admit  no  modification  or 
qualification  in  the  terms  they  shall  insist  on. 
we  desire  your  deputies  may  be  instructed  to 
concur  with  the  other  deputies  in  it ;  and  we 
will  accede  to,  and  carry  it  into  execution  as  far 
as  we  can. 

Fourthly.  As  to  the  regulation  of  trade — we 
are  of  opinion,  that  by  making  some  few  amend 
ments,  the  commerce  of  the  colonies  might  be 
settled  on  a  firm  establishment,  advantageous 
to  Great  Britain  and  them,  requiring  and  sub 
ject  to  no  future  alterations,  without  mutual 
consent.  We  desire  to  have  this  point  con- 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


2O7 


sidered  by  the  congress ;  and  such  measures 
taken,  as  they  may  judge  proper. 

In  order  to  obtain  redress  of  our  common 
grievances,  we  observe  a  general  inclination 
among  the  colonies  of  entering  into  agreements 
of  non-importation  and  non-exportation.  We 
are  fully  convinced,  that  such  agreements  would 
withhold  very  large  supplies  from  Great  Britain, 
and  no  words  can  describe  our  contempt  and 
abhorrence  of  those  colonies,  if  any  such  there 
are,  who,  from  a  sordid  and  ill-judged  attach 
ment  to  their  own  immediate  profit,  would 
pursue  that,  to  the  injury  of  their  country,  in 
this  great  struggle  for  all  the  blessings  of 
liberty.  It  would  appear  to  us  a  most  wasteful 
frugality,  that  would  lose  every  important 
possession  by  too  strict  an  attention  to  small 
things,  and  lose  a4so  even  these  at  the  last. 
For  our  part,  we  will  cheerfully  make  any 
sacrifice,  when  necessary,  to  preserve  the  free 
dom  of  our  country.  But  other  considerations 
have  weight  with  us.  We  wish  every  mark  of 
respect  to  be  paid  to  his  majesty's  administra 
tion.  We  have  been  taught  from  our  youth  to 
entertain  tender  and  brotherly  affections  for  our 
fellow  subjects  at  home.  The  interruption  of 
our  commerce  must  distress  great  numbers  of 
them.  This  we  earnestly  desire  to  avoid.  We 
therefore  request,  that  the  deputies  you  shall 
appoint  may  be  instructed  to  exert  themselves, 
at  the  congress,  to  induce  the  members  of  it  to 
consent  to  make  a  full  and  precise  statement 
of  grievances,  and  a  decent  yet  firm  claim  of 
redress,  and  to  wait  the  event  before  any  other 
step  is  taken.  It  is  our  opinion,  that  persons 
should  be  appointed  and  sent  home  to  present  this 
state  arid  claim,  at  the  court  of  Great  Britain. 

If  the  congress  shall  choose  to  form  agree 
ments  of  non-importation  and  non-exportation 
immediately,  we  desire  the  deputies  from  this 
province  will  endeavor  to  have  them  so  formed 
as  to  be  binding  upon  all,  and  -that  they  may 
be  PERMANENT,  should  the  public  interest 
require  it.  They  cannot  be  efficacious,  unless 
they  can  be  permanent,  and  it  appears  to  us, 
that  there  will  be  a  danger  of  their  being 
infringed,  if  they  are  not  formed  with  great 
caution  and  deliberation.  We  have  determined 
in  the  present  situation  of  public  affairs  to  con 
sent  to  a  stoppage  of  our  commerce  with 
Great  Britain  only ;  but  in  case  any  proceed 
ings  of  parliament,  of  which  notice  shall  be 
received  on  this  continent,  before  or  at  the 
congress,  shall  render  it  necessary,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  congress,  to  further  steps,  the 
inhabitants  of  this  province  will  adopt  such 
steps,  and  do  all  in  their  power  to  carry  them 
into  execution. 


This  extensive  power  we  commit  to  the  con 
gress,  for  the  sake  of  preserving  that  unanimity 
of  counsel  and  conduct,  that  alone  can  work 
out  the  salvation  of  these  colonies,  with  a 
strong  hope  and  trust,  that  they  will  not  draw 
this  province  into  any  measure  judged  by  us, 
who  must  be  better  acquainted  with  its  state 
than  strangers,  highly  inexpedient.  Of  this 
kind,  we  know  any  other  stoppage  of  trade,  but 
of  that  with  Great  Britain,  will  be.  Even  this 
step  we  should  be  extremely  afflicted  to  see 
taken  by  the  congress,  before  the  other  mode 
above  pointed  out  is  tried.  But  should  it  be 
taken,  we  apprehend  that  a  plan  of  restrictions 
may  be  so  framed,  agreeably  to  the  respective 
circumstances  of  the  several  colonies,  as  to 
render  Great  Britain  sensible  of  the  imprudence 
of  her  counsels,  and  yet  leave  them  a  necessary 
commerce.  And  here  it  may  not  be  improper 
to  take  notice,  that  if  redress  of  our  grievances 
cannot  be  wholly  obtained,  the  extent  or  con 
tinuance  of  our  restrictions  may,  in  some  sort, 
be  proportioned  to  the  rights  we  are  contend 
ing  for,  and  the  degree  of  relief  afforded  us. 
This  mode  will  render  our  opposition  as  per 
petual  as  our  oppression,  and  will  be  A  CON 
TINUAL  CLAIM  AND  ASSERTION  OF  OUR 
RIGHTS.  We  cannot  express  the  anxiety,  with 
which  we  wish  the  consideration  of  these 
points  to  be  recommended  to  you.  We  are 
persuaded,  that  if  these  colonies  fail  of  unani 
mity,  or  prudence  in  forming  their  resolutions, 
or  of  fidelity  in  observing  them,  the  opposition 
by  non-importation  and  non-exportation  agree 
ments  will  be  ineffectual ;  and  then  we  shall 
have  only  the  alternative  of  a  more  dangerous 
contention,  or  of  a  tame  submission. 

Upon  the  whole,  we  shall  repose  the  highest 
confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  integrity  of  the 
ensuing  congress  :  and  though  we  have,  for  the 
satisfaction  of  the  good  people  of  this  province, 
who  have  chosen  us  for  this  express  purpose, 
offered  you  such  instructions,  as  have  appeared 
expedient  to  us,  yet  it  is  not  our  meaning,  that 
by  these  or  by  any  you  may  think  proper  to 
give  them,  the  deputies  appointed  by  you  should 
be  restrained  from  agreeing  to  any  measure 
that  shall  be  approved  by  a  majority  of  the 
deputies  in  congress.  We  should  be  glad  the 
deputies  chosen  by  you  could,  by  their  influ 
ence,  procure  our  opinions  hereby  communi 
cated  to  you,  to  be  as  nearly  adhered  to,  as  may 
be  possible  :  but  to  avoid  difficulties,  we  desire 
that  they  may  be  instructed  by  you,  to  agree  to 
any  measure  that  shall  be  approved  by  the 
congress,  in  the  manner  before  mentioned  ;  the 
inhabitants  of  this  province  having  resolved  to 
adopt  and  carry  them  into  execution.  Lastly — 


208 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


we  desire  the  deputies  from  this  province,  may 
endeavor  to  procure  an  adjournment  of  the 
congress,  to  such  a  day  as  they  shall  judge 
proper,  and  the  appointment  of  a  standing  com 
mittee. 

Agreed,  that  John  Dickinson,  Joseph  Reade, 
and  Charles  Thomson,  be  a  committee  to  write 
to  the  neighboring  colonies,  and  communicate 
to  them  these  resolves  and  instructions. 

Agreed,  that  the  committee  for  the  city  and 
county  of  Philadelphia,  or  any  fifteen  of  them, 
be  a  committee  of  correspondence  for  the  gen 
eral  committee  of  this  province. 
Extract  from  the  minutes, 

CHARLES  THOMSON,  Secretary. 


ACTION 

TAKEN  BY  CITIZENS  OF  PHILADELPHIA  TO 
ESTABLISH  MANUFACTORIES  OF  WOOLEN, 
COTTON,  AND  LINEN. 

PHILADELPHIA,  March  37,  1775. 

A  speech  delivered  in  CARPENTER'S  HALL, 
March  i6tk,  before  the  subscribers  towards 
a  fund  for  establishing  manufactories  of 
woolen,  cotton  and  linen,  in  the  city  of  Phil 
adelphia. — Published  at  the  request  of  the 
company. 

GENTLEMEN — When  I  reflect  upon  the  ex 
tent  of  the  subject  before  me,  and  consider  the 
small  share  of  knowledge  I  possess  of  it,  I  con 
fess  I  rise  with  timidity  to  speak  in  this  assem 
bly  ;  and  it  is  only  because  the  requests  of 
fellow-citizens  in  every  laudable  undertaking 
should  always  operate  with  the  force  of  com 
mands,  that  I  have  prevailed  upon  myself  to 
execute  the  task  you  have  assigned  me. 

My  business,  upon  this  occasion,  is  to  lay 
before  you  a  few  thoughts  upon  the  NECES 
SITY,  POSSIBILITY  and  ADVANTAGES  of  es 
tablishing  woolen,  cotton,  and  linen  manufac 
tories  among  us. 

The  NECESSITY  of  establishing  these  manu 
factories  is  obvious  from  the  association  of  the 
congress,  which  puts  a  stop  to  the  importation 
of  British  goods,  of  which  woolens,  cottons, 
and  linens,  always  made  a  considerable  part. 
So  large  has  been  the  demand  for  these  articles, 
and  so  very  necessary  are  they  in  this  country, 
that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  clothe  ourselves 
without  substituting  some  others  in  their  room. 
I  am  far  from  thinking  that  the  non-importa 
tion  agreement  will  be  so  transitory  a  thing,  as 
some  have  supposed.  The  appearance  of  a 
change  of  measures  in  England  respecting  the 


colonies,  does  not  flow  from  a  conviction  of 
their  injustice.  The  same  arbitrary  ministers 
continue  in  office,  and  the  same  arbitrary  favo 
rites  continue  to  abuse  the  confidence  of  our 
sovereign.  Sudden  conversion  should  be 
trusted  with  caution,  especially,  when  they 
have  been  brought  about  by  interest  or  fear.  I 
shall  think  the  liberties  of  America  established 
at  an  easy  price  by  a  two  or  three  years' non 
importation  agreement.  By  union  and  perse 
verance  in  this  mode  of  opposition  to  Great 
Britain,  we  shall  afford  a  new  phenomenon  in 
the  history  of  mankind,  and  furnish  posterity 
with  an  example  to  teach  them  that  peace, 
with  all  the  rights  of  humanity  and  justice,  may 
be  maintained  by  the  exertion  of  economical, 
as  well  as  military  virtues.  We  shall  more 
over,  demonstrate  the  falsehood  of  those  sys 
tems  of  government,  which  exclude  patriotism 
from  the  list  of  virtues  ;  and  show,  that  we  act 
most  surely  for  ourselves,  when  we  act  most 
disinterestedly  for  the  public. 

The  POSSIBILITY  of  establishing  woolen, 
cotton  and  linen  manufactories  among  us  is 
plain,  from  the  success  which  hath  attended 
several  attempts  that  have  been  made  for  that 
purpose.  A  great  part  of  the  inhabitants  of 
several  of  the  counties  in  this  province,  clothe 
themselves  entirely  with  woolens  and  linens 
manufactured  in  their  own  families.  Our  wool 
is  equal  in  quality  to  the  wool  of  several  Euro 
pean  countries,  and  if  the  same  pains  were 
bestowed  in  the  culture  of  our  sheep,  which 
are  used  in  England  and  Spain,  I  have  no 
doubt  but  in  a  few  years  our  wool  would  equal 
the  wool  of  Segovia  itself.  Nor  will  there  be  a 
deficiency  in  the  quantity  of  wool  which  will  be 
necessary  for  us,  if  we  continue  to  adhere  to 
the  association  of  the  congress,  as  strictly  as 
we  have  done.  If  the  city  of  Philadelphia  con 
sumes  20,000  sheep  less  this  year,  than  it  did 
last,  how  many  20,000  sheep  may  we  suppose 
will  be  saved  throughout  the  whole  province. 
According  to  the  ordinary  increase  in  the  breed 
of  sheep,  and  allowing  for  the  additional  quan 
tity  of  wool,  which  a  little  care  of  them  will 
produce,  I  think  I  could  make  it  appear  that 
in  five  years  there  will  be  wool  enough  raised 
in  the  province  to  clothe  the  whole  of  its  inhab 
itants.  Cotton  may  be  imported  upon  such 
terms  from  the  West  Indies  and  southern  colo 
nies,  as  to  enable  us  to  manufacture  thicksets, 
calicoes,  etc.,  at  a  much  cheaper  rate  than 
they  can  be  imported  from  Britain.  Considering 
how  much  these  stuffs  are  worn  by  those  classes 
of  people  who  constitute  the  majority  of  the 
inhabitants  of  our  country,  the  encouragement 
of  the  cotton  manufactory  appears  to  be  an 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


2O9 


object  of  the  utmost  consequence.  I  cannot 
help  suggesting  in  this  place,  although  it  may 
appear  foreign  to  our  subject,  that  the  trade  to 
the  West  Indies  and  southern  colonies  for 
cotton,  would  create  such  a  commercial  union, 
with  the  middle  and  northern  colonies,  as 
would  tend  greatly  to  strengthen  that  political 
union  which  now  subsists  between  them.  I 
need  say  nothing  of  the  facility  of  cultivating 
flax,  nor  of  the  excellent  quality  of  the  linens 
which  have  been  already  manufactured  among 
us.  I  shall  only  add,  that  this  manufacture 
may  be  carried  on  without  lessening  the  value 
of  the  trade  which  arises  from  the  exportation 
of  our  flax-seed  to  Ireland. 

I  cannot  help  laying  a  good  deal  of  stress 
upon  the  public  spirit  of  my  countrymen,  which 
removes  the  success  of  these  manufactories 
beyond  a  bare  possibility,  and  seems  to  render 
it  in  some  measure  certain.  The  resolves  of 
the  congress  have  been  executed  with  a  fidelity 
hardly  known  to  laws  in  any  country,  and  that 
too  without  the  assistance  of  fire  and  sword, 
or  even  of  the  civil  magistrate,  and  in  some 
places,  in  direct  opposition  to  them  all.  It 
gives  me  the  utmost  pleasure  to  mention  here, 
that  our  province  is  among  the  foremost  of  the 
colonies  in  the  peaceable  mode  of  opposition 
recommended  by  the  congress.  When  I 
reflect  upon  the  temper  we  have  discovered  in 
the  present  controversy,  and  compare  it  with 
the  habitual  spirit  of  industry  and  economy  for 
which  we  are  celebrated  among  strangers,  I 
know  not  how  to  estimate  our  virtue  high 
enough.  I  am  sure  no  objects  will  appear  too 
difficult,  nor  no  undertakings  too  expensive  for 
us  in  the  present  struggle.  The  sum  of  money 
which  has  been  already  subscribed  for  the 
purpose  of  these  manufactories,  is  a  proof  that 
I  am  not  too  sanguine  in  my  expectations  from 
this  province. 

I  come  now  to  point  out  the  ADVANTAGES 
we  shall  derive  from  establishing  the  woolen, 
cotton  and  linen  manufactories  among  us. 
The  first  advantage  I  shall  mention  is,  we 
shall  save  a  large  sum  of  money  annually  in 
our  province.  The  province  of  Pennsylvania 
is  supposed  to  contain  400,000  inhabitants. 
Let  us  suppose,  that  only  50,000  of  these  are 
clothed  with  the  woolens,  cottons  and  linens 
of  Great  Britain,  and  that  the  price  of  clothing 
each  of  these  persons,  upon  an  average, 
amounts  to  £$  sterling  a  year.  If  this  com 
putation  be  just,  then  the  sum  annually  saved 
in  our  province  by  the  manufactory  of  our 
clothes  will  amount  to  ^250,000  sterling. 
Secondly,  Manufactories,  next  to  agriculture, 
are  the  basis  of  the  riches  of  every  country. 


Cardinal  Ximenes  is  remembered  at  this  day 
in  Spain  more  for  the  improvement  he  made 
in  the  breed  of  sheep,  by  importing  a  number 
of  rams  from  Barbary,  than  for  any  other 
services  he  rendered  his  country.  King  Ed 
ward  the  IV.  and  queen  Elizabeth,  of  Eng 
land,  are  mentioned  with  gratitude  by  his 
torians  for  passing  acts  of  parliament  to 
import  a  number  of  sheep  from  Spain  ;  and 
to  this  mixture  of  Spanish  with  English  sheep, 
the  wool  of  the  latter  owes  its  peculiar  ex 
cellence  and  reputation,  all  over  the  world. 
Louis  the  XIV.  king  of  France,  knew  the 
importance  of  a  woolen  manufactory  in  his 
kingdom,  and  in  order  to  encourage  it,  al 
lowed  several  exclusive  privileges  to  the  com 
pany  of  woolen  traders  in  Paris.  The  effects 
of  this  royal  patronage  of  this  manufactory 
have  been  too  sensibly  felt  by  the  English, 
who  have,  within  these  thirty  or  forty  years 
had  the  mortification  of  seeing  the  trade  up 
the  Levant,  for  woolen  cloths,  in  some  mea 
sure  monopolized  by  the  French.  It  is  re 
markable  that  the  riches,  and  naval  power 
of  France  have  increased  in  proportion  to  this 
very  lucrative  trade.  Thirdly,  By  establishing 
these  manufactories  among  us,  we  shall  em 
ploy  a  number  of  poor  people  in  our  city,  and 
that  too  in  a  way  most  agreeable  to  them 
selves,  and  least  expensive  to  the  company ; 
for,  according  to  our  plan,  the  principal  part 
of  the  business  will  be  carried  on  in  their  own 
houses.  Travellers  through  Spain  inform  us, 
that  in  the  town  of  Segovia,  which  contains 
60,000  inhabitants,  there  is  not  a  single  beggar 
to  be  seen.  This  is  attributed  entirely  to  the 
woolen  manufactory  which  is  carried  on  in  the 
most  extensive  manner  in  that  place,  affording 
constant  employment  to  the  whole  of  their 
poor  people.  Fourthly,  By  establishing  the 
woolen,  cotton  and  linen  manufactories  in 
this  country,  we  shall  invite  manufacturers 
from  every  part  of  Europe,  particularly  from 
Britain  and  Ireland,  to  come  and  settle  among 
us.  To  men  who  want  money  to  purchase 
lands,  and  who,  from  habits  of  manufacturing, 
are  disinclined  to  agriculture,  the  prospect  of 
meeting  with  employment  as  soon  as  they 
arrive  in  this  country,  in  a  way  they  have 
been  accustomed  to,  would  lessen  the  diffi 
culties  of  emigration,  and  encourage  thou 
sands  to  come  and  settle  in  America.  If  they 
increased  our  riches  by  increasing  the  value 
of  our  property,  and  if  they  added  to  our 
strength  by  adding  to  our  numbers  only, 
they  would  be  a  great  acquisition  to  us. 
But  there  are  higher  motives  which  should 
lead  us  to  invite  strangers  to  settle  in  this 


210 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


country.  Poverty,  with  its  other  evils,  has 
joined  with  it  in  every  part  of  Europe,  all 
the  miseries  of  slavery.  America  is  now  the 
only  asylum  for  liberty  in  the  whole  world. 
The  present  contest  with  Great  Britain  was 
perhaps  intended  by  the  Supreme  Being, 
among  other  wise  and  benevolent  purposes, 
to  show  the  world  this  asylum,  which,  from 
its  remote  and  unconnected  situation  with  the 
rest  of  the  globe,  might  have  remained  a 
secret  for  ages.  By  establishing  manufac 
tories,  we  stretch  forth  a  hand  from  the  ark 
to  invite  the  timid  manufacturers  to  come  in. 
It  might  afford  us  pleasure  to  trace  the  new 
sources  of  happiness  which  would  immedi 
ately  open  to  our  fellow  creatures  from  their 
settlement  in  this  country.  Manufactories 
have  been  accused  of  being  unfriendly  to 
population.  I  believe  the  charge  should  fall 
upon  slavery.  By  bringing  manufacturers  into 
this  land  of  liberty  and  plenty,  we  recover 
them  from  the  torpid  state  in  which  they 
existed  in  their  own  country,  and  place  them 
in  circumstances  which  enable  them  to  be 
come  husbands  and  fathers,  and  thus  we  add 
to  the  general  tide  of  human  happiness. 
Fifthly,  The  establishment  of  manufactories 
in  this  country,  by  lessening  our  imports  from 
Great  Britain,  will  deprive  European  luxuries 
and  vices  of  those  vehicles  in  which  they  have 
been  transported  to  America.  The  wisdom 
of  the  congress  cannot  be  too  much  admired 
in  putting  a  check  to  them  both.  They  have 
in  effect  said  to  them — "  Thus  far  shall  ye  go, 
and  no  further." — Sixthly,  By  establishing 
manufactories  among  us,  we  erect  an  addi 
tional  barrier  against  the  encroachments  of 
tyranny.  A  people,  who  are  entirely  depen 
dent  upon  foreigners  for  food  or  clothes,  must 
always  be  subject  to  them.  I  need  not  detain 
you  in  setting  forth  the  misery  of  holding  prop 
erty,  liberty  and  life  upon  the  precarious  will 
of  our  fellow  subjects  in  Britain.  I  beg  leave 
to  add  a  thought  in  this  place  which  has  been 
but  little  attended  to  by  the  writers  upon  this 
subject,  and  that,  is  that  poverty,  confinement 
and  death  are  trifling  evils,  when  compared 
with  that  total  depravity  of  heart  which  is 
connected  with  slavery.  By  becoming  slaves, 
we  shall  lose  every  principle  of  virtue.  We 
shall  transfer  unlimited  obedience  from  our 
Maker,  to  a  corrupted  majority  in  the  British 
house  of  commons,  and  shall  esteem  their 
crimes,  the  certificates  of  their  divine  commis 
sion  to  govern  us.  We  shall  cease  to  look 
with  horror  upon  the  prostitution  of  our  wives 
and  daughters,  by  those  civil  and  military 
harpies,  who  now  hover  around  the  liberties 


of  our  country.  We  shall  cheerfully  lay  them 
both  at  their  feet.  We  shall  hug  our  chains.  We 
shall  cease  to  be  men.  We  shall  be  SLAVES. 

I  shall  now  consider  the  objections  which 
have  been  made  to  the  establishment  of  manu 
factories  in  this  country. 

The  first,  and  most  common  objection  to 
manufactories  in  this  country  is,  that  they  will 
draw  off  our  attention  from  agriculture.  This 
objection  derives  great  weight  from  being  made 
originally  by  the  duke  of  Sully,  against  the 
establishment  of  manufactories  in  France.  But 
the  history  of  that  country  shows  us,  that  it  is 
more  founded  in  speculation  than  fact.  France 
has  become  opulent  and  powerful  in  proportion 
as  manufactories  have  flourished  in  her,  and  if 
agriculture  has  not  kept  pace  with  her  manu 
factories,  it  is  owing  entirely  to  that  ill-judged 
policy  which  forbade  the  exportation  of  grain. 
I  believe  it  will  be  found,  upon  inquiry,  that  a 
greater  number  of  hands  have  been  taken  from 
the  plough,  and  employed'  in  importing,  retail 
ing  and  transporting  British  woolens,  cottons 
and  linens,  than  would  be  sufficient  to  manu 
facture  as  much  of  them,  as  would  clothe  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  province.  There  is  an 
endless  variety  in  the  geniuses  of  men,  and  it 
would  be  to  preclude  the  exertion  of  the  facul 
ties  of  the  mind,  to  confine  them  entirely  to 
the  simple  arts  of  agriculture.  Besides,  if  these 
manufactories  were  conducted  as  they  ought 
to  be,  two  thirds  of  the  labor  of  them  will  be 
carried  on  by  those  members  of  society  who 
cannot  be  employed  in  agriculture,  namely,  by 
women  and  children. 

A  second  objection  is,  that  we  cannot  manu 
facture  cloths  so  cheap  here,  as  they  can  be 
imported  from  Britain.  It  has  been  the  mis 
fortune  of  most  of  the  manufactories  which 
have  been  set  up  in  this  country,  to  afford  labor 
to  journeymen,  only  for  six  or  nine  months  in 
the  year,  by  which  means  their  wages  have 
necessarily  been  so  high  as  to  support  them  in 
the  intervals  of  their  labor.  It  will  be  found,  upon 
inquiry  that  those  manufactories  which  occupy 
journeymen  the  whole  year,  are  carried  on  at 
as  cheap  a  rate  as  they  are  in  Britain.  The 
expense  of  manufacturing  cloth  will  be  lessened 
from  the  great  share  women  and  children  will 
have  in  them ;  and  I  have  the  pleasure  of  in 
forming  you  that  the  machine  lately  brought 
into  this  city  for  lessening  the  expense  of  time 
and  hands  in  spinning,  is  likely  to  meet  with 
encouragement  from  the  legislature  of  our 
province.  In  a  word,  the  experiments  which 
have  been  already  made  among  us,  convince 
us  that  woolens  and  linens  of  all  kinds,  may  be 
made  and  bought  as  cheap  as  those  imported 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


211 


from  Britain,  and  I  believe  every  one,  who  has 
tried  the  former,  will  acknowledge  that  they 
wear  twice  as  well  as  the  latter. 

A  third  objection  to  manufactories  is,  that 
they  destroy  health,  and  are  hurtful  to  popula 
tion.  The  same  may  be  said  of  navigation, 
and  many  other  arts  which  are  essential  to  the 
happiness  and  glory  of  a  state.  I  believe  that 
many  of  the  diseases  to  which  the  manufac 
turers  in  Britain  are  subject,  are  brought  on, 
not  so  much  by  the  nature  of  their  employment, 
but  by  their  unwholesome  diet,  damp  houses, 
and  other  bad  accommodations,  each  of  which 
may  be  prevented  in  America. 

A  fourth  objection  to  establishing  manufac 
tories  in  this  country  is  a  political  one.  The 
liberties  of  America  have  been  twice,  and  we 
hope  will  be  a  third  time  preserved  by  a  non 
importation  of  British  manufactures.  By 
manufacturing  our  own  cloths  we  deprive  our 
selves  of  the  only  weapon  by  which  we  can 
hereafter  effectually  oppose  Great  Britain. 
Before  we  answer  this  objection,  it  becomes  us 
to  acknowledge  the  obligations  we  owe  to  our 
merchants  for  consenting,  so  cheerfully,  to  a 
suspension  to  their  trade  with  Britain.  From 
the  benefits  we  have  derived  from  their  virtue, 
it  would  be  unjust  to  insinuate  that  ever  there 
will  be  the  least  danger  of  trusting  the  defence 
of  our  liberties  to  them  ;  but  I  would  wish  to 
guard  against  placing  one  body  of  men  only 
upon  that  forlorn  hope  to  which  a  non-importa 
tion  agreement  must  always  expose  them.  For 
this  purpose,  I  would  fill  their  stores  with  the 
manufactures  of  American  looms,  and  thus 
establish  their  trade  upon  a  foundation  that 
cannot  be  shaken.  Here  then  we  derive  an 
answer  to  the  last  objection  that  was  men 
tioned  ;  for,  in  proportion  as  manufactories 
flourish  in  America,  they  must  decline  in  Bri 
tain,  and  it  is  well  known  that  nothing  but  her 
manufactories  have  rendered  her  formidable 
in  all  our  contests  with  her.  These  are  the 
foundations  of  all  her  riches  and  power.  These 
have  made  her  merchants  nobles,  and  her 
nobles  princes.  These  carried  her  so  triumph 
antly  through  the  late  expensive  war,  and  these 
are  the  support  of  a  power  more  dangerous  to 
the  liberties  of  America,  than  her  fleets  and 
armies,  I  mean  the  power  of  corruption.  I  am 
not  one  of  those  vindictive  patriots  who  exult  in 
the  prospect  of  the  decay  of  the  manufactories 
of  Britain.  I  can  forgive  her  late  attempts  to 
enslave  us,  in  the  memory  of  our  once  muttial 
freedom  and  happiness.  And  should  her 
liberty — her  arts — her  fleets  and  armies  and  her 
empire,  ever  be  interred  in  Britain,  I  hope  they 
will  all  rise  in  British  garments  only  in  America. 


ENTHUSIASM 

OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  PENN.  IN  SUPPORT  OF 
THE  REVOLUTION. 

PHILADELPHIA,  JUNE  9,  1775. 

The  following  paragraphs  are  taken  from  the 
Pennsylvania  Mercury  • 

The  ladies  in  Bristol  township  have  evidenced 
a  laudable  regard  to  the  interest  of  their  coun 
try.  At  their  own  expense,  they  have  furnished 
the  regiment  of  that  county  with  a  suit  of 
colors  and  drums,  and  are  now  making  a  col 
lection  to  supply  muskets  to  such  of  the  men 
as  are  not  able  to  supply  themselves.  We 
hear  the  lady,  who  was  appointed  to  present 
the  colors  to  the  regiment,  gave  in  charge  to 
the  soldiers,  never  to  desert  the  colors  of  the 
ladies,  if  they  ever  wish  that  the  ladies  should 
list  under  their  banners. 

The  spirit  of  opposition  to  the  arbitrary  and 
tyrannical  acts  of  the  ministry  and  parliament 
of  Britain,  hath  diffused  itself  so  universally 
throughout  this  province,  that  the  people, 
even  to  its  most  extended  frontiers,  are  inde 
fatigable  in  training  themselves  to  military  dis 
cipline.  The  aged,  as  well  as  the  young,  daily 
march  out  under  the  banners  of  liberty  and  dis 
cover  a  determined  resolution  to  maintain  her 
cause  even  until  death.  In  the  town  of  Read 
ing,  in  Berks  county,  there  had  been  some 
time  past  three  companies  formed,  and  very 
forward  in  their  exercise ;  since,  however,  we 
are  well  informed,  a  fourth  company  have  asso 
ciated  under  the  name  of  the  Old  Man's  com 
pany.  It  consists  of  about  eighty  Germans,  of 
the  age  of  forty  and  upwards.  Many  of  them 
have  been  in  the  military  service  in  Germany. 
The  person  who,  at  their  first  assembling, 
led  them  to  the  field,  is  97  years  of  age,  has 
been  40  years  in  the  regular  service,  and  in  17 
pitched  battles,  and  the  drummer  is  84.  In 
lieu  of  a  cockade,  they  wear  in  their  hats  a 
black  crape,  as  expressive  of  their  sorrow  for 
the  mournful  events  which  have  occasioned 
them,  at  their  late  time  of  life,  to  take  arms 
against  our  brethren,  in  order  to  preserve  that 
liberty  which  they  left  their  native  country  to 
enjoy. 

EXTRACT  OF  A  LETTER  FROM  PHILADELPHIA, 
DATED  JULY  10,  1775,  FROM  A  GENTLEMAN 
OF  CONSIDERATION  AND  FORTUNE. 

"  Travel  through  whatever  part  of  this  coun 
try  you  will,  you  will  see  the  inhabitants  train 
ing,  making  firelocks,  casting  mortars,  shells 
and  shot,  and  making  saltpetre,  in  order  to 
keep  the  gunpowder  mills  at  work  during  the 


212 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


next  autumn  and  winter.  Nothing,  indeed,  is 
attended  to  but  preparing  to  make  a  defence 
that  will  astonish  the  whole  world,  and  hurl 
destruction  on  those  who,  to  preserve  them 
selves  in  office,  have  advised  measures  so  fatal 
both  to  Britain  and  America.  At  least  two 
hundred  thousand  men  are  now  in  arms,  and 
well  trained,  ready  to  march  whenever  wanted 
for  the  support  of  American  freedom  and  pro 
perty.  In  short,  a  spirit  of  enthusiasm  for  war 
is  gone  forth,  that  has  driven  away  the  fear  of 
death  ;  and  magazines  of  provisions  and  ammu 
nition,  by  order  of  the  states  general  of  Ameri 
ca,  (or  the  twelve  United  Colonies)  are  directed 
to  be  made  in  all  proper  places,  against  the 
next  campaign." 


PATRIOTIC  SENTIMENTS  OF  AN  AMERICAN 
WOMAN  IN  ADVOCACY  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

From  a  Philadelphia  paper  dated  June,  1780. 

On  the  commencement  of  actual  war,  the 
women  of  America  manifested  a  firm  resolu 
tion  to  contribute  as  much  as  could  depend  on 
them,  to  the  deliverance  of  their  country. 
Animated  by  the  purest  patriotism,  they  are 
sensible  of  sorrow  at  this  day,  in  not  offering 
more  than  barren  wishes  for  the  success  of  so 
glorious  a  revolution.  They  aspire  to  render 
themselves  more  really  useful ;  and  this  senti 
ment  is  universal  from  the  north  to  the  south 
of  the  thirteen  United  States.  Our  ambition 
is  kindled  by  the  fame  of  those  heroines  of 
antiquity,  who  have  rendered  their  sex  illustri 
ous,  and  have  proved  to  the  universe,  that,  if 
the  weakness  of  our  constitution,  if  opinion  and 
manners  did  not  forbid  us  to  march  to  glory 
by  the  same  paths  as  the  men,  we  should  at 
least  equal,  and  sometimes  surpass  them  in 
our  love  for  the  public  good.  I  glory  in  all 
that  which  my  sex  has  done  great  and  com 
mendable.  I  call  to  mind  with  enthusiasm 
and  with  admiration,  all  those  acts  of  courage, 
of  constancy  and  patriotism,  which  history  has 
transmitted  to  us :  The  people  favored  by 
heaven,  preserved  from  destruction  by  the 
virtue,  the  zeal  and  the  resolution  of  Deborah, 
of  Judith,  of  Esther!  The  fortitude  of  the 
mother  of  the  Maccabees,  in  giving  up  her 
sons  to  die  before  her  eyes  :  Rome  saved  from 
the  fury  of  a  victorious  enemy  by  the  efforts  of 
Volumnia,  and  other  Roman  ladies :  So  many 
famous  sieges,  where  the  women  have  been 
seen  forgetting  the  weakness  of  their  sex, 
building  new  walls,  digging  trenches  with  their 
feeble  hands,  furnishing  arms  to  their  defend 
ers,  they  themselves  darting  the  missile  weap 
ons  on  the  enemy,  resigning  the  ornaments  of 
their  apparel,  and  their  fortune,  to  fill  the  pub 


lic  treasury,  and  to  hasten  the  deliverance  of 
their  country :  burying  themselves  under  its 
ruins :  throwing  themselves  into  the  flames 
rather  than  submit  to  the  disgrace  of  humilia 
tion  before  a  proud  enemy. 

Born  for  liberty,  disdaining  to  bear  the  irons 
of  a  tyrannic  government,  we  associate  our 
selves  to  the  grandeur  of  those  sovereigns, 
cherished  and  revered,  who  have  held  with  so 
much  splenddf  the  sceptre  of  the  greatest 
states.  The  Matildas,  the  Elizabeths,  the 
Maries,  the  Catherines,  who  have  extended  the 
empire  of  liberty,  and,  contented  to  reign  by 
sweetness  and  justice,  have  broken  the  chains 
of  slavery,  forged  by  tyrants  in  the  times  of 
ignorance  and  barbarity.  The  Spanish  wo 
men,  do  they  not  make,  at  this  moment,  the 
most  patriotic  sacrifices,  to  increase  the  means 
of  victory  in  the  hands  of  their  sovereign  ?  He 
is  a  friend  to  the  French  nation.  They  are 
our  allies.  We  call  to  mind,  doubly  interested, 
that  it  was  a  French  maid  who  kindled  up 
amongst  her  fellow  citizens,  the  flame  of  pat 
riotism  buried  under  long  misfortunes  :  It  was 
the  maid  of  Orleans  who  drove  from  the  king 
dom  of  France  the  ancestors  of  those  same 
British,  whose  odious  yoke  we  have  just  shaken 
off,  and  whom  it  is  necessary  that  we  drive 
from  this  continent. 

But  I  must  limit  myself  to  the  recollection  of 
this  small  number  of  achievements.  Who 
knows  if  persons  disposed  to  censure,  and 
sometimes  too  severely  with  regard  to  us,  may 
not  disapprove  our  appearing  acquainted  even 
with  the  actions  of  which  our  sex  boasts  ? 
We  are  at  least  certain,  that  he  cannot  be  a 
good  citizen  who  will  not  applaud  our  efforts 
for  the  relief  of  the  armies  which  defend  our 
lives,  our  possessions,  our  liberty  ?  The  situa 
tion  of  our  soldiery  has  been  represented  to 
me  ;  the  evils  inseparable  from  war,  and  the 
firm  and  generous  spirit  which  has  enabled 
them  to  support  these.  But  it  has  been  said, 
that  they  may  apprehend,  that,  in  the  course  of 
a  long  war,  the  view  of  their  distresses  may  be 
lost,  and  their  services  forgotten.  Forgotten  ! 
never ;  I  can  answer  in  the  name  of  all  my  sex. 
Brave  Americans,  your  disinterestedness,  your 
courage,  and  your  constancy  will  always  be 
dear  to  America,  as  long  as  she  shall  preserve 
her  virtue. 

We  know  that,  at  a  distance  from  the  theatre 
of  war,  if  we  enjoy  any  tranquility,  it  is  the 
fruit  of  your  watchings,  your  labors,  your  dan 
gers.  If  I  live  happy  in  the  midst  of  my  family, 
if  my  husband  cultivates  his  field,  and  reaps 
his  harvest  in  peace ;  if,  surrounded  with  my 
children,  I  myself  nourish  the  youngest,  and 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


213 


press  it  to  my  bosom,  without  being  afraid  of 
seeing  myself  separated  from  it,  by  a  ferocious 
enemy  ;  if  the  house  in  which  we  dwell ;  if  our 
barns,  our  orchards  are  safe  at  the  present 
time  from  the  hands  of  those  incendiaries,  it  is 
to  you  that  we  owe  it.  And  shall  we  hesitate 
to  evidence  to  you  our  gratitude  ?  Shall  we 
hesitate  to  wear  a  clothing  more  simple  ;  hair- 
dresses  less  elegant,  while,  at  the  price  of  this 
small  privation,  we  shall  deserve  your  benedic 
tions.  Who  amongst  us,  will  not  renounce, 
with  the  highest  pleasure,  those  vain  orna 
ments,  when  she  shall  consider  that  the  valiant 
defenders  of  America  will  be  able  to  draw 
some  advantage  from  the  money  which  she 
may  hav£  laid  out  in  these ;  that  they  will  be 
better  defended  from  the  rigors  of  the  seasons  ; 
that,  after  their  painful  toils,  they  will  receive 
some  extraordinary  and  unexpected  relief; 
that  these  presents  will  perhaps  be  valued  by 
them  at  a  greater  price,  when  they  will  have  it 
in  their  power  to  say  :  This  is  the  offering  of 
the  ladies.  The  time  is  arrived  to  display  the 
same  sentiments  which  animated  us  at  the  be 
ginning  of  the  revolution,  when  we  renounced 
the  use  of  teas,  however  agreeable  to  our  taste, 
rather  than  receive  them  from  our  persecutors  : 
when  we  made  it  appear  to  them  that  we 
placed  former  necessaries  in  the  rank  of  super 
fluities,  when  our  liberty  was  interested  ;  when 
our  republican  and  laborious  hands  spun  the 
flax,  prepared  the  linen  intended  for  the  use  of 
our  soldiers  ;  when  exiles  and  fugitives  we 
supported  with  courage  all  the  evils  which  are 
the  concomitants  of  war.  Let  us  not  lose  a 
moment ;  let  us  be  engaged  to  offer  the  hom 
age  of  our  gratitude  at  the  altar  of  military 
valor,  and  you,  our  brave  deliverers,  while 
mercenary  slaves  combat  to  cause  you  to  share 
with  them,  the  irons  with  which  they  are  loaded, 
receive  with  a  free  hand  our  offering,  the 
purest  which  can  be  presented  to  your  virtue 
By  an  AMERICAN  WOMAN. 


A  SERMON 

ON  THE  PRESENT  SITUATION  OF  AMERICAN 
AFFAIRS. 

Preached  in  CHRIST  CHURCH,  June  23,  1775, 
at  the  request  of  the  officers  of  the  third 
battalion  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and 
district  of  Southwark,  by  WILLIAM  SMITH, 
D.  D.  Provost  of  the  college  in  that  city. 

The  Lord  God  of  Gods— the  Lord  God  of  Gods— He 
knoweth,  and  Israel  he  shall  know,  if  it  be  in  rebellion, 
or  in  transgression  against  the  Lord — save  us  not  in  this 
day. — Joshua,^  xxii.  22. 

These  words,  my  brethren,  will  lead  us  into 


a  train  of  reflections,  wholly  suitable  to  the 
design  of  our  present  meeting  ;  and  I  must  beg 
your  indulgence  till  I  explain,  as  briefly  as  pos 
sible,  the  solemn  occasion  on  which  they  were 
first  delivered,  hoping  the  application  I  may 
afterwards  make  of  them,  may  fully  reward 
your  attention. 

The  two  tribes  of  Reuben  and  of  Gad,  and 
the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh,  had  chosen  their 
inheritance,  on  the  eastern  side  of  Jordan, 
opposite  to  the  other  tribes  of  Israel.  And 
although  they  knew  that  this  situation  would 
deprive  them  of  some  privileges  which  remained 
with  their  brethren  on  the  other  side,  and  par 
ticularly  that  great  privilege  of  having  the  place 
of  the  altar  and  tabernacle  of  God  among 
them ;  yet,  as  the  land  of  Canaan  was  judged 
too  small  for  all  the  twelve  tribes,  they  were 
contented  with  the  possession  they  had  chosen. 
And  thus  they  spoke  to  Moses  : 

"  It  is  a  land  of  cattle,  and  thy  servants  have 
much  cattle.  Wherefore,  if  we  have  found 
grace  in  thy  sight  let  this  land  be  given  to  us 
for  a  possession,  and  we  vvijl  build  sheepfolds 
here  for  our  cattle,  and  cities  for  our  little  ones  ; 
and  we  ourselves  will  go  ready  armed  before 
our  brethren,  the  children  of  Israel — and  will 
not  return  into  our  houses,  until  they  have 
inherited  every  man  his  inheritance." 

"  And  Moses  said  unto  them — If  you  will  do 
this  thing,  and  will  go  all  of  you  armed  over 
Jordan  before  the  Lord,  until  he  hath  driven 
out  his  enemies  from  before  him  ;  and  the  land 
(of  Canaan)  be  subdued  (for  your  brethren) ; 
then  afterwards  ye  shall  return,  and  this  land 
(of  Gilead)  shall  be  your  possession  before  the 
Lord."* 

This,  then,  was  the  great  original  contract, 
under  which  these  two  tribes  and  a  half  were 
allowed  to  separate  from  the  rest,  and  to  dwell 
on  the  other  side  of  Jordan.  They  were  to 
assist  their  brethren  in  their  necessary  wars, 
and  to  continue  under  one  government  with 
them — even  that  of  the  great  Jehovah  himself — 
erecting  no  separate  altar  but  cdming  to  per 
form  their  sacrifices  at  that  one  altar  of  SHILOH, 
where  the  Lord  had  vouchsafed  to  promise  his 
special  presence. 

Though  this  subjected  them  to  inconven 
iences,  yet  as  uniformity  of  worship  and  the 
nature  of  their  theocracy  required  it,  they 
adhered  faithfully  to  their  contract. 

In  the  fear  of  God,  they  bowed  themselves  at 
his  altar,  although  not  placed  in  their  own 
land ;  and,  in  love  to  their  brethren,  they  sup 
ported  them  in  their  wars,  "  till  there  stood  not 
a  man  of  all  their  enemies  before  them  ;  "  and 
*  Numb.  32. 


214 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


at  last,  JOSHUA,  their  great  leader,  having  no 
farther  need  of  their  assistance,  gave  them  this 
noble  testimony — That  they  had,  in  all  things 
obeyed  his  voice  as  their  general,  and  faithfully 
performed  all  they  had  promised  to  Moses  the 
servant  of  God.  Wherefore  he  blessed  them, 
and  dismissed  them  to  return  to  their  own 
land  "  with  much  riches,  and  with  cattle,  and 
with  silver,  and  with  gold,  and  with  much 
raiment." 

No  sooner,  therefore,  had  they  entered  their 
own  country,  than,  in  the  fulness  of  gratitude, 
on  the  banks  of  Jordan,  at  the  common  passage 
over  against  Canaan,  they  built  an  high  or 
great  altar  that  it  might  remain  an  eternal 
monument  of  their  being  of  one  stock,  and 
entitled  to  the  same  civil  and  religious  priv 
ileges,  with  their  brethren  of  the  other  tribes. 

But  this  their  work  of  piety  and  love  was 
directly  misconstrued.  The  cry  was  immedi 
ately  raised  against  them.  The  zealots  of  that 
day  scrupled  not  to  declare  them  rebels  against 
the  living  God,  violators  of  his  sacred  laws  and 
theocracy,  in  setting  up  an  altar  against  his 
holy  altar,  and  therefore  the  whole  congrega 
tions  of  the  brother  tribes,  that  dwelt  in  Canaan, 
gathered  themselves  together,  to  go  up  to  war 
against  their  own  flesh  and  blood,  in  a  blind 
transport  of  unrighteous  zeal,  purposing  to 
extirpate  them  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  as 
enemies  to  God  and  the  commonwealth  of 
Israel ! 

In  that  awful  and  important  moment  (and, 
oh  !  my  God  that  the  example  could  be  copied 
among  the  brother  tribes  of  our  Israel,  in  the 
parent  land)  I  say,  in  that  awful  and  important 
moment,  some  milder  and  more  benevolent 
men  there  were,  whose  zeal  did  not  so  far 
transport  them,  but  that,  before  they  unsheathed 
the  sword  to  plunge  it  with  unhallowed  hand 
into  the  bowels  of  their  brethren,  they  thought 
it  justice  first  to  enquire  into  the  charge 
against  them.  And,  for  the  glory  of  Israel  this 
peaceable  and  prudent  counsel  prevailed. 

A  most  solemn  embassy  was  prepared,  at 
the  head  of  which  was  a  man  of  sacred  charac 
ter,  and  venerable  authority,  breathing  the 
dictates  of  religion  and  humanity  ;  Phinehas,  the 
son  of  Eleazer,  the  high  priest,  accompanied 
with  ten  other  chiefs  or  princes,  one  from  each 
of  the  nine  tribes  as  well  as  from  the  remaining 
half  tribe  of  Manasseh. 

Great  was  the  astonishment  of  the  Gilead- 
ites*  on  receiving  this  embassy,  and  hearing 
the  charge  against  them.  But  the  power  of 

*  The  two  tribes  and  a  half  are  here  briefly  and  generally 
denominated  Gileadites,  from  the  name  of  the  land  they 
had  chosen. 


conscious  innocence  is  above  all  fear,  and  the 
language  of  an  upright  heart  superior  to  all 
eloquence.  By  a  solemn  appeal  to  Heaven  for 
the  rectitude  of  their  intentions,  unpremeditated 
and  vehement,  in  the  words  of  my  text,  they 
disarmed  their  brethren  of  every  suspicion. 

"  The  Lord  God  of  Gods,"  say  they  (in  the 
fervency  of  truth,  repeating  the  invocation) 
"the  Lord  God  of  Gods" — He  that  made  the 
Heavens  and  the  earth,  who  searcheth  the 
hearts,  and  is  acquainted  with  the  most  secret 
thoughts  of  all  men — "  He  knoweth,  and  all 
Israel  shall  know,"  by  our  unshaken  constancy 
in  the  religion  of  our  fathers — that  this  charge 
against  us  is  utterly  false. 

Then  turning  from  their  brethren,  with  un 
speakable  dignity  of  soul  and  clearness  of 
conscience,  they  address  the  Almighty  Jehovah 
himself — 

Oh  thou  sovereign  Ruler  of  the  universe — 
our  God  and  our  Fathers'  God — "  if  it  be  in 
rebellion  or  in  transgression  against  thee," 
that  we  have  raised  this  monument  of  our  zeal 
for  the  commonwealth  of  Israel — "  save  us  not 
this  day  ! "  If  the  most  distant  thought  has 
entered  our  hearts  of  erecting  an  independent 
altar ;  if  we  have  sought,  in  one  instance,  to 
derogate  from  the  glory  of  that  sacred  altar 
which  thou  hast  placed  among  our  brethren 
beyond  Jordan,  as  the  common  bond  of  union 
and  worship  among  all  the  tribes  of  Israel — let 
not  this  day's  sun  descend  upon  us,  till  thou 
hast  made  us  a  monument  of  thine  avenging 
justice,  in  the  sight  of  the  surrounding  world  ! 

After  this  astonishing  appeal  to  the  great 
God  of  Heaven  and  earth,  they  proceed  to  rea 
son  with  their  brethren  ;  and  tell  them  that,  so 
far  from  intending  a  separation,  either  in  gov 
ernment  or  in  religion,  this  altar  was  built  with 
a  direct  contrary  purpose — "  That  it  might  be  a 
WITNESS  between  us  and  you,  and  our  genera 
tions  after  us,  that  your  children  may  not  say 
to  our  children,  in  time  to  come,  ye  have  no 
part  in  the  Lord."  We  were  afraid  lest,  in 
some  future  age,  when  our  posterity  may  cross 
Jordan  to  offer  sacrifices  in  the  place  appointed, 
your  posterity  may  thrust  them  from  the  altar, 
and  tell  them  that  because  they  live  not  in  the 
land  where  the  Lord's  tabernacle  dwelleth,  they 
are  none  of  his  people,  nor  entitled  to  the  Jew 
ish  privileges. 

But  while  this  altar  stands,  they  shall  always 
have  an  answer  ready.  They  will  be  able  to 
say — "  Behold  the  pattern  of  the  altar  of  the 
Lord  which  our  fathers  made."  If  our  fathers 
had  not  been  of  the  seed  of  Israel,  they  would 
not  have  fondly  copied  your  customs  and 
models.  You  would  not  have  beheld  in  Gilead, 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


215 


an  altar,  in  all  things  an  imitation  of  the  true 
altar  of  God,  which  is  in  Shiloh,  except  only 
that  ours  is  an  high  "or  great  altar  to  see" 
from  far.  And  this  may  convince  you  that  it 
was  not  intended  as  an  altar  of  sacrifice  (for 
then  it  would  have  been  but  three  cubits  in 
height,  as  our  law  directs)  but  as  a  monumen 
tal  altar,  to  instruct  our  generations  forever, 
that  they  are  of  the  same  pedigree  with  your 
selves,  and  entitled  to  the  same  civil  and  relig 
ious  privileges. 

This  noble  defence  brought  an  immediate  re 
conciliation  among  the  discordant  tribes.  "  The 
words,  (when  reported)  pleased  the  children  of 
Israel — they  blessed  God  together  "  for  prevent 
ing  the  effusion  of  kindred  blood,  "  and  did  not  go 
up  to  destroy  the  land  where  their  brethren,  the 
children  of  Reuben*  and  Gad  dwelt." 

The  whole  history  of  the  bible  cannot  fur 
nish  a  passage  more  instructive  than  this,  to  the 
members  of  a  great  empire,  whose  dreadful 
misfortune  it  is  to  have  the  evil  demon  of  civil 
or  religious  discord  gone  forth  among  them. 
And  would  to  God,  that  the  application  I  am 
now  to  make  of  it  could  be  delivered  in  accents 
louder  than  thunder,  till  they  have  pierced  the 
ear  of  every  Briton  ;  and  especially  their  ears 
who  have  meditated  war  and  destruction 
against  their  brother-tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad, 
in  this  our  AMERICAN  GILEAD.  And  let 
me  add — would  to  God  too  that  we,  who  this 
day  consider  ourselves  in  the  place  of  those 
tribes,  may,  like  them,  be  still  able  to  lay  our 
hands  on  our  hearts  in  a  solemn  appeal  to  the 
God  of  Gods,  for  the  rectitude  of  our  intentions 
towards  the  whole  commonwealth  of  our  BRIT 
ISH  ISRAEL.  For,  called  to  this  sacred  place, 
on  this  great  occasion,  I  know  it  is  your  wish 
that  I  should  stand  superior  to  all  partial  mo 
tives,  and  be  found  alike  unbiased  by  favor  or 
by  fear.  And  happy  it  is  that  the  parallel,  now 
to  be  drawn,  requires  not  the  least  sacrifice 
either  of  truth  or  virtue  ? 

Like  the  tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad,  we  have 
chosen  our  inheritance,  in  a  land  separated 
from  that  of  our  fathers  and  brethren,  not 
indeed  by  a  small  river,  but  an  immense  ocean. 
This  inheritance  we  likewise  hold  by  a  plain 
original  contract,  entitling  us  to  all  the  natural 
and  improvable  advantages  of  our  situation,  and 
to  a  community  of  privileges  with  our  brethren, 
in  every  civil  and  religious  respect,  except  in 
this,  that  the  throne  or  seat  of  empire,  that 
great  altar  at  which  the  men  of  this  world  bow, 
was  to  remain  among  them. 

*  Though  for  brevity,  the  sacred  text,  in  this  and 
other  places,  only  mentions  Reuben  and  Gad,  yet  the 
half  tribe  of  Manasseh  is  also  supposed  to  be  included. 


Regardless  of  this  local  inconvenience,  un- 
cankered  by  jealousy,  undepressed  by  fear,  and 
cemented  by  mutual  love  and  mutual  benefits, 
we  trod  the  path  of  glory  with  our  brethren  for 
an  hundred  years  and  more — enjoying  a  length 
of  felicity  scarce  ever  experienced  by  any  other 
people. — Mindful  of  the  hands  that  protected  us 
in  our  youth,  and  submitting  to  every  just  reg 
ulation  for  appropriating  to  them  the  benefit  of 
our  trade — our  wealth  was  poured  in  upon 
them  from  ten  thousand  channels,  widening  as 
they  flowed,  and  making  their  poor  to  sing,  and 
industry  to  smile,  through  every  corner  of  their 
land.  And  as  often  as  dangers  threatened, 
and  the  voice  of  the  British  Israel  called  our 
brethren  to  the  field,  we  left  them  not  alone, 
but  shared  their  toils  and  fought  by  their  side, 
"  till  there  stood  not  a  man  of  all  their  enemies 
before  them," — Nay,  they  themselves  testified 
on  our  behalf,  that  in  all  things  we  not  only  did 
our  part,  but  more  than  our  part  for  the  com 
mon  good,  and  they  dismissed  us  home  loaded 
with  silver  and  with  gold,*  in  recompense  for 
our  extraordinary  services. 

So  far  you  see  the  parallel  holds  good.  But 
what  high  altars  have  we  built  to  alarm  our  Brit 
ish  Israel ;  and  why  have  the  congregations  of 
our  British  Israel,  and  why  have  the  congrega 
tions  of  our  brethren  gathered  themselves  to 
gether  against  us  ?  why  do  their  embattled 
hosts  already  cover  our  plains?  will  they  not 
examine  our  case,  and  listen  to  our  plea  ? 

"  The  Lord  God  of  Gods — he  knows,"  and 
the  whole  surrounding  world  shall  yet  know, 
that  whatever  American  altars  we  have  built, 
far  from  intending  to  dishonor,  have  been  raised 
with  an  expressed  view  to  perpetuate  the  name 
and  glory  of  that  sacred  altar,  and  seat  of 
empire  and  liberty,  which  we  left  behind  us, 
and  wish  to  remain  eternal  among  our  brethren 
in  the  parent  land. 

Esteeming  our  relation  to  them  our  greatest 
felicity ;  adoring  the  providence  that  gave  us 
the  same  progenitors  ;  glorying  in  this,  that 
when  the  new  world  was  to  be  portioned  out 
among  the  kingdoms  of  the  old,  the  most 
important  part  of  this  continent  fell  to  the  sons 
of  a  protestant  and  free  nation ;  desirous  of 
worshipping  forever  at  the  same  altar  with 
them ;  fond  of  their  manners  even  to  excess  ; 
enthusiasts  to  that  sacred  plan  of  civil  and  re 
ligious  happiness,  for  the  preservation  of  which 
they  have  sacrificed  from  age  to  age,  maintain 
ing,  and  always  ready  to  maintain,  at  the  risk 
of  every  thing  that  is  dear  to  us,  the  most 

*  The  parliamentary  reimbursements  for  our  exertions 
in  the  late  war,  similar  to  what  Joshua  gave  the  two  tribes 
and  a  half  on  the  close  of  his  wars. 


216 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


unshaken  fidelity  to  our  common  sovereign,  as 
the  great  centre  of  our  union,  and  guardian  of 
our  mutual  rights — I  say,  with  these  principles 
and  these  views,  we  thought  it  our  duty,  to 
build  up  American  altars,  or  constitutions,  as 
nearly  as  we  could,  upon  the  great  British  model. 

Having  never  sold  our  birth-right,  we  con 
sidered  ourselves  entitled  to  the  privileges  of 
our  father's  house — "to  enjoy  peace,  liberty 
and  safety,"  to  be  governed,  like  our  brethren, 
by  our  own  laws,  in  all  matters  properly  affect 
ing  ourselves,  and  to  offer  up  our  own  sacrifices 
at  the  altar  of  British  empire  ;  contending  that 
a  forced  devotion  is  idolatry,  and  that  no  power 
on  earth  has  a  right  to  come  in  between  us  and 
a  gracious  sovereign,  to  measure  forth  our 
loyalty,  or  to  grant  our  property,  without  our 
consent. 

These  are  the  principles  we  inherited  from 
Bntons  themselves.  Could  we  depart  from 
them,  we  should  be  deemed  bastards  and  not 
sons,  aliens,  and  not  brethren. 

The  altars  therefore,  which  we  have  built, 
are  not*  high  or  rival  altars  to  create  jealousy, 
but  humble  monuments  of  our  union  and  love, 
intended  to  bring  millions,  yet  unborn,  from 
every  corner  of  this  vast  continent,  to  bend  at 
the  great  parent  altar  of  British  liberty  ;  venerat 
ing  the  country  from  which  they  sprung,  and 
pouring  their  gifts  into  their  lap  when  their 
countless  thousands  shall  far  exceed  hers. 

It  was  our  wish  that  there  should  be  an 
eternal  "witness  between  our  brethren  and 
us,"  that  if,  at  any  future  period,  amid  the 
shifting  scenes  of  human  interests  and  human 
affections,  their  children  should  say  to  our 
children — "Ye  have  no  portion  "  in  the  birth 
right  of  Britons,  and  to  seek  to  push  them 
from  the  common  shrine  of  freedom,  when  they 
come  to  pay  their  homage  there,  they  might 
always  have  an  answer  ready — "  Behold  the 
pattern  of  the  altar  which  our  fathers  built." 
Behold  your  own  religious  and  civil  institutions, 
and  then  examine  the  frames  of  government  and 
systems  of  laws  raised  by  our  fathers  in  every 
part  of  America?  Could  these  have  been  such 
exact  copies  of  your  own,  if  they  had  not  in 
herited  the  same  spirit,  and  sprung  from  the 
same  stock,  with  yourselves. 

Thus  far  you  see  the  parallel  yet  holds  good, 
and  I  think  cannot  be  called  a  perversion  of 
my  text,  if  you  will  allow  that  the  Supreme 

*  In  this  respect,  our  plea  is  even  stronger  than  that  of 
the  two  tribes  and  a  half.  For,  till  an  explanation 
was  given,  the  height  of  their  altar,  like  those  of  the 
heathen,  who  loved  to  sacrifice  on  lofty  places,  might 
create  a  suspicion  of  their  "  lapsing  into  idolatry  ;  either 
intending  to  worship  other  Gods,  or  the  God  of  Israel  in 
an  unlawful  place  and  manner."— BP.  PATRICK. 


Power  of  an  empire,  whether  theocratical,  mo 
narchical,  or  whosoever  distributed,  may  be 
represented  under  the  figure  of  one  common 
altar,  at  which  the  just  devotion  of  all  the  sub 
jects  is  to  be  paid. 

But  it  is  said  that  we  have  of  late  departed 
from  our  former  line  of  duty,  and  refused  our 
homage  at  the  great  altar  of  British  empire. 
And  to  this  it  has  been  replied,  that  the  very 
refusal  is  the  strongest  evidence  of  our  venera 
tion  for  the  altar  itself.  Nay,  it  is  contended 
by  those  charged  with  this  breach  of  devotion, 
that  when,  in  the  shape  of  unconstitutional  ex 
actions,  violated  rights  and  mutilated  charters, 
they  were  called  to  worship  idols,  instead  of 
the  true  divinity,  it  was  in  a  transport  of  holy 
jealousy,  that  they  dashed  them  to  pieces,  or 
whelmed  them  to  the  bottom  of  the  ocean. 

This  is,  in  brief,  the  state  of  the  argument 
on  each  side.  And  hence,  at  this  dreadful  mo 
ment,  ancient  friends  and  brethren  stand  pre 
pared  for  events  of  the  most  tragic  nature. 

Here  the  weight  of  my  subject  almost  over 
comes  me  ;  but  think  not  that  I  am  going  to 
damp  that  noble  ardor  which  at  this  instant 
glows  in  every  bosom  present.  Nevertheless, 
as  from  an  early  acquaintance  with  many  of 
you,  I  know  that  your  principles  are  pure,  and 
your  humanity  only  equalled  by  your  transcend 
ent  love  of  your  country,  I  am  sure  you  will  in 
dulge  the  passing  tear,  which  a  preacher  of  the 
gospel  of  love  must  now  shed  over  the  scenes 
that  lie  before  us— great  and  deep  distress 
about  to  pervade  every  corner  of  our  land  ! 
millions  to  be  called  from  the  peaceful  labors  by 
"  the  sound  of  the  trumpet,  and  the  alarm  of 
war !  Garments  rolled  in  blood,"  and  even  vic 
tory  itself  only  yielding  an  occasion  to  weep 
over  friends  and  relatives  slain  !  These  are 
melancholy  prospects  and  therefore  you  will 
feel  with  me  the  difficulties  I  now  labor  under — 
forsaken  by  my  text,  and  left  to  lament  alone 
that,  in  the  parent  land,  no  Phinehas  has  pre 
vailed  ;  no  embassy  *  of  great  or  good  men 
has  been  raised,  to  stay  the  sword  of  destruc 
tion,  to  examine  into  the  truth  of  our  case,  and 
save  the  effusion  of  kindred  blood.  I  am  left 
to  lament  that,  in  this  sad  instance,  Jewish 
tenderness  has  put  Christian  benevolence  to 
shame. 

"  Our  brethren,  the  house  of  our  fathers,  even 

*  It  is  acknowledged  with  gratitude  that  many  great 
and  exalted  characters  have  plead  the  cause  of  America  ; 
and,  previous  to  all  coercive  measures,  advised  an  enquiry 
or  hearing,  similar  to  that  for  which  Phinehas  was  ap 
pointed.  What  is  here  lamented,  and  will  be  long  lamented 
is  that  this  council  could  not  take  place.  If  brethren 
could  come  together  in  such  a  temper  as  this,  the  issue 
could  not  fail  to  be  for  their  mutual  glory  and  mutual 
happiness. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


217 


they  have  called  a  multitude  against  us.  Had 
an  enemy  thus  reproached  us,  then  perhaps  we 
might  have  borne  it.  But  it  was  you,  men 
our  equals,  our  guides,  our  acquaintance,  with 
whom  we  took  sweet  council  and  walked  to 
gether  into  the  house  of  God."  Or  had  it  been 
for  any  essential  benefit  to  the  commonwealth 
at  large,  we  would  have  laid  our  hands  on  our 
mouths,  and  bowed  obedience  with  our  usual 
silence.  But,  for  DIGNITY  and  SUPREMACY  ! 
What  are  they  when  set  in  opposition  to 
common  utility,  common  justice,  and  the 
whole  faith  and  spirit  of  the  constitution  ! 
True  dignity  is  to  govern  freemen,  not  slaves, 
and  true  supremacy  is  to  excel  in  doing 
good. 

It  is  time,  and  indeed  more  than  time,  for  a 
great  and  enlightened  people  to  make  names 
bend  to  things,  and  ideal  honor  to  practical 
safety? — Precedents  and  indefinite  claims  are 
surely  things  too  nugatory  to  convulse  a  mighty 
empire.  Is  there  no  wisdom,  no  great  and 
liberal  plan  of  policy  to  re-unite  its  members,  as 
the  sole  bulwark  of  liberty  and  protestanism, 
rather  than  by  their  deadly  strife  to  increase 
the  importance  of  those  states  that  are  foes  to 
freedom,  truth  and  humanity  ?  To  devise  such 
a  plan,  and  to  behold  British  colonies  spread 
ing  over  this  immense  continent,  rejoicing  in 
the  common  rights  of  freemen,  and  imitating 
the  parent  state  in  every  excellence — is  more 
glory  than  to  hold  lawless  dominion  over  all  the 
nations  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

But  I  will  weary  you  no  longer  with  fruitless 
lamentations  concerning  things  that  might  be 
done.  The  question  now  is — since  they  are 
not  done,  must  we  tamely  surrender  any  part 
of  our  birth-right,  or  of  that  great  charter  of 
privileges,  which  we  not  only  claim  by  inheri 
tance,  but  by  the  express  terms  of  our  coloniza 
tion  ?  I  say,  God  forbid  !  For  here,  in  par 
ticular,  I  wish  to  speak  so  plain  that  neither 
my  own  principles,  nor  those  of  the  church  to 
which  I  belong,  be  misunderstood. 

Although,  in  the  beginning  of  this  great 
contest,  we  thought  it  not  our  duty  to  be  for 
ward  in  widening  the  breach,  or  spreading  dis 
content  ;  although  it  be  our  fervent  desire  to 
heal  the  wounds  of  the  public,  and  to  shew  by 
our  temper  that  we  seek  not  to  distress,  but  to 
give  the  parent  state  an  opportunity  of  saving 
themselves  and  saving  us  before  it  be  too  late, 
nevertheless,  as  we  know  that  our  civil  and 
religious  rights  are  linked  together  in  one  in 
dissoluble  bond,  we  neither  have,  nor  seek  to 
have,  any  interest  separate  from  that  of  our 
country,  nor  can  we  advise  a  desertion  of  its 
cause.  Religion  and  liberty  must  flourish  or 


fall  together  in  America.  We  pray  that  both 
may  be  perpetual. 

A  continued  submission  to  violence  is  no 
tenet  of  our  church.  When  her  brightest  lu 
minaries,  near  a  century  past,  were  called  to 
propagate  the  court  doctrine  of  a  dispensing 
power,  above  law — did  they  treacherously  cry 
— "  Peace,  peace,"  when  there  was  no  peace  ? 
Did  they  not  magnanimously  set  their  foot  upon 
the  line  of  the  constitution,  and  tell  majesty  to 
its  face  that  "  they  could  not  betray  the  public 
liberty,"  and  that  the  monarch's  only  safety 
consisted  "  in  governing  according  to  the  laws  ?  " 
Did  not  their  example,  and  consequent  suffer 
ings,  kindle  a  flame  that  illuminated  the  land, 
and  introduced  that  noble  system  of  public  and 
personal  liberty,  secured  by  the  revolution  ? 
Since  that  period,  have  not  the  avowed  princi 
ples  of  our  greatest  divines  been  against  raising 
the  church  above  the  state  ;  jealous  of  the  na 
tional  rights,  resolute  for  the  protestant  suc 
cession,  favorable  to  the  reformed  religion,  and 
desirous  to  maintain  the  faith  of  toleration  ? 
If  exceptions  have  happened,  let  no  society  of 
Christians  stand  answerable  for  the  deviations, 
or  corruptions,  of  individuals. 

The  doctrine  of  absolute  non-resistance  has 
been  fully  exploded  among  every  virtuous  peo 
ple.  The  free-born  soul  revolts  against  it,  and 
must  have  been  long  debased,  and  have  drank 
in  the  last  dregs  of  corruption,  before  it  can 
brook  the  idea  "  that  a  whole  people  injured 
may,  '  in  no  case,'  recognize  their  trampled 
majesty."  But  to  draw  the  line,  and  say  where 
submission  ends  and  resistance  begins,  is  not 
the  province  of  the  minister  of  Christ,  who 
has  given  no  *  rule  in  this  matter,  but  left  it  to 
the  feelings  and  consciences  of  the  injured. 
For,  when  pressures  and  sufferings  come,  when 
the  weight  of  power  grows  intolerable,  a  peo 
ple  will  fly  to  the  constitution  for  shelter  ;  and, 
if  able,  will  resume  that  power  which  they 
never  surrendered,  except  so  far  as  it  might  be 
exercised  for  the  common  safety.  Pulpit-casu- 

*  The  author,  in  a  sermon  first  published  twenty  years 
ago,  on  i  Pet.  ii.  17,  delivered  his  sentiments  fully  on  this 
point— in  the  following  words,  viz. — "  It  would  be  absurd 
to  argue  as  some  have  done,  that  the  Apostle  here  meant 
to  enjoin  a  continued  submission  to  violence — The  love 
of  mankind,  and  the  fear  of  God,  those  very  principles  from 
which  we  trace  the  divine  original  of  just  government,  will 
lead  us,  by  all  probable  means,  to  resist  every  attempt  to 
enslave  the  free-born  soul,  and  oppose  the  righteous  will 
of  God  by  defeating  the  happiness  of  men.  Resistance, 
however,  is  to  be  a  last  resource,  and  none  but  the  major 
ity  of  a  whole  people,  can  determine  in  what  cases  it  is 
necessary.  In  the  scriptures,  therefore,  obedience  is 
rightly  inculcated  in  general  terms.  For  a  people  may 
sometimes  imagine  grievances  they  do  not  feel,  but  will 
never  miss  to  feel  and  complain  of  them  where  they  really 
are,  unless  their  minds  have  been  gradually  prepared  foi 
slavery  by  absurd  tenets." 


218 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


istry  is  too  feeble  to  direct  or  control  here. 
God,  in  his  own  government  of  the  world,  never 
violates  freedom  ;  and  his  scriptures  themselves 
would  be  disregarded,  or  considered  as  per 
verted,  if  brought  to  belie  his  voice,  speaking 
in  the  hearts  of  men. 

The  application  of  these  principles,  my  breth 
ren,  is  now  easy  and  must  be  left  to  your  own 
consciences  and  feelings.  You  are  now  en 
gaged  in  one  of  the  grandest  struggles,  to  which 
freemen  can  be  called.  You  are  contending 
for  what  you  conceive  to  be  your  constitutional 
rights,  and  for  a  final  settlement  of  the  terms 
upon  which  this  country  may  be  perpetually 
united  to  the  parent  state. 

Look  back,  therefore,  with  reverence  look 
back,  to  the  times  of  ancient  virtue  and  renown. 
Look  back  to  the  mighty  purposes,  which  your 
fathers  had  in  view,  when  they  traversed  a  vast 
ocean,  and  planted  this  land.  Recall  to  your 
minds  their  labors,  their  toils,  their  persever 
ance,  and  let  a  divine  spirit  animate  you  in  all 
your  actions. 

Look  forward  also  to  distant  posterity.  Fig 
ure  to  yourselves  millions  and  millions  to  spring 
from  your  loins,  who  may  be  born  freemen  or 
slaves,  as  Heaven  shall  now  approve  or  reject 
our  councils.  Think  that  on  you  it  may  de 
pend,  whether  this  great  country,  in  ages  hence, 
shall  be  filled  and  adorned  with  a  virtuous  and 
enlightened  people,  enjoying  liberty  and  all  its 
concomitant  blessings,  together  with  the  re 
ligion  of  Jesus,  as  it  flows  uncorrupted  from  his 
holy  oracles,  or  covered  with  a  race  of  men 
more  contemptible  than  the  savages  that  roam 
the  wilderness,  because  they  once  knew  the 
things  which  belong  to  their  happiness  and 
peace,  but  suffered  them  to  be  hid  from  their 
eyes. 

And  while  you  thus  look  back  to  the  past, 
and  forward  to  the  future,  fail  not,  I  beseech 
you,  to  look  up  to  "  the  God  of  Gods — the  rock 
of  your  salvation."  As  the  clay  in  the  potter's 
hands,  so  are  the  nations  of  the  earth  in  the 
hands  of  him,  the  everlasting  JEHOVAH  ! — he 
lifteth  up,  and  he  casteth  down — He  resisteth 
the  proud  and  giveth  grace  to  the  humble — He 
will  keep  the  feet  of  his  saints — the  wicked  shall 
be  silent  in  darkness,  and  by  strength  shall  no 
man  prevail. 

The  bright  prospects  of  the  gospel ;  a  thorough 
veneration  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world ;  a  con 
scientious  obedience  to  his  divinest  laws  ;  faith 
in  his  promises,  and  the  stedfast  hope  of  im 
mortal  life  through  him,  these  only  can  support 
a  man  in  all  times  of  adversity  as  well  as  pros 
perity.  You  might  more  easily  "  strike  fire  out 
of  ice,"  than  stability  or  magnanimity  out  of 


crimes.  But  the  good  man,  he  who  is  at  peace 
with  the  God  of  all  peace,  will  know  no  fear 
but  that  of  offending  him,  whose  hand  can 
cover  the  righteous  "  so  that  he  needs  not  fear 
the  arrow  that  fleeth  by  day,  nor  the  destruction 
that  wasteth  at  noon-day  ;  for  a  thousand  shall 
fall  beside  him,  and  ten  thousand  at  his  right 
hand,  but  it  shall  not  come  nigh  to  him  ;  for  he 
shall  give  his  angels  charge  over  him  to  keep 
him  in  all  his  ways." 

On  the  omnipotent  God,  therefore,  through 
his  blessed  Son,  let  your  strong  confidence  be 
placed  ;  but  do  not  vainly  expect  that  every  day 
will  be  to  you  a  day  of  prosperity  or  triumph. 
The  ways  of  Providence  lie  through  mazes,  too 
intricate  for  human  penetration.  Mercies  may 
often  be  held  forth  to  us  in  the  shape  of  suffer 
ings  ;  and  the  vicissitudes  of  our  fortune,  in 
building  up  the  American  fabric  of  happiness 
and  glory,  may  be  various  and  chequered. 

But  let  not  this  discourage  you.  Yea,  rather 
let  it  animate  you  with  a  holy  fervor — a  divine 
enthusiasm — ever  persuading  yourselves  that 
the  cause  of  virtue  and  freedom  is  the  CAUSE 
of  GOD  upon  earth  ;  and  that  the  whole  theatre 
of  human  nature  does  not  exhibit  a  more  august 
spectacle  than  a  number  of  freemen,  in  depend 
ence  upon  Heaven,  mutually  binding  themselves 
to  encounter  every  difficulty  and  danger  in 
support  of  their  native  and  constitutional  rights 
and  for  transmitting  them  holy  and  unviolated  to 
their  posterity. 

It  was  this  principle  that  inspired  the  heroes 
of  ancient  times  ;  that  raised  their  names  to  the 
summit  of  renown,  and  filled  all  succeeding 
ages  with  their  unspotted  praise.  It  is  this 
principle  too  that  must  animate  your  conduct, 
if  you  wish  your  names  to  reach  future  genera 
tions,  conspicuous  in  the  roll  of  glory ;  and  so 
far  as  this  principle  leads  you,  be  prepared  to 
follow — whether  to  life  or  to  death. 

While  you  profess  yourselves  contending  for 
liberty,  let  it  be  wdth  the  temper  and  dignity  of 
freemen,  undaunted  and  firm,  but  without  wrath 
or  vengeance,  so  far  as  grace  may  be  obtained 
to  resist  the  weakness  of  nature.  Consider  it 
as  a  happy  circumstance,  if  such  a  struggle 
must  have  happened,  that  God  hath  been 
pleased  to  postpone  it  to  a  period,  when  our 
country  is  adorned  with  men  of  enlightened  zeal, 
when  the  arts  and  sciences  are  planted  among 
us  to  secure  a  succession  of  such  men,  when 
our  morals  are  not  far  tainted  by  luxury,  pro 
fusion  or  dissipation  ;  when  the  principles  that 
withstood  oppression,  in  the  brightest  era  of  the 
English  history,  are  ours  as  it  were  by  peculiar 
inheritance  ;  and  when  we  stand  upon  our  own 
ground,  with  all  that  is  dear  around  us,  animat- 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


219 


rng  us  to  every  patriotic  exertion.  Under  such 
circumstances  and  upon  such  principles,  what 
wonders,  what  achievements  of  true  glory,  have 
not  been  performed  ? 

For  my  part  I  have  long  been  possessed  with 
a  strong  and  even  enthusiastic  persuasion  that 
Heaven  has  great  and  gracious  purposes  to 
wards  this  continent,  which  no  human  power 
or  human  device  shall  be  able  finally  to  frustrate. 
Illiberal  or  mistaken  plans  of  policy  may  dis 
tress  us  for  a  while,  and  perhaps  sorely  check 
our  growth  ;  but  if  we  maintain  our  own  virtue  ; 
if  we  cultivate  the  spirit  of  liberty  among  our 
children  ;  if  we  guard  against  the  snares  of 
luxury,  venality  and  corruption,  the  GENIUS  of 
AMERICA  will  still  rise  triumphant,  and  that 
with  a  power  at  last  too  mighty  for  opposition. 
This  country  will  be  free — nay,  for  ages  to 
come  a  chosen  seat  of  freedom,  arts,  and 
heavenly  knowledge ;  which  are  now  either 
drooping  or  dead  in  most  countries  of  the  old 
world. 

To  conclude,  since  the  strength  of  all  public 
bodies,  under  God,  consists  in  their  UNION, 
bear  with  each  other's  infirmities,  and  even 
varieties  of  sentiments,  in  things  not  essential  to 
the  main  point.  The  tempers  of  men  are  cast 
in  various  moulds.  Some  are  quick  and  feel 
ingly  alive  in  all  their  mental  operation,  espe 
cially  those  which  relate  to  their  country's  weal, 
and  are  therefore  ready  to  burst  forth  into 
flame  upon  every  alarm.  Others  again,  with 
intentions  alike  pure,  and  a  clear  unquenchable 
love  of  their  country,  too  steadfast  to  be  damped 
by  the  mists  of  prejudice,  or  worked  up  into 
conflagration  by  the  rude  blasts  of  passion, 
think  it  their  duty  to  weigh  consequences,  and 
to  deliberate  fully  upon  the  probable  means  of 
obtaining  public  ends.  Both  those  kinds  of 
men  should  bear  with  each  other  ;  for  both  are 
friends  to  their  country. 

One  thing  further  let  me  add,  that,  without 
order  and  just  subordination,  there  can  be  no 
union  in  public  bodies.  However  much  you 
may  be  equals  on  other  occasions,  yet  all  this 
must  cease  in  an  united  and  associated  capacity ; 
and  every  individual  is  bound  to  keep  the  place 
and  duty  assigned  him,  by  ties  far  more  power 
ful  over  a  man  of  virtue  and  honor,  than  all 
the  other  ties  which  human  policy  can  contrive. 
It  had  been  better  never  to  have  lifted  a  voice 
in  your  country's  cause,  than  to  betray  it  by 
want  of  union  \  or  to  leave  worthy  men,  who 
have  embarked  their  all  for  the  common  good, 
to  suffer,  or  stand  unassisted. 

Lastly,  by  every  method  in  your  power,  and 
in  every  possible  case,  support  the  laws  of  your 
country.  In  a  contest  for  liberty,  think  what  a 


crime  it  would  be,  to  suffer  one  freeman  to  be 
insulted,  or  wantonly  injured  in  his  liberty,  so 
far  as  by  your  means  it  may  be  prevented. 

Thus  animated  and  thus  acting — We  may 
then  SING  with  the  prophet — 

"  Fear  not,  O  land  !  be  glad  and  rejoice,  for 
the  Lord  will  do  great  things.  Be  not  afraid, 
ye  beasts  of  the  field,  for  the  pastures  of  the 
wilderness  do  spring — The  tree  beareth  her 
fruit — the  fig-tree  and  the  vine  yield  their  fruit." 

Thus  animated  and  thus  acting — we  may 
likewise  PRAY  with  the  prophet — 

"O  Lord  be  gracious  unto  us — we  have 
waited  for  thee.  Be  thou  our  arm  every  morn 
ing,  our  salvation  also  in  time  of  trouble. 
Some  trust  in  chariots  and  some  in  horses,  but 
we  will  remember  the  name  of  the  Lord  our 
God — O  thou  hope  of  Israel,  the  Saviour  there 
of  in  time  of  need — thou  art  in  the  midst  of  us 
and  we  are  called  by  thy  name — LEAVE  US 
NOT.  Give  us  one  heart  and  one  way,  that  we 
may  fear  thee  forever,  for  the  good  of  ourselves 
and  our  children  after  us — We  looked  for  peace 
but  no  good  came  ;  and  for  a  time  of  health, 
but  behold  we  are  in  trouble — Yet  will  we  trust 
in  the  Lord  forever ;  for  in  the  Lord  Jehovah 
is  everlasting  strength — He  will  yet  bind  up 
the  broken  hearted,  and  comfort  those  that 
mourn." — Even  so,  oh  !  our  God,  do  thou 
comfort  and  relieve  them,  that  so  the  bones 
which  thou  hast  broken  may  yet  rejoice. 
Inspire  us  with  a  high  and  commanding  sense 
of  the  value  of  our  constitutional  rights :  may 
a  spirit  of  wisdom  and  virtue  be  poured  down 
upon  us  all ;  and  may  our  representatives, 
those  who  are  delegated  to  devise  and  appointed 
to  execute  public  measures,  be  directed  to  such, 
as  thou  in  thy  sovereign  goodness  shall  be 
pleased  to  render  effectual  for  the  salvation  of 
a  great  empire,  and  re-uniting  all  its  members 
in  one  sacred  bond  of  harmony  and  public  hap 
piness  !  Grant  this,  oh  father,  for  thy  son 
Jesus  Christ's  sake ;  to  whom,  with  thee  and 
the  holy  Spirit,  one  God,  be  glory,  honor  and 
power  now  and  forever  !  AMEN. 


ACT   OF  THE  ASSEMBLY 

RESPECTING  PERSONS  SCRUPULOUS  OF  BEAR 
ING  ARMS. 

In  the  assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  June  29, 
1775. — The  house  taking  into  consideration, 
that  many  of  the  good  people  of  this  province 
are  conscientiously  scrupulous  of  bearing  arms, 
do  hereby  earnestly  recommend  to  the  associ- 
atorsfor  the  defence  of  their  country,  and  others, 


220 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


that  they  bear  a  tender  and  brotherly  regard 
towards  this  class  of  their  fellow  subjects  and 
countrymen  ;  and  to  these  conscientious  people 
it  is  also  recommended,  that  they  cheerfully 
assist,  in  proportion  to  their  abilities,  such  per 
sons  as  cannot  spend  both  time  and  substance 
in  the  service  of  their  country  without  great 
injury  to  themselves  and  families. 


MEMENTO  TO   AMERICANS. 

PHILADELPHIA,  MARCH,   1776. 

"Remember  the  stamp  act,  by  which  im 
mense  sums  were  to  be  yearly  extorted  from 
you. 

Remember  the  declaratory  act,  by  which  a 
power  was  assumed  of  binding  you,  in  all  cases 
whatsoever,  without  your  consent. 

Remember  the  broken  promise  of  the  minis 
try,*  never  again  to  attempt  a  tax  on  America. 

Remember  the  duty  act. 

Remember  the  massacre  at  Boston,  by  Brit 
ish  soldiers. 

Remember  the  ruin  of  that  once  flourishing 
city  by  their  means. 

Remember  the  massacre  at  Lexington. 

Remember  the  burning  of  Charlestown. 

Remember  general  Gage's  infamous  breach 
of  faith  with  the  people  of  Boston. 

Remember  the  cannonading,  bombarding, 
and  burning  of  Falmouth. 

Remember  the  shrieks  and  cries  of  the  wom 
en  and  children. 

Remember  the  cannonading  of  Stonington 
and  Bristol. 

Remember  the  burning  of  Jamestown,  Rhode 
Island. 

Remember  the  frequent  insults  of  Newport. 

Remember  the  broken  charters. 

Remember  the  cannonade  of  Hampton. 

Remember  the  act  for  screening  and  encour 
aging  your  murderers. 

Remember  the  cannonade  of  New-York. 

Remember  the  altering  your  established 
jury  laws. 

Remember  the  hiring  foreign  troops  against 
you. 

Remember  the  rejection  of  lord  Chatham's, 
Mr.  Hartley's  and  Mr.  Burke 's  plans  of  concili 
ation. 

Remember  the  treatment  of  Franklin  and 
Temple. 

Remember  the  rejection  of  all  your  numer 
ous  humble  petitions. 

Remember  the  contempt  with  which  they 
spoke  of  you  in  both  houses. 

*  In  lord  Hillsborough's  circular  letter 


Remember  the  cowardly  endeavor  to  prevent 
foreign  nations  supplying  you  with  arms  and 
ammunition,  when  they  themselves  knew  they 
intended  coming  to  cut  your  throats. 

Remember  their  hiring  savages  to  murder 
your  farmers  with  their  families. 

Remember  the  bribing  negro  slaves  to 
assassinate  their  masters. 

Remember  the  burning  of  Norfolk.* 

Remember  their  obliging  you  to  pay  treble 
duties,  when  you  came  to  trade  with  the 
countries  you  helped  them  to  conquer.t 

Remember  their  depriving  you  of  all  share  in 
the  fisheries,  you  equally  with  them  spent  your 
blood  and  treasure  to  acquire. 

Remember  their  old  restrictions  on  your 
woolen  manufactories,  your  hat-making,  your 
iron  and  steel  forges  and  furnaces. 

Remember  their  arbitrary  admiralty  courts. 

Remember  the  inhuman  treatment  of  the 
brave  colonel  Allen,  and  the  irons  he  was  sent 
in  to  England. 

Remember  the  long,  habitual,  base  venality 
of  British  parliaments. 

Remember  the  corrupt,  putrified  state  of  that 
nation,  and  the  virtuous,  sound,  healthy  state 
of  your  own  young  constitution. 

Remember  the  tyranny  of  Mezentius,  who 
bound  living  men,  face  to  face,  with  dead  ones, 
and  the  effect  of  it.J 

Remember  the  obstinacy  and  unforgiving 

spirit  of  the ,  evident  in  the  treatment  of  his 

own  b s. 

Remember  that  an  honorable  death  is  pre 
ferable  to  an  ignominious  life ;  and  never  for 
get  what  you  owe  to  yourselves,  your  families, 
and  your  posterity. 


SPEECH 

OF  AN  HONEST,  SENSIBLE,  AND  SPIRITED 
FARMER  OF  PHILADELPHIA  COUNTY,  AD 
DRESSED  TO  AN  ASSEMBLY  OF  HIS  NEIGH 
BORS,  ON  HIS  ENGAGING  IN  THE  CON 
TINENTAL  SERVICE,  MAY,  1776. 

MY   FRIENDS    AND   COUNTRYMEN — I    have 

observed  that  some  of  you  are  a  little  surprised 
that  I,  with  so  many  inducements  as  I  have  to 
remain  at  home,  should  have  resolved  to  quit 
my  family,  and  my  farm  for  the  fatigues  and 

*  This  and  all  thebeforementioned,  were  open,  defence 
less  towns,  which,  by  the  laws  of  war,  should  always  be 
spared. 

t  Act  of  parliament,  14  George  III,  laying  a  duty  of 
three  pence  per  gallon  on  all  spirits  imported  into  Canada 
from  Britain ;  and  nine-pence,  if  from  any  of  the  North 
American  colonies. 

%  The  corruption  of  the  one  poisoned  the  other. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


221 


dangers  01'  war.  I  mean  you  should  be  per 
fectly  satisfied  as  to  my  motives.  I  am  an 
American :  and  am  determined  to  be  free.  I 
was  born  free :  and  have  never  forfeited  my 
birth-right ;  nor  will  I  ever,  like  the  infatuated 
son  of  Isaac,  sell  it  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  I 
will  part  with  my  life  sooner  than  my  liberty, 
for  I  prefer  an  honorable  death  to  the  miserable 
and  despicable  existence  of  a  slave. 

The who  would  rob  me  of  my  property, 

because  he  thinks  he  has  use  for  it,  and  is  able 
to  take  it  from  me,  would  as  soon,  for  the  same 
reason,  rob  me  of  my  life,  if  it  stood  in  his 
way ;  but  it  is  God  Almighty  who  gave  me  my 
life,  and  my  property,  as  a  necessary  means 
among  others  of  preserving  and  enjoying  it ; 
and  it  is  he  only  that  hath  an  absolute  and 
unlimited  right  and  power  to  take  either  or 
both  away.  Being  the  Creator,  the  Supporter, 
the  perfect  ruler  and  judge  of  all  the  earth,  he 
only  can  do  no  wrong :  should  therefore  any 
creature  whatsoever,  or  number  of  them,  dare 
to  usurp  this  sole  prerogative  of  Heaven  over 
me,  I  could  neither  answer  it  to  my  Maker,  nor 
my  conscience,  nor  my  honor,  if  I  did  not  resist, 
though  it  were  to  the  last  drop  of  my  blood. 
It  is  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  those  blessings, 
uncontrolled  by  any  human  powers,  (except  so 
far  as  the  voice  of  the  society  in  general,  of 
which  we  are  members,  may  have  resigned  a 
part  for  the  preservation  of  the  whole),  that 
that  civil  liberty  substantially  consisteth.  Let 
no  one  therefore  wcnder  if,  of  all  earthly  bene 
fits  my  Creator  hath  bestowed  on  me,  I  do  most 
esteem  my  liberty.  Anarchy,  indeed,  I  depre 
cate,  but  tyranny  infinitely  more.  The  reason 
is  obvious  ;  the  former,  like  a  common  surfeit, 
occasioned  by  an  irregular  and  intemperate  in 
dulgence  of  the  bodily  appetites,  if  but  a  little 
helped  by  simple  medicine,  will  almost  always, 
as  I  may  say,  cure  itself:  whereas  the  latter, 
like  a  devouring  cancer,  the  longer  it  is  let 
alone,  without  the  application  of  violent  caus 
tics,  the  faster  and  deeper  it  will  root  itself  into 
the  frame,  until  it  gnaws  out  the  very  life  of  the 
body.  Government  is  neither  of  these  :  it  is  an 
ordinance  of  Heaven  to  restrain  the  usurpations 
of  wicked  men,  to  secure  us  the  enjoyments  of 
our  natural  rights,  and  to  promote  the  highest 
political  interests  and  happiness  of  society. 
The  claims  therefore  of  the  British  parliament 
of  a  power  to  bind  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever  ; 
to  give  away  our  property,  in  what  measure 
and  for  what  purposes  they  please,  and  to  dis 
pose  of  our  lives  as  they  think  proper,  when 
we  have  no  voice  in  the  legislation  nor  consti 
tutional  power  allowed  us  to  check  their  most 
violent  proceedings,  are  not  of  the  nature  of 


government,  but  in  the  true  and  strict  sense  of 
the  word  tyranny. 

Of  the  tendency  and  operation  of  this  dia 
bolical  system,  our  country  hath  already  had 
too  deep  and  affecting  experience  not  to  be 
sensible  of  them ;  and  it  requires  not  the 
spirit  of  supernatural  prophecy  to  foretell  the 
end  of  them,  should  they  not  be  seasonably 
controled ;  controled,  did  I  say  ?  blest  be  the 
spirit  of  American  liberty,  wisdom  and  valor  ! 
they  have  been  controled  ;  but,  my  friends,  it 
is  evident  we  can  never  have  safety,  liberty, 
and  peace,  until,  by  an  unremitting  and  vigo 
rous  application  of  the  axe,  now  laid  to  the 
root  of  the  tree,  we  have  totally  overturned, 
in  these  colonies,  the  power  that  would  de 
molish  us.  Not  to  speak  of  the  unwearied  art 
and  assiduity  of  the 

these  twelve  years  past,  to 
fasten  on  us  the  shackles  of  slavery,  let  me 
only  remind  you  of  the  base  and  cruel  mea 
sures  to  subjugate  us,  since  we  have  been 
obliged  to  take  up  arms  in  our  defence :  what 
stone  have  they  left  unturned  ?  what  device  to 
ruin  us,  though  never  so  mean,  barbarous  and 
bloody,  such  as  no  heart,  but  that  of  a  devil 
and  a  tyrant,  can  refrain  shuddering  at,  have 
they  not  pursued  ?  have  not  several  of  the 
powers  of  Europe  been  meanly  courted  and 
bribed  not  to  supply  us  with  means  of  resis 
tance  ?  hath  not  the  most  barbarous  nation  in 
it  been  applied  to,  to  assist  them  with  at  least 
20,000  savages  to  complete  their  intended  mas 
sacre?  have  they  not  attempted  to  spirit  up 
the  Indian  savages  to  ravage  our  frontiers,  and 
murder,  after  their  inhuman  manner,  our  de 
fenceless  wives  and  children  ?  have  not  our 
negro  slaves  been  enticed  to  rebel  against  their 
masters,  and  arms  put  into  their  hands  to 
murder  them  ?  have  not  the  king  of  England's 
own  slaves,  the  Hanoverians,  been  employed  ? 
and  were  not  the  poor  Canadians  made  slaves, 
that  they  might  be  made  fit  instruments,  with 
other  slaves  and  savages,  to  make  slaves  and 
more  wretched  beings  than  savages  of  us  ? 

Now,  what  kind  of  reconciliation  can  be  rea 
sonably  expected  with  a  so  basely,  so 
cruelly,  so  industriously,  and  obstinately  bent 
on  our  destruction  ?  in  short,  we  have  no  al 
ternative  left  us,  but  to  fight  or  die  ;  if  there  be 
any  medium,  it  is  slavery :  and  ever  cursed  be 
the  man  who  will  submit  to  it !  I  will  not. 
But  who  would  ever  have  imagined,  that  a 
people  who,  a  few  years  ago,  assisted  their 
brethren  of  Great  Britain,  with  their  blood  and 
treasure,  to  humble  the  power  of  France  and 
Spain,  and  who,  from  their  first  existence  as  a 
people,  have,  by  their  trade  and  industry,  been 


222 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


enriching  and  exalting  them  above  all  the  na 
tions  of  the  world  ;  who,  I  say,  would  have 
imagined  that  this  very  people  should,  by  these 
their  very  brethren,  be  now  reduced  to  so 
dreadful  an  alternative :  yet,  hear,  O  Heavens, 
and  give  ear,  O  Earth,  and  bear  witness,  this 
is  the  return  we  have  received  for  all  our  love, 
loyalty,  industry,  treasure  and  blood  ! 

Had  we  begun  this  quarrel,  had  we  de 
manded  some  new  privileges,  unknown  to  the 
constitution,  or  some  commercial  licenses, 
incompatible  with  the  general  interest  of  the 
empire,  had  we  presumed  to  legislate  for 
Great  Britain,  or  plotted  with  the  Bourbon 
family,  to  reinstate  the  execrable  race  of  the 
Stuarts,  and  fled  to  arms  unprovoked  to  ac 
complish  these  designs,  there  would  then  be 
some  plausible  apology  for  the  severest  hostile 
treatment  we  have  received.  But  what  have 
we  done?  when  alarmed,  ere  we  had  yet 
rested  from  the  toils  of  the  last  war,  by  new 
unconstitutional  demands  of  revenue,  we  as 
serted  our  rights  and  petitioned  for  justice. 
Was  this  a  crime  ?  as  unconstitutional  statutes 
of  different  forms  were  repeatedly  enacted,  we 
repeated  our  petitions  for  redress ;  was  this  a 
crime  ?  we  suffered  ourselves  to  be  insulted  by 
the  introduction  of  an  armed  force  to  dragoon 
us  into  obedience  ;  we  suffered  them  to  take 
possession  of  our  towns  and  fortifications,  still 
waiting  with  decent  and  anxious  expectation 
from  the  wonted  justice,  humanity,  and  gener 
osity  of  Britons  :  was  this  a  crime  ?  disposed 
to  try  every  pacific  measure  which  might  prob 
ably  procure  our  relief,  we  agreed  to  withhold 
our  commerce  from  them,  in  hopes  that,  feel 
ing  the  effects  of  their  injustice,  they  might  see 
how  ruinous  their  proceedings  were  to  their 
own  interests,  and  return  in  time  to  wisdom 
and  peace  :  was  this  a  crime  ?  nor  did  we  once 
lift  the  sword  even  in  our  defence,  until  pro 
voked  to  it  by  a  wanton  commencement  of 
hostilities  on  their  part :  what  then  have  we 
done  to  merit  such  cruel  proceedings  ?  my 
friends,  I  am  firmly  persuaded,  that  no  truth 
will  appear  in  future  history,  with  more  glaring 
evidence,  than  that  the  whole  mass  of  guilt 
contracted  by  this  unnatural  war  lieth  at  the 
door  of  ;  and  so  that,  not  only  all 

future  generations  of  men,  but  the  Great 
Judge  of  all  the  earth,  will  finally  condemn 
their  measures  as  a  scene  of  tyranny  and 
murder.  I  therefore  conceive  myself  as  hav 
ing  taken  up  arms  in  defence  of  innocence, 
justice,  truth,  honesty,  honor,  liberty,  property, 
and  life ;  and  in  opposition  to  guilt,  injustice, 
falsehood,  dishonesty,  ignominy,  slavery,  pov 
erty,  and  death  ;  not  that  I  have  any  fondness 


for  the  bloody  profession ;  not  that  I  delight 
in  the  carnage  of  my  species  ;  or  sigh  for  an 
occasion  of  proving  my  courage  :  Heaven  and 
you  are  my  witnesses,  that  my  voice  was  some 
time,  perhaps  too  long,  and  with  too  much 
earnestness,  against  any  military  preparations  ; 
but  the  times  are  altered ;  'tis  a  dreadful  ne 
cessity  that  calls  me,  and  calls  every  man  who 
can  be  spared  from  his  other  occupations. 

I  will  not  however  fight  as  one  who  beateth 
the  air.  I  speak  plainly  ;  I  consider  this  year 
as  the  grand  and  final  period  of  British  admin 
istration  in  this  American  world  ;  I  see  no 
probability  of  their  proffering  such  terms  as 
we  can  accept  of  consistently  with  our  safety, 
honor,  and  peace  ;  nay,  should  they  grant  all 
that  our  public  councils  have  heretofore 
claimed,  we  should  still  be  in  a  most  danger 
ous  situation,  liable  to  renewed  encroachments 
and  renewed  hostilities.  What  else  can  be 
supposed  from  such  a  situation,  and  from 
the  views,  temper,  and  prejudices  that  must, 
and  will,  prevail  in  the  British  court  and  par 
liament  :  besides  who  in  that  case  will  reim 
burse  our  losses ;  or  how  shall  our  public 
debts  be  paid  ?  I  do  solemnly  declare,  and 
that  with  respect  to  the  best  reconciliation  that 
can  reasonably  be  expected,  with  so  corrupt, 
treacherous,  and  tyrannical  an  administration, 
that  if  I  thought  we  should  again  revert  to  a 
dependence  on  Britain,  I  should,  from  this  day, 
lay  down  my  sword,  and  weep  that  I  was  born 
in  America.  But  far  other  prospects  are  be 
fore  us :  glory,  empire,  liberty  and  peace,  are, 
I  am  persuaded,  unless  we  are  lost  to  our 
selves,  very  near  at  hand.  And,  on  every 
consideration  of  the  present  state  and  progress 
of  our  public  affairs,  compared  with  the  spirit 
of  Britain,  and  the  spirit,  the  interest,  and  the 
internal  advantages  of  America,  methinks,  I 
hear  a  voice,  as  if  an  angel  from  Heaven 
should  proclaim,  "  come  out  from  among 
them,  and  be  ye  separate  from  them.  Come 
out  of  her  my  people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers 
of  her  sins,  and  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues." 

[The  preceding  is  copied  from  Almon's 
Remembrancer  ;  we  do  not  presume  to  supply 
the  blanks.  Words  were  used — no  doubt, 
which  the  editor  of  that  work  thought  it 
dangerous  to  publish.  The  address  appears 
to  have  been  delivered  in  about  May,  1776. 
It  may  be  worthy  of  remark  here,  that  the 
declaration  of  independence  is  published  in  the 
same  work,  with  many  such  blanks.] 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


223 


DECLARATION 

QF  THE  DEPUTIES  OF  PENNSYLVANIA,  MET 
IN  PROVINCIAL  CONFERENCE,  AT  PHILA 
DELPHIA,  JUNE  24,  1776. 

Whereas  George  the  third,  king  of  Great 
Britain,  etc.,  in  violation  of  the  principles  of  the 
British  constitution,  and  of  the  laws  of  justice 
and  humanity,  hath  by  an  accumulation  of  op 
pressions,  unparalleled  in  history,  excluded  the 
inhabitants  of  this,  with  the  other  American 
colonies,  from  his  protection  ;  and  whereas  he 
hath  paid  no  regard  to  any  of  our  numerous 
and  dutiful  petitions  for  redress  of  our  compli 
cated  grievances,  but  hath  lately  purchased 
foreign  troops  to  assist  in  enslaving  us,  and 
hath  excited  the  savages  of  this  country  to 
carry  on  a  war  against  us,  as  also  the  negroes, 
to  embrue  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  their 
masters,  in  a  manner  unpractised  by  civilized 
nations  ;  and  moreover  hath  lately  insulted  our 
calamities  by  declaring,  that  he  will  shew  us 
no  mercy,  until  he  has  subdued  us ;  and 
whereas,  the  obligations  of  allegiance  (being 
reciprocal  between  a  king  and  his  subjects) 
are  now  dissolved,  on  the  side  of  the  colonists, 
by  the  despotism  and  declaration  of  the  said 
king,  insomuch  that  it  appears  that  loyalty  to 
him  is  treason  against  the  good  people  of  this 
country ;  and  whereas  not  only  the  parliament, 
but  there  is  reason  to  believe,  too  many  of 
the  people  of  Great  Britain,  have  concurred  in 
the  aforesaid  arbitrary  and  unjust  proceedings 
against  us  ;  and  whereas  the  public  virtue  of 
this  colony  (so  essential  to  its  liberty  and  hap 
piness)  must  be  endangered  by  a  future  politi 
cal  union  with,  or  dependence  upon  a  crown 
and  nation,  so  lost  to  justice,  patriotism,  and 
magnanimity :  We,  the  deputies  of  the  people 
of  Pennsylvania,  assembled  in  full  provincial 
conference,  for  forming  a  plan  for  executing 
the  resolve  of  congress  of  the  I  $th  of  May  last, 
for  suppressing  all  authority  in  this  province, 
derived  from  the  crown  of  Great  Britain,  and 
for  establishing  a  government  upon  the  author 
ity  of  the  people  only  do,  in  this  public  manner, 
in  behalf  of  ourselves,  and  with  the  approba 
tion,  consent,  and  authority  of  our  constitu 
ents,  unanimously  declare  our  willingness  to 
concur  in  a  vote  of  the  congress,  declaring  the 
United  Colonies  free  and  independent  states ; 
provided,  the  forming  the  government  and  the 
regulation  of  the  internal  police  of  this  colony, 
be  always  reserved  to  the  people  of  the  said 
colony.  And  we  do  further  call  upon  the 
nations  of  Europe,  and  appeal  to  the  Great 
Arbiter  and  governor  of  the  empires  of  the 


world,  to  witness  for  us,  that  this  declaration 
did  not  originate  in  ambition,  or  in  an  impa 
tience  of  lawful  authority,  but  that  we  were 
driven  to  it  in  obedience  to  the  first  principles 
of  nature,  by  the  oppressions  and  cruelties  of 
the  aforesaid  king  and  parliament  of  Great 
Britain,  as  the  only  possible  measure  that  was 
left  us  to  preserve  and  establish  our  liberties, 
and  to  transmit  them  inviolate  to  posterity. 
Signed,  by  order  of  the  conference, 

THOMAS  M'KEAN,  President. 


PATRIOTIC   ADDRESS 

OF  THE  DEPUTIES  OF  PENNSYLVANIA,  UNA 
NIMOUSLY  ADOPTED  JUNE  25,  1776. 

Address  to  the  people  of  Pennsylvania : 

"  The  only  design  of  our  meeting  together 
was,  to  put  an  end  to  our  own  power,  in  the 
province,  by  fixing  upon  a  plan  for  calling  a 
convention,  to  form  a  government  under  the 
authority  of  the  people.  But  the  sudden  and 
unexpected  separation  of  the  last  assembly  has 
compelled  us  to  undertake  the  execution  of  a 
resolve  of  congress,  for  calling  forth  4500 
of  the  militia  of  the  province,  to  join  the  militia 
of  the  neighboring  colonies,  to  form  a  camp  for 
our  immediate  protection.  We  presume  only 
to  recommend  what  we  have  formed  to  you  ; 
trusting  that,  in  such  a  case  of  consequence, 
your  love  of  virtue  and  zeal  for  liberty,  will 
supply  the  want  of  authority  delegated  to  us 
expressly  for  that  purpose. 

"  We  need  not  remind  you,  that  you  are  now 
furnished  with  new  motives  to  animate  and 
support  your  courage.  You  are  not  about  to 
contend  against  power,  in  order  to  displace  one 
set  of  villains  to  make  room  for  another ;  your 
arms  will  not  be  enervated  in  the  day  of  battle 
with  the  reflection  that  you  are  to  risk  your 
lives,  or  shed  your  blood  for  a  British  tyrant  ; 
or  that  your  posterity  will  have  your  work  to 

do  over  again You  are  about  to  contend 

for  permanent  freedom,  to  be  supported  by  a 
government,  which  will  be  derived  from  your 
selves,  and  which  will  have  for  its  object  not 
the  emolument  of  one  man,  or  one  class  of 
men,  but  the  safety,  liberty,  and  happiness  of 
every  individual  in  the  community. 

"  We  call  upon  you,  therefore,  by  the  respect 
and  obedience  which  is  due  to  the  United  Col 
onies,  to  concur  in  this  important  measure. 
The  present  campaign  will  probably  decide  the 
fate  of  America.  It  is  now  in  your  power  to 
immortalize  your  names  by  mingling  your 


224 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


achievements  with  the  events  of  the  year  1776 — 
a  year  which,  we  hope,  will  be  sacred  in  the 
annals  of  history,  to  the  end  of  time  for  estab 
lishing  upon  a  lasting  foundation,  the  liberties 
of  one  quarter  of  the  globe. 

"  Remember  the  honor  of  our  colony  is  at 
stake.  Should  you  desert  the  common  cause 
at  the  present  juncture,  the  glory  you  have  ac 
quired  by  your  former  exertions  of  strength 
and  virtue  will  be  tarnished ;  and  our  friends 
and  brethren,  who  are  now  acquiring  laurels  in 
the  most  remote  parts  of  America,  will  reproach 
us,  and  blush  to  own  themselves  natives  or  in 
habitants  of  Pennsylvania. 

"But  there  are  other  motives  before  you  — 
your  houses — your  fields — the  legacies  of  your 
ancestors,  or  the  dear  bought  fruits  of  your  own 
industry,  and  your  liberty,  now  urge  you  to 
the  field  :  these  cannot  plead  with  you  in  vain, 
or  we  might  point  out  to  you  further,  your 
wives,  your  children,  your  aged  fathers  and 
mothers,  who  now  look  up  to  you  for  protec 
tion,  and  hope  for  salvation,  in  this  day  of  ca 
lamity,  from  the  instrumentality  of  your  swords. 

"  Remember  the  name  of  Pennsylvania — think 
of  your  ancestors  and  posterity." 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THE  CONVENTION  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  ON 
THE  MONOPOLY  OF  SALT. 

In  convention  for  the  state  of  Pennsylvania, 
Saturday,  August  24,  1776. 

Whereas,  it  appears  to  this  convention,  upon 
due  enquiry  and  information  of  the  circumstan 
ces,  that  the  salt  now  in  this  city,  has  been 
imported  at  low  prices,  and  under  moderate 
insurance.  And  whereas,  divers  persons,  in 
contempt  of  the  just  and  wholesome  regulations 
of  the  committee,  etc.,  of  Philadelphia,  under 
directions  of  congress,  have  continued  to  dis 
pose  of  their  salt  at  most  exorbitant  prices,  to 
the  great  grievance  and  distress  of  their  fellow 
subjects  of  this  state  :  it  is  therefore  resolved, 
That  the  said  regulations  be  hereby  confirmed, 
and  all  persons  whatever,  are  hereby  strictly 
enjoined  to  pay  due  obedience  thereto.  And 
the  said  committees  are  authorized  and  di 
rected  to  seize,  and  take  into  their  possession  the 
salt  belonging  to  such  persons  as  have  refused, 
or  shall  refuse,  conformity  to  the  regulations 
so  established :  or  shall  altogether  withhold, 
or  refuse  to  sell  their  salt  during  the  continuance 
of  such  regulations,  allowing  to  the  said  per 
sons,  upon  the  sale  thereof,  the  fixed  and  set 


tled  prices,  first  deducting  the  expenses  incurred 
upon  the  sale. 

And  whereas,  it  is  but  reasonable  that  every 
part  of  this  extensive  state  should  be  accom 
modated,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  with  their 
proportion  of  this  article,  so  justly  esteemed  a 
necessary  of  life : 

Be  it  resolved,  That  the  committee  of  Phila 
delphia  are  hereby  farther  directed  to  distribute 
the  salt,  that  may,  as  aforesaid,  come  into  their 
possession,  in  equal  quantities  in  the  several 
counties,  having  regard  to  the  reputed  num 
ber  of  the  inhabitants  contained  in  the  said 
counties. 

Extract  from  the  minutes, 

JOHN  MORRIS,  JUN.  Sec. 


TREASON. 

An  ordinance  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania, 
declaring  what  shall  be  treason,  and  for 
punishing  the  same,  and  other  crimes  and 
practices  against  the  state. 

Whereas,  government  ought  at  all  times,  to 
take  the  most  effectual  measures  for  the  safety 
and  security  of  the  state.  Be  it  therefore 
ordained  and  declared,  and  it  is  hereby  ordained 
and  declared  by  the  representatives  of  the  free 
men  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  in  general 
convention  met.  That  all  and  every  person 
and  persons,  (except  prisoners  of  war)  now 
inhabiting  or  residing  within  the  limits  of  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania,  or  that  shall  voluntarily 
come  into  the  same  hereafter,  to  inhabit  or 
sojourn,  do,  and  shall  owe  and  pay  allegiance 
to  the  state  of  Pennsylvania. 

And  be  it  further  ordained,  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  That  all  and  every  such  person  and 
persons,  so  owing  allegiance  to  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  from  and  after  the  publica 
tion  hereof,  shall  levy  war  against  the  state, 
or  be  adherent  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain, 
or  others 

or  to  the  enemies 

of  the  United  States  of  America,  by  giving  him 
or  them  aid  or  assistance  within  the  limits  of 
this  state,  or  elsewhere,  and  shall  be  thereof 
duly  convicted  in  any  court  of  oyer  and  terminer 
hereafter  to  be  erected,  according  to  law,  shall 
be  adjudged  guilty  of  high  treason,  and  forfeit 
his  lands,  tenements,  goods  and  chattels,  to  the 
use  of  the  state,  and  be  imprisoned  any  term 
not  exceeding  the  duration  of  the  present  war 
with  Great  Britain,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
judge  or  judges. 

And  be  it  farther  ordained  and  declared,  by 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


225 


the  authority  aforesaid,  That  any  person  or 
persons  (except  as  before  excepted)  residing, 
inhabiting,  or  sojourning  in  this  state,  who  shall 
hereafter  know  of  such  treason,  and  conceal  the 
same,  or  that  shall  receive  or  assist  such  traitor, 
knowing  him  to  be  such,  and  shall  be  thereof 
duly  convicted,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  adjudged 
guilty  of  misprision  of  treason,  and  suffer  the 
forfeiture  of  one  third  of  his  goods  and  chat 
tels,  lands  and  tenements,  to  the  use  of  the 
state,  and  be  imprisoned  any  term  not  exceed 
ing  the  duration  of  the  present  war  with  Great 
Britain,  at  the  discretion  of  the  judge  or  judges. 

And  be  it  further  ordained  and  declared, 
That  in  all  convictions  for  high  treason,  the 
judge  or  judges,  before  whom  the  trial  is  had, 
may,  out  of  the  estate  forfeited  by  virtue  of 
this  act,  make  such  provision  for  the  wife  or 
children,  if  any,  of  the  criminal,  as  he  or  they, 
in  his  or  their  discretion  may  deem  necessary. 

And  be  it  farther  ordained  and  declared, 
That  this  ordinance  shall  be  in  force,  till  the 
end  of  the  first  session  of  the  first  assembly 
that  shall  meet  under  the  new  constitution  of 
this  state  ;  and  no  longer. 

Passed  in  convention,  September  5,  1776, 
and  signed  by  their  order. 

B.  FRANKLIN,  President. 
Attest,  JOHN  MORRIS. 


REMONSTRANCE 

OF  CERTAIN  CITIZENS  OF  PHILADELPHIA, 
ARRESTED,  AND  CONFINED  IN  THE  FREE 
MASON  LODGE  IN  THE  CITY,  SEPT.  4,  1777. 
TO  THE  PRESIDENT  AND  COUNCIL  OF 
PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  remonstrance  of  the  subscribers,  free 
men,  and  inhabitants  of  the  city  of  Phila 
delphia,  now  confined  in  the  Free  Mason's 
Lodge, 

SHEWETH— That  the  subscribers  have  been, 
by  virtue  of  a  warrant,  signed  in  council  by 
George  Bryan,  vice  president,  arrested  in  our 
houses,  and  on  our  lawful  occasions,  and  con 
ducted  to  this  place,  where  we  have  been  kept 
in  close  confinement,  under  a  strong  military 
guard,  two  or  more  days — that  although  divers 
of  us  demanded  of  the  messengers,  who 
arrested  us,  and  insisted  on  having  copies  of 
the  said  warrant,  yet  we  were  not  able  to  pro 
cure  the  same,  till  this  present  time,  but  have 
remained  here  unaccused  and  unheard.  We 
now  take  the  earliest  opportunity  of  laying  our 
grievances  before  your  body,  from  whom  we 

15 


apprehend  they  proceed,  and  of  claiming  to  our 
selves  the  liberties  and  privileges  to  which  we 
are  entitled  by  the  fundamental  rules  of  justice 
by  our  birthright  and  inheritance,  the  laws  of 
the  land  ;  and  by  the  express  provision  of  the 
present  constitution,  under  which  your  board 
derive  their  power. 

We  apprehend,  that  no  man  can  lawfully  be 
deprived  of  his  liberty,  without  a  warrant  from 
some  persons  having  competent  authority, 
specifying  an  offence  against  the  laws  of  the 
land,  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation  of  the 
accuser,  and  limiting  the  time  of  his  imprison 
ment,  until  he  is  heard,  or  legally  discharged, 
unless  the  party  be  found  in  the  actual  perpe 
tration  of  a  crime.  Natural  justice,  equally 
with  law,  declares  that  the  party  accused  should 
know  what  he  is  to  answer  to,  and  have  an 
opportunity  of  shewing  his  innocence — These 
principles  are  strongly  enforced  in  the  ninth 
and  tenth  sections  of  the  declaration  of  rights, 
which  form  a  fundamental  and  inviolable  part 
of  the  constitution,  from  which  you  derive  your 
power,  wherein  it  is  declared  : 

IX.  "  That,  in  all  prosecutions  for  criminal 
offences,  a  man  hath  a  right  to  be  heard  by 
himself  and  his  counsel,  to  demand  the  cause 
and  nature  of  his  accusation,  to  be  confronted 
with  the  witnesses,  to  call  for  evidence  in  his 
favor,  and  a  speedy  public  trial  by  an  impar 
tial  jury  of  the  county  ;  without  the  unanimous 
consent   of  which  jury,   he   cannot   be  found 
guilty. — Nor  can  he  be  compelled  to  give  evi 
dence  against  himself;  nor  can  any  man   be 
justly   deprived   of  his   liberty,  except   by  the 
laws  of  the  land,  or  the  judgment  of  his  peers." 

X.  "That  the  people  have  a  right  to  hold 
themselves,  their  houses,  papers  and  posses 
sions,  free  from  search  or  seizure,  and  there 
fore   warrants   without   oaths   or    affirmations 
first  made,  affording  a  sufficient  foundation  for 
them,  and  whereby  any  officer  or  messenger 
may    be    commanded   or   required   to   search 
suspected   places,   or  to   seize  any  person  or 
persons,  his  or  their  property  not  particularly 
described,  are  contrary  to  that  right,  and  ought 
not  to  be  granted. 

How  far  these  principles  have  been  adhered 
to,  in  the  course  of  this  business,  we  shall  go 
on  to  shew. 

Upon  the  examination  of  the  said  warrant, 
we  find  it  is,  in  all  respects,  inadequate  to  these 
descriptions,  altogether  unprecedented  in  this 
or  any  free  country,  both  in  its  substance 
and  the  latitude  given  to  the  messengers  who 
were  to  execute  it,  and  wholly  subversive  of 
the  very  constitution  you  profess  to  support. 
The  only  charge  on  which  it  is  founded,  is  a 


226 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


recommendation  of  congress  to  apprehend  and 
secure  all  persons  who,  in  their  general  con 
duct  and  conversation,  have  evidenced  a  dis 
position  inimical  to  the  cause  of  America,  and 
particularly  naming  some  of  us — but  not  sug 
gesting  the  least  offence  to  have  been  commit 
ted  by  us. 

It  authorizes  the  messengers  to  search  all 
papers  belonging  to  us,  upon  a  bare  possibility, 
that  something  political  may  be  found,  but 
without  the  least  ground  for  a  suspicion  of  the 
kind. 

It  requires  papers,  relative  to  the  sufferings 
of  the  people  called  Quakers,  to  be  seized, 
without  limiting  the  search  to  any  house,  or 
number  of  houses  ;  under  color  of  which,  every 
house  in  this  city,  might  be  broken  open. 

To  the  persons  whom  the  congress  have 
thought 'proper  to  select,  the  warrant  adds  a 
number  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  of  whom 
some  of  us  are  part ;  without  the  least  insinua 
tion,  that  they  are  within  the  description  given 
by  the  congress,  in  their  recommendation. 

It  directs  all  these  matters  to  be  executed 
(though  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  liber 
ties  of  the  people)  at  the  discretion  of  a  set  of 
men,  who  are  under  no  qualification  for  the 
due  execution  of  the  office,  and  are  unaccus 
tomed  to  the  forms  of  executing  civil  process  ; 
from  whence,  probably,  have  proceeded  the 
excesses  and  irregularities  committed  by  some 
of  them,  in  divers  instances,  by  refusing  to  give 
copies  of  the  process  to  the  parties  arrested,  by 
denying  to  some  of  us,  a  reasonable  time  to  con 
sider  of  answers,  and  prepare  for  confinement. 
In  the  absence  of  others,  by  breaking  our  desks, 
and  other  private  repositories — and  by  ran 
sacking  and  carrying  off  domestic  papers, 
printed  books,  and  other  matters  not  within 
the  terms  of  the  warrant. 

It  limits  no  time  for  the  duration  of  our  im 
prisonment,  nor  points  at  any  hearing,  which  is 
an  absolute  requisite  to  make  a  legal  warrant  ; 
but  confounds  in  one  warrant,  the  power  to 
apprehend,  and  the  authority  to  commit,  with 
out  interposing  a  judicial  officer  between  the 
parties  and  the  messenger. 

Upon  the  whole,  we  conceive  this  warrant, 
and  the  proceedings  thereupon,  to  be  far  more 
dangerous  in  its  tendency,  and  a  more  flagrant 
violation  of  every  right  which  is  dear  to  free 
men,  than  any  that  can  be  found  in  the  records 
of  the  English  constitution. 

But  when  we  consider  the  use  to  which  this 
general  warrant  has  been  applied,  and  the 
persons  upon  whom  it  has  been  executed, (who 
challenge  the  world  to  charge  them  with  of 
fence)  it  becomes  of  too  great  magnitude  to  be 


considered  as  the  cause  of  a  few. — It  is  the 
cause  of  every  inhabitant,  and  may,  if  permitted 
to  pass  into  a  precedent,  establish  a  system  of 
arbitrary  power  unknown  but  in  the  inquisition, 
or  the  despotic  courts  of  the  East. 

What  adds  further  to  this  alarming  stretch 
of  power  is,  that  we  are  informed  the  vice  pre 
sident  of  the  council,  has  declared  to  one  of  the 
magistrates  of  the  city,  who  called  on  him  to 
enquire  into  the  cause  of  our  confinement,  that 
we  were  to  be  sent  to  Virginia  UNHEARD. 

Scarcely  could  we  believe  such  a  declaration 
could  have  been  made  by  a  person  who  fills 
the  second  place  in  the  government,  till  we 
were  this  day  confirmed  in  the  melancholy 
truth  by  three  of  the  subscribers,  whom  you 
absolutely  refused  to  hear  in  person,  or  by 
counsel. — We  would  remind  you  of  the  com 
plaints  urged  by  numbers  of  yourselves  against 
the  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  for  condemn 
ing  the  town  of  Boston  UNHEARD,  and  we  call 
upon  you  to  reconcile  your  PRESENT  conduct 
with  your  THEN  professions,  or  your  repeated 
declarations  in  favor  of  general  liberty. 

In  the  name,  therefore,  of  the  whole  body  ot 
the  freemen  of  Pennsylvania,  whose  liberties 
are  radically  struck  at  in  this  arbitrary  impris 
onment  of  us  ;  their  unoffending  fellow-citizens 
—we  demand  an  audience,  that  so  our  inno 
cence  may  appear,  and  persecution  give  place 
to  justice. — But  if,  regardless  of  every  sacred 
obligation  by  which  men  are  bound  to  each 
other  in  society,  and  of  that  constitution  by 
which  you  profess  to  govern,  which  you  have 
so  loudly  magnified  for  the  free  spirit  it  breathes, 
you  are  still  determined  to  proceed,  be  the  ap 
peal  to  the  Righteous  Judge  of  all  the  earth 
for  the  integrity  of  our  hearts,  and  the  unparal 
leled  tyranny  of  your  measures 

James  Pemberton,  Thomas  Wharton,  Thos. 
Coombe,  Edward  Pennington,  Henry  Drinker, 
Phineas  Bond,  Thomas  Gilpin,  John  Pember 
ton,  Thomas  Pike,  Owen  Jones,  jun.,  Thomas 
Affleck,  Charles  Jervis,  William  Smith,  broker, 
William  Drewet  Smith,  Thomas  Fisher,  Miers 
Fisher,  Charles  Eddy,  Israel  Pemberton,  John 
Hunt,  Samuel  Pleasants. 

Mason  s  Lodge,  Philadelphia,  Sept.  4,  1777. 

N.  B.  The  three  last  subscribers  were  first 
attended  by  some  of  those,  who  executed  the 
general  warrant ;  but  after  their  remonstrance 
to  the  president  and  council,  were  arrested  by 
LEWIS  NICOLA,  and  conducted  to  the  Lodge, 
by  a  special  order  to  him. 

The  foregoing  remonstrance  was  delivered 
to  Thomas  Wharton,  jun.  president,  etc.,  last 
evening,  who  promised  to  lay  it  before  council, 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


227 


and  send  an  answer  to  one  of  the  gentlemen, 
who  delivered  it  to  him  this  morning  ;  but  no 
answer  has  yet  been  received. 

September  5th,  half  past  two  o'clock,  P.  M. 


INTERESTING  CORRESPONDENCE 

OF  BRIG.  GEN.  LACEY  WITH  GEN.  WASH 
INGTON  AND  OTHERS,  1778. 

A  much  valued  friend  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  editor  a  large  volume  of  papers,  contain 
ing  the  correspondence  of  brig.  gen.  LACEY, 
of  Pennsylvania,  who  commanded  the  militia 
stationed  on  the  east  side  of  the  Schuylkill,  to 
watch  the  motions  of  the  enemy  and  prevent 
his  obtaining  supplies,  during  the   period  at 
which  he  occupied  Philadelphia. 
This  volume   contains  a  great  deal  of  curious 
matter — though   not  much  of   it  seems  to 
come  within   the    prospectus  of  this  work. 
Such  articles   follow  as  may  serve  to  shew 
the  spirit  and  necessities  of  the  times. 
GEN.  WASHINGTON  to  GEN.  LACEY — dated 
at    Valley  Forge,    Jan.  23,  1778.     [Extract.] 
"  I  am  well  informed  that  many  persons,  under 
pretence  of  furnishing  the  inhabitants  of  Ger- 
mantown,  and   near  the  enemy's  lines,  afford 
immense  supplies  to  the  Philadelphia  markets 
— a  conduct  highly  prejudicial  to  us  and  con 
trary  to  every  order.     It  is  therefore  become 
proper  to  make  an  example  of  some  guilty  one, 
that  the  rest  may  expect  a  like  fate,  should  they 
persist.     This  I  am  determined  to  put  in  exe 
cution  ;  and  request  you,  when  a  suitable  ob 
ject   falls   into  your  hands,  that  you  will  send 
him  herewith  the  witnesses  ;  or  let  me  know  his 
name — when  you  shall  have  power  to  try,  and 
if  proved  guilty,  to  execute.     This  you  will  be 
pleased  to  make  known  to  the  people,  that  they 
may  again  have  warning." 

From  Me  SAME  dated Feb.  8,  1778.  [Extract.] 
"  The  communication  between  the  city  and 
country,  in  spite  of  every  thing  hitherto  done, 
still  continuing,  and  threatening  the  most  per 
nicious  consequences,  I  am  induced  to  beg  you 
will  exert  every  possible  expedient  to  put  a  stop 
to  it.  In  order  to  this,  to  excite  the  zeal  of  the 
militia  under  your  command,  and  make  them 
more  active  in  their  duty,  I  would  have  you  let 
every  thing  taken  from  persons  going  into  and 
coming  out  of  the  city,  redound  to  the  benefit  of 
the  parties  who  take  them.  At  the  same  time, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  use  great  precaution  to 
prevent  an  abuse  of  this  privilege  ;  since  it  may 
otherwise  be  made  a  pretext  for  plundering  the 
innocent  inhabitants.  One  method  to  prevent 


this  will  be,  to  let  no  forfeiture  take  place  but 
under  the  eye  and  with  the  concurrence  of 
some  commissioned  officer. 

Any  horses  captured  in  this  manner,  fit  for 
the  public  service,  either  as  light  or  draught 
horses,  must  be  sent  to  camp  to  the  quarter 
master  general,  who  will  be  directed  to  pay  the 
value  of  them  to  the  captors." 

GEN.  LACEY  to  the  COUNCIL  of  Pennsyl 
vania — dated  Warwick,  Bucks,  Feb  15,  1778. 
[Extracts.]  "  My  force  is  reduced  almost  to  a 
cypher.  Only  sixty  remain  fit  for  duty  in  camp. 
With  this  number,  you  must  of  course  suppose 
that  we  are  in  no  wise  capable  of  guarding  so 
extensive  a  country  as  this,  nor  even  safe  in 
our  camp."  [Gen.  Lacey's  force  continually 
fluctuated — sometimes  it  amounted  to  several 
hundred;  at  other  times  it  was  wholly  in 
efficient,  and  hardly  exceeded  fifty  in  all.  At 
one  moment  he  had  several  times  more  men 
than  arms  ;  at  another,  many  times  more  arms 
than  men.  The  militia  were  called  out  for 
short  tours,  and  his  command  was  a  most  per 
plexing  one.  The  officers  and  men  hardly 
knew  each  other  before  they  separated.] 

On  the  list  of  Feb.  1778,  GEN.  WASHING 
TON  orders  the  destruction  or  removal  of  cer 
tain  quantities  of  hay,  in  place  accessible  to  the 
enemy. 

GEN.  WASHINGTON  to  GEN.  LACEY,  dated 
at  Valley  Forge,  March  2,  1778.  [Extracts.] 
"  I  don't  well  know  what  to  do  with  the  great 
numbers  of  people  taken  going  to  Philadelphia. 
I  have  punished  several  severely,  fined  others 
heavily,  and  some  are  sentenced  to  be  im 
prisoned  during  the  war."  He  then  expresses 
a  wish  that  the  state  will  take  charge  of  them, 
punish  them  as  criminals,  or  hold  them  to 
exchange  "  for  those  inhabitants  lately  taken 
from  their  families."  But  in  a  postscript  adds, 
"  If  either  or  any  of  the  persons  now  in  your 
custody  are  such  that  you  think  are  proper  to 
make  examples  of,  and  you  have  sufficient 
evidence  to  convict  them,  send  them  over  to 
me,  with  the  witnesses,  and  I  will  have  them 
immediately  tried  by  a  court  martial." 

GEN.  LACEY  to  the  COUNCIL,  dated  Camp, 
near  White  Marsh,  March  II,  1778.  [Extracts.] 
"  As  soon  as  I  approach  within  eight  or  ten 
miles  of  the  enemy's  lines,  the  inhabitants,  hav 
ing  their  horses  concealed  in  bye  places,  mount 
them,  and  taking  their  way  through  the  fields 
and  private  paths,  repair  directly  to  the  city, 
with  the  intelligence  that  the  rebels  are  in  the 
neighborhood.  Not  one  word  of  intelligence 
can  we  procure  from  them, — not  even  the 
direction  of  the  roads. 

There  are  large  sums  of  counterfeit  money 


228 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


circulating  in  the  lower  part  of  Bucks  and 
Philadelphia  counties,  which  are  brought  out 
of  the  city  by  the  market  people." 

A  letter  from  GEN.  WAYNE  to  GEN.  LACEY 
by  order  of  GEN.  WASHINGTON,  notifies  Gen. 
L.  that  he  is  directed  "  to  collect  and  drive  in 
all  the  cattle,  horses  and  wagons,  in  the  coun 
ties  of  Bucks  and  Philadelphia,  likely  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy, — especially  the 
property  of  tories" 

GEN.  LACEY's  orders  to  his  scouting  parties, 
March  9,  1778.  [Extract.]  "  If  your  parties 
should  meet  with  any  people  going  to  market, 
or  any  persons  whatever  going  to  the  city,  and 
they  endeavor  to  make  their  escape,  you  will 
order  your  men  to  fire-  upon  the  villains.  You 
will  leave  such  on  the  roads — their  bodies  and 
their  marketing  lying  together.  This  I  wish 
you  to  execute  on  the  first  offenders  you  meet, 
that  they  may  be  a  warning  to  others." 

GEN.  WASHINGTON  to  GEN.  LACEY,  dated 
at  Valley  Forge,  2oth  March,  1778 — "  Sunday 
next  being  the  time  on  which  the  quakers  hold 
one  of  their  general  meetings,  a  number  of  that 
society  will  probably  be  attempting  to  go  into 
Philadelphia.  This  is  an  intercourse  that  we 
should  by  all  means  endeavor  to  interrupt,  as 
the  plans  settled  at  these  meetings  are  of  the 
most  pernicious  tendency.*  I  would  therefore 
have  you  dispose  of  your  parties  in  such  a  man 
ner  as  will  most  probably  fall  in  with  these 
people,  and  if  they  should,  and  any  of  them 
should  be  mounted  upon  horses  fit  for  draft  or 
the  service  of  light  dragoons,  I  desire  they  may 
be  taken  from  them,  and  sent  over  to  the  quar 
ter-master  general.  Any  such  are  not  to  be  con 
sidered  as  the  property  of  the  parties  who  may 
seize  them,  as  in  other  cases.  Communicate 
the  above  orders  to  any  of  the  officers  who 

*  I  was  in  much  doubt  whether  I  ought  to  publish  or 
suppress  this  letter — but,  on  reflection,  have  thought  it 
best  to  insert  it.  It  must  be  admitted,  that  a  great  majority 
of  the  quakers  in  Pennsylvania,  were  "  well  inclined  "  to 
the  British,  and  some  of  them  went  great  lengths  out  of 
the  rules  of  their  profession  to  aid  and  comfort  the  enemy 
of  their  country  ;  others,  by  adhering  to  those  rules  and  re 
fusing  to  take  any  part  in  the  contest,  even  by  the  payment 
of  taxes,  were  improperly  suspected  of  disaffection,  when 
in  fact  they  were  only  neutral,  refusing  to  have  anything 
to  do  with  the  war :  a  few,  however,  laid  aside  their  testi 
mony  against  fighting,  and  contended  gallantly  for  free 
dom.  Persons  of  this  religious  persuasion  in  some  other 
states,  were  sincerely  attached  to  the  cause  of  independ 
ence,  and  did  all  that  consistently  they  could  do  to  assist 
the  whigs,.  A  stoppage  of  the  intercourse  with  Philadel 
phia,  at  the  time,  was  indubitably  necessary  and  proper  ; 
but  gen.  Washington  was  misinformed,  I  apprehend, 
when  he  spoke  of  the  "  plans  "  settled  at  the  meetings  of 
the  quakers— whatever  they  might  have  done  as  individ 
uals,  their  "  meetings  "  must  have  passed  without  the 
adoption  of  any  plans  of  a  political  nature— for  such  things 
are  not  suffered  to  be  mentioned  in  them. 

EDITOR. 


may  command  scouting  parties  on  your  side 
of  the  Schuylkill. 

[Gen.  Lacey,  in  reply,  says  he  had  ordered 
out  his  horse  to  stop  the  quakers,  with  orders, 
"  if  they  refused  to  stop  when  hailed,  to  fire 
into  them,  and  leave  their  bodies  lying  in  the 
road."] 

[So  great  was  the  intercourse  with  Philadel 
phia,  and  so  numerous  the  sufferings  of  the 
whigs  in  consequence  of  intelligence  carried 
to  the  enemy,  that  an  idea  was  entertained  of 
removing  all  the  people  within  fifteen  miles  of 
that  city  ;  but  Washington  said  "  the  measure 
was  rather  desirable  than  practicable,"  and 
preferred  a  rigid  conduct  towards  "  notorious 
characters,"  who,  he  again  directed,  should  be 
tried  by  courts  martial.  But  in  a  letter  of  the 
nth  April,  in  consequence  oi  a  resolve  of  con 
gress,  he  says,  "  it  will  be  needless  to  appre 
hend  any  more.  If  found  going  to  Philadel 
phia  with  provisions,  you  may  take  that  and 
their  horses  from  them." 

GEN.  GREENE  to  GEN.  LACEY,  dated  at  Val 
ley  Forge,  April  21,  1778.  The  wife  of  maj. 
T.  complains  that  some  of  your  people  have 
taken  from  her  husband,  one  of  their  horses, 
which  they  are  in  want  of  to  enable  them  to 
move  up  to  Reading.  I  wish  you  to  inquire  into 
the  matter,  and  if  there  is  no  capital  offence, 
to  order  the  beast  to  be  delivered  to  the  owner 
again.  The  war  is  a  sufficient  calamity  under 
every  possible  restraint,  but  where  people  are 
influenced  by  avarice  and  private  prejudice, 
they  increase  the  distresses  of  the  inhabitants 
beyond  conception.  Those  evils  can  only  be 
restrained  by  the  generals,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
protect  the  distressed  inhabitants,  as  well  as 
govern  and  regulate  the  affairs  of  the  army. 
I  hope  you  will  pay  particular  attention  to  this 
affair,  as  the  age  and  distress  of  the  com 
plainants  appear  to  claim  it." 

[In  reply,  Gen.  Lacey  states  that  he  finds  the 
horse  was  taken  by  a  person  who  "  calls  him 
self  a  volunteer,  and  has  made  a  practice  of 
riding  with  my  parties."  He  was  called  upon 
to  answer  for  his  conduct,  and  fresh  instruc 
tions  given  not  to  molest  the  inhabitants 
"unless  found  favoring  the  enemy."] 

GEN.  LACEY  surprised.  In  a  letter  to  Gen. 
Washington,  dated  camp  near  Neshaminy 
bridge,  York  road,  May  2,  1778,  gen.  Lacey 
gives  an  account  of  his  being  surprised  by  a 
superior  force  of  the  enemy,  near  the  Crooked 
Billet,  at  day  break  on  the  preceding  day,  by 
the  neglect  of  a  lieut.  whose  duty  it  was  to 
keep  a  lookout,  which  he  neglected  to  do  and 
was  cashiered  for  it.  Though  the  attack  was 
wholly  unexpected  and  very  vigorous,  Lacey 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


229 


made  out  to  get  his  people  embodied,  and  re 
treated  fighting  for  upwards  of  two  miles,  when 
he  reached  a  wood  and  extricated  himself.  He 
lost  thirty  killed,  and  seventeen  wounded.  A 
number  of  the  enemy  were  killed.  We  notice 
this  affair  to  give  the  following  extract  from 
gen.  Lacey's  letter. 

"  Some  [of  his  men]  were  butchered  in  the 
most  savage  and  cruel  manner — even  when 
living,  some  were  thrown  into  buckwheat 
straw,  and  the  straw  set  on  fire.  The  clothes 
were  burnt  on  others ;  and  scarcely  one  left 
without  a  dozen  wounds,  with  bayonets  and 
cutlasses." 

[These  things  are  repeated,  with  additional 
particulars,  in  a  letter  to  general  Armstrong.] 

General  Lacey  was  relieved  by  general  Potter 
about  the  middle  of  May,  1778,  but  resumed 
his  old  station  in  the  autumn  of  1780,  to  collect 
troops,  wagons,  horses,  etc.,  by  order  of  the 
council  of  Pennsylvania.  The  following  letter 
from  president  Reed  may  serve  to  shew  the 
state  of  things,  as  to  the  subjects  to  which  it 
relates  : 

To  H.  W ,  Esq.,  Bucks  county.— SIR  :— 

Having  expressed  myself  so  fully  to  you  and 
Mr.  T.  upon  the  necessity  of  procuring  a 
number  of  horses,  I  am  not  a  little  surprised 
that  you  should  have  discharged  those  that  had 
been  taken  under  the  direction  of  general 
Lacey  ;  and  I  cannot  help  considering  it  as 
adding  to  my  embarrassments  at  a  time  when 
you  gave  me  reason  to  expect  assistance. 

It  is  much  to  be  wished  that  gentlemen  in 
public  office,  who,  from  motives  of  compassion, 
or  a  fear  of  offending,  cannot  take  part  in  these 
necessary  measures,  would  on  such  occasions 
avoid  any  interference ;  and  leave  persons  of 
more  decision  to  proceed.  The  legislature 
having  vested  the  power  of  declaring  martial 
law  in  us,  I  apprehend  you  had  not  authority 
to  counteract  the  orders  given ;  which  were  to 
send  such  horses  as  were  taken  immediately 
down  to  this  place,  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  militia,  about  to  march,  agreeably  to 
general  Washington's  order.  It  will  be  a  great 
disappointment  if  they  do  not  come  down,  and 
will  throw  us  all  in  confusion.  As  Mr.  T.  and 
yourself,  by  my  accounts,  discharged  all  the 
horses,  after  taken,  I  must  esteem  you  account 
able  for  them.  It  is  no  season  for  such  lax  and 
indecisive  measures,  and  you  will  probably  ere 
long,  if  the  enemy  are  not  driven  from  the 
country,  experience  that  though  temporizing 
measures  appear  at  first  view  easy  and  desira 
ble,  they  are  ruinous  in  the  end.  You  have 
already  done  enough,  and  have  property  enough, 
to  make  you  an  object  of  the  vengeance  of  the 


enemy  and  their  tory  adherents  ;  and  if  you  do 
not  secure  yourself  by  your  exertions,  you  have 
little  to  expect  from  their  lenity  or  gratitude. 
I  should  not  have  said  this  much  if  I  did  not 
feel  myself  much  hurt  and  the  public  service 
injured,  by  giving  way  to  a  little  clamor,  after 
the  most  odious  and  difficult  part  of  the  business 
was  done. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient,  humble  servant, 

Jos.  REED. 
Philadelphia,  Aug.  li,  1780. 

General  Lacey  and  his  corps  was  discharged 
by  an  order  of  the  executive  of  Pennsylvania, 
on  the  1 2th  October,  1781,  with  the  thanks  of 
the  council. 


AN  EULOGIUM 

Of  the  brave  men  who  have  fallen  in  the  contest 
with  Great  Britain :  Delivered  by  judge 
BRACKENBRIDGE,  on  Monday,  July  5,  1779, 
before  a  numerous  and  respectable  assembly 
of  citizens  and  foreigners,  in  the  German 
Calvinist  church,  Philadelphia. 


-Heroes  then  arose ; 


Who,  scorning  coward  self,  for  others  liv'd, 
Toil'd  for  their  ease,  and  for  their  safety  bled. 

THOMSON. 

It  is  the  high  reward  of  those  who  have 
risked  their  lives  in  a  just  and  necessary  war,  * 
that  their  names  are  sweet  in  the  mouths  of 
men,  and  every  age  shall  know  their  actions. 
I  am  happy  in  having  it  in  my  power,  before  a 
polite  assembly,  to  express  what  I  think  of 
those  who  have  risked  their  lives  in  the  war  of 
America.  I  know  my  abilities  rise  not  to  a  level 
with  so  great  a  subject,  but  I  love  the  memory 
of  the  men,  and  it  is  my  hope,  that  the  affection 
which  I  feel,  will  be  to  me  instead  of  genius, 
and  give  me  warm  words  to  advance  their 
praises. 

I  conceive  it  as  the  first  honor  of  these  men 
that,  before  they  engaged  in  the  war,  they  saw 
it  to  be  just  and  necessary.  They  were  not  the 
vassals  of  a  proud  chieftain  rousing  them,  in 
barbarous  times,  by  the  blind  impulse  of  at 
tachment  to  his  family,  or  engaging  them  to 
espouse  his  quarrel,  by  the  music  and  enter 
tainment  of  his  hall.  They  were  themselves 
the  chieftains  of  their  own  cause,  highly  in 
structed  in  the  nature  of  it,  and  from  the  best 
principles  of  patriotism,  resolute  in  defence. 
They  had  heard  the  declaration  of  the  court 
and  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  claiming  the 
authority  of  binding  them  in  all  cases  whatso 
ever.  They  had  examined  this  claim,  and  found 
*  Tacitus. 


230 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


it  to  be,  as  to  its  foundation,  groundless ;  as  to 
its  nature  tyrannical,  and  in  its  consequences, 
ruinous  to  the  peace  and  happiness  of  both 
countries.  On  this  clear  apprehension  and  de 
cided  judgment  of  the  cause,  ascertained  by 
their  own  reason,  and  collected  from  the  best 
writers,  it  was  the  noble  purpose  of  their  minds 
to  stand  forth  and  assert  it,  at  the  expense  of 
fortune,  and  the  hazard  of  their  lives. 

These  brave  men  were  not  soldiers  by  pro 
fession,  bred  to  arms,  and  from  a  habit  of  mili 
tary  life  attached  to  it.  They  were  men  in  the 
easy  walks  of  life  ;  mechanics  of  the  city,  mer 
chants  of  the  counting  house,  youths  engaged 
in  the  literary  studies,  and  husbandmen,  peaceful 
cultivators  of  the  soil.  Happy  in  the  sociability 
and  conversation  of  the  town,  the  simplicity 
and  innocence  of  the  country  village,  or  the 
philosophic  ease  of  academic  leisure,  and  the 
Sweets  of  rural  life,  they  wished  not  a  change 
of  these  scenes  of  pleasure,  for  the  dangers  and 
calamities  of  war.  It  was  the  pure  love  of 
virtue  and  of  freedom,  burning  bright  within 
their  minds,  that  alone  could  engage  them  to 
embark  in  an  undertaking  of  so  bold  and 
perilous  a  nature. 

These  brave  men  were  not  unacquainted  with 
the  circumstances  of  their  situation,  and  their 
unprepared  state  of  war.  Not  a  bayonet  was 
anvilled  out,  not  a  fire-arm  was  in  their  pos 
session.  No  redoubt  was  cast  up  to  secure  the 
city,  no  fort  was  erected  to  resist  invasion,  no 
gun  mounted  on  the  battery,  and  no  vessel 
launched  upon  the  stream. 

The  power  of  Britain,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
well  known,  and  by  the  lightning  of  her  orators, 
in  a  thousand  writings  and  harangues,  had 
been  thrown,  in  full  force,  upon  their  minds. 
They  were  taught  to  believe  her,  (what  indeed 
she  was)  old  in  arts  and  in  arms,  and  enriched 
with  the  spoils  of  a  thousand  victories.  Em 
braced  with  the  ocean  as  her  favorite,  her  com 
merce  was  extensive,  and  she  sent  her  ships  to 
every  sea.  Abounding  in  men,  her  armies 
were  in  full  force,  her  fleets  were  completely 
manned,  her  discipline  was  regular,  and  tiie 
spirit  of  her  enterprise,  by  sea  and  land,  had, 
in  most  cases,  insured  her  successes. 

The  idea  of  resistance  to  the  power  of 
Britain  was  indeed  great — but  the  mighty  soul 
of  the  patriot  drank  it  in,  and,  like  the  eagle  on 
the  mountain  top,  collected  magnanimity  from 
the  very  prospect  of  the  height  from  which  he 
meant  to  soar :  Like  the  steed  who  swallows 
the  distant  ground  with  his  fierceness,*  he 
attempts  the  career,  and  poured  himself  upon 
the  race. 

*  Book  of  Job 


The  patriot  quits  his  easy  independent  walk 
of  life,  his  shop,  his  farm,  his  office  and  his 
counting  house,  and  with  every  hope  and  every 
anxious  thought,  prepares  himself  for  war. 
The  materials  of  gun  powder  are  extracted  from 
the  earth  :  the  bayonet  is  anvilled  out ;  the  fire 
arm  is  manufactured  in  the  shop  ;  the  manual 
exercise  is  taught ;  the  company  is  formed  in 
battalion ;  the  battalion  is  instructed  to  manoeu 
vre  on  the  field ;  the  brigade  is  drawn  forth ; 
and  the  standard  of  defiance  is  planted  on  the 
soil. 

Shall  I  mention  the  circumstances  of  the  day 
when  the  sword  was  drawn,  and  the  first  blood 
was  shed  ;  and  shall  I  trace  the  progress  of  the 
war  in  the  course  of  five  campaigns?  The 
narration  would  require  the  space  of  an  entire 
day :  I  can  mention  but  the  sum  of  things ; 
and  only  tell  you,  that  the  inroad  of  the  foe  has 
been  sustained  upon  the  plain,  and  the  forward 
and  impetuous  bands  have  been  driven  over 
the  disdaining  ground  which  they  had  meas 
ured  in  advance.  The  hill  has  been  defended, 
and  the  repulsed  and  rallying  foe  has  been 
taught  to  understand,  that  the  valor  of  America 
was  worthy  of  the  cause  which  her  freemen 
have  espoused.  The  wilderness  has  been 
surmounted  in  the  march.  It  has  been  fought, 
foot  to  foot,  and  point  to  point,  in  skirmishes, 
and  night  surprises,  and  in  pitched  battles,  with 
alternate  hope  and  dubious  success.  The 
enemy,  beaten  in  one  state  has  retired  to  a 
second,  and  beaten  in  the  second,  he  has 
returned  to  the  first ;  beaten  in  every  state  he 
has  sought  the  water,  and  like  a  sea  monster 
rolling  to  the  deep,  has  washed  his  wounds  in 
the  brine  of  ocean.  Rising  from  the  ocean  he 
has  sought  the  land,  and  advanced  with  a 
slow  and  suspicious  step  upon  the  hostile 
territory.  War  is  again  arisen,  and  it  has  been 
fought  from  spring  to  autumn,  and  from 
autumn  to  spring,  through  the  heat  of  summer 
and  the  inclemencies  of  winter,  with  unabated 
ardor,  and  unshaken  perseverance.  What 
tract  of  country  has  not  been  marked  with  the 
vestiges  of  war  ?  WThat  ground  has  not  been 
cut  with  trenches  ? — What  hill  has  not  been 
covered  with  redoubts  ? — What  plain  has  not 
been  made  the  scene  of  the  engagement  ?  What 
soil  of  our  whole  earth  has  not  been  sowed 
with  ball  ? 

These  have  been  the  toils  of  the  heroes  of 
our  army ;  but  the  brave  men  whom  we  this 
day  celebrate,  have  added  to  their  toils  the  loss 
of  life.  They  have  fallen  in  the  contest : 
These  cf  them  in  the  long  and  laborious  march  : 
These  by  the  fever  of  the  camp :  These  have 
fallen  when,  advancing  on  the  enemy,  they 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


231 


have  received  the  bayonet  in  their  breast :  or 
high  in  hope,  and  anxious  of  victory,  they  have 
dropt  by  the  cannon  or  the  musket  ball. 

For  what  cause  did  these  brave  men  sacri 
fice  their  lives  ?  For  that  cause  which,  in  all 
ages,  has  engaged  the  hopes,  the  wishes,  and 
endeavors  of  the  breast  of  men — the  cause  of 
liberty.  LIBERTY!  thou  art  indeed  valuable; 
the  source  of  all  that  is  good  and  great  upon 
the  earth ! — For  thee,  the  patriot  of  America 
has  drawn  his  sword,  and  has  fought  and  has 
fallen. 

What  was  in  our  power  we  have  done  with 
regard  to  the  bodies  of  these  men ;  we  have 
paid  them  military  honors ;  we  have  placed 
them  in  their  native  earth ;  and  it  is  with  vener 
ation  that  we  yet  view  their  tombs  upon  the 
furzy  glade,  or  on  the  distant  hill.  Ask  me  not 
the  names  of  these.  The  muses  shall  tell  you 
of  them,  and  the  bards  shall  woo*  them  to 
their  sons.  The  verse  which  shall  be  so 
happy  as  to  embrace  the  name  of  one  of  these 
shall  be  immortal.  The  names  of  these  shall 
be  read  with  those  of  Pelopidas,  Epaminondas, 
and  the  worthies  of  the  world.  Posterity  shall 
quote  them  for  parallels,  and  for  examples. 
When  they  mean  to  dress  the  hero  with  the 
fairest  praises,  they  shall  say  he  was  gallant 
and  distinguished  in  his  early  fall,  as  Warren  ; 
prudent  and  intrepid  as  Montgomery,  faithful 
and  generous  as  Macpherson ;  he  fell  in  the 
bold  and  resolute  advance,  like  Haslet  and  like 
Mercer  ;  he  saw  the  honor  which  his  valor  had 
acquired,  and  fainted  in  the  arms  of  victory, 
like  Herkimer  :  having  gallantly  repulsed  the 
foe,  he  fell  covered  with  wounds,  in  his  old  age, 
like  Wooster. 

The  names  of  these  brave  men  shall  be  read  ; 
and  the  earth  shall  be  sensible  of  praise  where 
their  bodies  are  deposited.  Hill  of  Boston.f 
where  the  God  of  arms  gave  uncommon  valor 
to  the  patriot !  Here  the  muses  shall  observe 
the  night,  and  hymn  heroic  acts,  and  trim 
their  lighted  lamps  to  the  dawn  of  morning: 
The  little  babbling  mystic  brook,  shall  bear 
the  melody,  and  stealing  with  a  silver  foot, 
shall  tell  it  to  the  ocean.  Hills  within  pros 
pect  of  the  York  city,  where  the  enemy, 
rejoicing  at  his  early  strength,  adventured 
and  fought,  or  where,  refusing  the  engage 
ment  he  fled,  with  precipitation  to  his  ships ! 
On  you  the  tomb  of  the  hero  is  beheld,  and 
fancy  walking  round  covers  it  with  shades. 
Grounds  in  the  neighborhood  of  this  city.J 
where  the  foreigner  shall  enquire  the  field  of 
battle,  and  the  citizen  shall  say  with  conscious 
pride,  as  if  the  honor  was  his  own,  this  is  the 

*  Plino.  t  Bunker's  hill.          \  Philadelphia. 


tomb  of  Witherspoon ;  that  is  the  ground 
where  Nash  fell !  Plains  washed  by  the  Ash 
ley  and  Cooper,  and  before  the  walls  of  Charles- 
town  ! — Here  has  the  hero  fallen,  or  rather  he 
has  risen  to  eternal  honor,  and  his  birth  place 
shall  be  immortal.  His  fame,  like  a  vestal 
lamp,  is  lighted  up:  It  shall  burn,  with  the 
world  for  its  temple — and  the  fair  assemblies 
of  the  earth  shall  trim  it  with  their  praise. 

Having  paid  that  respect  to  the  memory  of 
these  men  which  the  annual  return  of  this  day 
demanded,  it  remains  that  we  soothe  the  grief 
of  those  who  have  been  deprived  of  a  father, 
bereaved  of  a  son,  or  who  have  lost  a  brother, 
a  husband  or  a  lover  in  the  contest.  Fathers, 
whose  heroic  sons  have  offered  up  their  lives 
in  the  contest ;  it  is  yours  to  recollect,  that 
their  lives  were  given  them  for  the  service  of 
their  country.  Fathers  !  dismiss  every  shade 
of  grief;  you  are  happy  in  having  been  the 
progenitor  of  him  who  is  written  with  the 
heroes  of  his  country. 

Sons !  whose  heroic  fathers  have  early  left 
you,  and  in  the  conflict  of  the  war,  have  mixed 
with  departed  heroes  ;  be  congratulated  on  the 
fair  inheritance  of  fame  which  you  are  entitled 
to  possess.  If  it  is  at  all  lawful  to  array  our 
selves  in  borrowed  honor,  surely  it  is  best 
drawn  from  those  who  have  acted  a  distin 
guished  part  in  the  service  of  their  country. 
If  it  is  at  all  consistent  with  the  feelings  of 
philosophy  and  reason  to  boast  of  lineal  glory, 
surely  it  is  most  allowable  in  those  who  boast 
of  it  as  flowing  from  such  source.  We  despise 
the  uninstructed  mind  of  that  man  who  shall 
obtrude  upon  our  ears  the  ideas  of  a  vain  an 
cestral  honor;  but  we  love  the  youth,  and 
transfer  to  him  the  reputation  of  his  father, 
who,  when  the  rich  and  haughty  citizen  shall 
frown  upon  him  as  ignobly  descended,  shall 
say,  "  I  had  a  father  who  has  fallen  in  the 
service  of  his  country." 

When  after  times  shall  speak  of  those  who 
have  risen  to  renown,  I  will  charge  it  to  the 
golden  winged  and  silver  tongued  bards,  that 
they  recollect  and  set  in  order  every  circum 
stance  ;  the  causes  of  the  war ;  early  and  just  ex 
ertions,  the  toils,  hazardous  achievements,  noble 
resolution,  unshaken  perseverance,  unabated 
ardor  ;  hopes  in  the  worst  of  times  ;  triumphs 
of  victory  ;  humanity  to  an  enemy ;  All  these 
will  I  charge  it,  that  they  recollect  and  set  in 
order,  and  give  them  bright  and  unsullied  to 
the  coming  ages.  The  bards  I  know  will  hear 
me,  and  you  my  gallant  countrymen,  shall 
go  down  to  posterity  with  exceeding  honor. 
Your  fame  shall  ascend  on  the  current  of  the 
stream  of  time :  It  shall  play  with  the  breezes 


232 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


of  the  morning.  Men  at  rest,  in  the  cool  age 
of  life,  from  the  fury  of  a  thousand  wars  fin 
ished  by  their  fathers,  shall  observe  the  spread 
ing  ensign.  They  shall  hail  it,  as  it  weaves 
with  variegated  glories ;  and  feeling  all  the 
warm  rapture  of  the  heart,  shall  give  their 
plaudit  from  the  shores. 


BURNING  OF  BENEDICT  ARNOLD 

IN  EFFIGY  BY  THE  PEOPLE  OF  PHILADEL 
PHIA,  AND  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  FIGURES 
EXHIBITED  AND  PARADED  THROUGH  THE 
STREETS  OF  THAT  CITY,  SEPT.,  1780. 

A  stage  raised  on  the  body  of  a  cart,  on 
which  was  an  effigy  of  general  Arnold  sitting  ; 
this  was  dressed  in  regimentals,  had  two  faces, 
emblematical  of  his  traitorous  conduct,  a  mask 
in  his  left  hand,  and  a  letter  in  his  right  from 
Beelzebub,  telling  him  that  he  had  done  all  the 
mischief  he  could  do,  and  now  he  must  hang 
himself. 

At  the  back  of  the  general,  was  a  figure  of 
the  devil,  dressed  in  black  robes,  shaking  a 
purse  of  money  at  the  general's  left  ear,  and 
in  his  right  hand  a  pitch-fork,  ready  to  drive 
him  into  hell,  as  the  reward  due  for  the  many 
crimes  which  his  thirst  of  gold  had  made  him 
commit. 

In  the  front  of  the  stage,  and  before  general 
Arnold,  was  placed  a  large  lantern  of  trans 
parent  paper,  with  the  consequences  of  his 
crimes  thus  delineated,  /'.  e.  on  one  part  general 
Arnold  on  his  knees  before  the  devil,  who  is 
pulling  him  into  the  flames — a  label  from  the 
general's  mouth  with  these  words,  "  My  dear 
sir,  I  have  served  you  faithfully,"  to  which  the 
devil  replies,  "  And  I'll  reward  you."  On 
another  side,  two  figures  hanging,  inscribed, 
"  The  Traitor's  Reward,"  and  wrote  under 
neath,  "  The  adjutant  general  of  the  British 
army,  and  Joe  Smith,  the  first  hanged  as  a  spy, 
and  the  other  as  a  traitor  to  his  country." 
And  on  the  front  of  the  lantern  was  wrote  the 
following : — 

"  Major  general  Benedict  Arnold,  late  com 
mander  of  the  fort  West  Point.  The  crime 
of  this  man  is  high  treason. 

"  He  has  deserted  the  important  post,  West 
Point,  on  Hudson's  river,  committed  to  his 
charge  by  his  excellency  the  commander  in 
chief,  and  is  gone  off  to  the  enemy  at  New 
York. 

"  His  design  to  have  given  up  this  fortress 
to  our  enemies  has  been  discovered  by  the 


goodness  of  the  Omniscient  Creator,  who  has 
not  only  prevented  him  from  carrying  it  into 
execution,  but  has  thrown  into  our  hands 
Andre,  the  adjutant  general  of  their  army,  who 
was  detected  in  the  infamous  character  of  a 
spy. 

"  The  treachery  of  the  ungrateful  general  is 
held  up  to  public  view,  for  the  exposition  of 
infamy  ;  and  to  proclaim,  with  joyful  acclama 
tion,  another  instance  of  the  interposition  of 
bounteous  Providence. 

"  The  effigy  of  this  ingrate  is  therefore 
hanged  (for  want  of  his  body)  as  a  traitor  to 
his  native  country,  and  a  betrayer  of  the  laws 
of  honor." 

The  procession  began  about  four  o'clock, 
in  the  following  order : 

Several  gentleman  mounted  on  horseback. 

A  line  of  continental  officers. 

Sundry  gentlemen  in  a  line. 

A  guard  of  the  city  infantry. 

Just  before  the  cart,  drums  and  fifes  playing  the 

Rogue's  march. 
Guards  on  each  side. 

The  procession  was  attended  with  a  numer 
ous  concourse  of  people,  who,  after  expressing 
their  abhorrence  of  the  treason  and  the  traitor, 
committed  him  to  the  flames,  and  left  both  the 
effigy  and  the  original  to  sink  into  ashes  and 
oblivion. 


ADDRESS 
DELIVERED    BY  M.   L'ABBE   BANDOLE  TO 

CONGRESS,  THE  SUPREME  EXECUTIVE 
COUNCIL,  AND  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  PENN 
SYLVANIA,  ETC.,  ETC., 

Who  were  invited  by  his  excellency  the  min 
ister  of  France,  to  attend  in  the  Roman  Catho 
lic  church  in  Philadelphia,  during  the  celebra 
tion  of  divine  service,  and  thanksgiving  for  the 

capture  of  lord  Cornwallis,  November,  1781. 

• 

GENTLEMEN — A  numerous  people  assem 
bled  to  render  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  his 
mercies,  is  one  of  the  most  affecting  objects, 
and  worthy  the  attention  of  the  Supreme  Being. 
While  camps  resound  with  triumphal  acclama 
tions — while  nations  rejoice  in  victory  and 
glory,  the  most  honorable  office  a  minister  of 
the  altar  can  fill,  is  to  be  the  organ  by  which 
public  gratitude  is  conveyed  to  the  Omnipo 
tent. 

Those  miracles,  which  he  once  wrought  for 
his  chosen  people,  are  renewed  in  our  favor; 
and  it  would  be  equally  ungrateful  and  impious 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


233 


not  to  acknowledge,  that  the  event  which 
lately  confounded  our  enemies,  and  frustrated 
their  designs,  was  the  wonderful  work  of  that 
God  who  guards  your  liberties. 

And  who  but  he  could  so  combine  the  cir 
cumstances  which  led  to  success  ?  We  have 
seen  our  enemies  push  forward,  amid  perils 
almost  innumerable,  amid  obstacles  almost  in 
surmountable,  to  the  spot  which  was  designed 
to  witness  their  disgrace :  yet  they  eagerly 
sought  it,  as  their  theatre  of  triumph  ! 

Blind  as  they  were,  they  bore  hunger,  thirst, 
and  inclement  skies,  poured  their  blood  in  bat 
tle  against  brave  republicans,  and  crossed 
immense  regions  to  confine  themselves  in 
another  Jericho,  whose  walls  were  fated  to  fall 
before  another  Joshua.  It  is  He,  whose  voice 
commands  the  winds,  the  seas  and  the  seasons, 
who  formed  a  junction  on  the  same  day,  in  the 
same  hour,  between  a  formidable  fleet  from  the 
south,  and  an  army  rushing  from  the  north, 
like  an  impetuous  torrent.  Who  but  he,  in 
whose  hands  are  the  hearts  of  men,  could 
inspire  the  allied  troops  with  the  friendships, 
the  confidence,  the  tenderness  of  brothers  ? 
How  is  it  that  two  nations  once  divided,  jeal 
ous,  inimical,  and  nursed  in  reciprocal  preju 
dices,  are  now  become  so  closely  united,  as  to 
form  but  one? — Worldlings  would  say,  it  is  the 
wisdom,  the  virtue,  and  moderations  of  their 
chiefs  ;  it  is  a  great  national  interest  which  has 
performed  this  prodigy.  They  will  say,  that  to 
the  skill  of  the  generals,  to  the  courage  of  the 
troops,  to  the  activity  of  the  whole  army,  we 
must  attribute  this  splendid  success.  Ah ! 
they  are  ignorant,  that  the  combining  of  so 
many  fortunate  circumstances,  is  an  emanation 
from  the  all  perfect  mind,  that  courage,  that 
skill,  that  activity,  bear  the  sacred  impression 
of  him  who  is  divine. 

For  how  many  favors  have  we  not  to  thank 
him  during  the  course  of  the  present  year? 
Your  union,  which  was  at  first  supported  by 
justice  alone,  has  been  consolidated  by  your 
courage  :  and  the  knot,  which  ties  you  together, 
is  become  indissoluble,  by  the  accession  of  all 
the  states,  and  the  unanimous  voice  of  all  the 
confederates.  You  present  to  the  universe  the 
noble  sight  of  a  society,  which,  founded  in 
equality  and  justice,  secures  to  the  individuals 
who  compose  it,  the  utmost  happiness  which 
can  be  derived  from  human  institutions.  This 
advantage,  which  so  many  other  nations  have 
been  unable  to  procure,  even  after  ages  of 
efforts  and  misery,  is  granted  by  Divine  Provi 
dence  to  the  United  States ;  and  its  adorable 
decrees  have  marked  the  present  moment  for 
the  completion  of  that  memorable  and  happy 


revolution  which  has  taken  place  in  this  exten 
sive  continent.  While  your  counsels  were  thus 
acquiring  new  energy,  rapid  and  multiplied 
successes  have  crowned  your  arms  in  the 
southern  states. 

We  have  seen  the  unfortunate  citizens  of 
these  states  forced  from  their  peaceful  abodes ; 
after  a  long  and  cruel  captivity,  old  men, 
women  and  children,  thrown,  without  mercy, 
into  a  foreign  country.  Master  of  their  lands 
and  their  slaves,  amid  his  temporary  affluence, 
a  superb  victor  rejoiced  in  their  distresses.  But 
Philadelphia  has  witnessed  their  patience  and 
fortitude  ;  they  have  found  here  another  home, 
and,  though  driven  from  their  native  soil,  they 
have  blessed  God,  that  he  has  delivered  them 
from  their  enemies,  and  conducted  them  to  a 
country  where  every  just  and  feeling  man  has 
stretched  out  the  helping  hand  of  benevolence. 
Heaven  rewards  their  virtues.  Three  large 
states  are  at  once  wrested  from  the  foe.  The 
rapacious  soldier  has  been  compelled  to  take 
refuge  behind  his  ramparts ;  and  oppression 
has  vanished  like  those  phantoms  which  are 
dissipated  by  the  morning  ray. 

On  this  solemn  occasion,  we  might  renew 
our  thanks  to  the  God  of  battles,  for  the  suc 
cess  he  has  granted  to  the  arms  of  your  allies, 
and  your  friends,  by  land  and  by  sea,  through 
the  other  parts  of  the  globe.  But  let  us  not 
recall  those  events  which  too  clearly  prove  how 
much  the  hearts  of  our  enemies  have  been 
obdurated.  Let  us  prostrate  ourselves  at  the 
altar,  and  implore  the  God  of  mercy  to  suspend 
his  vengeance,  to  spare  them  in  his  wrath,  to 
inspire  them  with  sentiments  of  justice  and 
moderation,  to  terminate  their  obstinacy  and 
error,  and  to  ordain  that  your  victories  be  fol 
lowed  by  peace  and  tranquility.  Let  us  beseech 
him  to  continue  to  shed  on  the  councils  of  the 
king  your  ally,  that  spirit  of  wisdom,  of  justice, 
and  of  courage,  which  has  rendered  his  reign 
so  glorious.  Let  us  intreat  him  to  maintain  in 
each  of  the  states  that  intelligence  by  which  the 
United  States  are  inspired.  Let  us  return  him 
thanks  that  a  faction,  whose  rebellion  he  has 
corrected,  now  deprived  of  support,  is  annihil 
ated.  Let  us  offer  him  pure  hearts,  unsoiled 
by  private  hatred  or  public  dissension  ;  and  let 
us,  with  one  will  and  one  voice,  pour  forth  to 
the  Lord  that  hymn  of  praise,  by  which  Chris 
tians  celebrate  their  gratitude  and  his  glory. 


234 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


ADDRESS 

TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,— 
BY  DR.  BENJAMIN  RUSH,  PHILADELPHIA, 
1787. 

There  is  nothing  more  common,  than  to 
confound  the  terms  of  American  Revolution 
with  those  of  the  late  American  war.  The 
American  war  is  over:  but  this  is  far  from 
being  the  case  with  the  American  revolution. 
On  the  contrary,  nothing  but  the  first  act  of 
the  great  drama  is  closed.  It  remains  yet  to 
establish  and  perfect  our  new  forms  of  govern 
ment  ;  and  to  prepare  the  principles,  morals, 
and  manners  of  our  citizens,  for  these  forms  of 
government,  after  they  are  established  and 
brought  to  perfection. 

The  confederation,  together  with  most  of 
our  state  constitutions,  were  formed  under 
very  unfavorable  circumstances.  We  had  just 
emerged  from  a  corrupted  monarchy.  Al 
though  we  understood  perfectly  the  principles 
of  liberty,  yet  most  of  us  were  ignorant  of  the 
forms  and  combinations  of  power  in  republics. 
Add  to  this,  the  British  army  was  in  the  heart 
of  our  country,  spreading  desolation  wherever 
it  went :  our  resentments,  of  course,  were 
awakened.  We  detested  the  British  name, 
and  unfortunately  refused  to  copy  some  things 
in  the  administration  of  justice  and  power,  in 
the  British  government,  which  have  made  it  the 
admiration  and  envy  of  the  world.  In  our 
opposition  to  monarchy,  we  forgot  that  the 
temple  of  tyranny  has  two  doors.  We  bolted 
one  of  them  by  proper  restraints  ;  but  we  left 
the  other  open,  by  neglecting  to  guard  against 
the  effects  of  our  own  ignorance  and  licen 
tiousness. 

Most  of  the  present  difficulties  of  this  coun 
try  arise  from  the  weakness  and  other  defects 
of  our  governments. 

My  business  at  present  shall  be  only  to 
suggest  the  defects  of  the  confederation. 
These  consist — ist.  In  the  deficiency  of  co 
ercive  power.  2d.  In  a  defect  of  exclusive 
power  to  issue  paper  money,  and  regulate 
commerce.  3d.  In  vesting  the  sovereign 
power  of  the  United  States  in  a  single  legis 
lature  :  and,  4th.  In  the  too  frequent  rotation 
of  its  members. 

A  convention  is  to  sit  soon  for  the  purpose 
of  devising  means  of  obviating  part  of  the 
two  first  defects  that  have  been  mentioned. 
But  I  wish  they  may  add  to  their  recommen 
dations  to  each  state,  to  surrender  up  to  con 
gress  their  power  of  emitting  money.  In  this 
way,  a  uniform  currency  will  be  produced,  that 


will  facilitate  trade,  and  help  to  bind  the  states 
together.  Nor  will  the  states  be  deprived  of 
large  sums  of  money  by  this  mean,  when  sud 
den  emergencies  require  it ;  for  they  may  al 
ways  borrow  them,  as  they  did  during  the  war, 
out  of  the  treasury  of  congress.  Even  a  loan 
office  may  be  better  instituted  in  this  way,  in 
each  state,  than  in  any  other. 

The  two  last  defects  that  have  been  men 
tioned,  are  not  of  less  magnitude  than  the 
first.  Indeed,  the  single  legislature  of  con 
gress  will  become  more  dangerous,  from  an 
increase  of  power,  than  ever.  To  remedy  this, 
let  the  supreme  federal  power  be  divided,  like 
the  legislatures  of  most  of  our  states,  into  two 
distinct,  independent  branches.  Let  one  of 
them  be  styled  the  council  of  the  states  and 
the  other  the  assembly  of  the  states.  Let  the 
first  consist  of  a  single  delegate — and  the 
second,  of  two,  three,  or  four  delegates,  cho 
sen  annually  by  each  state.  Let  the  president 
be  chosen  annually  by  the  joint  ballot  of  both 
houses ;  and  let  him  possess  certain  powers, 
in  conjunction  with  a  privy  council,  especially 
the  power  of  appointing  most  of  the  officers  of 
the  United  States.  The  officers  will  not  only 
be  better,  when  appointed  this  way,  but  one  of 
the  principal  causes  of  faction  will  be  thereby 
removed  from  congress.  I  apprehend  this  di 
vision  of  the  power  of  congress  will  become 
more  necessary,  as  soon  as  they  are  invested 
with  more  ample  powers  of  levying  and  ex 
pending  public  money. 

The  custom  of  turning  men  out  of  power 
or  office,  as  soon  as  they  are  qualified  for  it, 
has  been  found  to  be  absurd  in  practice.  Is 
it  virtuous  to  dismiss  a  general — a  physician — 
or  even  a  domestic,  as  soon  as  they  have  ac 
quired  knowledge  sufficient  to  be  useful  to  us, 
for  the  sake  of  increasing  the  number  of  able 
generals,  skilful  physicians — and  faithful  ser 
vants  ?  We  do  not.  Government  is  a  science, 
and  can  never  be  perfect  in  America,  until  we 
encourage  men  to  devote  not  only  three  years, 
but  their  whole  lives  to  it.  I  believe  the  prin 
cipal  reason  why  so  many  men  of  abilities 
object  to  serving  in  congress,  is  owing  to  theii 
not  thinking  it  worth  while  to  spend  three  years 
in  acquiring  a  profession,  which  their  country 
immediately  afterwards  forbids  them  to  follow. 

There  are  two  errors  or  prejudices  on  the 
subject  of  government  in  America,  which  lead 
to  the  most  dangerous  consequences. 

It  is  often  said,  "  that  the  sovereign  and  all 
other  power  is  seated  in  the  people."  This 
idea  is  unhappily  expressed.  It  should  be — 
"  all  power  is  derived  from  the  people,"  they 
possess  it  only  on  the  days  of  their  elections. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


235 


After  this,  it  is  the  property  of  their  rulers  ;  nor 
can  they  exercise  or  resume  it,  unless  it  be 
abused.  It  is  of  importance  to  circulate  this 
idea,  as  it  leads  to  order  and  good  government. 

The  people  of  America  have  mistaken  the 
meaning  of  the  word  sovereignty :  hence  each 
state  pretends  to  be  sovereign.  In  Europe, 
it  is  applied  only  to  those  states  which  possess 
the  power  of  making  war  and  peace — of  forming 
treaties,  and  the  like.  As  this  power  belongs 
only  to  congress,  they  are  the  only  sovereign 
power  in  the  United  States. 

We  commit  a  similar  mistake  in  our  ideas  of 
the  word  independent.  No  individual  state,  as 
such,  has  any  claim  to  independence.  She  is 
independent  only  in  a  union  with  her  sister 
states  in  congress. 

To  conform  the  principles,  morals  and  man 
ners  of  our  citizens,  to  our  republican  forms  of 
government,  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  that 
knowledge  of  every  kind  should  be  dissemina 
ted  through  every  part  of  the  United  States. 

For  this  purpose,  let  congress,  instead  of 
laying  out  a  half  a  million  of  dollars,  in  building 
a  federal  town,  appropriate  only  a  fourth  of 
that  sum,  in  founding  a  federal  university.  In 
this  university  let  every  thing  connected  with 
government,  such  as  history — the  law  of  nature 
and  nations — the  civil  law — the  municipal  laws 
of  our  country — and  the  principles  of  com 
merce — be  taught  by  competent  professors. 
Let  masters  be  employed,  likewise,  to  teach  gun 
nery — fortification — and  every  thing  connected 
with  defensive  and  offensive  war.  Above  all, 
let  a  professor  of,  what  is  called  in  the  Euro 
pean  universities,  economy,  be  established  in 
this  federal  seminary.  His  business  should  be 
to  unfold  the  principles  and  practice  of  agricul 
ture  and  manufactures  of  all  kind,  and  to  enable 
him  to  make  his  lectures  more  extensively  use 
ful,  congress  should  support  a  travelling  cor 
respondent  for  him,  who  should  visit  all  the 
nations  of  Europe,  and  transmit  to  him,  from 
time  to  time,  all  the  discoveries  and  improve 
ments  that  are  made  in  agriculture  and  manu 
factures.  To  this  seminary,  young  men  should 
be  encouraged  to  repair,  after  completing  their 
academical  studies  in  the  colleges  of  their 
respective  states.  The  honors  and  offices  of 
the  United  States  should,  after  a  while,  be  con 
fined  to  persons  who  had  imbibed  federal  and 
republican  ideas  in  this  university. 

For  the  purpose  of  diffusing  knowledge,  as 
well  as  extending  the  living  principle  of  gov 
ernment  to  every  part  of  the  United  States — 
every  state — city — county — village — and  town 
ship  in  the  union  should  be  tied  together  by 
means  of  the  post-office.  This  is  the  true  non 


electric  wire  of  government.  It  is  the  only 
means  of  conveying  heat  and  light  to  every 
individual  in  the  federal  commonwealth. 
"  Sweden  lost  her  liberties,"  says  the  abbe 
Raynal,  "  because  her  citizens  were  so  scattered, 
that  they  had  no  means  of  acting  in  concert  with 
each  other."  It  should  be  a  constant  injunc 
tion  to  the  post-masters,  to  convey  newspapers 
free  of  all  charge  for  postage.  They  are  not 
only  the  vehicles  of  knowledge  and  intelligence, 
but  the  sentinels  of  the  liberties  of  our  country. 

The  conduct  of  some  of  those  strangers,  who 
have  visited  our  country,  since  the  peace,  and 
who  fill  the  British  papers  with  accounts-  of 
our  distresses,  shows  as  great  a  want  of  good 
sense,  as  it  does  of  good  nature.  They  see 
nothing  but  the  foundations  and  walls  of  the 
temple  of  liberty ;  and  yet  they  undertake  to 
judge  of  the  whole  fabric. 

Our  own  citizens  act  a  still  more  absurd 
part,  when  they  cry  out,  after  the  experience  of 
three  or  four  years,  that  we  are  not  proper  ma 
terials  for  republican  government.  Remember, 
we  assumed  these  forms  of  government  in  a 
hurry,  before  we  were  prepared  for  them.  Let 
every  man  exert  himself  in  promoting  virtue 
and  knowledge  in  our  country,  and  we  shall 
soon  become  good  republicans.  Look  at  the 
steps  by  which  governments  have  been  changed, 
or  rendered  stable  in  Europe.  Read  the  his 
tory  of  Great  Britain.  Her  boasted  govern 
ment  has  risen  out  of  wars,  and  rebellions, 
that  lasted  above  six  hundred  years.  The 
United  States  are  travelling  peaceably  into  or 
der  and  good  government.  They  know  no 
strife — but  what  arises  from  the  collision  of 
opinions  ;  and,  in  three  years,  they  have  ad 
vanced  further  in  the  road  to  stability  and  hap 
piness,  than  most  of  the  nations  in  Europe  have 
done,  in  as  many  centuries. 

There  is  but  one  path  that  can  lead  the  Uni 
ted  States  to  destruction  ;  and  that  is  their 
extent  of  territory.  It  was  probably  to  effect 
this,  that  Great  Britain  ceded  to  us  so  much 
waste  land.  But  even  this  path  may  be  avoided. 
Let  but  one  new  state  be  exposed  to  sale  at  a 
time ;  and  let  the  land  office  be  shut  up,  till 
every  part  of  this  new  state  be  settled. 

I  am  extremely  sorry  to  find  a  passion  for 
retirement  so  universal  among  the  patriots  and 
heroes  of  the  war.  They  resemble  skillful 
mariners  who,  after  exerting  themselves  to  pre 
serve  a  ship  from  sinking  in  a  storm,  in  the 
middle  of  the  ocean,  drop  asleep,  as  soon  as 
the  waves  subside,  and  leave  the  care  of  their 
lives  and  property,  during  the  remainder  of  the 
voyage,  to  sailors,  without  knowledge  or  expe 
rience.  Every  man  in  a  republic  is  public  prop- 


236 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


erty.  His  time  and  talents  —  his  youth  —his 
manhood — his  old  age — nay  more,  his  life,  his 
all,  belong  to  his  country. 

Patriots  of  1774,  1775,  1776 — heroes  of  1778, 
1779,  1780 !  come  forward  !  your  country  de 
mands  your  services  ! — Philosophers  and  friends 
to  mankind,  come  forward  !  your  country  de 
mands  your  studies  and  speculations  !  Lovers 
of  peace  and  order,  who  declined  taking  part  in 
the  late  war,  come  forward  !  your  country  for 
gives  your  timidity  and  demands  your  influence 
and  advice  !  Hear  her  proclaiming,  in  sighs 
and  groans,  in  her  governments,  in  her  finan 
ces,  in  her  trade,  in  her  manufactures,  in  her 
morals,  and  in  her  manners,  "  THE  REVOLU 
TION  IS  NOT  OVER  !  " 


PATRIOTIC  GIFTS 
OF  CITIZENS  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

FROM  THE  PITTSBURG  STATESMAN. 

At  a  critical  period  of  the  revolutionary  war, 
when  there  was  great  danger  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  American  army,  for  want  of  provisions 
to  keep  it  together,  a  number  of  patriotic  gen 
tlemen  gave  their  bonds  to  the  amount  of 
about  two  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  pounds, 
in  gold  and  silver,  for  procuring  them.  The 
provisions  were  provided — the  army  was  kept 
together,  and  our  independence  was  finally 
achieved.  The  amount  of  the  bonds  was  never 
called  for,  but  it  is  well  to  keep  in  remember- 
ance  the  names  of  those  who  in  the  times  that 
tried  men's  souls  stepped  forward  and  pledged 
their  all  towards  the  support  of  those  who  were 
contending  for  our  liberty.  The  following  is  a 
list  of  some  of  their  names,  with  the  sums  re 
spectively  subscribed  by  them. 

Robert  Morris ^10000 

B.  M'Clennaghan ........  10000 

A.  Bunner  &  Co 6000 

Tench  Francis 55°° 

James  Wilson 5000 

William  Bingham 5000 

Richard  Peters 5000 

Samuel  Meredith 5000 

James  Mease 5000 

Thomas  Barclay 5000 

Samuel  Morris,  jr 5000 

Robert  L.  Hooper 5000 

Hugh  Shield 5000 

Philip  Moore 5000 

Matthew  Irwin 5000 

Thomas  Irwin 5000 


John  Benzet jL^°°° 

Henry  Hill 5000 

John  Morgan 5000 

Thomas  Willing 5000 

Samuel  Powel 5000 

John  Nixon 5000 

Robert  Bridges 5000 

John  Dunlap 4000 

Michael  Hillegas 4000 

William  Coates 4000 

Emanuel  Eyre 4000 

James  Bodden 4000 

John  Mease 4000 

Joseph  Carson 4000 

Thomas  Leiper 4000 

Kean  &  Nichols 4000 

Samuel  Morris 3000 

Isaac  Moses 3000 

Charles  Thompson 3000 

John  Pringle 3000 

Samuel  Miles 3000 

Cadwalader  Morris      t 2500 

Matthew  Clarkson 2500 

Thomas  M'Kean 2000 

John  Donaldson 2000 

John  Steinmetz 2000 

Benj.  Randolph 2000 

Abraham  Bickley 2000 

Robert  Bass 2000 

Owen  Biddle 2000 

John  Gibson 2000 

Charles  Petit 2000 

John  Mitchel 2000 

Robert  Knox 2000 

John  Bullock 2000 

Joseph  Reed 2000 

Francis  Gurney 2000 

George  Campbell 2000 

John  Wharton 2000 

Benjamin  Rush 2000 

Thomas  Lawrence 2000 

Joseph  Bleiver 2000 

William  Hall 2000 

John  Patton 2000 

Benjamin  Fuller 2000 

Meade  &  Fitzsimmons 2000 

Andrew  Hodge 2000 

Henry  Keppele 2000 

Francis  C.  Hassenclever 2000 

Isaac  Melcher 2000 

John  Schaffer 2000 

Alexander  Tod 2000 

John  Purviance .  2000 

John  Wilcocks 2000 

Samuel  Inglis 2000 

Jonathan  Penrose 2000 

Nathaniel  Falkner 2000 

James  Caldwell 2000 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


237 


Gerardus  Clarkson ^2000 

John  Shee looo 

Samuel  Caldwell 1000 

Samuel  Penrose 1000 

William  Turnbull 1000 

E,  Davis  jr 1000 

Sharp  Delany looo 

Andrew  Doz looo 

Peter  Whitesides 1000 

Andrew  Robeson 1000 


PRIVATE   BENEFICENCE. 

FROM  THE   PHILADELPHIA  CENTINEL. 

The  subsequent  narrative  is  no  idle  fiction  of 
the  brain ;  we  vouch  for  its  authenticity,  and 
no  doubt  but  many  of  our  readers  are  already 
acquainted  with  the  names  and  circumstances 
depicted.  We  shall  ever  feel  pleasure  in  em 
bellishing  our  columns  with  such  instances  of 
private  beneficence,  so  honorable  to  the  cause  of 
humanity,  and  we  cannot  but  anticipate  a  con 
currence  in  opinion  of  our  patrons  and  corre 
spondents. 


In  the  year  1806,  a  professional  gentleman 
of  this  city  had  obtained  a  judgment,  for  a  few 
hundred  dollars,  against  an  old,  infirm  gentle 
man,  who  had  formerly  been  a  commissary  to 
the  United  States'  army,  during  the  revolution 
ary  war,  and  who,  by  repeated  misfortunes,  had 
become  reduced  from  easy  circumstances  to 
absolute  penury  and  distress. — An  execution 
had  been  taken  out,  and  the  advocate  called 
on  the  sheriff  of  Philadelphia  county,  presented 
it  to  him,  and  requested  that  it  might  be  exe 
cuted  immediately.  "  It  shall  be  done  sir," 
said  the  minister  of  justice,  and  the  gentleman 
was  about  leaving  the  apartment,  when  his 
ears  were  saluted  with  an  exclamation  not 
unlike  that  which  greeted  corporal  Trim,  as  the 
beneficent  and  philanthropic  Toby  swore,  that 
the  lieut.  should  not  sink,  but  march.  "  This 
execution,"  said  he  "  shall  never  be  served 
by ,"  then  turning  to  his  clerk,  he  contin 
ued,  "give  Mr. a  check  for  the  amount." 

The  greatest  astonishment  was  excited — the 
eye  of  inquiry  was  turned  on  the  sheriff,  but 
"  the  form  of  his  visage  has  changed  ;  "  in 
stead  of  the  stern  unbecoming  features  of  a 
minister  of  justice,  his  countenance  seemed 
beaming  with  seraphic  mildness  and  un 
bounded  benevolence — the  warm  current  of 
life,  which  for  a  moment  had  mantled  his 
cheeks  with  crimson,  had  again  receded  to  the 


icart,  but  a  ray  of  ethereal  sweetness  remained, 
which  language  is  inadequate  to  portray. 

"  I  could  wish,"  said  the  gentleman,  when 
iis  astonishment  had  in  some  measure  sub 
sided,  "  that  you  would  so  far  gratify  me  as  to 
nform  me  of  the  motives  which  have  excited 
your  munificence  in  the  present  extraordinary 
manner."     "  You    shall    have    my    reasons," 
said  the  good  Samaritan,  "  and  then  judge  for 
yourself  of  the  propriety  of  my  conduct."     "  In 
the  month  of  December,  1777,  which,  you  will 
recollect,  was  just  after  the  battle  of  German- 
town,  and  when  our  army  had  retired  to  Val 
ley  Forge,  I  obtained  from  general  Washing 
ton,  under  whom  I  at  that  time  held  a  captain's 
commission,  a  furlough  of  absence  from  the 
army  for  one  month,  for  the  purpose  of  visit 
ing  my  wife  and  three  small  children.     It  was 
at  that   period  of  the   revolution,  when  our 
army  had  scarcely  anything  but  their  patriot 
ism  with  which  to  cover  themselves,  and  little 
else  than  a  love  of  liberty  to  afford  them  sub 
sistence.     I  set  out  on  my  journey  to  Chestnut 
Hill,  on  foot,  consoling  myself  for  the  weari 
ness  of  the  way,  with  the  endearing  anticipa 
tions  of  again  folding  to  my  bosom  the  partner 
of  my  life,  and  the  tender  pledges  of  our  con 
jugal  affection.     As  I  turned  from  the  high 
way  into  the  avenue  which  led  to  the  scene  of 
my  former  domestic  felicity,  and   beheld  the 
moonbeams  playing  on  leafless  branches  of 
the  majestic  oaks,  which  were  wont  to  shadow 
my  humble  dwelling,  how  animated,  how  ex 
quisite  were  the  sensations  which  took  posses 
sion  of  my  breast !  I  was  at  that  moment  at 
the  pinnacle  of  human  felicity — the  next  pre 
cipitated  me  into  the  abyss  of  despair.     The 
house  which  I  fondly  anticipated  as  sheltering 
all  that  was  near  and  dear  to  me,  was  a  smoking 
heap  of  smoking  ruins.     The  desolating  Briton 
had  been  there,  and  had  left  me  to  contemplate, 
in  speechless  agony,  the  devastation  of  his  sac 
rilegious  hand.     An  appalling  silence  prevailed, 
save  only  when    interrupted   by    the   hollow 
blasts  of  the  evening  as  they  swept  through  the 
wide    and    melancholy    waste.     The     moon, 
which,  at  this  moment,  emitted  her  feeble  rays 
from  behind  a  cloud,  enabled  me  to  discover, 
at  a  short  distance  from  this  scene  of  misery 
and  destruction,  my  shivering  wife  and  chil 
dren,  and  from  them  it  was  learned,  that  the 
enemy,  after  having  plundered  them  of  their 
last  rag,  had  set  fire  to  the  house,  and  that  one 
of  the  unfeeling  monsters  had  cast  my  little 
infant  into  the  flames ;  with  much  difficulty  it 
was    saved    by    its    half   distracted    mother. 
To    proceed,   however,    to    that   part  of   the 
story  which    accounts   for    my  conduct    this 


238 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


morning ;  as  soon  as  daylight  appeared,  we  set 
out  for  New  Jersey,  where  I  had  some  relations. 
The  situation  of  my  family  was  such  as  could 
hardly  have  failed  to  excite  commiseration  in  a 
breast  less  interested  for  them  than  mine, 
Seated  in  a  wretched  cart,  which  was  drawn 
by  a  decrepit  old  horse,  without  clothing  suffi 
cient  to  screen  them  from  the  severity  of  the 
weather,  they  were  destined  to  pass  another 
night,  with  no  other  shelter  than  the  canopy 
of  heaven,  ere  they  could  reach  their  place  of 
destination.  While  engaged  in  meditating  in 
what  manner  the  night  could  be  best  passed  in 
our  present  situation,  darkness  began  to  over 
shadow  us  ;  the  wind  blew  with  increased  vio 
lence,  and  the  rain  poured  down  upon  us  in 
torrents.  It  was  at  this  critical  juncture,  that 
a  horseman  approached,  and  inquired  who  I 
was,  and  whither  I  was  going.  After  listening 
to  a  hasty  recital  of  our  misfortunes,  he  dis 
mounted  from  his  horse,  unfastened  the  only 
blanket  which  he  had  to  screen  himself  from 
the  storm  that  raged,  passed  it  around  the  neck 
of  my  wife,  and  threw  the  extremities  of  it 
over  the  heads  of  my  shivering  children. 
Having  done  this,  he  dropt  a  tear  upon  my 
hand,  as  he  pressed  it  between  his,  gave  me 
his  best  wishes,  and  vaulting  into  his  saddle, 
was  out  of  sight  in  a  moment.  And  now,  need 
I  inform  you,  that  this  man  was  a  commissary 
to  the  army,  and  the  identical  person  against 
whom  the  iron  hand  of  the  law  was  this  morn 
ing  directed  ;  or  could  you  for  a  moment  be 
lieve,  that  I  could  seize  on  the  palsied  frame 
of  my  family's  benefactor,  and  immure  it  within 
the  cold  inhospitable  walls  of  a  prison  ?  GOD 
FORBID  ! "  A  gleam  of  exultation  flashed 
across  his  countenance  as  the  last  sentence 
passed  emphatically  from  his  lips.  The  advo 
cate  bowed  in  silence  and  retired ;  the  remain 
ing  auditors  averted  their  heads,  and  the  be 
nevolent  and  eloquent  speaker  passed  from 
before  them. 


REVOLUTIONARY  REMINISCENCES 
OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

The  people  of  "  the  good  old  thirteen  states," 
though  they  had  made  up  their  minds  to  suf 
fering  and  endurance,  did  not  enter  on  the 
contests  for  their  rights  and  liberties  in  a  hasty 
and  unadvised  manner ;  they  had  counted  the 
cost,  and,  although  determined  to  sacrifice  all 
that  they  held  dear,  rather  than  to  crouch  as 
slaves,  yet  they  shuddered  at  being  forced  upon 
that  extremity.  The  intelligence  of  the  battle 
of  Lexington,  the  first  blood  that  was  drawn  in 


the  quarrel,  was  received  with  the  deepest 
regret ;  in  Philadelphia  the  bells  were  muffled, 
and  an  expression  of  horror  and  gloom  covered 
the  countenances  of  all  the  citizens. 

Congress  first  sat  in  the  building  then  call 
ed  Carpenters'  hall,  up  the  court  of  that  name 
in  Chestnut  street.  On  the  morning  of  the  day 
that  they  first  convened,  their  future  secretary, 
the  now  venerable  Charles  Thomson,  who 
resided  at  that  time  in  the  Northern  Liberties, 
and  who  afterwards  so  materially  assisted  to 
launch  our  first  rate  republic,  had  that  morn 
ing  rode  into  the  city,  and  alighted  in  Chestnut 
street  He  was  immediately  accosted  by  a  mes 
sage  from  congress,  that  they  desired  to  speak 
with  him.  He  followed  the  messenger,  and, 
entering  the  building,  has  described  himself  as 
struck  with  awe,  upon  viewing  the  aspects  of 
so  many  great  and  good  men,  impressed  with 
the  weight  and  responsibility  of  their  situation, 
on  the  perilous  edge  of  which  they  were  then 
advancing.  He  walked  up  the  aisle,  and  bow 
ing  to  the  president,  desired  to  know  their 
pleasure. 

"Congress  requests  your  services,  sir,  as  their 
secretary."  He  took  his  seat  at  the  desk,  and 
never  looked  back  until  the  vessel  was  securely 
anchored  in  the  haven  of  independence. 

The  first  speaker,  (I  mean  the  first  who  rose 
to  speak)  in  that  congress,  was  Patrick  Henry, 
an  orator  undoubtedly,  but  not  superior  to 
many  who  took  their  seats  on  that  day,  although 
his  biographer  has  ascribed  to  his  eloquence 
the  fulminating  character  of  Demosthenes. 
What  he  said  on  that  occasion  was  short  and 
practical. 

Peyton  Randolph,  first  president  of  congress, 
died  in  October,  1775,  at  the  seat  of  Henry 
Hill,  Roxborough,  near  Philadelphia,  where  he 
had  accepted  an  invitation  to  dine  with  other 
company.  He  fell  from  his  seat  in  an  apoplectic 
fit,  and  immediately  expired.  His  corpse  was 
taken  to  Virginia  for  interment. 

With  respect  to  the  notices  of  the  still  more 
remote  "  olden  time  "  in  Philadelphia,  William 
Penn,  at  his  first  coming,  brought  over  the 
frame  of  a  house  which  was  set  up  for  him  in 
town  and  remained  in  being  for  many  years. 
I  have  also  heard  that  the  first  mill  for  grind 
ing  corn  was  brought  over  in  a  similar  manner, 
and  was  placed  on  Ridley  Creek. 

Tobacco  was  at  first  cultivated  in  Pennsyl 
vania  and  was  among  her  earliest  exports. 
An  old  petition  to  the  governor  and  council 
for  a  road  to  Germantown,  mentions  "  the 
tobacco  field,  (in  Front  street)  near  the 
town." 

When  William  Penn  arrived  the  second  time 


DELAWARE. 


239 


with  his  family,  in  1699,  he  brought  over  a 
coach.  In  the  former  part  of  last  century, 
Isaac  Norris,  sen.,of  Fairhill,  kept  a  coach  and 
four — he  lived  out  of  town,  and  like  his  worthy 
descendant  of  our  time,  had  a  large  family, 
His  cotemporary,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  a  gentle 
man  who  had  moved  from  Jamaica  to  Pennsyl 
vania,  had  likewise  a  coach  and  four.  A  very 
respectable  old  gentleman,  who  died  some 
years  since,  has  told  me  that  he  well  remem 
bered  when  there  were  but  eight  four-wheeled 
carriages  in  the  whole  province  :  viz.  the  three 


above  mentioned,  capt.  Anthony  Palmer's, 
Andrew  Hamilton's,  James  Logan's,  judge 
Lloyd's  of  Chester,  and,  I  think,  judge  Lang- 
horne's  of  Bucks. 

The  bells  of  Christ  church  were  first  tolled 
on  account  of  the  death  of  the  wife  of  captain 
Palmer,  when  a  fatal  accident  happened  to 
one  of  the  ringers.  Captain  Palmer  was  presi 
dent  of  the  council  after  James  Logan,  about 
the  year  1740.  Some  of  his  descendants  are 
still  among  us. 


DELAWARE. 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  INSPECTION  OF 
KENT  COUNTY,  IN  RELATION  TO  CERTAIN 
TEA. 

DOVER,  January  26,  1775. 

Gentlemen — At  a  meeting  of  the  committee 
of  inspection  for  Kent  county,  on  Delaware, 
(on  26th  inst.)  information  was  given,  by  a 
member  of  the  committee,  of  two  barrels  of 
tea,  containing  2261b.  which  he  had  discovered 
on  board  J.  H's  sloop,  at  a  landing  place  in 
said  county ;  that  he  had  been  obliged  to  put 
the  tea  into  his  own  store,  to  secure  it  from 
the  populace,  as  there  was  great  reason  to 
believe  that  it  had  been  unduly  imported,  since 
the  ist  of  December  last,  in  a  brig  late  from 
Jamaica,  belonging  to  J.  H.  who  is  now  in  this 
county,  and  confesses  himself  to  be  the  owner 
of  the  tea. 

Mr.  H.  being  called  upon  by  the  committee, 
acknowledged  the  tea  to  be  his  property,  and 
said  it  was  a  part  of  a  large  chest  he  had 
bought  of  Duffield  and  Hempburn,  wt.  3.  o,  23, 
tare  7olb,  of  which  he  produced  a  bill  dated 
January  nth,  1775.  He  declared  he  believed 
the  tea  to  be  duly  imported,  and  had  taken  the 
above  parcel  which  the  committee  had  taken  into 
custody,  out*  of  the  chest,' and' packed  it  in 
barrels,  for  no  other  reason  than  because  it 
was  more  conveniently  hoisted  in  and  out  of 
the  vessel ;  but  gave  no  reason  for  the  immod 
erate  quantity,  though  very  unfit  for  the  place 
where  he  alleged  it  was  to  be  sold. 

Mr.  H.  then  took  his  leave  and  the  com 
mittee  for  this  county  unanimously  resolved,  that 
the  tea  should  be  kept  in  store,  until  the  above 
state  of  the  case  was  communicated  to  the  com 
mittee  of  inspection  for  the  city  of  Philadel 
phia,  and  that  said  committee  be  requested  to 


enquire  into  the  matter,  and  detect  the  remain 
der  of  the  said  chest  of  tea,  if  duly  imported 
and  if  otherwise,  that  by  a  speedy  answer  they 
will  enable  the  committee  to  return  an  innocent 
man's  property. 

Signed  by  order  of  the  committee. 


LETTER  FROM  DR.   JAMES  TILTON 

To  DR.  ELMER,  UPON  THE  CONDITION  OF 
AFFAIRS  IN  DELAWARE,  1775. 

I  have  little  more  than  time  to  enquire  of  you 
whether  you  ever  received  the  answer  I  sent  to 
your  letter,  received  soon  after  I  saw  you  at 
Philadelphia.  I  am  unwilling  to  think  you 
either  negligent  or  forgetful  of  me,  but  I  am 
much  disposed  to  abuse  our  intermediate 
friend,  Mr.  D. — He  kept  your  letter  from  me 
I  don't  know  how  long,  and  I  take  it  for 
granted  has  lost  mine  altogether — thus  you 
have  been  deceived  and  I  have  been  abused 
and  injured. 

It  would  be  impertinent  to  trouble  you  with 
medical  nonsense  now.  The  important  con 
cerns  of  our  country  engage  every  mind.  It 
will  be  unnecessary  for  me  to  comment  or 
enlarge  upon  the  arguments  offered  on  either 
or  both  sides.  I  will  only  mention  the  conclu 
sion  which  I  have  drawn  from  them,  and  the 
principle  upon  which  I  act.  I  consider  the 
imposition  offered  us  by  Great  Britain  as  unrea 
sonable,  unjust  and  affronted  ;  I  am,  therefore, 
determined  to  resist  to  the  uttermost,  trusting 
the  event  to  Providence. 

I  am  informed  by  the  reverend  father  who 
brings  you  this,  that  you  have  taken  an  active 
part  in  this  time  of  trouble  ;  that  physic  itself 


PRINCIPLES   AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


does  not  hinder  you  from  heading  a  light  infan 
try  company.  That  I  may  give  you  some  evi 
dence  of  my  zeal  for  the  good  of  my  country,  I 
must  inform  you  that  I  am  first  lieut.  of  a  light 
infantry  company — and  that  the  hon.  committee 
of  safety  at  their  late  meeting  in  Dover,  hon 
ored  me  with  the  appointment  of  surgeon  to 
the  first  battalion  in  our  country.  I  am  pleased 
with  the  public  transactions  of  your  province. 
Does  the  conduct  of  the  people  at  large,  cor 
respond  with  the  transactions  of  your  public 
assemblies?  Our  militia  is  now  completely 
formed  throughout  the  government,  and  it 
completely  disgraces  a  man  not  to  enroll. — Of 
the  company  I  belong  to,  above  sixty  are  in 
genteel  regimentals,  with  light  infantry  caps,  and 
will  soon  be  fully  accoutered.  In  short,  I  was 
never  so  completely  new  modelled  in  so  short 
a  time  ;  instead  of  the  careless  and  secure  ap 
pearance  we  made  six  months  ago,  you  will 
now  find  most  of  us  in  a  regimental  dress  with 
swords  upon  our  thighs. 

But  I  must  conclude  with  wishing  to   hear 
from  you,  and  assuring  you  that  I  remain, 

Your  affectionate  humble  servant, 

JAMES  TILTON. 


PETITION 

OF    THE    INHABITANTS    OF    KENT   COUNTY 
TO   ESTABLISH    A   MILITIA. 

To  the  honorable  the  representatives  of  the 
counties  of  Newcastle,  Kent  and  Sussex,  in 
general  assembly  met,  \^th  March,  1775. 

The  petition  of  the  inhabitants,  freemen  of 
Kent  county,  most  humbly  sheweth  ; 

That  we  conceive  a  well  regulated  militia, 
composed  of  the  gentlemen  freeholders  and 
other  freemen,  to  be  not  only  a  constitutional 
right,  but  the  natural  strength  and  most  stable 
security  of  a  free  government,  from  the  ex 
ercise  of  which  a  wise  people  will  not  excuse 
themselves  even  in  time  of  peace. 

That  happily  secure  in  the  affectionate  pro 
tection  of  our  mother  country,  we  have  for 
some  time  past  been  carelessly  negligent  of 
military  art  and  discipline,  and  are  therefore 
the  more  exposed  to  the  insult  and  ravages  of 
our  natural  enemies  at  this  unhappy  time, 
when  we  have  lost  our  interest  in  the  esteem 
and  affection  of  our  parent  state. 

We  therefore  pray  your  honors  to  take  our 
case  into  your  most  serious  consideration,  and, 
by  passing  an  act  of  assembly  establishing  a 
militia  throughout  this  government,  grant  us 
relief  in  the  premises,  and  your  petitioners,  as 
in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray. 


RECANTATION 

OF  AN  ARTICLE  REFLECTING  UPON  THE 
PATRIOTS  OF  KENT  COUNTY,  AND  THE 
ACTION  OF  THE  RESPECTIVE  COMMITTEES 

THEREON. 

I  acknowledge  to  have  wrote  a  piece,  and 
did  not  sign  it,  since  said  to  be  an  extract  of  a 
letter  from  Kent  county,  on  Delaware,  pub 
lished  in  Humphrey's  Ledger,  No.  3.  It  was 
not  dated  from  any  place,  and  is  some  altered 
from  the  original.  I  folded  it  up  and  directed 
the  same  to  J.  F.  and  Sons.  I  had  no  intention 
to  have  it  published ;  and  further,  I  let  them 
know  the  author  thought  best  it  should  not  be 
published ;  nor  did  I  think  they  would — I  am 
sincerely  sorry  I  ever  wrote  it,  as  also  for  its 
being  published,  and  hope  I  shall  be  excused 
for  this,  my  first  breach  in  this  way,  and  I 
intend  it  shall  be  the  last.  R.  H. 

To  the  committee  of  correspondence 
for  Kent  county,  on  Delaware,  May  2,  1775. 


REPLY  OF  COMMITTEE. 

SIR, — The  president  of  the  committee  of 
correspondence,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  such 
other  of  the  members  of  that  committee  as  he 
was  able  to  collect  and  consult,  this  day  laid 
before  the  committee  of  inspection  for  this 
county,  your  letter  wherein  you  confess  your 
self  to  be  the  author  of  the  Kentish  letter 
(commonly  so  called)  published  in  3d  No.  of 
Humphrey's  Ledger. 

The  committee  took  the  same  into  considera 
tion,  and  have  unanimously  resolved  that  it  is 
unsatisfactory,  and  you  are  requested  to  attend 
the  committee  at  their  next  meeting  on  Tuesday 
the  gth  inst.  at  French  Battell's,  in  Dover,  and 
render  such  satisfaction  to  the  committee,  as 
will  enable  them  to  clear  the  good  people  of 
this  county  from  the  aspersions  of  that  letter, 
and  justify  them  in  the  eyes  of  the  public. 
Signed  by  order  of  the  committee. 
To  R.  H,  May  2,  1775- 


To  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  INSPECTION   FOR 
KENT  COUNTY,  ON  DELAWARE. 

GENTLEMEN, — With  sorrow  and  contrition 
for  my  weakness  and  folly,  I  confess  myself  the 
author  of  the  letter,  from  which  an  extract  was 
published  in  the  3d  No.  of  Humphrey's  Ledger, 
said  to  be  from  Kent  county,  on  Delaware  :  but 
at  the  same  time  to  declare  it  was  published 


DELAWARE. 


241 


without  my  consent,   and  not  without  some 
alterations. 

I  am  now  convinced  that  the  political  senti 
ments  therein  contained,  were  founded  on  the 
grossest  error ;  more  especially  that  malignant 
insinuation,  that  "  if  the  king's  standard  were 
now  erected,  nine  out  of  ten  would  repair  to  it," 
could  not  have  been  suggested,  hut  from  the 
deepest  infatuation.  True  indeed  it  is,  the 
people  of  this  county  have  ever  shewn  a  zealous 
attachment  to  his  majesty's  person  and  govern 
ment,  and  whenever  he  raised  his  standard  in  a 
just  cause,  were  ready  to  flock  to  it :  but  let 
the  severe  account  I  now  render  to  an  injured 
people,  witness  to  the  world,  that  none  are 
more  ready  to  oppose  tyranny  or  to  be  first  in 
the  cause  of  liberty,  than  the  inhabitants  of 
Kent  county. 

Conscious  that  I  can  render  no  satisfaction 
adequate  to  the  injury  I  have  done  to  my 
country,  I  can  only  beg  the  forgiveness  of  my 
countrymen,  upon  those  principles  of  humanity, 
which  may  induce  them  to  consider  the  frailty 
of  human  nature — and  I  do  profess  and  promise 
that  I  will  never  again  oppose  those  laudable 
measures,  necessarily  adopted  by  my  country 
men,  for  the  preservation  of  American  free 
dom  :  but  will  co-operate  with  them  to  the 
utmost  of  my  abilities,  in  their  virtuous  struggle 
for  liberty  (so  far  as  is  consistent  with  my 
religious  principles).  R.  H. 

May  5,  1775. 

SATISFACTION  TENDERED. 

GENTLEMEN. — Whatever  the  public  opinion 
may  be  of  what  I  have  heretofore  said  respect 
ing  the  contest  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
colonies,  I  do  solemnly  assure  you  that  I  have 
never  had  anything  in  view  but  a  reconciliation 
between  them,  upon  the  full  establishment  of 
all  the  constitutional  rights  and  privileges  of 
America.  Which  rights  and  privileges  I  am 
determined  to  defend  with  my  life  and  property 
against  all  invasions  whatsoever.  This  you 
will  please  to  make  known  to  my  brethren  in 
this  county. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  with  great  respect,  your 
humble  servant,  R.  H. 

To  the  committee  of  observation 
for  Kent  county,  on  Delaware,  May  5,  1775 


COMMITTEE  SATISFIED. 

Resolved   unanimously,  that  the  committee 
think  the  above  recantation  fully  satisfactory. 
THOMAS  NIXON,  JR.  Clerk, 
May  9,  1775. 
16 


LETTER 

To  COMMITTEE  OF  INSPECTION  OF  KENT 
COUNTY,  ASSIGNING  REASONS  FOR  RE 
LEASE  FROM  MILITARY  SERVICE. 

SEVENTH  MONTH,  27,  1775. 
To  the  Committee  now  sitting  at  Dover. 

Whereas  I  understand  you  have  been  pleased 
to  advertise  without  any  distinction  of  age  or 
•eligion,  all  those  who  refuse  to  take  up  arms 
to  appear  at  Dover  this  day,  in  order  to  give 
reasons  why  they  don't  enrol,  and  I  expect  I 
am  one  of  these  transgressors  ;  and  I  not  being 
willing  to  give  any  offence,  but  to  follow  after 
peace   with   all   men — for  without  which,    no 
man  shall  see  the  Lord.     And  looking  on  it  as 
a  duty  on  all  Christians  to  be  subject  to  every 
law  and  ordinance  of  man,  for  conscience  sake, 
where  such  laws  and  ordinances  are  not  repug 
nant  to  the  law  of  God  and  their  religious  prin 
ciples,  so  I,  as   one   who   hath  received  favor 
from   God,  and   one  under  the  obligation  of 
keeping  his  law,  will  let  you  know  my  several 
reasons  why  I  am  thus  delinquent — the  chief 
of  which  is  as  follows :  Whereas  the  Lord  my 
God  hath  been  pleased  by  his  Almighty  power, 
to  deliver  my  soul  from  the  bondage  of  sin  and 
death,  and   hath   set  up  his  law  in  my  heart, 
with  his  strict  command  to  obey  the  same  at 
the  risk  of  the  loss  of  his  holy  favor,  which  is 
of  more  value  to  me  than  all  the  transitory 
things  of  this  world,  and  even  my  life,  which, 
if  required,  I  am  ready  to  offer  up  a  sacrifice 
for  his  sake— now,  this  I  do  not  refuse  to  do 
out   of    any   obstinacy    or  opposition   to    my 
countrymen,  but  because  I  verily  believe  God 
to  have  a  hand  in  these  affairs,  and  dare  not 
join  to  fight  against  him  ;  neither  do  anything 
to  encourage  others.     Second  reason  is,  I  am 
now  going  in  my  fifty-sixth  year,  and  am  very 
fat  and  not  fit  for  action.     Third  reason  is,  I 
have  a  giddiness  in  my  head,  that  is  so  bad  on 
me  at  times,  that  I  have  dropt  in  the  road  as 
though  I  was  shot  with  a  bullet.     The  fourth 
reason  why,  about  two  years  ago  I  had  the  flux 
for   seven  months  very  bad,  and  now,  to  this 
day,  when  I  overheat  myself,  I  catch  cold,  and 
it  returns  upon  me  again,  and  will  many  times 
lay  me  up  for  seven  or  eight  days  together ;  so 
I  think  that  these  reasons  with  the  first  and 
principal  one,  would  be  enough  for  any  reason 
able  men,  which  I  take  you  all  to  be,  to  have 
me  excused.     But  if  you  are  not  satisfied  with 
these  reasons,  I  am  ready  and  willing  to  come 
on  the  least  notice,  only  please  to  let  me  know 
by  a  line  or  two,  and  I  will  wait  on  you  any 
time  whenever  you  will  please  to  call  on  me  at 


242 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


any  other  time — I  should  have  come  to-day 
only  I  was  engaged  another  way  before  I  hearc 
of  the  advertisement,  for  I  never  saw  it. 

This  from  your  friend  and  well  wisher  to  you 
all  and  all  your  honest  undertakings  ;  and  maj 
the  God  of  peace  instruct  you  all,  and  give  you 
grace,  is  the  sincere  prayer  of  me. 

Z.  G. 


CORRESPONDENCE 

UPON  THE  SUBJECT  OF  TORYISM  IN  SUF 
FOLK  COUNTY.  LETTER  FROM  SAMUEL 
M'MASTERS  TO  DR.  JAMES  TILTON. 

LEWES,   NOVEMBER    14,   1775. 

SIR — This  informs  you,  that  an  indictment 
was  found  by  the  grand  jury  of  Sussex  county, 
against  a  number  of  zealous  friends  to   their 
country,  for,  as  is  said,  insulting  a  certain  J.  C. 
The   particulars   are   as   follows :  J.  C.,    some 
time   in    the  month    of  September,   came  to 
Lewes,  and  in  an  open,  profane  manner,  cursed 
the   honorable  continental  congress,   and   all 
those  that  would   not  curse  it ;  calling  upon 
the  supreme  Being  in  a  most  solemn  manner 
to  d — n  the  congress,  and  all  that  would  not 
d — n  it ;  that  d — d  set  would  ruin  the  country. 
For  which  expressions  and   such  like,  it  was 
thought  proper  he  should  be  had  up  before  the 
committee  of  inspection,  as  guilty  of  treason 
against  the  liberties  of  America,  and  also  the 
congress  ;  for  the  congress  acting  suitable  to 
the  power  delegated,  that  body  ought  to  be 
esteemed  as  king,  and   therefore  whatever  is 
said   against    that    body  should    be    deemed 
treason.     C.  being  had  up  before   the   com 
mittee,  and   the  facts   before  mentioned  suffi 
ciently  proved,  one  of  the  audience  said  "  it 
sounded    like  a  death   warrant."      C.   in  an 
insulting,  swearing  way.  said,  "  put  it  in  execu 
tion."     However,  upon   mature   consideration 
of  the  committee,  some  of  which  was  no  bet 
ter  than  C.  a  sort  of  recantation  was  drawn  up 
and  signed  by  C.  but  by  no  means  satisfactory 
to  the  people.     Upon  which,  some  concluded 
we  should  proceed  in  the  new  mode  of  making 
converts,  by  bestowing  upon  C.  a  coat  of  tar 
and  feathers ;  but  after  some  hesitation,  and 
much  persuasion,  were   prevented  from  using 
any  violent  measures,  unless  beating  the  drum 
a  few  rods,  and  two  boys  throwing  an  egg  a 
piece  unknown  to  the  men — which,  as  soon  as 
they  were  observed,  was  immediately  stopped. 
No  threatening  or  abusive  language  was  made 
use  of  to  intimidate  or  affright  him.     This  is 
as  near  the  state  of  the  matter  as  I  can  recol 


lect — this  they  have  made  a  riot  of,  and  J.  M. 
esquire,  as  king's  attorney,  has  acted  in  this 
matter. 

Now,  if  such  offenders  as  C.  are  permitted  to 
bring  us  under  the  cognizance  of  the  civil 
law, — all  the  friends  to  liberty  here  in  Sussex, 
may  as  well  give  up  as  contend  any  longer : 
for,  we  are  too  weak  to  oppose  ministerial 
tools. 

This  from  yours  to  serve, 

SAMUEL  M'MASTERS. 


DR.  TILTON'S  REPLY. 

DOVER,  NOVEMBER,    1775- 

SIR — Yours  of  the  I4th  inst.  came  safe  to 
hand.  I  am  not  a  little  surprised  at  the  contents 
of  it.  I  have  heard  a  great  deal  of  Sussex  tory- 
ism,  but  imagine,  if  you  had  really  such  among 
you,  they  would  have  acted  more  ingeniously 
than  by  playing  off  the  civil  law,  as  an  engine 
against  the  sons  of  liberty.  The  recent  success 
of  Mr.  H.  I  should  have  thought  would  have 
taught  them  better.  Your  grand  jury  must 
certainly  have  been  infatuated  with  very  undue 
prejudices,  or  they  never  could  have  counte 
nanced  such  an  indictment  as  you  mention. 

I  wish  I  was  able  to  give  you  such  advice  as 
would  be  profitable  to  your  deluded  country 
men  ;  but  when  I  consider  that  I  am  writing  to 
a  man  younger  than  myself,  and  who  has  per 
haps  as  little  influence  in  Sussex  as  I  have  in 
Kent,  I  conceive  I  cannot  testify  my  esteem, 
for  a  lover  of  liberty,  better,  than  by  communi 
cating  my  sentiments,  on  our  present  troubles, 
in  as  short  and  plain  a  manner  as  I  can. 

I  lay  it  down  as  a  maxim,  that  the  claim  of 
England  on  America  "  to  tax  her  in  all  cases 
whatsoever,"  is  affrontive  to  common  sense, 
not  to  be  tolerated,  but  spurned  at  by  freemen, 
and  to  be  resisted  to  the  last  extremity  when 
ever  attempted  to  be  put  in  execution.  It  is 
bund  equally  true,  by  our  experience,  that  the 
civil  or  municipal  laws  of  the  provinces,  are 
not  sufficient  to  defend  us  against  the  unjust 
and  cruel  means  used  to  bring  us  under  unjust 
and  arbitrary  taxation.  What  resource  then 
had  America  left  her?  Why — she  appealed  to 
:he  law  of  nature,  which  having  a  like  respect 
o  all,  is  founded  only  in  justice  and  truth.  In 
doing  this  however,  the  Americans  have  not 
violated  the  constitution  of  England  (as  their 
nemies  have  suggested,)  for  that  being  founded 
n  liberty  cannot  be  repugnant  to  the  eternal 
nd  immutable  laws  of  truth  and  justice.  By 
he  law  of  nature  then,  and  the  constitution 
of  England,  we  are  perfectly  right  in  defending 
our  rights  and  liberties.  The  law  of  nature  is 


DELAWARE. 


243 


above  all  others,  and  constantly  governs  in  the 
last  exigency  of  affairs.  In  our  present  struggle 
is  it  not  equally  necessary  to  guard  against 
intestine  enemies  as  foreign  foes  ?  But  by 
what  law  of  the  land  can  we  do  it  ?— by  none, 
and  therefore  we  appeal  to  the  law  of  nature. 
By  this  law  the  representatives  of  a  people  in 
committee,  publish  an  enemy  and  make  him 
infamous  forever  ;  and  by  this  law,  the  people 
at  large  tar  and  feather  tories  and  traitors. 
The  sole  object  of  natural  law  is  justice  ;  and 
agreeable  to  it,  in  Mr.  C's  case,  the  only  ques 
tion  should  be,  has  his  punishment  been  more 
than  adequate  to  his  crimes  ?  If  he  has  dis 
covered  himself  unfriendly  to  his  country,  and 
especially  to  America,  his  light  escape  could  be 
owing  to  nothing  but  great  partiality  or  uncom 
mon  humanity  in  his  countrymen.  And  as  to 
those  men,  who  would  now  take  advantage  of 
the  civil  law,  against  those  who  were  the  in 
struments  of  justice  on  C.  in  behalf  of  their 
country,  I  take  it  for  granted  they  have  a 
plentiful  stock  of  ignorance  or  an  uncommon 
share  of  boldness  and  wickedness  ;  and  I  will 
venture  to  add,  that  were  they  in  any  part  of 
the  United  Colonies,  beside  Sussex,  they  would 
in  the  one  case  meet  with  proper  instruction, 
and  in  the  other  suitable  correction. 


LETTER  FROM  DR.  TILTON,  TO  HIS  BROTHER 
J.  W.  ON  THE  SAME  SUBJECT. 

DOVER,  ibtk  NOVEMBER,  1775. 

Dear  brother — It  is  not  common  for  me  to 
trouble  you  with  political  letters.  Mrs.  M. 
however,  informs  me  of  a  late  transaction,  in 
Lewes,  in  which  I  think  you  so  nearly  inter 
ested,  that  I  am  constrained  to  communicate  a 
few  thoughts  of  mine  on  the  subject ;  not  from 
a  vain  pride  of  differing  in  opinion  with  my 
elder  brother,  but  from  a  sincere  wish  that  you 
may  improve  any  hints  of  mine  that  are  right, 
to  your  own  advantage  and  the  public  good. 
I  am  told  you  sat  with  a  number  of  others  and 
advised  among  the  rest,  that  some  young  men 
should  be  indicted  for  mobbing  J.  C.  a  noted 
enemy  to  his  country  ;  that  you  being  the  first 
who  left  the  room,  was  as  good  as  mobbed 
yourself,  by  the  inhabitants  of  Lewes,  who  re 
sented  such  treatment  from  their  magistrates. 
This  being  a  true  state  of  the  case,  I  am  obli 
ged  to  think  you  have  been  guilty  of  an  error. 
I  know  you  wish  well  to  your  country,  but  men 
of  the  best  designs  may  sometimes  be  wrong 
in  the  means  of  accomplishing  them.  You 
cannot  be  ignorant  that  the  law  of  the  land  is 
insufficient  to  protect  us  against  the  violence  of 


Sreat  Britain,  and  that  therefore  America  has 
.ong  since  recurred  to  the  law  of  nature,  by 
virtue  of  which  she  has  strengthened  her  hands 
— As  we  have  no  law  of  the  land  by  which  we " 
can  punish  tories  and  traitors,  the  natural  law 
of  necessity  takes  place. — Natural  law  has  jus 
tice  alone  for  its  object,  and  in  Mr.  C's  case, 
the  sole  question  ought  to  be,  has  he  received 
more  than  he  deserved  ?  I  am  sure  you  will 
say  he  deserved  ten  times  as  much.  Why 
then  would  you  take  advantage  of  the  civil  law 
in  his  behalf?  If  you  should  answer  in  the 
language  of  the  most  unfriendly  to  this  coun 
try,  "  lest  the  civil  authority  should  be  brought 
into  contempt,"  a  moment's  reflection  will 
shew  you  the  absurdity  of  such  reasoning. 
Can  the  dignity  of  civil  authority  be  supported 
by  acting  in  concert  with  villains  ?  and  would 
you  wish  to  be  accounted  the  avenger  of  jus 
tice  ?  But  I  need  not  enlarge,  as  no  instance 
can  be  adduced  where  the  Americans  have 
punished  an  innocent  person  for  crimes  like 
C's.  Mr.  H's  fate  will  serve  to  show  you  the 
sense  of  the  Philadelphians,  respecting  your 
conduct.  His  crime  is  nothing  more  than  an 
exertion  of  civil  power  in  opposition  to  the 
rights  of  nature.  He  was  carted. — I  don't 
mention  this  to  reproach  you  with  folly,  but  as 
a  basis  to  that  advice  I  wish  you  to  take,  viz  : 
that  you  may  use  your  utmost  influence  if  pos 
sible,  to  quash  the  indictments.  I  am  per 
suaded  the  reputation  of  your  county  and 
your  own  personal  safety,  are  concerned  in  the 
event  of  this  matter.  For  though  Sussex  should 
approve  or  submit  to  such  conduct,  I  am  con 
fident  every  other  part  of  the  United  Colonies 
will  condemn  and  despise.  For  my  own  part, 
I  have  heard  many  bad  reports  of  Sussex,  but 
I  assure  you  this  fills  me  with  more  displeasure 
than  any  public  transaction  of  your  county,  I 
have  ever  attended  .to. 


ARREST   OF   A   MEMBER 

OF  THE  DELAWARE  LEGISLATURE  BY  THE 
LIGHT  INFANTRY  COMPANY  OF  DOVER, 
MARCH,  1776. 

The  petition  and  remonstrance  of  the  light 
infantry  company  of  Dover,  to  the  honorable 
house  of  representatives,  for  the  government 
of  the  counties  of  New  Castle,  Kent,  and 
Sussex,  on  Delaware,  now  sitting  at  New 
Castle,  humbly  sheweth : 
That  T.  R.  of  Sussex  county,  esq.  having  for 

a  long  time  past  been  of  ill  fame,  and  published 


244 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


by  diverse  committees  in  several  newspapers 
as  an  enemy  to  his  country,  and  the  said  T.  R. 
presuming  to  pass  through  our  county,  and 
at  a  critical  conjuncture  to  sit  in  your  honorable 
house,  as  one  of  our  representatives,  we  thought 
ourselves  bound  in  duty,  as  we  regarded  the 
honor  of  your  honorable  house,  and  the  true 
interest  and  safety  of  the  public,  to  take  said 
T.  R.  into  custody  until  your  honorable  house 
could  take  order  in  the  matter.  Whereupon 
an  attempt  being  made  to  arrest  Mr.  R.  col. 
M.  of  Sussex  county  also,  drew  his  sword,  and 
tho'  he  was  made  well  acquainted  with  the  rea 
sons  and  principles  upon  which  it  was  thought 
necessary  to  arrest  Mr.  R.  he  swore  he  would 
defend  him  at  the  risk  of  his  life.  Upon  this, 
he  was  immediately  disarmed,  and  his  violent 
conduct,  together  with  the  well  known  con 
nection  between  the  two  men,  inducing  the 
company  to  consider  Mr.  M.  as  in  the  same 
predicament  with  Mr.  R.  they  after  mature 
deliberation,  resolved  to  give  them  both  a  like 
treatment,  by  keeping  them  in  safe  custody 
until  your  advice  and  pleasure  should  be  known. 
They  were  accordingly  detained  under  guard 
for  one  night  and  next  day,  by  advice  of  a  num 
ber  of  gentlemen  in  whom  we  could  confide, 
they  were  set  at  liberty,  on  their  giving  bond 
with  security  that  they  would  submit  their  con 
duct  to  a  strict  enquiry  before  your  honorable 
house,  and  not  presume  to  sit  or  do  any  one 
act  as  members,  until  honorably  acquitted  of 
all  charges  and  every  degree  of  suspicion,  by 
you.  In  all  this  we  apprehend,  we  have  acted 
consistent  with  the  first  principle  of  nature  and 
humanity.  And  as  we  flatter  ourselves  with 
your  approbation,  we  hope  and  expect  that  a 
scrutiny  will  be  made  into  the  conduct  of  these 
suspicious  persons,  and  that  in  wisdom  you 
will  judge  of  them,  and  relieve  your  petitioners 
and  the  public  in  general  of  their  apprehen 
sions  concerning  them. 

We  cannot  omit  the  present  opportunity, 
with  humility  and  confidence,  to  make  known 
to  your  honors  many  grievances  of  our  own 
and  neighboring  county,  by  which  the  cause 
of  virtue  and  liberty  has,  and  will  greatly  suffer 
— and  may  be  ruined  ;  unless  by  the  intreaties 
of  your  petitioners  and  other  good  men,  we 
can  prevail  on  your  honors  to  look  diligently 
and  carefully  into  the  ways  and  conduct  of  a 
number  of  designing  and  interested  men,  who, 
like  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  under  the 
pretext  of  law,  rule  or  order,  most  assiduously 
oppose  and  hinder,  to  the  utmost  of  their 
power,  the  strenuous  endeavors  of  the  good 
and  virtuous  in  all  their  public  measures,  on 
behalf  of  our  threatened  liberty.  When  under 


covert  of  authority  or  the  specious  garb  of 
moderation,  the  first  laws  of  nature  and  justice 
are  violated,  if  we  do  but  murmur,  we  are 
reprobated  as  violent  incendiaries,  and  loaded 
with  opprobrious  epithets.  By  the  dint  of 
influence,  a  number  of  persons,  the  most  noto 
riously  opposed  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  and 
who  have  made  public  concessions  for  the 
most  daring  offences,  are  made  officers  in  our 
militia,  and  thus  have  influence  among  the 
people.  But  this  reproach  is  not  the  most 
intolerable  to  complain  of.  Men  of  the  most 
dangerous  characters  have  crept  into  our  very 
councils,  and,  if  it  were  possible,  would  con 
taminate  the  very  source  and  fountain  of  all 
our  hopes  and  expectations. 

We  pray  your  honors,  that,  after  diligent 
enquiry  and  being  well  satisfied  of  the  truth  of 
these  our  allegations,  you  will  take  the  means 
of  our  redress  into  your  serious  consideration, 
and  that  you  will  give  that  aid  to  public  virtue 
and  liberty  which  your  known  wisdom  and 
patriotism  will  naturally  suggest. 

And  your  petitioners  as  in  duty  bound  shall 
pray. 


REPLY   OF  THE   MEMBERS 

OF  THE  ASSEMBLY  TO  THE  ABOVE  PETI 
TION. 

CROSS   ROADS,  MARCH  3,  1776. 

GENTLEMEN — We,  the  members  of  assem 
bly  for  Kent  county,  taking  into  consideration 
the  confinement  of  Messrs.  R.  and  M.,now  in 
your  custody,  take  the  liberty  to  inform  you 
that  the  continuing  these  supposed  offenders 
any  longer  under  a  restraint  of  their  liberty, 
may  give  interruption  to  the  business  of  legis 
lation  in  this  government,  which  may  be  injur 
ious,  especially  at  this  time ;  we  are  therefore 
of  opinion  that  you  should  release  them  from 
their  imprisonment,  and  permit  them  to  pursue 
their  journey  to  New  Castle,  upon  their  giving 
bond  with  security  to  submit  the  enquiry  into 
their  respective  offences  to  the  house  of  assem 
bly,  and  abide  by,  and  perform  whatsoevei 
shall  be  enjoined  them  by  the  house. 

We  are,  gentlemen,  etc. 

CESAR  RODNEY, 
WILLS  KILLEN, 
JOHN  HASLETT, 
THOMAS  RODNEY, 
VINCENT  LOCKERMAN. 

To  the  gentlemen 

of  the  light  infantry  company. 


DELAWARE. 


Account  of  the  arrest  of  the  parties  above 
referred  to,  as  published  in  1788,  in  a  pamphlet, 
entitled  "  The  Biographical  history  of  Diony- 
sius,  tyrant  of  Delaware,  by  Timoleon." 

"But  to  explain  the  attachment  and  connec 
tion  of  Dionysius  with  R.  and  the  other  repre 
sentatives  from  Sussex,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
give  some  account  of  this  county,  and  their 
election  at  Lewes,  in  October,  1775.  This  R. 
was  a  man  of  property,  and  had  been  a  leader 
in  the  proprietary  faction  for  some  years.  Per 
fectly  unprincipled,  and  subservient  to  direc 
tion,  he  of  course  at  this  time,  became  a  leader 
in  opposition  to  independence.  With  all  the 
industry  of  interested  tools,  he%and  his  asso 
ciates  of  the  same  connection,  prejudiced  a 
majority  of  the  people  of  Sussex  against  inde 
pendence.  Upon  this  principle  it  was,  that  R. 
and  others  of  the  same  political  creed,  were 
elected  representatives  of  the  people. 

The  whigs  bore  all  this  with  a  degree  of 
patience  peculiar  to  Delaware.  R.  rendered 
fearless  by  his  success,  and  the  forbearance  of 
the  whigs,  proceeded  boldly  in  his  villanies. 
By  every  means  in  his  power,  he  seduced  the 
people  to  break  through  the  non-importation 
agreement.  In  particular,  he  purchased  a  large 
quantity  of  tea,  and  dealt  it  out  to  all  whom  he 
could  persuade  to  use  it.  Having  by  this  time 
a  degree  of  contempt  for  all  opposition,  there 
was  so  little  reserve  in  these  transactions,  that 
the  committee  of  observation  of  the  county, 
could  not  avoid  taking  notice  of  them.  After 
a  mature  hearing  and  judgment  of  his  conduct, 
the  committee  published  him  in  the  newspapers, 
as  an  enemy  to  his  country.  It  was  upon  this 
ground,  the  light  infantry  company  of  Dover 
seized  upon  R.  on  his  way  to  take  his  seat  in 
the  house  of  representatives,  at  New  Castle  ; 
and  demanded  of  the  legislature,  that  he  should 
not  be  permitted  to  sit  as  a  representative  of 
the  people,  while  covered  with  charges  of  so 
malignant  a  dye.  Instead  of  regarding  the 
iniquities  of  this  culprit,  Dionysius  talked  in  a 
high  strain  of  the  breach  of  privilege  of  the 
house.  An  order  issued,  summoning  the 
infantry  to  attend  the  house,  which  they 
instantly  obeyed.  Mention  was  even  made  of 
imprisoning  them  for  so  daring  an  offence. 
But  the  spirit  of  New  Castle  county  did  not  at 
that  time,  favor  this  measure.  It  was  suggested, 
they  must  find  means  of  confining  a  regiment 
or  more  of  their  militia,  or  they  would  not 
detain  the  infantry  long.  For  many  days  after 
the  examination  of  the  witnesses,  which  went 
chiefly  to  an  enquiry  into  the  offence  of  the 
infantry,  there  was  no  open  discussion  as  usual 
in  the  house.  At  the  ringing  of  the  bell,  a 


minority  of  patriotic  members  met  regularly  ; 
but  Dionysius,  in  secret  cabal,  threatened  some 
members,  and  allured  others  with  promises, 
until  he  brought  his  measures  to  bear.  Finally 
it  was  resolved,  that  R.  and  his  associate  (who 
had  also  been  arrested  for  standing  in  his 
defence)  should  take  their  seats ;  and  the  light 
infantry  were  dismissed." 


SELECTIONS 

FROM  THE  PAPERS  OF  CESAR  AND  THOMAS 
RODNEY. 

[The  editor's  friend,  Caesar  A.  Rodney,  of 
Delaware,  well  known  as  a  member  of  con 
gress  from  that  state,  attorney  general  of  the 
United  States,  etc.  favored  him  with  an  opportu 
nity  of  examining  a  great  mass  of  papers  left  by 
his  uncle,  General  Caesar,  and  his  father,  Capt. 
Thomas  Rodney,  men  celebrated  for  their 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  liberty.  Out  of  this 
extensive  collection,  the  following  articles  have 
been  gleaned,  in  the  belief  that  each  of  them 
may  go  to  establish  some  point  interesting  to 
those  who  seek  to  ascertain  the  "  principles  and 
acts  of  the  revolution." 

EDITOR.] 

THE  STAMP  ACT  CONGRESS. 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  QESAR  RODNEY,  to 
his  brother  THOMAS,  dated  New  York,  Oct. 
20, 1765. 

When  I  wrote  to  you  last,  I  expected  that 
congress  would  have  ended  in  eight  or  ten  days 
from  that  time ;  but,  contrary  to  expectation, 
we  have  not  yet  finished.  You  and  many  others 
are  surprised,  perhaps,  to  think  we  should  sit 
so  long,  when  the  business  of  our  meeting 
seemed  only  to  be  the  petitioning  the  king,  and 
remonstrating  to  both  houses  of  parliament ; 
but  when  you  consider  that  we  are  petitioning 
and  addressing  that  august  body,  the  great 
legislature  of  the  empire,  for  redress  of  griev 
ances, — that,  in  order  to  point  out  those  griev 
ances,  it  was  likewise  necessary  to  set  forth 
the  liberty  we  have  and  ought  to  enjoy  (as  free- 
born  Englishmen)  according  to  the  British 
constitution.  This  we  are  about  to  do  by  way 
of  declaration,  in  the  nature  of  resolve,  as  a 
foundation  to  the  petition  and  address  ;  and 
was  one  of  the  most  difficult  tasks  I  ever  yet 
saw  undertaken,  as  we  had  carefully  to  avoid 
any  infringement  of  the  prerogative  of  the  crown 
and  the  power  of  parliament — and  yet  in  duty 
bound  fully  to  assert  the  rights  and  privileges 


246 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


of  the  colonies.  However,  after  arguing  and 
debating  two  weeks,  on  liberty,  privileges,  pre 
rogative,  etc.  in  an  assembly  of  great  abilities, 
we  happily  finished  them,  and  now  have  the 
petitions  and  addresses  before  us,  and  expect 
to  finish  in  three  or  four  days. 


C.  RODNEY  TO  THOMAS  RODNEY. 

PHILADELPHIA,  SATURDAY,  Sept.  17,  1774. 
SIR — By  express,  which  arrived  here  yester 
day  from  the  committee  of  the  town  of  Boston, 
to  the  continental  congress,  we  are  informed 
the  county  of  Suffolk,  of  which  the  town  of 
Boston  is  the  capital,  had  entered  into  certain 
resolutions,  a  copy  of  which  was  enclosed  us, 
generally  to  the  purport  of  not  suffering  the 
commander  in  chief  to  execute  the  act  of  par 
liament,  changing  their  government,  by  per 
suading,  protecting  and  compelling  officers 
under  the  new  regulation  to  resign,  and  by  a 
refusal  in  jurymen  to  serve,  etc.  That  they 
have  ordered  all  those  able  to  bear  arms  to 
keep  in  readiness  to  defend  their  inherent 
rights,  even  with  loss  of  blood  and  treasure  ; 
that  they  are  determined  not  to  injure  the  gen 
eral  or  any  of  the  king's  troops,  unless  compelled 
thereto  by  an  attack  made  by  the  troops  on 
them.  They  complain  of  the  general  seizing  of 
the  powder  at  Cambridge,  which  they  say  was 
private  property ;  and  also  that  he  is  now  forti 
fying  the  only  pass  that  leads  from  the  town  of 
Boston  into  the  country,  from  whence  the  in 
habitants  of  the  town  are  daily  supplied  :  this 
pass  is  a  narrow  neck  of  land  about  120  yards 
wide,  at  which  he  has  placed  a  number  of 
troops  and  28  cannon  ;  that  the  country  people 
passing  and  repassing  this  place  are  suffered 
to  «be  insulted  by  the  soldiery — and  that  the 
inhabitants  feared,  (from  those  movements  of 
the  general),  he  had  designs  of  apprehending 
and  sending  to  England  those  persons  who 
have  stood  foremost  in  the  great  cause  of  liberty 
— that  in  consequence  of  his  conduct,  and  those 
their  suspicions,  the  inhabitants  of  Suffolk  sent 
(by  a  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose)  an 
address  to  the  general,  enquiring  the  cause  of 
his  stopping  up  and  fortifying  the  pass,  seizing 
and  securing  the  magazines,  etc.  and  their 
disapprobation  of  his  conduct — and  that  they 
had  no  intention  to  assault  either  him  or  his 
soldiers ; — but  that,  if  he  continued  to  block 
up  the  pass,  and  thereby  prevent  them  of  the 
only  means  of  supplying  the  town  with  necessa 
ries,  they  should  look  upon  it  as  a  commence 
ment  of  hostilities  :  Upon  the  whole,  they  sent 
an  express  to  the  general  congress  here  for 


their  instructions  as  to  their  future  conduct. 
The  congress  met  on  that  business  this  day,  and 
have  resolved  thereon — which  you  will  see  in 
the  "  Packet "  of  Monday,  being  ordered  imme 
diately  to  be  printed,  as  well  that  the  general 
as  the  people  might  know  what  they  thought 
of  the  matter. 

I  am  yours,  etc., 


CESAR  RODNEY. 


Capt.  Thomas  Rodney. 


C.  RODNEY  TO  THOMAS  RODNEY. 

PHILADELPHIA,  MONDAY,  Sept.  19, 1774. 

SIR — Some  time  ago,  I  do  not  doubt  but  you 
were  all  much  alarmed,  on  a  report  that  the 
king's  ships  were  firing  on  the  town  of  Boston. 
When  that  news  came  to  this  city,  the  bells 
were  muffled,  and  kept  ringing  all  that  day : 
however,  in  a  few  days  after  that  news  was 
contradicted  here,  and  hope  by  this  time  it  is 
so  with  you.  By  some  very  late  authentic  ac 
counts  from  Boston  government,  to  the  gentle 
men  of  that  place  now  at  the  congress,  we  are 
informed  that  there  was  about  three  days  be 
tween  this  report's  passing  through  the  Massa 
chusetts  and  Connecticut  governments,  and  its 
being  contradicted  :  that  when  the  expresses 
went  to  contradict  this  false  report,  they  found, 
in  those  two  governments,  in  different  parties, 
upwards  of  fifty  thousand  men,  well  armed, 
actually  on  their  march  to  Boston,  for  the  relief 
of  the  inhabitants  ;  and  that  every  farmer  who 
had  a  cart  or  wagon,  (and  not  able  to  bear 
arms),  was  with  them,  loaded  with  provisions, 
ammunition,  etc.,  all  headed  by  experienced 
officers,  who  had  served  in  the  late  American 
war :  and  that  vast  numbers  more  were  pre 
paring  to  march.  Upon  the  news  being  con 
tradicted,  they  returned  peaceably  to  their 
several  places  of  abode — but  not  till  they  had 
sent  some  of  their  officers,  from  the  different 
parties,  to  Boston,  to  know  the  real  situation 
of  affairs  there,  and  to  direct  them  what  princi 
pal  officers  in  the  different  parts  of  the  country 
they  should  hereafter  send  expresses  to,  in  case 
they  should  stand  in  need  of  their  assistance. 
It  is  supposed  by  some  of  the  friends  of  lib 
erty,  at  Boston,  that  the  alarm  was  set  on  foot 
by  some  of  the  friends  to  the  ministerial  plan,  in 
order  to  try  whether  there  was  that  true  valor  in 
the  people.  If  this  was  the  case,  I  suppose  you 
will  think  with  me,  that,  by  this  time,  they  can 
have  no  doubts  remaining.  Indeed,  I  think  it 
is  proved  by  the  general's  own  conduct ;  for 
ever  since  that,  he  has  been  fortifying  himself, 


DELAWARE. 


247 


which  I  imagine  is  more  for  his  own  security 
than  to  attack  the  inhabitants. 

I  am  yours,  etc. 

CESAR  RODNEY. 
Mr.  Thomas  Rodney,  Dover. 


C.  RODNEY  TO  THOMAS  RODNEY. 

[EXTRACT.] 
PHILADELPHIA,  Sept.  34,  1774. 

SIR — Mr.  R.  Penn  is  a  great  friend  of  liberty, 
and  has  treated  the  gentleman  delegates  with 
the  greatest  respect.  More  or  less  of  them 
dine  with  him  every  day — and  his  brother 
wishes  his  station  would  admit  of  his  acting 
the  same  part ;  all  these  matters  are  for  your 
own  private  speculation,  and  not  for  public 
view.  By  this  you  may  see  that  some  people 
with  you  are  mistaken  in  their  politics,  and  you 
may  also  take  for  granted  every  body  here  is 
not  well  pleased  with  the  coalition  of  the  two 
brothers. 

I  am,  as  usual,  your  friend  and  humble  ser 
vant,  CESAR  RODNEY. 
Mr.  Thomas  Rodney. 


C.  RODNEY  TO  THOMAS  RODNEY. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Monday,  Oct.  1775. 

SIR — On  Friday,  about  eleven  o'clock  at 
night,  Dr.  K.  of  this  city  was  seized  by  order 
of  the  committee  of  observation,  for  having 
wrote  letters  to  England,  injurious  and  de 
structive  to  us  in  the  American  contest,  and 
wicked  with  respect  to  this  city,  and  is  now 
confined  in  jail,  together  with  one  B.  who  came 
here  with  governor  Skeen,  Mr.  C.  an  apothe 
cary,  who  was  in  partnership  with  S.  and  one 
Mr.  S.  all  of  whom  were  aiding  the  doctor  in 
his  plan.  You  must  know  K.  has  been  a  con 
siderable  time  since  marked  out  as  a  thorough 
paced  tory  ;  for  which,  together  with  his  having 
insulted  the  people,  he  was  (since  I  came  to 
town  last)  carted  through  the  streets.  But 
the  offence  for  which  he  is  now  confined,  is 
thus  circumstanced  :  On  Wednesday  last  a 
ship  sailed  out  of  this  port  for  London,  in 
which  Mr.  C.  was  going  passenger.  A  few 
days  before  she  sailed,  young  Dewees,  son  of 
the  sheriff,  went  to  pay  Dr.  K.  some  money, 
and  coming  suddenly  into  his  room,  found  him 
and  C.  together,  with  a  bundle  of  papers  before 
them,  which  they  hustled  up  in  seeming  con 
fusion.  This,  with  K's  tory  character,  gave 
Dewees  suspicion,  and  he  accordingly  informed 
a  few  of  the  committee,  who  kept  the  matter 


secret,  let  the  ship  sail  and  the  passengers  go 
down  to  Chester  by  land,  to  go  on  board.  On 
Thursday  evening,  which  was  the  day  the  pas 
sengers  went,  a  small  party  was  sent  down  to 
Chester ;  they  stayed  there  that  night  incog,  and 
saw  the  passengers  go  on  board,  next  morning-. 
They  then  immediately  pushed  on  board,  seized 
and  examined  Mr.  C.  who,  in  a  little  time,  told 
them  that  there  were  several  letters  from  Dr. 
K.  and  Mr.  B.  and  one  from  Mr.  S.  that  he  had 
the  charge  of  them,  and  was  concerned  with 
them  in  the  plan  they  had  concerted,  but  that 
the  letters  were  then  in  the  custody  of  a  woman 
down  in  the  cabin,  and  that  she  had  them  con 
cealed  in  a  pocket  sewed  to  the  inside  of  her 
s — ft  tail,  where  in  fact  they  soon  after  found 
them,  and  came  back  to  town,  (leaving  C.  as 
they  had  promised,  upon  his  making  a  discovery 
of  the  whole  matter,  on  oath,  before  Mr, 
Graham,  at  Chester),  and  then  seized  the 
authors.  The  letters  were  to  lord  Dartmouth 
and  other  ministers  of  state,  but  under  cover 
to  Messrs.  M'Cawley.  The  substance  and 
design  was  pressing  their  sending  to  Philadel 
phia  five  thousand  regulars,  on  which  condition 
they  would  engage  five  thousand  more  here  to 
join  them,  provided  the  royal  standard  should 
be  also  sent  in,  and  K.  appointed  to  bear  it ; 
for  that  great  numbers  of  those  who  now  wear 
cockades  and  uniform  were  hearty  in  the  min 
isterial  cause — that  the  rest  were  a  pack  of 
cowards — for  that  he  (K.)  had  made  above  five 
thousand  of  them  run,  by  snapping  a  single 
pistol  at  them,  etc.  They  had  with  them,  for 
the  use  of  the  ministry,  one  of  J.  F.'s  plans  of 
Delaware  bay  river,  whereon  they  had  described 
the  place  where  the  chevaux-de-frises  were 
fixed.  Besides  these  and  many  more  villainous 
contrivances,  they  were  taking  home  the  out 
lines  for  a  print,  to  be  struck  off  in  London, 
shewing  K.'s  late  exhibition  in  the  cart,  going 
through  the  streets  of  Philadelphia  with  the 
mob,  some  of  whom  he  undertakes  particularly 
to  describe,  to  wit:  Bradford,  etc.,  etc.,  many 
of  whom  were  actually  not  there,  and  how  he 
every  now  and  then,  by  snapping  his  pistol, 
made  them  run,  etc.  His  abuse  of  the  con 
gress,  committees,  etc.,  (in  his  letters,)  is  in 
tolerable — such  as  rebels,  etc.  After  the  com 
mittee  of  safety  had  examined  them  and  the 
contents  of  the  letters,  they  sent  a  pilot  boat 
down  the  river  to  overtake  the  ship,  to  bring 
up  C.  and  to  search  the  box  of  letters,  and  to 
bring  all  of  them  that  they  supposed  to  be  from 
or  to  suspicious  persons.  This  boat  returned 
Sunday  afternoon,  brought  C.  and  put  him  in 
jail,  and  also  brought  a  number  of  letters 
belonging  to  and  wrote  by  other  persons.  The 


248 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


committee  of  safety  has  been  sitting  on  these 
affairs  all  this  day,  but  I  have  been  so  closely 
confined  to  congress  to-day,  that  I  don't  yet 
know  what  they  have  done,  or  what  others  are 

accused. 

Yours,  etc. 

CESAR  RODNEY. 
Mr.  Thomas  Rodney. 


THOMAS  RODNEY  TO  C.  RODNEY. 

DOVER,  August  30,  1776. 

SIR — I  received  your  letters  by  last  post,  and 
the  one  preceding  and  one  mentioned  in  that. 
I  am  pleased  with  your  resolution  mentioned 
in  your  last,  as  I  should  be  sorry  to  hear  that 
the  unsteady  passions  which  govern  the  people, 
should  at  any  time  give  the  least  shock  to  that 
virtue  which  hath  so  long  and  necessarily  sup 
ported  American  liberty.  Though  the  people 
in  a  popular  government  often  put  away  good 
men  for  bad  ones,  and  though  such  a  change 
could  not  be  more  dangerous  at  any  time  than 
the  present,  yet  I  look  on  the  present  change 
with  us  as  an  example  which  favors  liberty.  If 
the  people  will  not  continually  support  those 
men,  who  have  served  them  faithfully  at  all 
hazards,  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  they  will 
long  support  those  men  who,  in  opposition  to 
the  public  weal,  have  pursued  their  own  private 
interest  only.  These  men  by  a  violent  exer 
tion  of  the  influence  of  the  magistracy,  and 
descending  to  assert  the  most  base,  low  and 
infamous  falsehoods,  have  succeeded  for  once, 
because  the  people  were  blinded  that  they 
could  not  see  their  true  interest.  But  be  assured, 
that  they  that  set  them  up  will  pull  them  down 
again. 

After  devoting  ten  years  to  the  service  of 
your  country  and  public  business,  to  the  great 
prejudice  of  your  own  private  interest,  you 
certainly  deserve  to  enjoy  the  sweets  of  retire 
ment,  which  is  the  happiest  life  in  this  state  : 
and  you  will  have  this  reflection,  that  after  the 
time  you  mention,  that  you  have  accomplished 
the  establishment  of  American  liberty ;  and 
that  you  could  not  do  anything  that  would  add 
to  the  honor  already  acquired :  but  I  believe 
the  people  will  not  let  you  execute  this  design 
— they  will  soon  be  tired  of  those  who  they 
have  now  set  up — and  will  begin  to  call  again 
upon  those  men  whose  virtue  hath  been  proved 
to  the  utmost.  When  the  great  matters  which 
you  mention  are  completed,  I  shall  be  content 
— nor  shall  desire  to  have  any  hand  in  politics, 
unless  at  any  time  liberty  be  encroached  upon. 
Nothing  but  the  great  cause  of  liberty,  which 
we  have  been  embarked  in,  could  have  induced 


me,  (who  have  an  increasing  family  and  so  little 
for  them,)  to  have  spent  so  much  of  my  time 
and  money  in  public  services. 

THOMAS  RODNEY. 
Hon.  Ccesar  Rodney,  in  congress. 


Extract  of  a  letter  from  COL.  JOHN  HAS- 
LETT,*  to  general  CESAR  RODNEY,  dated 
camp  near  Mount  Washington,  tyh  Oct.,  1776. 

SIR — I  know  you  have  already  sacrificed  a 
large  share  of  private  property  to  the  evil  and 
unthankful ;  in  this  you  resemble  the  Supreme 
Manager,  who  makes  his  sun  to  shine  on  the 
evil  and  the  good,  and,  bad  as  times  are,  you 
have  a  few  friends  still  of  the  latter  character. 
And,  my  dear  sir,  who  can  better  afford  it? 
Providence  has  blessed  you  with  a  fortune  to 
your  prudence  inexhaustible,  by  which  you  are 
enabled  to  live  where  you  please,  and  to  keep 
the  first  company  where  you  do  live,  and  all 
this  with  few  drawbacks  upon  it.  How  then, 
can  you  lay  out  a  part  of  it  to  more  noble  pur 
poses,  than  in  serving  your  country,  guarding 
her  rights  and  privileges,  and  forcing  wretches 
to  be  happy  against  their  will  ?  In  this  you 
will  act  as  an  agent  of  the  Sovereign  Goodness, 
and  co-operate  with  Heaven  to  save  a  wretched 
race ;  and  though  you  may  not  effect  the 
righteous  purpose,  the  testimony  of  an  approv 
ing  conscience,  the  applause  of  conscious  virtue, 
and  the  approbation  of  all  good  beings,  will 
more  than  balance  the  sacrifice.  A  thousand 
things  might  be  urged  to  the  same  purpose. 
But  a  word  to  the  wise. 


THOMAS  RODNEY  TO  C.  RODNEY. 

Allen's  Town,  in  Jersey,  12  miles  from 
Princeton,  20  do.  from  Brunswick,  Dec.  30, 
1776. 

SIR — I  wrote  you  a  long  letter  on  the  24th, 
which  I  had  no  opportunity  of  sending,  and 
left  it  in  my  trunk  at  Mr.  Coxe's,  two  miles 
from  Bristol ;  it  contains  the  news  to  that 
time,  which  I  cannot  repeat  here.  On  the  2$th 
inst.  in  the  evening,  we  received  orders  to  be 
at  Shamony  ferry  as  soon  as  possible.  We 
were  there  according  to  orders  in  two  hours, 
and  met  the  rifle-men,  who  were  the  first  from 
Bristol ;  we  were  ordered  from  thence  to 
Dunk's  ferry,  on  the  Delaware,  and  the  whole 
army  of  about  2000  men  followed,  as  soon  as 
the  artillery  got  up.  The  three  companies  of 
Philadelphia  infantry  and  mine  were  formed 
into  a  body,  under  the  command  of  captain 

*  Killed  at  Princeton. 


DELAWARE. 


249 


Henry,  (myself  second  in  command)  which 
were  embarked  immediately  to  cover  the  land 
ing  of  the  other  troops.  We  landed  with  great 
difficulty  through  the  ice,  and  formed  on  the 
ferry  shore,  about  200  yards  from  the  river. 
It  was  as  severe  a  night  as  ever  I  saw,  and 
after  two  battalions  were  landed,  the  storm  in 
creased  so  much,  and  the  river  was  so  full  of 
ice,  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  the  artillery 
over ;  for  we  had  to  walk  100  yards  on  the  ice 
to  get  on  shore.  Gen.  Cadwallader  therefore 
ordered  the  whole  to  retreat  again,  and  we  had 
to  stand  at  least  six  hours  under  arms — first  to 
cover  the  landing  and  till  all  the  rest  had 
retreated  again — and,  by  this  time,  the  storm 
of  wind,  hail,  rain  and  snow,  with  the  ice,  was 
so  bad,  that  some  of  the  infantry  could  not  get 
back  till  next  day.  This  design  was  to  have 
surprised  the  enemy  at  Black  Horse  and 
Mount  Holley,  at  the  same  time  that  Washing 
ton  surprised  them  at  Trenton  ;  and  had  we 
succeeded  in  getting  over,  we  should  have 
finished  all  our  troubles.  Washington  took 
910  prisoners,  with  6  pieces  of  fine  artillery, 
and  all  their  baggage  in  Trenton.  The  next 
night  I  received  orders  to  be  in  Bristol  before 
day ;  we  were  there  accordingly,  and  about 
9  o'clock  began  to  embark  one  mile  above 
Bristol,  and  about  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
got  all  our  troops  and  artillery  over,  consisting 
of  about  3000  men,  and  began  our  march  to 
Burlington — the  infantry,  flanked  by  the  rifle 
men,  making  the  advanced  guard.  We  got 
there  about  9  o'clock  and  took  possession  of 
the  town,  but  found  the  enemy  had  made  pre 
cipitate  retreat  the  day  before,  bad  as  the 
weather  was,  in  a  great  panic.  The  whole 
infantry  and  rifle-men  were  then  ordered  to 
set  out  that  night  and  make  a  forced  march  to 
Bordentown,  (which  was  about  n  miles), 
which  they  did,  and  took  possession  of  the  town 
about  9  o'clock,  with  a  large  quantity  of  the 
enemy's  stores,  which  they  had  not  time  to 
carry  off.  We  stayed  there  till  the  army  came 
up  ;  and  the  general  finding  the  enemy  were 
but  a  few  miles  ahead,  ordered  the  infantry  to 
proceed  to  a  town  called  Croswick's  four  miles 
from  Bordentown,  and  they  were  followed  by 
one  of  the  Philadelphia  and  one  of  the  New 
England  battalions.  We  got  there  about  8 
o'clock,  and  at  about  10,  (after  we  were  all  in 
quarters),  were  informed  that  the  enemy's 
baggage  was  about  16  miles  from  us,  under  a 
guard  of  300  men.  Some  of  the  militia  colo 
nels  applied  to  the  infantry  to  make  a  forced 
march  that  night  and  overhaul  them.  We  had 
then  been  on  duty  four  nights  and  days,  mak 
ing  forced  marches,  without  six  hours  sleep  in 


the  whole  time;  whereupon  the  infantry  offi 
cers  of  all  the  companies  unanimously  declared 
it  was  madness  to  attempt,  for  that  it  would 
knock  up  all  our  brave  men,  not  one  of  whom 
had*  yet  gave  out,  but  every  one  will  suppose 
were  much  fatigued.  They  then  sent  off  a 
party  who  were  fresh,  but  they  knocked  up 
before  they  got  up  with  them,  and  came  back 
and  met  us  at  this  town  next  morning.  They 
surrounded  a  house  where  there  was  six  tories 
— took  three  of  them — one  got  off — and  one 
who  ran  and  would  not  stop,  was  shot  dead. 
They  gave  him  warning  first  by  calling,  and  at 
last  shot  two  bullets  over  his  head,  but  he  still 
persisted,  and  the  next  two  shot ;  one  bullet 
went  through  his  arm  and  one  through  his  heart. 
The  enemy  have  fled  before  us  in  the  greatest 
panic  that  ever  was  known  ;  we  heard  this 
moment  that  they  have  fled  from  Princeton, 
and  that  they  were  hard  pressed  by  Washing 
ton.  Never  were  men  in  higher  spirits  than 
our  whole  army  is  ;  none  are  sick,  and  all  are 
determined  to  extirpate  them  from  the  Jersey, 
but  I  believe  the  enemy's  fears  will  do  it  before 
we  get  up  with  them.  The  Hessians,  from  the 
general  to  the  common  soldier,  curse  and  im 
precate  the  war,  and  swear  they  were  sent 
here  to  be  slaughtered ;  that  they  never  will 
leave  New- York  again,  till  they  sail  for  Europe. 
Jersey  will  be  the  most  whiggish  colony  on  the 
continent :  the  very  Quakers  declare  for  taking 
up  arms.  You  cannot  imagine  the  distress  of 
this  country.  They  have  stripped  every  body 
almost  without  distinction — even  of  all  their 
clothes,  and  have  beat  and  abused  men,  women 
and  children,  in  the  most  cruel  manner  ever 
heard  of.  We  have  taken  a  number  of  pri 
soners,  in  our  route,  Hessians  and  British,  to 
the  amount  of  about  twenty.  It  seems  likely 
through  the  blessing  of  Providence,  that  we 
shall  retake  Jersey  again  without  the  loss  of  a 
man,  except  one  gen.  Washington  lost  at 
Trenton.  The  enemy  seem  to  be  bending 
their  way  to  Amboy  with  all  speed,  but  I  hope 
we  shall  come  up  with  the  Princeton  baggage 
yet,  and  also  get  a  share  of  their  large  stores 
at  Brunswick.  I  hope  if  I  live,  to  see  the  con 
quest  of  Jersey,  and  set  off  home  again  in  two 
weeks.  Some  of  my  men  have  complained  a 
little,  but  not  to  say  sick ;  they  are  all  now 
well  here. 

THOMAS  RODNEY. 

Brig,  gen.  Casar  Rodney,  esq. 


250 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


LETTERS  FROM  GENERAL  WASHINGTON  TO 
CESAR  RODNEY.* 

CAMP,  FOUR  MILES  FROM  POTTS'  GROVE, 

September  24,  1777. 

DEAR  SIR — I  last  night  read  your  favor  of 
the  2  ist,  and  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the 
book.  This,  and  the  one  taken  in  the  action  at 
Chadsford,  complete  general  Howe's  orders 
from  April  to  the  loth  inst.  I  am  sorry  for  the 
captivity  of  Mr.  Berry,  whom  you  mention  to  be 
a  young  man  of  merit,  but  no  proposition  for 
his  exchange  can  be  made  at  this  time,  nor  can 
he  be  exchanged  but  in  due  course,  which  is 
the  only  rule  by  which  equal  justice  can  take 
place.  The  conduct  of  the  militia  is  much  to 
be  regretted.  In  many  instances,  they  are  not 
to  be  roused,  and  in  others  they  come  into  the 
field  with  all  possible  indifference,  and,  to  all 
appearance,  entirely  unimpressed  with  the  im 
portance  of  the  cause  in  which  we  are  engaged. 
Hence  proceeds  a  total  inattention  to  order  and 
to  discipline,  and  too  often  a  disgraceful  depart 
ure  from  the  army  at  the  instant  their  aid  is 
most  wanted.  I  am  inclined  to  think,  the  com 
plaints  and  objections  offered  to  the  militia  laws 
are  but  too  well  founded.  The  interest  of  the 
community  has  not  been  well  consulted  in 
their  formation,  and,  generally  speaking,  those 
I  have  seen  are  unequal. 

I  wish  I  could  inform  you  that  our  affairs 
were  in  a  happier  train  than  they  now  are. 
After  various  manoeuvres  and  extending  his 
army  high  up  the  Schuylkill,  as  if  he  meant  to 
turn  our  right  flank,  general  Howe  made  a 
sudden  countermarch  on  Monday  night,  and  in 
the  course  of  it  and  yesterday  morning,  crossed 
the  river,  which  is  fordable  in  almost  every 
part  several  miles  below  us  ;  he  will  possess  him 
self  of  Philadelphia  in  all  probability — but  I  think, 
he  will  not  be  able  to  hold  it.  No  exertions  shall 
be  wanting  on  my  part  to  dispossess  him. 

I  am,  in  haste,  dear  sir,  your  most  obedient 
servant,  . 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 
Brig.  gen.  Rodney. 


GEN.  WASHINGTON  TO  C.  RODNEY. 

WEST  POINT,  August  26,  1779. 

SIR — In  a  letter  which  I  had  the  honor  of 
addressing  your  excellency  on  the  22d  May,  I 
took  the  liberty  of  mentioning  the  inconve- 

*  Cifsnr  Rodney  was  a  member  of  the  "  Stamp  act  con 
gress,"  held  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  1765,  and  of  the 
Continental  congress,  and  one  of  the  signers  to  the  declara 
tion  of  independence ;  was  repeatedly  chosen  governor 
of  the  State  of  Delaware,  and  performed  several  terms  of 
duty  as  a  Brigadier  General. 


niences  which  had  prevailed  for  want  of  system 
in  the  clothing  department,  and  the  necessity 
there  was  for  an  early  appointment  of  state  or 
sub-clothiers,  agreeably  to  the  ordinance  estab 
lished  by  congress,  by  their  act  of  the  23d 
March,  with  which  I  presumed  your  excellency 
had  been  made  acquainted.  I  am  now  under 
the  necessity  of  troubling  you  with  a  further 
address  on  the  subject  of  clothing  itself.  From 
the  best  information  I  have  been  able  to  obtain, 
both  from  returns  and  particular  enquiries,  I 
fear  that  there  is  but  too  much  reason  to  appre 
hend,  that  unless  the  respective  states  interfere 
with  their  exertions,  our  supplies  of  this  essen 
tial  article  will  be  very  deficient,  and  that  the 
troops  may  again  experience  on  this  account  a 
part  of  those  distresses  which  were  so  severely 
and  injuriously  felt  in  past  stages  of  the  war, 
and  which  a  regard  to  the  interests  of  the 
states,  as  well  as  to  the  duties  of  humanity, 
should  prevent  if  it  be  practicable.  I  do  not 
know  exactly  how  matters  will  turn  out  with 
woolen  clothing.  I  should  hope  tolerably  well ; 
but  if  the  attention  of  the  state  should  ever  go 
to  this,  there  will  be  little  probability  of  our 
having  an  over-supply.  But  the  articles  to 
which  I  would  take  the  liberty  to  solicit  your 
excellency's  more  particular  attention,  are 
blankets,  shirts,  shoes  and  hats — more  espe 
cially  the  two  first,  as  our  prospects  of  them  are 
by  no  means  pleasing,  and  such  indeed  as 
decides  that  the  supply  from  the  continental 
clothiers  and  agents  will  fall  far  short,  or  at 
least  stand  upon  too  critical  and  precarious  a 
footing.  The  importance  and  advantages  of 
good  supplies  of  clothing  are  evident — and  they 
have  been  most  remarkably  and  happily 
demonstrated  in  the  health  of  the  troops,  since 
they  have  been  pretty  comfortably  provided  for 
in  this  instance — a  circumstance  of  all  others 
the  most  interesting. 

While  I  am  on  the  subject  of  clothing,  I 
would  also  beg  leave  to  add,  that  the  condition 
of  the  officers  in  this  respect,  appears  to  me  to 
require  the  attention  of  their  states.  It  is  really 
in  many  instances  painfully  distressing.  The 
want  of  necessaries  and  the  means  of  procur 
ing  them,  at  the  present  exorbitant  prices,  have 
compelled  a  great  many  officers  of  good  repu 
tation  and  merit  to  resign  their  commissions ; 
— and,  if  they  are  not  relieved,  it  must  be  the 
case  with  many  others,  as  they  will  have  no 
alternative. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  the  greatest 
respect  and  esteem,  your  excellency's  most 
obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 
His  excellency  Ccesar  Rodney,  esq. 


DELAWARE. 


251 


GEN.  WASHINGTON  TO  C.  RODNEY. 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  WEST  POINT,  August  26,  1779. 

SIR — I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  your 
excellency  a  list  of  sundry  officers  belonging  to 
your  state  who  have  been  in  captivity  and  are 
reported  by  the  commissary  of  prisoners,  as 
violators  of  parole.  A  conduct  of  this  kind,  so 
ignominious  to  the  individuals  themselves,  so 
dishonorable  to  their  country,  and  to  the  service 
in  which  they  have  been  engaged,  and  so 
injurious  to  those  gentlemen  who  were  associ 
ated  with  them  in  misfortune,  but  preserved 
their  honor — demands  that  every  measure 
should  be  taken  to  deprive  them  of  the  benefit 
of  their  delinquency  and  to  compel  their  return. 
We  have  pledged  ourselves  to  the  enemy  to  do 
everything  in  our  power  for  this  purpose,  and 
in  consequence  I  directed  Mr.  Beatty,  com 
missary  of  prisoners,  to  issue  the  summons 
which  you  will  probably  have  seen  in  the  public 
papers.  But  as  it  is  likely  to  have  a  very 
partial  operation,  I  find  it  necessary  in  aid  of  it 
to  request  the  interposition  of  the  executive 
powers  of  the  different  states  to  enforce  a  com 
pliance.  Most  of  these  persons  never  having 
been  and  none  of  them  now  being  in  continental 
service,  military  authority  will  hardly  be  suffi 
cient  to  oblige  them  to  leave  their  places  of 
residence  and  return  to  captivity,  against  their 
inclination  :  Neither  will  it  be  difficult  for  them 
to  elude  a  military  search  and  keep  themselves 
in  concealment.  I  must  therefore  entreat  that 
your  excellency  will  be  pleased  to  take  such 
measures  as  shall  appear  to  you  proper  and 
effectual  to  produce  their  immediate  return. 
This  will  be  rendering  an  essential  service  to 
our  officers  in  general,  in  captivity,  will  tend 
much  to  remove  the  difficulties  which  now  lie 
in  the  way  of  exchanges,  and  to  discourage  the 
practice  of  violating  paroles  in  future. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  the  greatest 
respect  and  esteem,  your  excellency's  most 
obedient,  humble  servant, 

GEO.  WASHINGTON. 
His  excellency  Governor  Rodney. 

[Only  one  person  of  Delaware  was  charged  in 
the  schedule  with  having  violated  his  parole.] 


GEN.  WASHINGTON  TO  C.  RODNEY. 

HEAD-QUARTERS,  MORRISTOWN,— 16  December p,  1779. 

SIR — The  situation  of  the  army  with  respect 
to  supplies,  is  beyond  description  alarming. 
It  has  been  five  or  six  weeks  past  on  half 
allowance,  and  we  have  not  more  than  three 
days'  bread,  at  a  third  allowance,  on  hand,  nor 
any  where  within  reach.  When  this  is  ex 


hausted,  we  must  depend  on  the  precarious 
gleanings  of  the  neighboring  country.  Our 
magazines  are  absolutely  empty  everywhere, 
and  our  commissaries  entirely  destitute  of 
money  or  credit  to  replenish  them.  We  have 
never  experienced  a  like  extremity  at  any  pe 
riod  of  the  war.  We  have  often  felt  temporary 
want  from  an  accidental  delay  in  forwarding 
supplies,  but  we  always  had  something  in  our 
magazines  and  the  means  of  procuring  more. 
Neither  one  nor  the  other  is  at  present  the 
case. 

This  representation  is  the  result  of  a  minute 
examination  of  our  resources.  Unless  some 
extraordinary  and  immediate  exertions  be 
made  by  the  states  from  which  we  draw  our 
supplies,  there  is  every  appearance  that  the 
army  will  infallibly  disband  in  a  fortnight.  I 
think  it  my  duty  to  lay  this  candid  view  of  our 
situation  before  your  excellency,  and  to  entreat 
the  vigorous  interposition  of  the  state  to  rescue 
us  from  the  danger  of  an  event,  which,  if  it  did 
not  prove  the  total  ruin  of  our  affairs,  would  at 
least  give  them  a  shock  they  would  not  easily 
recover,  and  plunge  us  into  a  train  of  new  and 
still  more  perplexing  embarrassments  than  any 
we  have  hitherto  felt. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect, 
your  excellency's  most  obedient  servant, 

G.  WASHINGTON. 
His  excellency  Governor  Rodney. 


GEN.  WASHINGTON  TO  C.  RODNEY. 

HEAD-QUARTERS,  NEAR  THE  LIBERTY  POLE, 

BERGEN  COUNTY,  37  A  ugust,  1780. 

SIR — The  honorable  the  committee  of  co 
operation  having  returned  to  congress,  I  am 
under  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  informing 
your  excellency  that  the  army  is  again  reduced 
to  an  extremity  of  distress  for  want  of  provis 
ion.  The  greater  part  of  it  has  been  without 
meat  from  the  2ist  to  the  26th.  To  endeavor 
to  obtain  some  relief,  I  moved  down  to  this 
place,  with  a  view  of  stripping  the  lower  parts 
of  the  country  of  the  remainder  of  its  cattle, 
which,  after  a  most  rigorous  exaction,  is  found 
to  afford  between  two  and  three  days'  supply- 
only,  and  those  consisting  of  milch  cows,  and 
calves  of  one  or  two  years  old.  When  this 
scanty  pittance  is  consumed,  I  know  not  what 
will  be  our  next  resource,  as  the  commissary 
can  give  me  no  certain  information  of  more 
than  1 20  head  of  cattle  expected  from  Penn 
sylvania,  and  about  150  from  Massachu 
setts — I  mean  in  time  to  supply  our  immediate 
wants. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


Military  coercion  is  no  longer  of  any  avail, 
as  nothing  further  can  possibly  be  collected 
from  the  country  in  which  we  are  obliged  to 
take  a  position,  without  depriving  the  inhabi 
tants  of  the  last  morsel.  This  mode  of  subsist 
ing,  supposing  the  desired  end  could  be 
answered  by  it,  besides  being  in  the  highest 
degree  distressing  to  individuals,  is  attended 
with  ruin  to  the  morals  and  discipline  of  the 
army.  During  the  few  days  which  we  have 
been  obliged  to  send  out  small  parties  to  pro 
cure  provisions  for  themselves,  the  most  enor 
mous  excesses  have  been  committed. 

It  has  been  no  inconsiderable  support  of  our 
cause,  to  have  had  it  in  our  power  to  contrast 
the  conduct  of  our  army  with  that  of  the 
enemy,  and  to  convince  the  inhabitants  that, 
while  their  rights  were  wantonly  violated  by 
the  British  troops,  by  ours  they  were  respected. 
This  distinction  must,  unhappily,  now  cease, 
and  we  must  assume  the  odious  character  of  the 
plunderers  instead  of  the  protectors  of  the  peo 
ple  ;  the  direct  consequence  of  which  must  be, 
to  alienate  their  minds  from  the  army  and  in 
sensibly  from  the  cause. 

We  have  not  yet  been  absolutely  without 
flour,  but  we  have  this  day,  but  one  day's  sup 
ply  in  camp,  and  I  am  not  certain  that  there  is 
a  single  barrel  between  this  place  and  Trenton. 
I  shall  be  obliged  therefore  to  draw  down  one 
or  two  hundred  barrels  from  a  small  magazine, 
which  I  had  endeavored  to  establish  at  West 
Point,  for  the  security  of  the  garrison,  in  case 
of  a  sudden  investiture. 

From  the  above  state  of  facts,  it  may  be 
foreseen  that  this  army  cannot  possibly  remain 
much  longer  together,  unless  very  vigorous  and 
immediate  measures  are  taken  by  the  states  to 
comply  with  the  requisitions  made  upon  them. 
The  commissary  general  has  neither  the  means 
nor  the  power  of  procuring  supplies — he  is 
only  to  receive  them  from  the  several  agents. 
Without  a  speedy  change  of  circumstances, 
this  dilemma  will  be  involved :  either  the  army 
must  disband,  or  what  is,  if  possible,  worse, 
subsist  upon  the  plunder  of  the  people.  I 
would  fain  flatter  myself  that  a  knowledge  of 
our  situation  will  produce  the  desired  relief: 
not  a  relief  of  a  few  days,  as  has  generally 
heretofore  been  the  case,  but  a  supply  equal  to 
the  establishment  of  magazines  for  the  winter. 
If  these  are  not  formed  before  the  roads  are 
broken  up  by  the  weather,  we  shall  certainly 
experience  the  same  difficulties  and  distresses 
the  ensuing  winter  which  we  did  the  last. 
Although  the  troops  have,  upon  every  occasion 
hitherto,  borne  their  wants  with  unparalleled 
patience,  it  will  be  dangerous  to  trust  too 


often  to  a  repetition  of  the  cause  of  discon 
tent. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect, 
your  excellency's  most  obedient, 

G.  WASHINGTON. 


THOMAS  RODNEY  TO  C.  RODNEY. 

DOVER,  July  30,  1779. 

DEAR  SIR — You  will  readily  grant  that  it  is 
evident  from  the  low  credit  of  our  money,  that 
the  state  of  our  finances  is  bad  enough  ;  yet  I 
think  congress  is  too  much  alarmed  on  this 
head,  and  is  thereby  urged  into  measures  that 
still  tend  to  depress  the  credit  of  the  money. 
'Tis  well  enough  that  they  should  alarm  the 
people,  that  every  exertion  may  be  made  by 
them  to  support  congress  in  their  measures  for 
raising  the  value  of  the  money — but  if  congress 
be  too  much  alarmed  themselves,  they  will  not 
be  so  likely  to  direct  these  exertions  in  the  best 
manner  to  answer  effectually  the  purpose 
intended.  Congress,  in  my  humble  opinion, 
ought  to  be  cool,  uniform  and  firm,  in  what 
they  do  on  this  head.  Taxation,  if  not  impeded 
by  other  means,  will  restore  the  money  much 
sooner  perhaps  than  congress  apprehend  ;  for, 
by  this  means,  without  destroying  one  bill,  one 
half  the  money,  at  least,  will  be  taken  out  of 
circulation,  and  the  people  will  soon  be  amazed 
to  see  the  money  disappear,  without  hearing 
that  any  of  it  is  destroyed.  This  position  will 
appear  evident  to  you  when  you  consider,  that, 
from  the  moment  the  present  tax  is  collected, 
(if  the  plan  is  pursued),  there  will  always  be  at 
least  sixty  millions  of  dollars  locked  up  in  the 
treasuries — and  as  fast  as  any  part  of  this  sum 
is  dealt  out  to  supply  the  exigencies  of  the  war, 
it  ought  to  be  supplied  by  the  taxes  coming  in. 
I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  a  sum,  equal 
to  what  I  have  mentioned,  will  always  remain 
in  the  treasury ;  that  is,  between  the  hands  of 
the  first  collectors  and  those  that  pay  it  out  to 
the  people  again  :  and  while  it  is  there,  it  will 
be  out  of  sight  and  out  of  circulation. 

But  if  taxation  has  been  too  long  neglected, 
and  is  now  too  slow  to  supply  your  present 
demand,  it  is  better  to  borrow,  than  emit  any 
more  money — but  not  upon  unusual  interest ; — 
a  higher  interest  than  usual,  holds  out  that  the 
people  are  not  ready  and  willing  to  support  the 
public  credit,  and  that  the  security  is  doubtful. 
An  accumulating  interest,  to  be  in  proportion 
to  the  increase  of  the  quantity  of  money,  holds 
out  that  you  intend  to  emit  more — that  is,  that 
you  will  make  the  monster  yet  more  terrible, 
that  has  frightened  every  body  almost  out  of 
their  wits  already. 


DELAWARE. 


253 


Borrowing  is  a  measure  I  never  would 
advise,  if  the  necessity  of  our  circumstances 
did  not  drive  us  into  it,  by  being  past  the 
opportunity  of  better  means  ;  but  as  we  are 
now  circumstanced,  borrowing  may  have  an 
extraordinary  good  effect,  if  the  measure  is 
wisely  conducted — that  is,  if  the  friends  to 
America  would  form  themselves  into  bodies,  or 
small  societies,  and  every  man  subscribe  ac 
cording  to  his  abilities  to  lend  the  public  at 
usual  interest,  and  each  society  to  appoint  one  or 
more  of  their  members  to  take  a  certificate  for 
the  gross  sum  they  all  subscribe,  in  trust  to 
receive  and  pay  each  member  his  interest 
annually,  and  his  principal  according  to  the 
terms  of  lending. 

This  is  the  mode  the  friends  of  the  cause  are  en 
deavoring  to  promote  here,  that  all  persons  what 
ever  may  have  an  opportunity  of  subscribing. 

When  I  see  large  societies  formed  in  your 
city  to  promote  their  own  particular  sentiment 
about  the  constitution  of  government,  I  cannot 
think  they  would  be  backward  in  a  measure  of 
this  sort,  which  possibly  may  be  the  means  of 
saving  the  very  existence  of  that  government. 

The  mode  that  I  would  advise  in  your  city 
would  be  this  :  Let  each  class  of  people,  ac 
cording  to  their  calling,  associate  together — 
and  let  the  merchants,  who  we  may  suppose 
the  monied  men,  begin — their  example  will 
soon  be  followed  by  the  rest. 

This  would  convince  both  our  friends  and 
enemies,  as  well  abroad  as  at  home,  that  the 
people  are  determined  to  support  the  public 
credit,  and  the  only  hope  that  Britain  now  has 
would  vanish  in  a  moment. 

Once  this  example  is  set,  he  that  is  able,  and 
does  not  follow  it,  will  give  the  strongest  proof 
of  his  disaffection,  and  ought  to  be  regarded 
accordingly. 

There  are  few  evils  but  what  have  benefits 
proportionate  attendant  on  them.  War  cannot 
be  carried  on  without  supplies,  and  the  high 
prices  given  for  them  for  twelve  months  past, 
has  encouraged  the  merchant  and  the  farmer 
in  such  a  degree,  that  we  see  industry,  enter 
prise  and  plenty  abound  every  where — so  that, 
in  my  private  view,  (notwithstanding  the  state 
of  our  finances),  our  circumstances  are  the 
most  flourishing  that  they  have  been  since  the 
war  began.  THOMAS  RODNEY. 

Ccesar  Rodney,  esq. 


JOHN  DICKINSON,  OF  PENN.  TO  THOMAS 
RODNEY. 

PHILADELPHIA,  July  22, 1779. 

DEAR  SIR — I  have  received  your  favor  of 


the  1 7th,  for  which  and  the  enclosure  I  am 
much  obliged,  as  I  shall  always  be  for  a  com 
munication  of  your  sentiments  on  public  affairs. 

I  so  much  agreed  with  you  concerning  the 
expediency  of  acceding  to  the  confederation, 
though,  as  you  justly  observe,  in  several  par 
ticulars  exceptionable,  that  I  used  what  little 
influence  I  had  to  forward  its  ratification  by  our 
state ;  advising,  at  the  same  time,  a  strong  de 
claration  upon  the  parts  objected  to  addressed 
to  congress,  and  pointedly  expressing  our  ex 
pectation  of  a  revision  and  alteration  thereof  at 
a  more  convenient  season. 

Your  reflections  on  our  loan,  and  on  some 
other  proceedings,  I  fear,  are  too  well  founded. 
— Our  difficulties  are  prodigious.  We  see  the 
wisdom  of  your  proposal  to  stop  the  presses — 
we  perceive  taxation  to  be  of  as  much  impor 
tance  as  you  mention — we  are  desirous  of  bor 
rowing  on  the  lowest  terms — but,  while  we 
have  so  many  thousands  to  supply  with  neces 
saries,  and  while  the  demands  upon  us  for  the 
articles  we  must  purchase  are  daily  and  hourly 
rising  upon  us,  with  such  a  boundless  stretch 
— to  what  purpose  are  loans  and  taxes  ? 

I  have  esteemed  it  my  duty  since  I  have  been 
in  congress,  to  keep  my  eyes  constantly  fixed  on 
the  preventing  further  emissions — and  several 
steps  have  been  taken  towards  that  point,  that 
are  known  but  by  very  few  to  lead  towards  it : 
some  others  are  now  under  consideration — and 
I  am  impatiently  waiting  for  the  moment,  when 
a  prospect  of  carrying  on  affairs  with  out  further 
emissions,  and  a  likelihood  of  succeeding  in 
the  attempt,  will  permit  me  to  move  for  stop 
ping  the  presses. 

Mrs.  Dickinson  and  Sally,  with  myself,  desire 
to  be  very  affectionately  remembered  to  your 
family. 

I  am,  sir,  your  sincerely  affectionate  and  very 
humble  servant, 

JOHN  DICKINSON. 
To  Thomas  Rodney,  esq.  Dover. 

THOS.  RODNEY  TO  C.  RODNEY. 

PHILADELPHIA,  June  14,  1761. 

SIR — You  will  find  by  the  contents  of  this, 
that  it  is  a  confidential  letter,  conveying  you 
very  important  and  pleasing  intelligence. 

Congress  has  received  a  letter  from  the  king 
of  France,  and  also  otherwise  officially  informed 
by  his  minister  here,  that  the  empress  of  Russia 
threw  out  an  invitation  for  the  belligerent 
powers  to  apply  for  her  mediation,  at  which 
the  court  of  London  eagerly  caught,  and  men 
tioned  the  emperor  of  Germany  as  another 
mediator — and  a  congress  was  proposed  to  be 


254 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


opened  at  Vienna,  for  the  purpose  of  settling  a 
general  peace.  The  answer  of  the  court  of 
France  was,  that  they  could  send  no  plenipo 
tentiaries  to  said  congress,  till  they  had  con 
sulted  their  allies  ;  but,  in  the  mediators  are 
such  respectable  powers,  and  may  be  so  fully 
relied  on  for  justice,  the  king  presses  the  United 
States  to  submit  to  the  mediation — and  that 
the  first  preliminary  he  will  insist  on,  previous 
to  any  other  negotiation,  shall  be,  the  indepen 
dence  of  the  United  States,  in  full — and  upon 
obtaining  this,  request  that  the  states  may  be 
as  moderate  in  all  other  demands  as  possible, 
that  the  mediating  powers,  may  thereby  re 
ceive  favorably  impressions  of  our  equity  and 
justice.  The  same  mediating  application  was 
made  to  the  court  of  Spain,  and  their  answer 
was,  that  they  could  not  do  any  thing  but  in 
conjunction  with  their  ally,  the  king  of  France 
— so  that  the  congress  of  mediation  is  likely 
to  be  delayed  till  our  despatches  reach  France. 
However,  the  king  says  that,  if  he  is  so  pressed 
that  he  cannot  decently  delay  sending  a  pleni 
potentiary  till  that  time,  he  shall  insist  on  the 
preliminary  before  mentioned,  and  then  only 
proceed  in  the  negotiation  so  as  to  have  it  in 
such  forwardness  as  will  not  injure  America 
against  their  plenipotentiaries  and  instructions 
arrived.  The  king  of  France  thinks  that  very 
equitable  terms  of  peace  may  be  obtained 
through  this  mediation,  but  urges  us  strongly 
to  exert  ourselves  this  campaign — as  the  wrest 
ing  the  southern  states  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
British,  will  contribute  greatly  to  lessen  their 
demands  and  make  them  more  readily  incline 
to  equitable  terms  of  peace  ;  and  that  our  ex 
ertions  ought  to  be  quick  and  vigorous,  lest  a 
truce  should  take  place :  and  to  ensure  the 
success  of  this  mediation  we  ought  to  make 
the  most  ample  and  vigorous  preparations  for 
carrying  on  the  war.  Britain  made  an  attempt, 
through  a  Mr.  Cumberland,  to  negotiate  a 
separate  treaty  with  Spain  ;  but  this  has  failed, 
though  Mr.  Cumberland  is  still  at  Madrid. 
Spain  would  not  treat  but  in  conjunction  with 
France,  and  France  cannot  treat  but  in  conjunc 
tion  with  America.  Thus  are  we  linked  togeth 
er,  so  that  the  independence  of  America  now 
stands  on  prosperous  ground,  and  no  further 
doubt  need  to  remain  about  it :  for  this  much  is 
certain — all  the  powers  of  Europe,  (Britain  ex- 
cepted),  wish  us  to  be  independent.  Thus  far 
in  confidence,  with  this  addition,  that  congress 
have  appointed  Dr.  Franklin,  J.  Adams,  J.  Jay, 
H.  Laurens  and  governor  Jefferson,  plenipo 
tentiaries  for  settling  the  peace.  They  first 
agreed  to  appoint  but  one,  and  Adams  was 
appointed  before  I  came  up  ;  they  then  agreed 


to  add  two  more,  then  Jay  was  appointed — then 
Jefferson  had  five  votes,  Franklin  four,  and 
Laurens  one.  The  states  voted  the  same  way- 
three  times.  Then  I  proposed  to  the  members 
of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  that  we  should 
appoint  them  both,  which  being  generally 
agreed  to,  this  day  was  appointed  for  the  pur 
pose,  and  then  Laurens  was  included — so  the 
appointment  now  consists  of  five.  New  Hamp 
shire,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and  Maryland; 
were  for  Franklin,  South  Carolina  for  Laurens, 
and  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Jersey,  Vir 
ginia  and  North  Carolina  for  Jefferson,  Rhode 
Island  and  New  York  unrepresented  ;  Georgia 
absent.  Mr.  M'Kean  wanted  to  alter  in  favor 
of  Jefferson  and  leave  Franklin  out,  which, 
upon  Georgia's  coming  in,  would  have  carried 
him ;  but  I  would  not  give  up  Franklin,  and 
by  the  manner  of  proposing  to  appoint  them 
both,  got  him  appointed — though  this  was  ex 
ceedingly  against  the  grain  of  several  members. 
He  will  now  be  put  at  the  head  of  the  commis 
sion.  His  abilities,  character  and  influence 
are  what  will  be  of  most  use  to  us  in  Europe. 
I  am,  your  most  obedient, 

THOMAS  RODNEY. 
Ccesar  Rodney,  esq.,  Dover. 


AMERICAN  AND  FRENCH  SOLDIERS. 

WlLLIAMSBURG,  Dec.  l6,  1781. 

DEAR  SIR — After  the  departure  of  gen. 
Washington,  the  French  quartered  themselves 
upon  the  people,  of  this  and  some  other  towns, 
a  la  mode  militaire,  and  gave  no  small  offence ; 
but  they  are  now  dancing  them  into  good 
humor  again  by  a  ball  every  week.  I  had  my 
self  a  petit  guerre  with  a  French  officer,  by 
which  I  was  turned  out  of  my  quarters,  and, 
consequently,  came  off  but  second  best. 
Being  summoned  before  count  Rochambeau 
to  answer  for  my  rebellious  conduct,  I  received 
a  long  lecture  on  the  subject  of  politeness  to 
friends  and  allies,  with  intimations  of  his  power 
to  punish  obstinacy.  Although  I  was  put  into 
quarters  equally  good  with  those  I  was  com 
pelled  to  leave,  I  must  confess,  I  did  not  per 
fectly  understand  the  French  politeness,  in  the 
mode  of  exchange.  The  old  count,  I  believe, 
has  either  forgotten  or  forgiven  me,  as  a  day  or 
two  ago  he  gave  me  an  invitation  to  dine  with 
him. 

It  must  be  mortifying  to  our  poor  devils  to 
observe  the  comfortable  and  happy  life  of 
French  soldiers.  They  appear  on  parade  every 
day  like  fine  gentlemen,  as  neat  as  their  offi 
cers,  and  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  them. 


MARYLAND. 


255 


They  are  paid  once  a  week,  and,  by  their  happy 
countenance,  appear  to  want  nothing.  A  sen 
tinel  is  not  allowed  to  stand  upon  duty  without 
a  warm  watch-coat  in  addition  to  his  other 
clothing.  The  officers  treat  the  soldiers  with 
attention,  humanity  and  respect,  and  appear  to 
employ  all  the  means  necessary  to  inspire  them 
with  sentiments  of  honor.  Except  some  horse- 
jockeying  and  plundering,  at  the  reduction  of 


York,  I  have  heard  of  no  stealing  among  them. 
— Theft  is  said  to  be  a  crime  held  in  universal 
abhorrence  among  them.  I  have  not  seen  or 
heard  of  any  instance,  yet,  of  a  French  soldier 
being  whipped.  Their  desertions,  I  believe, 
have  been  rare,  and  their  sickness  but  little. 
When  will  our  army  bear  the  comparison  ? 

JAMES  TILTON. 
Thomas  Rodney,  esq. 


MARYLAND. 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THE  PEOPLE  ASSEMBLED  AT  ANNAPOLIS, 
RESPECTING  THE  IMPORTATION  OF  BRIT 
ISH  GOODS. 

ANNAPOLIS,  Junt  ag,  1769. 

Several  of  the  counties  having  entered  into 
resolutions  of  non-importation  of  British  su 
perfluities,  and  the  province,  in  general,  being 
invited  by  the  gentlemen  of  Anne  Arundel 
county,  to  request  some  people  from  each 
county,  to  meet  at  this  place,  on  the  loth 
instant,  in  order  that  a  general  resolution 

of  non-importation    might  be  formed 

There  was  accordingly  a  very  full  meet 
ing,  at  which  the  following  RESOLU 
TIONS  were  entered  into ;  and  it  was 
agreed,  that  twelve  copies  should  be  printed 
and  transmitted  to  each  county,  to  be  signed 
by  the  people,  which,  it  is  expected,  will  be 
done  with  great  readiness  throughout  the 
province. 

We,  the  subscribers,  his  majesty's  loyal  and 
dutiful  subjects,  the  merchants,  traders,  free 
holders,  mechanics,  and  other  inhabitants  of 
the  province  of  Maryland,  seriously  consider 
ing  the  present  state  and  condition  of  the 
province,  and  being  sensible  that  there  is  a  ne 
cessity  to  agree  upon  such  measures,  as  may 
tend  to  discourage,  and  as  much  as  may  be, 
prevent  the  use  of  foreign  luxuries  and  super 
fluities,  in  the  consumption  of  which  we  have 
heretofore  too  much  indulged  ourselves,  to  the 
great  detriment  of  our  private  fortunes,  and,  in 
some  instances,  to  the  ruin  of  our  families  ; 
and,  to  this  end,  to  practise  ourselves,  and  as 
much  as  possible,  to  promote,  countenance, 
and  encourage  in  others,  a  habit  of  temper 
ance,  frugality,  economy,  and  industry,  and 
considering  also,  that  measures  of  this  nature 
are  more  particularly  necessary  at  this  time,  as 


the  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  by  imposing 
taxes  upon  many  articles  imported  hither  from 
thence,  and  from  other  parts  beyond  sea,  has 
left  it  less  in  our  power,  than  in  time  past,  to 
purchase  and  pay  for  the  manufactures  of  the 
mother-country ;  which  taxes,  especially  those 
imposed  by  a  late  act  of  parliament,  laying 
duties  on  tea,  paper,  glass,  etc.,  we  are  clearly 
convinced  have  been  imposed  contrary  to  the 
spirit  of  our  constitution,  and  have  a  direct  and 
manifest  tendency  to  deprive  us,  in  the  end,  of 
all  political  freedom,  and  reduce  us  to  a  state 
of  dependence,  inconsistent  with  that  liberty 
we  have  rightfully  enjoyed  under  the  govern 
ment  of  his  present  most  sacred  majesty,  (to 
whom  we  owe,  acknowledge,  and  will  always 
joyfully  pay  all  due  obedience  and  allegiance) 
and  of  his  royal  predecessors,  ever  since  the 
first  settlement  of  the  province,  until  of 
very  late  time — have  thought  it  necessary  to 
unite,  as  nearly  as  our  circumstances  will 
admit,  with  our  sister  colonies,  in  resolutions 
for  the  purpose  aforesaid  ;  and,  therefore,  do 
hereby  agree,  and  bind  ourselves,  to  and  with 
each  other,  by  all  the  ties  and  obligations  of 
honor  and  reputation,  that  we  will  strictly  and 
faithfully  observe,  and  conform  to  the  follow 
ing  resolutions : 

FIRST,  That  we  will  not,  at  any  time  here 
after,  directly  or  indirectly,  import,  or  cause  to 
be  imported,  any  manner  of  goods,  merchan 
dise,  or  manufactures,  which  are,  or  shall  here 
after  be,  taxed  by  act  of  parliament,  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  a  revenue  in  America  (except 
paper  not  exceeding  six  shillings  per  ream,  and 
except  such  articles  only  as  orders  have  been 
already  sent  for)  but,  that  we  will  always  con 
sider  such  taxation,  in  every  respect,  as  an  ab 
solute  prohibition  to  the  articles  that  are,  or 
may  be  taxed. 

SECONDLY,    That    we    will    not   hereafter, 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


directly  or  indirectly,  during  the  continuance  of 
the  aforesaid  act  of  parliament,  import,  or 
cause  to  be  imported,  from  Great  Britain,  or 
any  other  part  of  Europe,  (except  such  articles 
of  the  produce  or  manufacture  of  Ireland,  as 
may  be  immediately  and  legally  brought  from 
thence,  and  also,  except  all  such  goods  as 
orders  have  been  already  sent  for)  any  of  the 
goods  herein  after  enumerated,  to  wit,  horses, 
spirits,  wine,  cider,  perry,  beer,  ale,  malt,  bar 
ley,  peas,  beef,  pork,  fish,  butter,  cheese,  tal 
low,  candles,  oil,  except  Salad-oil,  fruit,  pickles, 
confectionery,  British  refined  sugar,  mustard, 
coffee,  pewter,  tin-ware  of  all  kinds,  whether 
plain  or  painted,  waiters,  and  all  kinds  of  japan- 
ware,  wrought  copper,  wrought  and  cast  brass, 
and  bell-metal,  watches,  clocks,  plate,  and  all 
other  gold  and  silversmiths'  work,  trinkets,  and 
jewelry  of  all  kinds,  gold  and  silver  lace,  join 
ers'  and  cabinet  work  of  all  sorts,  looking- 
glasses,  upholstery  of  all  kinds,  carriages  of  all 
kinds,  ribbons  and  millinery  of  all  kinds,  except 
wig-ribbon,  lace,  cambric,  lawn,  muslin,  kent- 
ing,  gauze  of  all  kinds,  except  Boulting-cloths, 
silks  of  all  kinds,  except  raw  and  sewing  silk, 
and  wig  cauls,  velvets,  chintzes,  and  calicoes 
of  all  sorts,  of  more  than  twenty-pence  per 
yard,  East-India  goods  of  every  kind,  except 
salt-petre,  black  pepper,  and  spices,  printed 
linens,  and  printed  cottons,  striped  linens,  and 
cottons,  check  linens,  and  cotton  checks  of  all 
kinds,  handkerchiefs  of  all  kinds,  at  more  than 
ten  shillings  per  dozen  ;  cotton  velvets,  and  all 
kinds  of  cotton,  or  cotton  and  linen  stuffs,  bed- 
bunts,  and  bed-ticking  of  all  sorts,  cotton 
counterpanes  and  coverlids,  British  manufac 
tured  linens  of  all  kinds,  except  sail-cloth,  Irish 
and  all  foreign  linens,  above  one  shilling  and 
six  pence  per  yard  ;  woolen  cloth,  above  five 
quarters  wide,  of  more  than  five  shillings  per 
yard ;  narrow  cloths  of  all  sorts,  of  more  than 
three  shillings  per  yard  ;  worsted  stuffs  of  all 
sorts,  above  thirteen  pence  per  yard  ;  silk  and 
worsted,  silk  and  cotton,  silk  and  hair,  and 
hair  and  worsted  stuffs  of  all  kinds,  worsted 
and  hair  shags,  mourning  of  all  and  every  kind, 
stockings,  caps,  waistcoat  and  breeches  pat 
terns  of  all  kinds,  rugs  of  all  sorts,  above  eight 
shillings ;  blankets,  above  five  shillings,  per 
blanket ;  men's  and  women's  ready  made  clothes 
and  wearing  apparel  of  all  kinds,  hats  of-  all 
kinds,  of  more  than  two  shillings  per  hat  ; 
wigs,  gloves,  and  mits  of  all  kinds,  stays  and 
bodices  of  all  sorts,  boots,  saddles,  and  all  man 
ufactures  of  leather,  and  skins  of  all  kinds, 
except  men's  and  women's  shoes,  of  not  more 
than  four  shillings  per  pair,  whips,  brushes, 
and  brooms  of  all  sorts,  gilt,  and  hair  trunks, 


paintings,  carpets  of  all  sorts,  snuff-boxes, 
snuff,  and  other  manufactured  tobacco,  soap, 
starch,  playing  cards,  dice,  English  china,  Eng 
lish  ware,  in  imitation  of  China,  delph  and 
stone  ware,  of  all  sorts,  except  milk-pans,  stone 
bottles,  jugs,  pitchers,  and  chamber  pots,  mar 
ble  and  wrought  stone  of  any  kind,  except 
scythe-stones  ;  mill-stones,  and  grind-stones, 
iron  castings,  ironmongery  of  all  sorts,  except 
nails ;  hoes,  steel,  handicraft  and  manufactur 
ers'  tools,  locks,  frying-pans,  scythes  and  sick 
les,  cutlery  of  all  sorts,  except  knives  and  forks, 
not  exceeding  three  shillings  per  dozen  ;  knives, 
scissors,  sheep  shears,  needles,  pins  and  thim 
bles,  razors,  chirurgical  instruments  and  spec 
tacles,  cordage,  or  tarred  rope  of  all  sorts, 
seines,  ships'  colors  ready  made,  ivory,  horn 
and  bone  ware  of  all  sorts,  except  combs. 

THIRDLY,  That  we  will  not,  during  the  time 
aforesaid,  import  any  wines,  of  any  kind  what 
ever,  or  purchase  the  same  from  any  person 
whatever,  except  such  wines  as  are  already 
imported,  or  for  which  orders  are  already 
sent. 

FOURTHLY,  That  we  will  not  kill  or  suffer  to 
be  killed,  or  sell,  or  dispose  to  any  person, 
whom  we  have  reason  to  believe  intends  to  kill, 
any  ewe-lamb  that  shall  be  yeaned  before  the 
first  day  of  May  in  any  year,  during  the  time 
aforesaid. 

FIFTHLY,  That  we  will  not,  directly  or  indi 
rectly,  during  the  time  aforesaid,  purchase,  take 
up,  or  receive,  on  any  terms,  or  conditions 
whatever,  any  of  the  goods  enumerated  in  the 
second  resolution,  that  shall,  or  may  be  im 
ported  into  this  province,  contrary  to  the 
intent  and  design  of  these  resolutions,  by  any 
person  whatever,  or  consigned  to  any  factor, 
agent,  manager,  or  storekeeper  here,  by  any 
person  residing  in  Great  Britain,  or  elsewhere  ; 
and  if  any  such  goods  shall  be  imported,  we 
will  not,  upon  any  consideration  whatever,  rent 
or  sell  to,  or  permit  any  way  to  be  made  use  of 
by  any  such  importer,  his  agent,  factor,  man 
ager,  or  store-keeper,  or  any  person,  on  his,  or 
their  behalf,  any  store-house,  or  other  house,  or 
any  kind  of  place  whatever,  belonging  to  us, 
respectively,  for  exposing  to  sale,  or  even  secur 
ing  any  such  goods,  nor  will  we  suffer  any  such 
to  be  put  on  shore  on  our  respective  proper 
ties. 

SIXTHLY,  That  if  any  person  shall  import, 
or  endeavor  to  import,  from  Great  Britain  or 
any  part  of  Europe,  any  goods  whatever,  con 
trary  to  the  spirit  and  design  of  the  foregoing 
resolutions,  or  shall  sell  any  goods  which  he 
has  now,  or  may  hereafter  have  on  hand,  or 
may  import,  on  any  other  terms  than  are  herein 


MARYLAND. 


257 


expressed,  we  will  not,  at  any  time  hereafter, 
deal  with  any  such  person,  his  agent,  manager, 
factor,  or  storekeeper,  for  any  commodity  what 
ever;  and  that  such  of  us  as  are,  or  may  be 
sellers  of  goods,  will  not  take  any  advantage 
of  the  scarcity  of  goods,  that  this  agreement 
may  occasion,  but  will  sell  such  as  we  have 
now  on  hand,  or  may  hereafter  import,  or  have 
for  sale,  at  the  respective  usual  and  accustomed 
rates  for  three  years  last  past. 

SEVENTHLY,  That  we  will  not,  during  the 
time  aforesaid,  import  into  this  province,  any 
of  the  goods  above  enumerated  for  non-impor 
tation  in  the  second  resolution,  which  have 
been,  or  shall  be  imported  from  Great  Britain, 
or  some  part  of  Europe,  from  any  colony,  or 
province,  which  hath  not  entered,  or  shall  not, 
within  two  months  from  the  date  hereof,  enter 
into  resolutions  of  non-importation,  nor  will  we 
purchase,  take  up,  or  receive,  on  any  terms,  or 
conditions  whatever,  any  such  goods,  from  any 
person  or  persons,  that  may  import  the  same ; 
nor  will  we  purchase,  take  up,  or  receive,  on 
any  terms,  or  conditions,  any  of  the  said  goods, 
which  may  be  imported  from  any  province,  or 
colony,  which  has  entered,  or  may  enter  into  such 
resolutions,  unless  a  certificate  shall  accompany 
such  goods,  under  the  hands  of  a  committee  of 
merchants  (if  any)  of  the  place  from  whence 
such  goods  shall  come  or  if  no  such  committee, 
then  under  the  hands  of  at  least  three  of  the 
principal  merchants  there,  who  have  entered 
into  resolutions  of  non-importation,  that  such 
goods  were  imported  before  such  resolution 
was  entered  into  in  such  place.  And  that  we 
will  not  purchase,  take  up,  or  receive,  on  any 
terms,  or  conditions  whatever,  after  the  expira 
tion  of  six  months,  from  the  date  hereof,  from 
any  colony,  or  province  aforesaid,  any  of  the 
said  enumerated  articles,  which  have  been,  or 
shall  be  imported  from  Great  Britain. 

EIGHTHLY,  We,  the  tradesmen  and  manu 
facturers,  do  likewise  promise,  and  agree,  that 
we  will  not  avail  ourselves  of  the  scarcity  of 
European  goods,  proceeding  from  the  resolu 
tions  for  non-importation,  to  raise  or  enhance 
the  prices  of  the  different  articles,  or  commodi 
ties,  by  us  wrought  up,  or  manufactured  ;  but 
that  we  will  sell  and  dispose  of  the  same,  at 
the  usual  and  accustomed  rates  we  have  done 
for  these  three  years  past. 

LASTLY,  That,  if  any  person,  or  persons, 
whatever,  shall  oppose,  or  contravene  the  above 
resolutions,  or  act  in  opposition  to  the  true 
spirit  and  design  thereof,  we  will  consider  him, 
or  them,  as  enemies  to  the  liberties  of  America, 
and  treat  them  on  all  occasions,  with  the  con 
tempt  they  deserve  ;  provided  that  these  resolu- 

'7 


tions  shall  be  binding  on  us,  for  and  during  the 
continuance  of  the  before  mentioned  act  of  par 
liament,  unless  a  general  meeting  of  such  per 
sons  at  Annapolis,  as  may,  at  any  time  here 
after,  be  requested  by  the  people  of  the  several 
counties  in  this  province  to  meet,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  considering  the  expediency  of  dispens 
ing  with  the  said  resolutions,  or  any  of  them, 
not  exceeding  four  from  each  county,  or  a 
majority  of  such  of  them  as  shall  attend,  shall 
determine  otherwise. 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF  MERCHANTS  AND  OTHERS  OF  BALTI 
MORE  COUNTY,  RELATIVE  TO  IMPORTA 
TION  OF  EUROPEAN  GOODS. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  merchants,  and  others, 
inhabitants  of  Baltimore  county,  associators 
for  non-importation  of  European  goods,  held, 
at  Mr.  Little's,  November  14,  1769, 

JOHN  SMITH,  chairman — 

The  committee  of  enquiry  having  reported, 
that  William  Moore,  jun.  had  imported  a  cargo 
of  goods  in  the  Lord  Cambden,  captain  John 
Johnston,  from  London,  of  the  value  of  £900 
sterling,  which  they  were  in  doubt  were  not 
within  the  terms  of  the  association.  The  fol 
lowing  question  was  put,  whether  William 
Moore,  jun.  has  imported  the  said  cargo  within 
the  terms  mentioned  in  the  agreement  of  the 
3oth  of  March  last,  to  which  he  was  a  signer  ? 
Upon  which  question,  the  gentlemen  present 
were  unanimously  of  opinion,  that  the  said 
cargo  was  imported  contrary  to  that  agree 
ment.  Of  which  determination  William 
Moore  being  informed,  he  alleged,  as  a  justifi 
cation  of  his  conduct,  that  at  the  time  he  signed 
the  agreement,  he  objected  to  Mr.  John  Merry- 
man,  who  then  had  the  carriage  thereof,  (and 
who  is  now  absent  in  London)  that  he  would 
not  sign,  unless  he  had  liberty  to  send  off  his 
orders  for  fall  goods,  and  to  import  the  same  : 
That  some  few  days  afterwards  Mr.  Merryman 
informed  him,  that  the  merchants  of  the  town 
would  give  leave  to  send  off  the  orders,  and 
receive  the  fall  goods ;  and  that,  in  conse 
quence  of  this  information,  he  signed  the 
agreement,  without  any  such  condition,  written 
or  expressed,  in  the  same  opposite  to  his  name. 
After  which  the  question  was  put,  whether 
Mr.  Moore  should  have  liberty  to  land  and 
vend  his  whole  cargo?  Which  was  deter 
mined  in  the  affirmative. 


258 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


FOR    THE    AFFIRMATIVE. 


Thomas  Ewing, 
Alexander  M'Machen, 
Benjamin  Rogers, 
Jonathan  Hudson, 
Murdock  Kennedy, 
Henry  Brown, 
William  Hammond, 
Andrew  Buchanan, 
John  Deaver, 


H.  D.  Gough, 
Jonathan  Plowman, 
Richard  Moale, 
Archibald  Buchanan, 
Hercules  Courtenay, 
John  Macnabb, 
Charles  Rogers, 
John  A.  Smith, 
Thomas  Place. 


FOR   THE    NEGATIVE. 


John  Moale, 
Henry  Thompson, 
William  Lux,  E.  R. 
Robert  Christie, 
Robert  Alexander, 


John  Smith, 
William  Smith, 
Alexander  Lawson, 
Ebenezer  Mackie, 
William  Lux. 


The  committee  of  enquiry  having  also  re 
ported  that  Benjamin  Howard  had  imported  a 
cargo  of  goods,  of  the  value  of  ^1700  sterling, 
in  the  Lord  Cambden,  captain  John  Johnston, 
London,  which  they  were  in  doubt  were  not 
within  the  terms  of  the  association  of  3oth 
March.  Upon  which  the  following  question 
was  put,  whether  Benjamin  Howard  be  per 
mitted  to  land  and  vend  the  said  cargo,  he 
having  alleged  that  he  never  signed  the  associa 
tion  of  the  3Oth  March,  being  then  an  inhabi 
tant  of  Anne-Arundel  county,  and  that  he 
apprehended  he  was  entitled  to  import  within 
the  terms  of  the  general  association  of  the 
22d  June,  to  which  he  was  a  subscriber,  his 
orders  for  the  said  cargo  having  been  trans 
mitted  the  1st  of  May.  Resolved  in  the  affir 
mative, 

FOR    THE    AFFIRMATIVE. 


Thomas  Ewing, 
Alexander  M'Machen, 
Benjamin  Rogers, 
Jonathan  Hudson, 
Thomas  Place, 
Henry  Thompson, 
Henry  Brown, 
William  Hammond, 
Andrew  Buchanan, 
John  Deaver, 


H.  D.  Gough, 
Jonathan  Plowman, 
Richard  Moale, 
Archibald  Buchanan, 
Murdock  Kennedy, 
John  Moale, 
John  Macnabb, 
Charles  Rogers, 
John  A.  Smith, 
Hercules  Courtenay. 


FOR  THE  NEGATIVE. 


John  Smith, 
Robert  Christie, 
William  Smith. 


Ebenezer  Mackie, 
Alexander  Lawson, 
William  Lux. 


ACTION 

OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  MARYLAND  UPON  THE 
SUBJECT  OF  THE  BOSTON   PORT-BILL. 

QUEEN  ANNE'S  COUNTY,  MAY  30,  1774. 

At  a  meeting  of  a  considerable  number  of  the 
magistrates,  and  other  the  most  respectable 
inhabitants  of  Queen-Anne's  county,  at 
Queen's  town,  on  the  thirtieth  day  of  May, 
1774,  in  order  to  deliberate  upon  the  ten 
dency  and  effect  of  the  act  of  parliament 
for  blocking  up  the  port  and  harbor  of 
Boston. 

Duly  considering  and  deeply  affected  with 
the  prospect  of  the  unhappy  situation  of  Great 
Britain  and  British  America,  under  any  kind  of 
disunion,  this  meeting  think  themselves  obliged, 
by  all  the  ties  which  ever  ought  to  preserve  a 
firm  union  among  Americans,  as  speedily  as 
possible  to  make  known  their  sentiments  to 
their  distressed  brethren  of  Boston  ;  and  there 
fore  publish  to  the  world, 

That  they  look  upon  the  cause  of  Boston  in 
its  consequences  to  be  the  common  cause  of 
America. 

That  the  act  of  parliament  for  blocking  up 
the  port  and  harbor  of  Boston,  appears  to 
them  a  cruel  and  oppressive  invasion  of  their 
natural  rights,  as  men,  and  constitutional  rights 
as  English  subjects,  and  if  not  repealed,  will 
be  a  foundation  for  the  utter  destruction  of 
American  freedom. 

That  all  legal  and  constitutional  means  ought 
to  be  used  by  all  America,  for  procuring  a 
repeal  of  the  said  act  of  parliament. 

That  the  only  effectual  means  of  obtaining 
such  repeal,  they  are  at  present  of  opinion,  is 
an  association,  under  the  strongest  ties,  for 
breaking  off  all  commercial  connections  with 
Great  Britain,  until  the  said  act  of  parliament 
be  repealed,  and  the  right  assumed  by  parlia 
ment  for  taxing  America,  in  all  cases  whatso 
ever,  be  given  up,  and  American  freedom  as 
certained  and  settled  upon  a  permanent  consti 
tutional  foundation. 

That  the  most  practicable  mode  of  forming 
such  an  effectual  association,  they  conceive  to 
be  a  general  meeting  of  the  gentlemen,  who 
are  already  or  shall  be  appointed  committees, 
to  form  an  American  intercourse  and  corre 
spondence  upon  this  most  interesting  occasion. 

That  in  the  mean  time  they  will  form  such 
particular  associations  as  to  them  shall  seem 
effectual ;  yet  professing  themselves  ready  to 
join  in  any  reasonable  general  one  that  may  be 
devised  as  aforesaid. 

That  these   sentiments  be  immediately  for- 


MARYLAND. 


259 


warded  to  be   printed   in   the   Maryland   and 
Pennsylvania  Gazettes. 

That  Edward  Tilghman,  Solomon  Wright, 
Turbut  Wright,  John  Browne,  Richard  Tilgh 
man  Earle,  James  Hollyday,  Thomas  Wright, 
William  Hemsley,  Adam  Gray,  Clement  Sewell, 
Richard  Tilghman,  James  Kent,  John  Kerr, 
James  Bordley,  and  William  Bruff,  be  a  com 
mittee  of  correspondence  and  intercourse,  until 
some  alteration  is  made  in  this  appointment 
by  a  more  general  meeting. 
Attested  by— 

JAMES  EARLE,  elk.  com. 


BALTIMORE  COUNTY,  MAY  31,  1774. 

At  a  general  meeting  of  the  freeholders,  gentle 
men,  merchants,  tradesmen,  and  other  inha 
bitants  of  Baltimore  county,  held  at  the 
court  house  of  the  said  county,  on  Tuesday 
the  3ist  of  May  1774,  Captain  CHARLES 
RlDGELY,  Chairman — 

I.  Resolved,   That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this 
meeting,  that  the  town  of  Boston  is  now  suffer 
ing  in  the  common  cause  of  America,  and  that 
it  is  the  duty  of  every  colony  in   America  to 
unite  in  the  most  effectual  means  to  obtain  a 
repeal  of  the  late  act  of  parliament  for  blocking 
up  the  harbor  of  Boston. — Dissentient  three. 

II.  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  that 
if  the  colonies  come  into  a  joint  resolution  to 
stop    importations   from,  and    exportations   to 
Great  Britain  and  the  West-Indies,  until    the 
act  for  blocking  up  the   harbor  of  Boston  be 
repealed,  the  same  may  be  the  means  of  pre 
serving  North  America  in  her  liberties.     Dis 
sentient  three. 

III.  That  therefore  the  inhabitants   of  this 
county  will  join   in   an   association   with   the 
several  counties  in  this  province  and  the  prin 
cipal    colonies   in   America,  to   put  a   stop   to 
exports  to  Great  Britain  and  the  West-Indies, 
after  the   first  day  of  October  next,  or  such 
other  day  as  may  be  agreed  on,  and  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  imports  from  Great  Britain  after  the 
first  day  of  December  next,  or  such  other  day 
as  may  be  agreed  upon,  until  the  said  act  shall 
be  repealed,  and  that  such  association  shall  be 
upon  oath. — Dissentient  nine. 

IV.  Unanimously. — That  it  is  the  opinion  of 
this  meeting,  that  as  the  most  effectual  means 
of  uniting  all  parts  of  this  province  in  such  as 
sociation,  as  proposed,  a  general  congress  of 
deputies  from  each  county  be  held  at  Annapolis 
at  such  times  as  may  be  agreed  upon  and  that 
if  agreeable  to  the  sense  of  our  sister  colonies, 
delegates  shall  be  appointed  from  this  province 


to  attend  a  general  congress  of  de.egates  from 
the  other  colonies,  at  such  time  and  place  as 
shall  be  agreed  on,  in  order  to  settle  and  estab 
lish  a  general  plan  of  conduct  for  the  important 
purposes  aforementioned. 

V.  Unanimously, — That  the  inhabitants  of 
this  county  will,  and  it  is  the  opinion  of  this 
meeting,  that  this  province  ought  to  break  off 
all  trade  and   dealings  with   that  colony,  pro 
vince  or  town,  which  shall  decline  or  refuse  to 
come  into   similar  resolutions  with  a  majority 
of  the  colonies. 

VI.  That    Capt.   Charles   Ridgely,   Charles 
Ridgely,    son   of    John,    Walter    Tolley,    jun. 
Thomas   Cockey   Dye,   William  Lux,   Robert 
Alexander,  Samuel  Purviance,  jun.  John  Moale, 
Andrew   Buchanan,  and  George  Risteau,  be  a 
committee  to  attend  a  general  meeting  at  An 
napolis.     And   that  the  same   gentlemen,  to 
gether  with    John    Smith,  Thomas    Harrison, 
William  Buchanan,  Benjamin  Nicholson,  Tho 
mas   Sollars,  William  Smith,  James   Gittings, 
Richard  Moale,  Jonathan  Plowman,  and  Wil 
liam  Spear,  be  a  committee  of  correspondence 
to  receive  and  answer  all  letters,  and  on  any 
emergency,  to  call  a  general  meeting,  and  that 
any  six  of  the  number  have  power  to  act. 

VII.  That   a  copy  of   the   proceedings   be 
transmitted  to  the  several  counties  of  this  pro 
vince,  directed    to   their  committee  of  corre 
spondence,  and  be  also  published  in  the  Mary 
land   Gazette,  to  evince   to  all  the  world  the 
sense  they  entertain  of  the   invasion  of  their 
constitutional  rights  and  liberties. 

VIII.  That    the    chairman    be  desired    to 
return  the  thanks  of  this  meeting  to  the  gentle 
men  of  the  committee  of  correspondence  from 
Annapolis,    for    their  polite   personal     attend 
ance  in   consequence   of  an   invitation  by  the 
committee   of    correspondence   for   Baltimore 
town. 

Signed  per  order, 

WILLIAM  Lux,  Clerk. 


ANNE  ARUNDEL  COUNTY,  JUNE  4,  1774. 

At  a  meeting  of  a  very  considerable  and  re 
spectable  body  of  the  inhabitants  of  Anne 
Arundel  county,  inclusive  of  those  of  the 
city  of  Annapolis,  on  Saturday  the  4th  day 
of  June,  1774,  Mr.  Brice  Thomas  Beale  Wor- 
thington,  moderator. 

I.  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  it  is  the 
opinion  of  this  meeting,  that  the  town  of  Bos 
ton  is  now  suffering  in  the  common  cause  of 
America,  and  that  it  is  incumbent  on  every 
colony  in  America  to  unite  in  effectual  means 


26o 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


to  obtain  a  repeal  of  the  late  act  of  parliament, 
for  blocking  up  the  harbor  of  Boston. 

II.  Resolved,  That   it  is  the  opinion  of  this 
meeting,  that  if  the  colonies  come  into  a  joint 
resolution  to  stop   all   importations  from,  and 
exportations  to  Great   Britain,  and  the  West- 
Indies,  till  the  said  act  be  repealed,  the  same 
will    be   the   most  effectual   means   to   obtain 
a  repeal  of  the   said  act,  and    preserve  North 
America  and  her  liberties. 

III.  Resolved  therefore,  unanimously,  That 
the   inhabitants  of  this  county  will  join  in  an 
association   with   the  several   counties   in  this 
province,  and  the  principal  colonies  in  America, 
to  put  a   stop  to  exports  to  Great  Britain,  and 
the  West-Indies,  after  the  9th  day  of  October 
next,  or  such  other  day  as  may  be  agreed  on 
and  to  put  a  stop  to  the  imports  of  goods,  not 
already  ordered,  and  of  those  ordered  that  shall 
not  be  shipped  from  Great  Britain  by  the  2oth 
day  of  July  next,  or  such  other  day  as  may  be 
agreed  on,  until  the  said  act  shall  be  repealed, 
and  that  such  association  be  on  oath. 

IV.  Resolved,  That   as   remittances   can   be 
made   only   from   exports,  after   stopping  the 
exports  to  Great  Britain  and  the  West-Indies, 
it  will  be  impossible  for  very  many  of  the  peo 
ple  of  this  province  who  are  possessed  of  valu 
able  property,  immediately  to  pay  off  their  debts, 
and  therefore  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  meeting, 
the  gentlemen  of  the  law  ought  to  bring  no 
suit  for  the  recovery  of  any  debt  due  from  any 
inhabitants  of  this  province,  to  any  inhabitant 
of  Great   Britain,  until   that   said  act   be  re 
pealed  ;   and    further,  that  they  ought  not    to 
bring  suit  for  recovery  of  any  debt,  due  to  any 
inhabitant  of  this  province,  except  in  such  cases 
where  the  debtor  is  guilty  of  a  wilful  delay  in 
payment,  having  ability  to  pay,  or  is  about  to 
abscond  or  remove  his  effects,  or  is  wasting  his 
substance,  or  shall  refuse  to  settle  his  account. 

V.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this 
meeting,  that  a  congress  of  deputies  from  the 
several  counties,  to  be  held  at  Annapolis  as  soon 
as  conveniently  may  be,  will  be  the  most  speedy 
and   effectual   means   of  uniting   all  the  parts 
of  this  province  in  such  association  as  proposed  ; 
and  that,  if  agreeable  to  the  sense  of  our  sister 
colonies,  delegates  ought  to  be  appointed  from 
this   province  to   attend  a  general  congress  of 
deputies  from  the  other  colonies,  at  such  time 
and  place  as  may  be  agreed  on,  to  effect  unity 
in  a  wise  and  prudent  plan  for  the  forementioned 
purpose. 

VI.  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  the  inhabi 
tants  of  this  county  will,  and  it  is  the  opinion 
of  this   meeting,  that   the   province   ought   to 
break  off  all  trade  and  dealings  with  that  col 


ony,  province,  or  town,  which  shall  decline  or 
refuse  to  come  into  similar  resolutions  with  a 
majority  of  the  colonies. 

VII.  Resolved,  That  Brice  Thomas  Beale  Wor- 
thington,  Charles  Carroll,  barrister,  John  Hall, 
William  Paca,  Samuel  Chase,  Thomas  Johnson, 
jun.  Matthias  Hammond,  Thomas  Sprigg, 
Samuel  Chew,  John  Weems,  Thomas  Dorsey, 
Rezin  Hammond,  John  Hood,  jun.  be  a  com 
mittee  to  attend  a  general  meeting  at  Anna 
polis,  and  of  correspondence,  to  receive  and 
answer  all  letters,  and  on  any  emergency  to 
call  a  general  meeting,  and  that  any  six  of  the 
number  have  power  to  act. 

Ordered,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolves  be 
transmitted  to  the  committee  of  the  several 
counties  of  this  province,  and  be  also  published 
in  the  Maryland  Gazette. 

By  order,       JOHN  DUCKETT,  elk.  com. 


PATRIOTIC  RECOMMENDATION. 

FULL  MEETING  OF  DEPUTIES  RESPECTING 
MANUFACTURES,  AND  HOME  INDUSTRY. 

ANNAPOLIS,  December  15,  1774. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  deputies  appointed  by  the 
several  counties  of  the  province  of  Maryland, 
at  the  city  of  Annapolis,  by  adjournment,  on 
the  8th  day  of  December,  1774,  and  con 
tinued  till  the  1 2th  day  of  the  same  month, 
were  present,  eighty-five  members. 

MR.  JOHN  HALL  in  the  chair,  and 

MR.  JOHN  DUCKETT,  clerk. 

The  proceedings  of  the  continental  congress 
were  read,  considered,  and  unanimously  ap 
proved.  RESOLVED  That  every  member  of  this 
convention  will,  and  every  person  in  the  pro 
vince  ought  strictly  and  inviolably  to  observe 
and  carry  into  execution  the  association  agreed 
on  by  the  said  continental  congress. 

On  motion,  unanimously  resolved,  That  the 
thanks  of  this  convention  be  given,  by  the 
chairman,  to  the  gentlemen  who  represented 
this  province  as  deputies  in  the  late  continental 
congress  for  their  faithful  discharge  of  that  im 
portant  trust :  And  the  same  was  done  accor 
dingly. 

To  increase  our  flocks  of  sheep,  and  there 
by  promote  the  woolen  manufacture  in  this 
province,  Resolved,  That  no  person  ought  to 
kill  any  lamb,  dropt  before  the  first  day  of 
May  yearly,  or  other  sheep,  after  the  first  day 
of  January  next,  under  four  years  of  age. 

To  increase  the  manufacture  of  linen  and 
cotton,  Resolved,  That  every  planter  and  far 
mer  ought  to  raise  as  much  flax,  hemp,  and 


MARYLAND. 


26l 


cotton,  as  he  conveniently  can  ;  and  the  culti 
vation  thereof  is  particularly  recommended  to 
such  inhabitants  of  this  province,  whose  lands 
are  best  adapted  to  that  purpose — And  re 
solved,  That  no  flax-seed,  of  the  growth  of  the 
present  year,  ought  to  be  purchased  for  expor 
tation,  after  the  twelfth  day  of  this  month. 

It  being  represented  to  this  convention,  that 
many  merchants  and  traders  of  this  province, 
from  a  scarcity  of  cash  to  make  their  remit 
tances,  and  other  causes,  had  sold  their  goods, 
within  twelve  months  next  before  the  twenti 
eth  day  of  October  last,  at,  and  sometimes 
even  below,  the  prime  cost ;  and  that,  in  many 
different  parts  of  this  province,  merchants  had 
vended  their  goods  at  a  very  different  advance 
on  the  prime  cost ;  and  it  appearing  to  this 
convention  to  be  unjust  to  compel  such  mer 
chants  to  sell  their  goods  at  prime  cost,  and 
that  one  general  rule,  allowing  a  reasonable 
profit  to  the  trader,  and  preventing  him  from 
taking  advantage  of  the  scarcity  of  goods 
which  may  be  occasioned  by  the  non-importa 
tion,  would  give  great  satisfaction  to  the  mer 
chants  and  people  of  this  province,  resolved 
unanimously,  That  no  merchant  ought  to  sell 
his  goods,  at  wholesale,  for  more  than  112^ 
per  cent. — at  retail,  for  cash,  for  more  than 
13  per  cent, — on  credit,  for  more  than  150  per 
cent,  advance  on  the  prime  cost ;  and  that  no 
merchant,  or  other  person,  ought  to  engross 
any  goods,  wares,  or  merchandise  whatsoever. 
— And  in  case  any  question  should  arise,  re 
specting  the  prime  cost  of  goods,  every  mer 
chant  or  factor  possessing  or  owning  such 
goods,  ought  to  ascertain  the  same  on  oath,  if 
requested  to  do  it  by  the  committee. 

As  a  further  regulation  to  enforce  an  observ 
ance  of  the  late  continental  association — Re 
solved  unanimously,  That  in  all  cases,  where 
breaches  of  the  continental  association,  or  the 
resolves  of  this  convention,  shall  happen  and 
be  declared  such  by  any  committee  of  a 
county,  no  gentleman  of  the  law  ought  to 
bring  or  prosecute  any  suit  whatever  for  such 
offender.  And  if  any  factor  shall  commit  any 
breach  of  the  said  association  or  resolves,  that 
no  gentleman  of  the  law  ought  to  bring  or 
prosecute  any  suit  for  any  debt  due  to  the 
store  of  which  the  said  factor  has  the  manage 
ment,  after  notice  as  aforesaid. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  earnestly  recommended, 
by  this  convention,  to  the  people  of  this  prov 
ince,  that  the  determinations  of  the  several 
county  committees  be  observed  and  acquiesced 
in.  That  no  persons,  except  members  of  the 
committees,  undertake  to  meddle  with  or  deter 
mine  any  question  respecting  the  construction 


of  the  association  entered  into  by  the  continen 
tal  congress.  And  that  peace  and  good  order 
be  inviolably  maintained  throughout  this  con 
gress. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  if  the  late  acts  of 
parliament,  relative  to  the  Massachusetts-Bay, 
shall  be  attempted  to  be  carried  into  execution 
by  force  in  that  colony,  or  if  the  assumed  power 
of  parliament  to  tax  the  colonies  shall  be  at 
tempted  to  be  carried  into  execution  by  force, 
in  that  colony  or  any  other  colony,  that  in  such 
case,  this  province  will  support  such  colony  to 
the  utmost  of  their  power. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  a  well  regulated 
militia,  composed  of  the  gentlemen,  freeholders, 
and  other  freemen,  is  the  natural  strength  and 
only  stable  security  of  a  free  government,  and 
that  such  militia  will  relieve  our  mother  country 
from  any  expense  in  our  protection  and  de 
fence  ;  will  obviate  the  pretence  of  a  necessity 
for  taxing  us  on  that  account,  and  render  it 
unnecessary  to  keep  any  standing  army  (ever 
dangerous  to  liberty)  in  this  province.  And 
therefore,  it  is  recommended  to  such  of  the 
said  inhabitants  of  this  province  as  are  from 
sixteen  to  fifty  years  of  age,  to  form  themselves 
into  companies  of  sixty-eight  men  ;  to  choose  a 
captain,  two  lieutenants,  an  ensign,  four  ser 
geants,  four  corporals,  and  one  drummer,  for 
each  company  ;  and  use  their  utmost  endeavors 
to  make  themselves  masters  of  the  military  ex 
ercise.  That  each  man  be  provided  with  a 
good  firelock  and  bayonet  fitted  thereon,  half  a 
pound  of  powder,  two  pounds  of  lead,  and  a 
cartouch-box,  or  powder-horn  and  bag  for  ball, 
and  be  in  readiness  to  act  on  any  emergency. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  it  is  recom 
mended  to  the  committees  of  each  county  to 
raise  by  subscription,  or  in  such  other  voluntary 
manner  as  they  may  think  proper,  and  will  be 
most  agreeable  to  their  respective  counties, 
such  sums  of  money  as,  with  any  monies  al 
ready  raised,  will  amount  to  the  following  sums 
in  the  respective  counties,  to  wit : 

In  St.  Mary's  county ^600 

Charles 800 

Calvert 366 

Prince  George's 833 

Anne  Arundel 866 

Frederick 1333 

Baltimore 933 

Harford 466 

Worcester 533 

Somerset 533 

Dorchester 480 

Caroline 358 

Talbot 4°° 


262 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


Queen  Anne's £$33 

Kent 566 

Coecil 400 

;£  I  O.OOO 

And  that  the  committees  of  the  respective 
counties  lay  out  the  same  in  the  purchase  of 
arms  and  ammunition  for  the  use  of  such 
county,  to  be  secured  and  kept  in  proper  and 
convenient  places,  under  the  direction  of  the 
said  committees. 

Resolved  unanimously.  That  it  will  be  neces 
sary  that  a  provincial  meeting  of  deputies, 
chosen  by  the  several  counties  of  this  province, 
should  be  held  in  the  city  of  Annapolis,  on 
Monday,  the  24th  day  of  April  next,  unless 
American  grievances  be  redressed  before  that 
time;  and  therefore  we  recommend  that  the 
several  counties  of  this  province  choose  depu 
ties,  as  soon  as  conveniently  may  be,  to  attend 
such  meeting.  And  the  committee  of  corre 
spondence  for  this  province  are  impowered  to 
call  a  meeting  of  the  said  deputies,  before  the 
said  24th  day  of  April,  if  they  shall  esteem  it 
necessary. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  contributions 
from  the  several  counties  of  this  province,  for 
supplying  the  necessities,  and  alleviating  the 
distresses  of  our  brethren  at  Boston,  ought  to 
be  continued  in  such  manner  and  so  long  as  their 
occasions  may  require  ;  and  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  committees  of  each  county  to  collect  and 
transmit  the  same  as  soon  as  possible. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  the  hon.  Mat 
thew  Tilghman,  and  John  Hall,  Samuel  Chase, 
Thomas  Johnson,  jun.  Charles  Carroll,  of  Car- 
rollton,  Charles  Carroll,  barrister,  and  William 
Paca,  esquires,  or  any  three  or  more  of  them, 
be  a  committee  of  correspondence  for  this 
province. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  the  hon.  Mat 
thew  Tilghman,  and  Thomas  Johnson,  Jun., 
Robert  Goldsborough,  William  Paca,  Samuel 
Chase,  John  Hall,  and  Thomas  Stone,  esquires, 
or  any  three  or  more  of  them,  be  delegates  to 
represent  this  province  in  the  next  continental 
congress,  and  that  they,  or  any  three  or  more 
of  them,  have  full  and  ample  power  to  consent 
and  agree  to  all  measures  which  such  congress 
shall  deem  necessary  and  effectual  to  obtain  a 
redress  of  American  grievances ;  and  this 
province  bind  themselves  to  execute,  to  the 
utmost  of  their  power,  all  resolutions  which  the 
said  congress  may  adopt.  And  further,  if  the 
said  congress  shall  think  necessary  to  adjourn, 
we  do  authorise  our  said  delegates  to  represent 
and  act  for  this  province,  in  any  one  congress 
to  be  held  by  virtue  of  such  adjournment. 


Resolved  unanimously.  That  it  is  recom 
mended  to  the  several  colonies  and  provinces, 
to  enter  into  such  or  the  like  resolutions,  for 
mutual  defence  and  protection,  as  are  entered 
into  by  this  province. 

As  our  opposition  to  the  settled  plan  of  the 
British  administration  to  enslave  America,  will 
be  strengthened  by  an  union  of  all  ranks  of 
men  in  this  province,  we  do  most  earnestly 
recommend,  that  all  former  differences  about 
religion  or  politics,  and  all  private  animosities 
and  quarrels  of  every  kind,  from  henceforth 
cease  and  be  forever  buried  in  oblivion ;  and 
we  intreat,  we  conjure  every  man  by  his  duty 
to  God,  his  country,  and  his  posterity,  cordially 
to  unite  in  defence  of  our  common  rights  and 
liberties. 

Ordered,  That  copies  of  these  resolutions  be 
transmitted  by  the  committee  of  correspondence 
for  this  province,  to  the  committees  of  corre 
spondence  for  the  several  colonies,  and  be  also 
published  in  the  Maryland  Gazette. 

By  order,  JOHN  DUCKETT,  Clerk. 


MEMORIAL  OF  JAMES  CHRISTIE. 

ANNAPOLIS,  1775. 

In  provincial  convention,  August  7,  1775,  the 
following  memorial  of  JAMES  CHRISTIE,/##. 
of  Baltimore  town,  merchant,  was  read — 

To  the  honorable  the  delegates  of  the  freemen 
of  the  province  of  Maryland,  in  convention 
now  assembled.  The  memorial  of  James 
Christie,  jun.,  of  Baltimore  county — 

SHEWETH — That  your  memorialist  did,  on  the 
22d  day  of  February  last,  write  the  letter,  a 
copy  of  which  is  hereunto  annexed,  to  his  friend 
and  cousin-german,  lieutenant  colonel  Christie, 
in  the  island  of  Antigua :  That,  at  the  time  of 
writing  the  said  letter,  your  memorialist  unfor 
tunately  could  not  approve  of  the  measures 
then  pursued  in  this  province,  as  a  petition 
from  the  hon.  continental  congress  was  then 
lying  at  the  foot  of  the  throne  of  Great  Britain, 
the  result  of  which  was  not  at  that  time  known 
in  America. 

That  the  said  letter,  having  been  intercepted 
by  means,  to  your  memorialist  altogether 
unknown,  was,  on  the  I3th  of  July  instant,  laid 
before  the  committee  of  Baltimore  county,  who 
came  to  such  resolutions  on  the  same  as  will 
appear  to  this  convention,  by  a  copy  of  the  pro 
ceedings  hereunto  annexed.  That  in  pur 
suance  of  the  said  resolutions,  your  memorialist 
has  already  suffered  a  painful  imprisonment, 
and  hath  paid  to  the  guard  appointed  by  the 


MARYLAND. 


263 


committee,  the  sum  of  thirty-one  pounds, 
seventeen  shillings  and  six  pence  current 
money,  as  will  appear  by  the  receipt  for  the 
same,  ready  to  be  produced. 

That,  by  a  subsequent  resolution  of  the  said 
committee  on  the  24th  instant,  the  said  guard 
was  discharged,  on  the  application  of  your 
memorialist  for  that  purpose,  upon  your  memo 
rialist's  giving  an  obligation,  with  five  securities, 
not  to  depart  the  province  without  leave  of  the 
said  committee  or  this  convention.  And  your 
memorialist  presumes,  with  all  deference,  to 
say,  that  the  letter  in  question,  the  contents  of 
which  has  excited  so  much  uneasiness  in  the 
minds  of  the  good  people  of  this  province,  could 
not  be  productive  of  any  ill  effect,  being  wrote 
by  a  private  individual  to  his  friend  and  rela 
tion,  a  person  who  had  not  the  power,  if  he  had 
the  inclination,  and  who,  from  regard  to  his 
own  private  interest,  and  from  the  ties  of 
blood  (his  wife,  family  and  fortune  being  in  this 
country)  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  active  in 
devising  measures  to  crush  the  liberties  there 
of;  and  in  the  most  solemn  manner  your 
memorialist  avers,  that  he  never  harbored  a 
wish  to  introduce  a  military  force  into  this 
province  for  the  purpose  of  enslaving  the 
inhabitants  thereof.  And  your  memorialist 
begs  leave  to  add,  that  he  is  extremely  sorry 
that  his  private  opinion  should  have  given  any 
offence ;  he  was  far  from  intending  any ;  he 
considered  himself  as  writing  to  a  friend  in  con 
fidence,  and  had  no  expectation  or  wish,  that 
such  private  opinions  would  ever  appear  in 
public,  or  be  productive  of  any  public  measures 
whatever. 

That  the  said  committee  having  referred  all 
further  proceedings  on  your  memorialist's  case 
to  the  gentlemen  delegated  by  this  province  to 
the  continental  congress,  and  they  having 
referred  the  same  to  the  consideration  of  this 
convention,  obliges  your  memorialist  to  make 
this  application,  humbly  to  request  that  this 
honorable  convention  will  consider  your  me- 
morialists's  case,  and  discharge  your  memorial 
ist  and  his  securities  from  the  said  obligation, 
and  also  grant  permission  to  your  memorialist  to 
depart  the  province  with  all  convenience,  with 
out  molestation  in  person  or  property. 

Your  memorialist,  relying  on  the  wisdom  and 
humanity  of  this  honorable  convention,  most 
cheerfully  submits  his  case  to  their  decision, 
humbly  praying, 

That  the  blessings  of  peace  and  tranquility 
may  be  restored  to  every  part  of  the  British 
empire  ;  that  the  rights  and  privileges  of  Ameri 
ca  may  be  established  on  a  firm  and  lasting 
basis,  and  a  speedy  and  honorable  reconciliation 


take  place  between  the  parent  state  and  her 
colonies,  is  the  sincere  wish  of  your  memo 
rialist. 

JAMES  CHRISTIE,  jun. 

Baltimore,  July  27,  1775. 

And  upon  reading  the  letter  of  the  said 
James  Christie  therein  referred  to,  dated  the 
22d  of  February,  1775,  to  Gabriel  Christie, 
lieut.  colonel  of  the  6oth  regiment,  in  which  the 
said  Christie  represented  the  inhabitants  of  that 
town  as  concerned  in  measures,  in  his  opinion, 
treasonable  and  rebellious,  and  that  a  number 
of  soldiers  would  keep  them  very  quiet,  the 
same  was  considered  by  this  convention,  and 
thereupon  it  is  resolved,  that  the  said  James 
Christie,  by  the  said  letter,  hath  manifested  a 
spirit  and  principle  altogether  inimical  to  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  America  ;  That  the  said 
James  Christie,  by  insinuating  the  necessity  of 
introducing  a  military  force  into  this  province, 
has  manifested  an  inveterate  enmity  to  the  lib 
erty  of  this  province  in  particular,  and  of 
British  America  in  general. 

Therefore,  resolved,  That  the  said  James 
Christie  is  and  ought  to  be  considered  as  an 
enemy  to  America,  and  that  no  person  trade, 
deal,  or  barter  with  him  hereafter,  unless  for 
necessaries  and  provisions,  or  for  the  sale  or 
purchase  of  any  part  of  his  real  or  personal 
estate,  of  which  he  may  be  at  this  time  seized 
or  possessed. 

Resolved,  That  the  said  James  Christie  be 
expelled  and  banished  this  province  forever, 
and  that  he  depart  the  province  before  the  first 
day  of  September  next. 

Resolved,  That  the  said  James  Christie 
deposite  in  the  hands  of  this  convention,  or 
into  the  hands  of  such  person  or  persons  as 
they  shall  appoint,  the  sum  of  five  hundred 
pounds  sterling,  to  be  expended  occasionally 
towards  his  proportion  of  all  charges  and  ex 
penses  incurred  or  to  be  incurred  for  the  defence 
of  America,  during  the  present  contest  with 
Great  Britain ;  the  overplus,  if  any,  after  a 
reconciliation  shall  happily  be  effected,  to  be 
restored  to  the  said  James  Christie. 

Resolved,  That  no  punishment  be  inflicted  on 
the  said  James  Christie,  other  than  what  is 
now  directed  by  this  convention. 

Resolved,  That  the  five  hundred  pounds  ster 
ling  is  to  be  paid  in  sterling,  or  other  money 
at  par. 

Resolved,  That  the  resolutions  of  the  com 
mittee  of  Baltimore  county  are,  by  the  deter 
minations  of  this  convention  superseded,  and 
that  therefore  the  said  James  Christie  may 
negotiate  his  bills  of  exchange  ;  and  that  he 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS   OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


264 

may  assign,  or  he,  or  any  person  for  him,  may 
collect  the  debts  due  to  him,  in  the  same  man 
ner  as  other  persons  may  negotiate  their  bills 
of  exchange,  assign  or  collect  their  debts. 
Signed  by  order  of  the  convention, 

G.  DUVALL,  Clerk. 


PATRIOTIC   LETTER 

FROM  A  MINISTER  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF 
ENGLAND,  TO  THE  EARL  OF  DART 
MOUTH. 

MARYLAND,  December  ao,  1775. 

My  lord  — If  constitutional  allegiance  to  my 
king,  a  warm  attachment  to  my  country,*  and 
the  most  sanguine  emotions  for  peace  and  per 
manent  union  between  the  parent  state  and  her 
colonies,  will  sufficiently  expiate  for  epistolary 
freedom,  permit  a  minister  of  the  king  of  kings 
to  address  a  minister  of  the  king  of  Great  Brit 
ain,  France,  Ireland,  and  North  America  :  for 
it  is  the  language  of  my  soul,  that  the  precious 
American  jewel  may  speedily  and  immovably  be 
set  in  the  most  effulgent  diadem. 

Your  lordship  sustains  a  two-fold  character  : 
a  soldier  of  the  lord  of  lords,  and  secretary  of 
state  for  the  northern  department,  under  our 
rightful  sovereign.  High  and  honorable  offices 
indeed !  but  every  soldier  is  not  an  intrepid 
warrior,  or  as  a  noble  lord  once  expressed  it, 
"  There  are  many  professors,  but  few  posses 
sors  ;  "  nor  is  every  servant  of  the  crown  infalli 
ble  ;  in  both  these,  every  man  at  best  is  but  a 
fallible  being.  This  doctrine  your  lordship  once 
loved,  being  then  a  real  follower  of  the  Lamb  : 
for  I  well  remember  several  opportunities,  and 
the  happy  and  precious  moments  of  each,  when 
ive  bowed  together  at  the  sacred  altar  ;\  at 
which,  when  I  beheld  the  right  honorable  com 
municant,  with  his  livery  servants  on  his  right 
hand  and  left,  my  soul  was  raised  almost  to 
the  third  Heaven,  and  my  spirits  filled  with 
evangelical  love  !  For  not  many  mighty,  not 
many  noble,  are  truly  godly.  As  your  lord 
ship's  condescension  was  so  laudable,  honor 
able,  and  scriptural,  as  to  appear  a  professor  of 
Christianity,  a  witness  for  God,  and  the  truly 
humble  soul,  I  trust,  and  firmly  believe,  that 
"  the  most  fine  gold  is  not  yet  become  dim." 
To  whom  then  shall  I  write,  or  speak  in  behalf 
of  the  miserable  convulsed  empire;  for  your 
lordship  hath  (I  trust)  eternal  life  at  heart,  and 
everlasting  felicity,  by  faith,  in  full  view. 

The  parliament  of  Great  Britain  say,  they 
have  a  right  to  tax  or  bind  the  American  in  all 

*  Born  in  the  city  of  Oxford, 
t  Of  the  lock  Chanel. 


cases  whatsoever,  to  which  they  answer,  "  As 
they  were  born  free,  free  they  will  be,  or  die," 
and  upon  many  of  their  hats  there  is  this 
motto,  "freedom  or  death"  Upon  others, 
"  God  and  our  rights." 

Since  the  battle  of  Lexington,  I  have  been 
twice  in  eight  of  the  thirteen  united  colonies, 
namely,  Massachusetts-Bay,  Rhode  Island, 
Connecticut,  New-York,  New-Jersey,  Pennsyl 
vania,  New-Castle,  etc,*  and  Maryland,  all 
which,  except  New-York,  are  almost  unani 
mous  in  the  voice  of  liberty.  Indeed  none 
(save  a  few  officers  under  the  crown)  are  will 
ing  to  be  bound  by  the  British  parliament,  in 
all  cases  whatsoever.  The  Americans  declare 
a  master  can  lay  no  greater  burden  on  a  slave 
than  to  bind  him  in  all  cases  whatsoever. — 
These  things  the  united  colonies  have  imbibed, 
and  before  this  can  reach  your  lordship,  Can 
ada  will,  in  all  human  probability,  be  added  to 
the  thirteen,  for  St.  John's  and  Montreal  have, 
upon  capitulation,  surrendered,  and  the  rest  of 
the  province,  in  every  other  respect,  bids  fair 
for  a  general  surrender,  or  subjection  to  the 
American  side.  In  New- York  city  and  prov 
ince,  although  there  are,  I  verily  believe,  more 
friends  to  government  (as  they  call  themselves) 
than  all  the  rest  of  the  colonies  together  can 
produce,  yet  in  the  city  and  province  there  is, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  question,  a  majority 
large  enough  to  subdue  them  at  any  time  :  for 
instance,  a  few  weeks  ago  some  of  these  friends 
appeared  in  the  province  in  opposition  to  the 
American  voice ;  whereon  a  small  party  went 
out  immediately,  who  subdued  and  disarmed 
them.  These  friends,  my  lord  are  not  worthy 
of  the  appellation  ;  they  are  only  sycophants ; 
they  flatter  with  their  lips  and  pens,  and  deceive 
(I  fear)  your  lordship  and  others  in  administra 
tion,  from  packet  to  packet.  They  have 
repeatedly  insinuated,  that  the  New  England 
governments  have  nothing  else  in  view  but  in 
dependence.  It  is  totally  repugnant  to  truth. 
Before  the  sword  was  drawn,  there  could  not 
possibly  be  greater  loyalists.  In  the  year  1769, 
I  arrived  first  in  America,  and  they  daily  man 
ifested  what  loving  subjects  they  were  :  and 
the  dissenting  clergy  also,  in  every  opportunity, 
were  particularly  anxious  to  invoke  the  Great 
Jehovah  in  behalf  of  their  dread  sovereign,  of 
whom  they  spake  in  terms  the  most  pathetic  ; 
also  for  all  his  governors  and  officers,  as  well 
as  for  others,  that  peace  and  happiness,  truth 
and  justice,  religion  and  piety,  .might  still  be 

*  Although  New  Castle,  etc.  belong  to  Pennsylvania, 
yet  as  they  in  assembly  are  distinctly  represented,  and 
also  in  the  congress,  those  counties  therefore  are  viewed 
as,  and  called  one  ofthe  united  colonies. 


MARYLAND. 


265 


and  flourish  under  his  sceptre.  Add  to  this,  I 
justly  may,  the  several  conversations  I  have  had 
with,  and  the  private  prayers  I  have  heard  by 
those  gentlemen  concerning  his  majesty,  his 
crown  and  dignity  ;  with  all  which  every  loyal 
ist  could  but  be  perfectly  well  pleased.  To 
these  facts,  my  lord,  I  have  not  only  been  an 
eye  witness  in  one  colony,  but  in  many,  nay 
even  in  Massachusetts-Bay,  and  her  capital. 

Now,  my  lord,  for  Christ's  sake,  attend  faith 
fully. 

About  two  months  ago  I  viewed  the  camps, 
Roxbury  and  Cambridge.  The  lines  of  both 
are  impregnable  ;  with  forts  (many  of  which 
are  bomb  proof)  and  redoubts,  supposing  them 
to  be  all  in  a  direction,  are  about  20  miles  ;  the 
breastworks  of  a  proper  height,  and  in  many 
places  17  feet  in  thickness,  the  trenches  wide 
and  deep  in  proportion,  before  which  lay  forked 
impediments,  and  many  of  the  forts,  in  every 
respect,  are  perfectly  ready  for  battle ;  the 
whole,  in  a  word,  an  admiration  to  every  spec 
tator  ;  for  verily  their  fortifications  appear  to 
be  the  works  of  seven  years,  instead  of  about 
as  many  months.  At  these  camps  are  about 
20,000  men,  well  disciplined.  The  generals 
and  other  officers,  in  all  their  military  under 
takings,  solid,  discreet,  and  courageous,  the 
men  daily  raving  for  action,  and  seemingly  void 
of  fear.  There  are  many  floating  batteries, 
and  also  batteaus  in  abundance  ;  besides  this 
strength,  10,000  militia  are  ordered  in  that 
government  to  appear  on  the  first  summons. 
Provisions  and  money  there  are  very  plenty, 
and  the  soldiers  faithfully  paid.  The  army  in 
great  order,  and  very  healthy,  and  about  six 
weeks  ago  lodged  in  comfortable  barracks. — 
Chaplains  constantly  attend  the  camps,  morn 
ing  and  night.  Prayers  are  often  offered  up  for 
peace  and  reconciliation,  and  the  soldiers  very 
attentive.  The  roads,  at  the  time  I  viewed  the 
camps,  were  almost  lined  with  spectators,  and 
thousands  with  me  can  declare  the  above,  re 
specting  the  camps,  to  be  a  just  description  ; 
but,  my  lord,  I  have  more  facts  to  mention. 

Continential  and  provincial  currencies,  to 
facilitate  this  great  undertaking,  are  emitted, 
which  circulate  freely,  and  are  daily  exchanged 
for  silver  and  gold.  Their  harbors,  by  spring, 
will  swarm  with  privateers ;  an  admiral  is  ap 
pointed,  a  court  established,  and  on  the  ~^d  in 
stant  the  continental  flag,  on  board  the  Black 
Prince,  opposite  Philadelphia,  was  hoisted. 
Many  of  the  captains  of  those  vessels,  in  the 
last  war,  proved  their  intrepidity  to  the  world 
by  their  prizes,  and  some  of  them  have  already 
taken  many  valuable  prizes  which  government 
had  ordered  to  Boston,  and  thereby  must  have 


much  distressed  the  troop  ;  all  which  the  prints 
will  particularize. 

The  appointment  of  the  continental  and  pro 
vincial  congresses  and  committees,  your  lord 
ship,  without  doubt,  before  now,  must  be  fully 
acquainted  with.  These  sets  of  gentlemen,  by 
virtue  of  the  great  privileges  with  which  the 
colonies  have  entrusted  them,  claim  now  the 
following  prerogatives  over  the  united  colonies. 
The  continental  congress  is  over  all,  under 
the  king ;  the  provincials  over  the  committees, 
and  the  committees  over  the  counties.  The 
congresses  and  committees  have  so  raised  and 
regulated  the  militia  and  minutemen,  whom 
they  have  raised  almost  in  every  county,  that 
they  make,  in  every  city  and  town,  the  most 
warlike  appearance.  Salt-petre  is  made  in 
abundance,  and  powder-mills  constantly  em 
ployed  in  many  provinces  ;  and  many  believe 
that  there  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
Americans,  powder  enough  for  three  years. 
This  to  me  is  very  obvious.  Soon  after  Gene 
ral  Gage  collected  the  troops  from  the  several 
provinces  into  one  body  at  Boston,  the  con 
gresses  ordered  all  the  shop-keepers  not  to  sell 
their  powder  to  fowlers  and  hunters,  but  to 
keep  the  same  for  the  use  of  the  colonies, 
which  in  general  was  faithfully  observed.  Be 
fore  this,  a  person  might  get  a  large  quantity 
of  powder  almost  at  every  large  store,  or  mer 
chant's  shop,  in  every  city,  town,  and  county 
on  the  continent.  Now  all  this  collected  to 
gether,  and  what  the  mills  have  made,  to 
gether  with  the  great  quantities  taken  at  St. 
John's,  Montreal,  other  forts,  and  on  the  seas, 
must  make  an  immense  quantity  :  add  to  this, 
the  constant  employment  of  the  mills,  and  a 
great  number  of  privateers  faithfully  looking 
out  for  yours.  And,  my  lord,  how  is  it  possi 
ble  for  all  store  ships  to  escape  a  fleet  so  large, 
which,  at  this  time,  I  firmly  believe,  is  com 
posed  of  50  sail,  and  by  next  spring  I  shall  not 
marvel  if  their  fleet  be  doubled. 

Iron  guns  of  the  best  quality  have  been 
made  in  America,  and  as  they  have  plenty  of 
iron  and  lead  mines,  they  can  make  what 
quantity  of  cannon,  shot,  and  bullets  they 
please  ;  but  administration  have  lately  supplied 
them  with  a  very  valuable  assortment  of  such 
stores.*  Rifles,  infinitely  better  than  those  im 
ported,  are  daily  made  in  many  places  in  Penn 
sylvania,  and  all  the  gun-smiths  everywhere 
constantly  employed.  In  this  country,  my 
lord,  the  boys,  as  soon  as  they  can  discharge  a 
gun,  frequently  exercise  themselves  therewith, 
some  a  fowling,  and  others  a  hunting.  The 

*  Store  vessels  bound  to  Boston,  taken  by  the  conti 
nental  captains. 


266 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


great  quantities  of  game,  the  many  kinds  and 
the  great  privileges  of  killing,  making  the 
Americans  the  best  marksmen  in  the  world, 
and  thousands  support  their  families  princi 
pally  by  the  same,  particularly  riflemen  on  the 
frontiers,  whose  objects  are  deer  and  turkeys. 
In  marching  through  woods,  one  thousand  of 
these  riflemen  would  cut  to  pieces  ten  thou 
sand  of  your  best  troops.  I  don't,  my  lord, 
speak  at  random,  or  write  partially  ;  I  have 
travelled  too  much  among  these  men  to  be  in 
sensible  of  their  abilities. — Oh,  my  lord !  if 
your  lordship  knew  but  one  half  what  I 
know  of  America,  your  lordship  would  not 
persist,  but  be  instantly  for  peace,  or  resign. 
But,  my  lord,  construe  this  epistle  as  you 
please,  nevertheless,  my  meaning  is,  that  it 
should  not  in  the  least  convey,  or  even  hint, 
anything  about  the  legality  or  illegality  of  the 
unhappy  dispute.  Many  great  and  celebrated 
writers  have  moved  every  nerve,  but  hitherto 
in  vain.  What  then  can  I  do,  who  am  but  a 
babe  ?  Not  much  truly  ;  but  when  a  house  is 
in  flames,  all  run,  without  distinction,  some 
with  buckets,  some  with  grapplings,  and  others 
with  engines,  wishing  they  providentially  may 
extinguish  the  fire.  Now  my  lord  the  British 
empire  is  really  in  flames.  I  cannot  therefore  be 
inactive.  Suffer  then  the  insignificant  with  the 
most  significant,  to  help  forward  with  some 
thing.  I  present  therefore  for  your  lordship's 
acceptance,  an  engine  of  facts ;  the  carved 
works  are  but  homely,  but  the  essential  parts 
are  sound,  and  substantial :  try  them  lawfully 
and  faithfully,  and  I  (by  God's  permission)  will 
pledge  my  life  they  will  stand  the  test;  facts 
are  at  all  times  proof  against  the  most  invete 
rate  foes.  By  way  of  appurtenances,  I  must 
add — up  the  North  river,  in  the  province  of 
New-York,  there  is  erected  an  impregnable 
fort,  against  which  vessels  cannot  possibly 
many  minutes  survive.  In  the  New  England 
governments,  batteries  are  already  made  before 
most  of  their  sea-ports.  The  minute-men,  be 
fore  mentioned,  like  firemen,  have  all  things 
proper  and  ready  to  attend  on  the  first  alarm. 
The  American  coast,  long  as  it  is,  both  by 
land  and  sea,  is  faithfully  watched,  and  posts 
are  everywhere  established.  Whether,  there 
fore,  administration  have  in  view  the  east 
or  west  of  the  continent,  it  matters  not ;  set 
but  a  foot  ashore  to  execute  their  plan,  and  the 
same  will  instantly  find  enemies  ;  nay,  let  thou 
sands  be  landed,  and  they  will  immediately 
find  swarms  of  foes  ;  for  the  electrical  posts 
riding  day  and  night  will  soon  make  them  sen 
sible  thereof.  My  lord,  administration  have 
not  one  friend  they  can  call  theirs,  in  every 


respect,  that  is  a  resident  among  the  Ameri 
cans  ;  they  have  several,  it  is  true,  who,  for 
sordid  gain,  act  under  the  rose,  but  woe  to 
them  if  they  should  be  discovered. — Many  ex 
amples  have  been  already  made,  and  this  may 
be  relied  on,  that  in  a  few  months  (as  ways 
and  means  are  now  under  consideration)  ad 
ministration  will  in  every  respect  in  America 
be  friendless.  The  destroying  of  Falmouth, 
and  Lord  Dunmore's  proclamation,  proclaim 
ing  a  jubilee  to  the  slaves  and  convicts  in  Vir 
ginia,  provided  they  repair  to  the  royal  stand 
ard  in  due  time,  have  exasperated  the  Ameri 
cans  beyond  description,  and  made  the  breach 
infinitely  wider. — A  few  days  ago  his  lordship's 
party  was  repulsed  with  great  loss.  His  lord 
ship,  my  lord,  can  do  nothing  but  cause  the  men 
and  treasure  now  under  his  command  to  be  sac 
rificed  and  expended  in  vain  ;  for  he  is  surround 
ed  by  hundreds  of  the  best  riflemen,  who  have 
driven  his  troops  out  of  their  intrenchments,  etc. 
Most,  if  not  all,  by  this  time,  of  his  majesty's 
governors  are  afloat,  and  rendered  incapable 
of  fulfilling  your  lordship's  commands.* 

The  most  celebrated  military  authors  are  re 
printed  for  the  use  of  the  young  officers,  that 
they  may  be  furnished  with  every  pre-requisite 
against  spring.  The  ship-carpenters  are  very 
busy  in  getting  the  rest  of  the  privateers  ready, 
and  also  other  hands  to  equip  them  wholly  for 
sailing. 

Now,  right  honorable  sir,  what  will  you  do  ? 
— Where  will  your  lordship  look  ?  Where  can 
administration  fix  their  ideas  with  the  least  view 
of  success  ?  Say,  my  lord,  that  their  troops  are 
good ;  the  Americans  have  again  and  again 
repulsed  them  ;  not  one  plan  of  administration 
hath  had  the  wished  for  success;  in  general 
they  have  turned  out  abortive  ? — Say  further, 
that  20  or  30,000,  nay  double  the  numbers, 
shall  be  sent  to  subdue  the  Americans— 20,000 
(descending  to  the  camp  phrase)  may  nearly 
serve  for  a  breakfast,  or  rather  do  for  a  relish, 
and  so,  from  time  to  time,  British  troops  may  be 
transported  for  the  American  sacrifice.  But 
administration  can  destroy  all  their  sea  ports  : 
I  reply,  a  few  months  ago  they  might  have 
wrought  such  devastation,  but  now  they  will 
find  it  impracticable.  Some  harbors  are 
blocked  up,  batteries  before  others  erected,  as 
above  mentioned,  and  when  the  ice  impedi 
ments  are  dissolved  in  their  harbors,  no  mar 
vel,  my  lord,  if  some  of  the  British  armament, 
as  well  as  transports  or  store-ships,  be  taken  : 
about  an  hundred  privateers,  with  the  most  in 
trepid  marines,  and  those  persons  who,  last  nat- 

*  Each  riding  at  anchor  before  his  government,  or  as 
near  as  convenience  will  admit. 


MARYLAND. 


267 


ural  war,  immortalized  their  names,  again  cho 
sen  for  captains,  are  (touching  their  schemes) 
no  contemptible  enemy  by  sea.  Convinced 
I  am  fully,  that  an  hundred  thousand  of  the 
best  troops  Europe  can  raise  will  not  subdue 
the  Americans,  nor  make  them  acquiesce  in 
the  parliamentary  claims. — Let  government  say 
what  they  please  in  favor  of  their  forces — 
remember,  my  lord,  the  Americans  have  just 
such  blood,  the  like  courage,  the  same  spirits, 
and  are  equal  in  color  and  stature,  and  as  well 
disciplined.  Some  of  their  fathers,  grand-fath 
ers,  and  great-grandfathers,  are  to  British 
dust  returned,  and  in  silent  repose,  while  their 
sons  and  grandsons  are  struggling  for  their 
birth-rights  ;  for  they  traditionally  or  constitu 
tionally  retain  the  idea  of  liberty,  and  with  him 
of  old  say,  "  God  forbid  that  we  should  sell  the 
inheritance  of  our  fathers  !  " — Whether  this  be 
believed  or  not,  I  don't  know  ;  but  one  thing  I 
know,  albeit  the  king  requesteth,  nevertheless, 
like  Naboth,  they  will  resist  even  unto  death. — 
Blessed  be  God,  we  have  no  Jezebel  to  stir  up 
his  majesty,  for  his  consort  is  the  best  of 
queens,  and  as  such  the  Americans  extol  her 
majesty  daily.  Perhaps,  my  lord,  this  may  be 
viewed  as  partiality ;  but  I  can  assure  your 
lordship,  I  write  from  conviction,  and  not  from 
a  partial  spirit.  If  I  am  charged  anywhere 
herein  with  partiality,  as  it  is  most  natural  and 
also  very  fashionable  now  to  act  the  sycophant 
where  one's  interest  is,  I  certainly  flatter  your 
lordship  (as  I  fear  too  many  have),  for  I  have 
no  interest  nor  kindred  here,  nor  hopes  of  in 
terest  for,  or  reward  for  anything  of  this  nature 
that '  I  have  done  or  can  do.  But  I  have 
immense  hopes  and  views.  My  time  here  is 
very  short,  and  ere  long  I  shall  be  in  a  world 
of  spirits,  where  the  most  noble,  the  right  hon 
orable  and  reverend  persons  must  all  appear ; 
"  I  know  not  therefore  how  to  give  flattering 
titles  unto  man :  for  in  so  doing  my  Maker 
would  soon  take  me  away." 

If,  figuratively,  two  persons  may  represent 
both  parties  in  dispute,  there  is  a  striking  sim 
ilarity  in  sacred  writ,  with  which  your  lordship 
is  perfectly  acquainted,  and  by  which  I  beg 
permission  to  mention  the  following  things. 

I  view  both  sides,  as  to  their  precious  blood, 
as  good  old  Jacob  viewed  his  sons,  Joseph  and 
Benjamin,  and  am  equally  with  him  unwilling 
that  either  should  be  slain.  If  the  British 
troops  must  be  represented  by  the  elder 
brother,  grieved  lo  my*  very  heart  I  must  be 
to  hear  that  he  is  sacrificed ;  and  if  the  Ameri 
can  forces  may  be  compared  to  the  younger, 
I  shall  equally  lament  his  death. —  May  God,  of 
his  infinite  mercy,  save  both  by  a  speedy  ac 


commodation.  Benjamin  hath  repeatedly  pe 
titioned  Joseph  for  redress  of  grievances  ;  but 
Joseph  would  not  receive  his  petition,  but 
made  himself  strange,  and  spake  roughly  unto 
him,  charging  him  with  having  and  holding 
unjustly  Pharaoh's  cup,*  of  which  the  poor 
lad  is  perfectly  innocent. — Oh  !  that  Joseph 
would  take  Benjamin  in  his  arms  and  embrace 
him,  for  they  are  brothers  !  If  Benjamin  have 
erred,  let  the  age  and  wisdom  of  Joseph  over 
look  and  obliterate  all :  let  him  no  longer 
refrain,  but  fall  on  his  neck  and  kiss  him,  and 
let  love  and  virtue  re-unite  them.  As  Joseph 
embraced  and  owned  Benjamin  as  his  brother, 
and  returned  his  money,  so  let  the  parent  state 
embrace  and  own  the  colonies  without  fee  or 
reward,  and  instantly  the  sword  on  both  sides 
will  be  sheathed  ;  and  then  Benjamin,  as  usual, 
will  go  and  carry  corn  and  money  to  Joseph, 
and  take  his  superb  clothing  in  exchange. 
But  if  Joseph  will  yet  refrain  and  not  be  recon 
ciled,  Benjamin  is  determined  to  clothe  him 
self  with  his  own  wool,  and  keep  his  money 
and  send  his  corn  to  other  merchantmen.  Let 
facts,  my  lord,  apologize  for  prolixity ;  I  will 
conclude  now  with  a  few  lines. 

The  Americans  may  be  led  with  a  hair ; 
but  they  have  too  much  English  blood  in  them, 
are  too  well  disciplined,  and  too  numerous  to 
be  driven,  even  by  an  hundred  thousand  of  the 
best  forces  government  can  raise.  Where 
government  can  produce  one  thousand  on  the 
continent,  America,  with  as  much  ease  and 
expense,  can  produce  ten  thousand  in  oppo 
sition  :  for  men,  women  and  children  are 
against  the  proceedings  of  administration 
throughout  the  united  colonies  to  a  wonderful 
majority.  The  women,  both  old  and  young, 
being  greatly  irritated  at  the  inflexibility  of  ad 
ministration,  are  not  only  willing  their  sons 
and  brothers  should  turn  out  in  the  field,  but 
also  declare  that  they  will  give  them  up  and 
themselves  likewise  as  a  sacrifice  before  they 
will  bow  to  Pharaoh's  task-masters  ;  this 
makes  the  raising  of  troops  on  the  continent 
very  easy.  Let  a  person  go  into  any  province, 
city,  town,  or  county,  and  ask  the  females, 
"  Are  you  willing  your  sons  or  brothers  should 
go  for  soldiers  and  defend  their  liberties  ? " 
they  would  severally  answer,  "  Yes,  with  all 
my  soul,  and  if  they  won't  go  I  won't  own 
them  as  my  sons,  or  brothers ;  for  I'll  help 
myself  if  there  should  be  any  need  of  mine : 
if  I  can't  stand  in  the  ranks,  I  can  help  for 
ward  with  powder,  balls,  and  provisions,"  and 
presently  this  will  appear  more  pellucid.  Last 

*  Not  rendering  unto  Csesar  the  things  which  be 
Caesar's. 


268 


PRINCIPLES   AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


summer  I  saw  in  Philadelphia  a  company  of 
school-boys,  called  the  Academy  company,  in 
their  uniforms,  with  real  arms  and  colors. 
Upon  this,  I  asked  how  many  such  companies 
were  in  the  city,  and  for  what  they  were  de 
signed  ;  to  which  I  was  answered  by  a  gentle 
woman,  the  mother  of  two  of  this  company, 
"  there  are  three  companies,  and  as  to  the 
design,  they  are  to  learn  the  art  or  theory  of 
war ;  and  if  there  should  be  any  occasion  for 
them  in  the  field  of  battle,  they  will  go,  for 
they  are  all  volunteers ;  but  I  for  my  part  am, 
I  do  aver,  sir,  heartily  willing  to  sacrifice  my 
sons,  believing  that  with  such  sacrifice  God  is 
well  pleased  :  for  he  has  hitherto  marvellously 
blessed  our  arms  and  conquered  our  enemies 
for  us,  and  he  who,  in  the  days  of  his  flesh, 
spoiled  principalities  and  powers,  and  made  a 
show  of  them  openly,  will  in  the  end,  I  doubt 
not,  evince  to  the  world  that  he  is  conqueror." 
This,  my  lord,  is  the  language  of  the  American 
women  ;  your  lordship  knows  it  is  generally 
the  reverse  with  the  English,  the  mothers'  and 
sisters'  lives  are  bound  up  in  the  boys ;  but  I 
am  afraid  I  shall  trespass  on  your  lordship's 
patience  :  Therefore, 

In  the  great  name,  and  for  the  sake  of  the 
ever  blessed  Trinity,  I  now  beseech  your  lord 
ship  to  weigh  thoroughly,  and  with  patience, 
impartiality,  and  love,  this  narrative  of  facts ; 
and  may  that  ever  blessed  adorable  person, 
Jesus  Christ,  the  wonderful  counsellor  and 
prince  of  peace,  give  your  lordship  a  right 
judgment  and  understanding  in  all  things,  and 
counsel  and  influence  administration  to  act 
wisely,  and  repeal  the  acts  in  dispute,  and  so 
make  peace.  I  am,  my  lord,  your  lordship's 
ready  and  willing  servant,  for  Christ's  sake, 

B.  P. 


ADDRESS  OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY 

TO   THE  PEOPLE  OF    MARYLAND. 

ANNAPOLIS,  July  7,  1780. 

Friends  and  countrymen. — A  free  people, 
from  whom  the  trust  and  powers  of  govern 
ment  are  delegated  to  a  representative  council, 
for  the  better  management  of  the  public  inter 
ests,  have  a  right  to  be  informed  at  all  times, 
but  more  especially  in  great  emergencies,  of 
the  true  situation  of  their  affairs.  Duty,  there 
fore,  as  well  as  inclination,  prompts  us  to  lay 
before  you  the  exigencies  and  the  danger  of 
this,  in  common  with  our  sister  states  ;  to  dis 
close  our  wants,  our  resources,  and  the  means 
of  calling  them  forth  in  support  of  the  justest 
cause  and  noblest  ends  a  people  can  contend 


for.  The  enemy,  convinced  by  fatal  experience, 
that  force  and  artifice  alone  will  never  subdue 
the  stubborn  spirit  of  liberty,  have  long  de 
pended  on  the  failure  of  our  public  credit  tc 
accomplish  their  views  of  conquest :  the  rapid 
depreciation  of  our  paper  currency,  principally 
owing  to  the  not  imposing  taxes  in  due  time, 
as  somewhat  adequate  to  the  public  demands, 
and  the  abilities  of  the  people  to  pay,  had  given 
foundation  to  the  opinion,  that  these  states, 
from  the  want  of  money  to  support  the  war, 
would  at  length  give  up  the  contest,  and  bend 
to  the  galling  yoke  of  Britain.  The  event,  how 
ever,  we  trust  will  discover  this  opinion  to  be 
as  vain  and  delusive,  as  many  others  entertained 
by  our  inveterate  foe.  The  congress  has 
recommended  to  the  states  a  plan  for  calling  in 
their  bills  of  credit,  by  taxes  or  otherwise,  which 
has  been  adopted  by  this  and  several  others  of 
the  states.  Taxes,  equally  laid,  quickly  col 
lected,  and  faithfully  applied,  are  necessary  to 
give  efficacy  to  the  plan,  and  to  restore,  and 
when  restored,  to  preserve  public  credit. — Ex 
perience  has  taught  us  the  necessity  of  taxation  : 
a  free  people,  seeing  that  necessity,  and  the 
importance  of  victory,  on  which  their  liberty 
depends,  needs  no  exhortation  to  submit,  even 
with  cheerfulness,  to  the  heaviest  taxes  :  reflect, 
that  these  will  be  but  temporary,  and  the  bene 
fits  resulting  from  them  most  extensive  and 
permanent ;  if  adequate  and  timely  exertions 
are  made,  the  war,  probably,  may  be  speedily 
ended,  and  will  not  leave  us  incumbered  with  a 
load  of  debt,  under  which  the  present  and 
future  generations  must  otherwise  inevitably 
labor:  by  timely  and  due  exertions  we  'shall 
avoid  the  evils  inseparable  from  a  great  national 
debt.  The  taxes  hitherto  imposed  cannot  be 
complained  of  as  very  burthensome  :  our  present 
debt,  when  compared  with  our  probable  re 
sources  in  peace,  is  far  from  being  alarming ; 
a  lingering  war,  however,  besides  consuming 
our  inhabitants,  wasting  our  resources,  accu 
mulating  expense,  will  subject  our  country  to 
the  cruel  and  wanton  devastations  of  an  enemy, 
who  never  yet  used  even  transient  victories 
with  moderation.  What  strong  incentives  to 
the  most  vigorous  and  spirited  efforts  are  de- 
ducible  from  these  reflections  !  Rise  then  into 
action  with  that  ardor  which,  despising,  over 
comes  all  difficulties,  and  which  led  you,  desti 
tute  of  money,  of  allies,  of  arms  and  soldiers 
to  encounter  one  of  the  most  powerful  nations 
in  Europe.  Single,  an'd  unsupported,  raw  and 
undisciplined,  you  baffled  for  three  successive 
years  the  repeated  attacks  of  numerous  and 
veteran  bands.  Shall  we  now,  when  strength 
ened  by  a  mighty  alliance,  drop  and  desert  the 


MARYLAND. 


269 


field,  to  which  honor,  the  strongest  ties,  the 
dearest  interests  of  humanity,  point ;  to  which 
victory  itself  invites  us?  A  warlike,  potent, 
and  magnanimous  nation,  has  espoused  our 
cause  with  all  that  warmth  of  friendship,  and 
is  determined  to  yield  us  powerful  aid,  a 
respectable  land  and  naval  force  may  be  daily 
expected  on  our  coast  from  France,  ready  to 
act  under  the  orders  of  our  patriotic  general. 
How  disgraceful  would  it  be  to  this  state, 
were  it  any  ways  accessary  in  laying  that  great, 
and  good  man,  under  the  humiliating  necessity 
of  avowing  to  our  allies  an  inability  to  under 
take  any  enterprise  of  consequence  against  the 
common  enemy  ;  particularly,  if  that  weakness 
should  proceed,  not  from  the  real  inability  of 
this,  and  the  other  states,  but  from  the  supine- 
ness,  or  the  want  of  spirit  in  their  people  ! 
We  have  hitherto  done  our  duty ;  the  general 
has  acknowledged  our  exertions,  and  we 
entreat  you  by  all  that  is  dear  to  freemen,  not 
to  forfeit  the  reputation  you  have  so  justly 
acquired  :  let  us  set  an  example  of  fortitude, 
perseverance  and  disinterestedness  :  these  vir 
tues  form  the  character  of  true  republicans : 
beware,  lest  an  inordinate  love  of  riches  should 
mark  too  strongly  ours  ;  remember,  that  you 
entered  upon  this  war,  not  through  choice,  but 
necessity  ;  not  to  acquire  wealth,  or  power,  but 
to  preserve  liberty  and  property:  remember 
that  your  cause  is  righteous,  that  you  had  not 
recourse  to  arms,  until  the  bayonet  uplifted  to 
your  breasts,  a  discretionary  surrender  of  all 
that  is  valuable  to  man,  was  demanded  with 
menaces  of  hostile  force,  and  with  all  the  inso 
lence  of  conscious  power :  remember  too  that 
you  have  pledged  to  each  other  your  lives,  your 
fortunes,  and  your  sacred  honor,  in  defence  of 
those  rights,  without  the  enjoyment  of  which, 
life  is  but  misery,  and  government  a  curse. 

The  general  has  called  upon  us  to  complete 
our  battalions,  and  for  a  reinforcement  of 
2205  militia,  to  join  him  with  all  expedition. 
Considering  the  approach  of  harvest,  and  at 
tentive  to  your  ease  and  convenience,  we  have 
offered  to  raise  an  additional  battalion,  in  lieu 
of  the  militia,  and  we  have  the  satisfaction  to 
inform  you,  that  the  general  has  approved  the 
offer,  on  condition  that  this  battalion  be  ready 
at  the  place  of  rendezvous  by  the  last  of  this 
month  at  farthest.  By  the  law,  printed  for 
your  information,  and  with  which  we  entreat 
your  ready  compliance,  you  will  perceive  that 
we  have  held  out  the  most  liberal  encourage 
ment  for  recruits,  upon  principles  of  equal 
ity  and  justice.  If,  from  negligence,  indif 
ference,  or  the  dread  of  danger  and  fatigue, 
motives  too  degrading  to  be  imputed  to  free 


men,  or  from  any  other  cause,  this  battalion 
should  not  be  raised  in  time,  we  have  directed 
the  militia  to  be  called  out  in  classes,  to  supply 
the  place  of  regular  troops :  your  duty,  your 
interest,  and  no  doubt  your  inclination,  will 
impel  you  to  second  the  views  of  your  repre 
sentatives  ;  without  your  co-operation,  in  vain 
may  we  make  laws,  or  concert  plans  for  the 
general  cause  ;  these  must  remain  as  dead  let 
ters,  unless  inspirited  by  your  zeal  and  activity. 
We  have  the  honor  to  represent  men  who, 
sensible  of  the  blessings  of  liberty,  must  know, 
that  the  continuance  of  them  rests  altogether 
on  the  successful  issue  of  this  war.  You  feel 
not,  indeed,  at  present,  those  distresses,  which 
our  brethren,  whose  country  is  the  immediate 
scene  of  action,  are  exposed  to ;  their  calami 
ties,  therefore,  possibly  may  make  a  lighter 
impression  on  your  minds.  Contemplate,  we 
beseech  you,  the  ravages  committed  by  the 
British  forces  on  the  plains  of  Jersey  ;  behold 
the  dwellings  of  the  poor  and  rich  in  flames, 
or  reduced  to  ashes  ;  the  fruits  of  a  long  and 
laborious  industry  swept  instantly  away  as  by 
a  torrent ;  view  the  helpless  infant,  the  aged 
parent,  the  tender  virgin,  victims  to  the  savage 
fury,  and  unbridled  lusts  of  an  insolent  soldiery  ; 
view  these  scenes  of  horror  and  dismay  ;  rouse, 
and  revenge  these  wrongs,  for  these  we  too  in 
our  turn  shall  feel,  if  we  refuse  our  aid  to  drive 
these  spoilers  and  invaders  from  our  land : 
emulate  the  conduct  of  the  brave  militia  of  our 
sister  states  ;  the  proofs  of  courage  and  patriot 
ism,  which  they  have  exhibited,  you  cannot  but 
applaud,  and  therefore  must  wish  to  imitate, 
and,  if  possible,  surpass. 

The  prize  we  are  contending  for  is  inestim 
able  ;  the  blood  of  those  heroes,  which  has 
been  shed  in  this  just  and  glorious  cause,  the 
inviolable  ties  of  plighted  faith,  the  necessity  of 
conquering,  gratitude  to  our  illustrious  general, 
and  to  the  brave  men  under  his  command,  all, 
conspiring,  call  aloud  for  our  redoubled  efforts. 
Our  army  is  weak,  and  reinforced  it  must  be, 
to  act  on  the  defensive,  or  offensively,  as  cir 
cumstances  may  require  ;  reinforcements,  pro 
portionable  to  those  demanded  from  this,  are 
to  be  furnished  by  the  other  states.  The  fall 
of  Charlestown,  and  the  distress  of  our  brave 
friends  in  that  quarter,  have  infused  fresh  vigor 
into  the  councils  of  America ;  let  us,  like  the 
Romans  of  old,  draw  new  resources  and  an 
increase  of  courage,  even  from  defeats,  and 
manifest  to  the  world,  that  we  are  the  most 
to  be  dreaded,  when  most  depressed. 

By  order  of  the  general  assembly, 
DAN.  of  ST.  THO.  JENIFER,  Pres,  Sec. 
JOSIAS  BEALL,  Spr.  Ho.  Del. 


270 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE  CITIZENS  OF  BALTIMORE  TO  THE 
HON.  MAJOR  GENERAL,  THE  MARQUIS  DE 
LA  FAYETTE. 

BALTIMORE,  November  15, 1781. 

It  is  with  peculiar  satisfaction  that  the 
citizens  of  Baltimore  embrace  the  present 
moment,  to  express  a  gratitude  which  they 
will  always  owe  to  major  general  the  marquis 
de  la  Fayette ;  and  to  congratulate  him,  per 
sonally,  on  the  late  important  events  in  Virginia 
and  South  Carolina,  so  glorious  and  consequen 
tial  to  America. 

Among  the  first  in  our  cause,  you  early 
found  a  way  to  our  affections,  with  him,  who 
has  struggled  with  our  various  difficulties  since 
their  beginning.  At  a  time  when  we  had  no 
ally,  you  were  our  friend ;  and  when  we  gained 
an  ally,  your  presence  and  good  offices  could 
not  but  increase  a  cordiality  which  must  render 
our  union  with  France  permanent. 

In  particular,  we  cannot  sufficiently  acknowl 
edge  our  sense  of  your  late  campaign  in 
Virginia,  where,  with  a  few  regulars  and  militia, 
you  opposed  the  British  commander,  from 
whose  large  army,  and  military  talents  this 
state  had  such  serious  cause  of  apprehension. 

These  things,  sir,  have  rendered  you  dear  to 
us,  and  we  feel  the  highest  gratification  in  see 
ing,  once  more,  in  our  town,  the  man  who  will 
always  hold  a  first  place  in  our  hearts. 


REPLY 

OF  MAJOR  GENERAL  DE  LA  FAYETTE  TO 
THE  ADDRESS  OF  THE  CITIZENS  OF  BALTI 
MORE. 

BALTIMORE,  November  15,  1781. 

In  the  affectionate  attentions  of  the  citizens 
of  a  free  town,  I  would  find  a  reward  for  the 
services  of  a  whole  life.  The  honor  to  have 
been  among  the  first  American  soldiers,  is  for 
me  a  source  of  the  greatest  happiness. 

I  participate  with  you  in  the  glorious  events 
that  have  taken  place  under  his  excellency, 
general  Washington's  immediate  command, 
and  under  general  Greene.  I  enjoy  the  effects 
these  will  have  on  the  success  of  our  noble 
cause  and  particularly  the  advantages  which 
they  will  afford  to  this  state. 

The  time  when  I  had  the  honor  to  command 
the  army  in  Virginia,  which  you  are  pleased  so 
politely  to  mention,  has  only  shewn  that  the 
courage  and  fortitude  of  American  troops  are 
superior  to  every  kind  of  difficulty. 

My  campaign  began  with  a  personal  obliga 


tion  to  the  inhabitants  of  Baltimore  ;  at  the  end 
of  it  I  find  myself  bound  to  them  by  a  new  tic 
of  everlasting  gratitude. 

LA  FAYETTE. 


ADDRESS 

To  COUNT  DE  ROCHAMBEAU,  BY  THE  MER 
CHANTS  OF  BALTIMORE. 

BALTIMORE,  July  29, 1782. 

Yesterday  a  deputation  of  the  merchants  of 
this  town,  waited  upon  his  excellency  COUNT 
DE  ROCHAMBEAU,  and  presented  him  the 
following  address,  expressing  their  grateful 
sentiments  of  his  very  polite  attention  to 
their  request  for  protection  of  the  trade,  etc. 

To  his  excellency  the  COUNT  DE  ROCHAMBEAU, 
commander  in  chief  of  the  auxiliary  troops 
of  his  most  Christian  majesty,  in  the  United 
States. 

We,  the  merchants  of  the  town  of  Baltimore, 
impressed  with  a  grateful  sense  of  the  impor 
tant  services  rendered  by  your  excellency,  and 
the  gallant  forces  under  your  command,  to  the 
United  States,  and  more  particularly  to  the 
state  of  Maryland,  beg  leave  to  wait  upon  your 
excellency,  and  return  you  our  most  sincere 
thanks,  in  this  public  manner,  for  the  distin 
guished  aid  and  protection,  which  you  have, 
from  time  to  time,  so  willingly  afforded  to  the 
commercial  interests  of  this  state,  and  to  inform 
your  excellency,  that  we  are  happy  in  the  oppor 
tunity  of  paying  you  this  tribute,  so  justly  due 
to  distinguished  merit. 

And,  permit  us,  sir,  on  this  occasion,  to 
observe,  that  when  the  distresses  of  this  country 
rendered  an  application  to  the  French  nation 
for  assistance  necessary,  the  wisdom  of  your 
sovereign  pointed  out  your  excellency  as  the 
grand  instrument  to  assist  in  our  salvation ; 
and,  with  gratitude,  we  remark,  that  the  objects 
of  your  appointment  have  been  fully  answered, 
and  the  events  that  have  taken  place,  since 
your  happy  arrival  in  America,  and  in  which 
you  acted  so  distinguished  a  part,  fully  evince 
the  propriety  of  your  sovereign's  choice,  and 
the  magnanimity  of  his  intentions  toward  us — 
for  we  have  seen  a  British  army,  numerous  and 
well  appointed,  become  prisoners  of  war  to  the 
united  exertions  of  the  combined  armies  of 
France  and  America — an  event  that  was  con 
siderably  accelerated  by  the  great  experience 
and  military  talents  of  your  excellency,  and  the 
valor  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  under  your 
command,  and  which,  we  trust,  will  tend  event- 


MARYLAND. 


271 


ually  to  the  establishment  of  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  this  country,  the  purposes  for  which 
you  have  so  generously  drawn  your  sword. 

And  we  beg  leave  also,  amid  the  general  joy 
diffused  by  the  birth  of  a  Dauphin  of  France 
to  congratulate  your  excellency  on  that  auspi 
cious  event ;  and  it  is  our  fervent  wish  and 
prayers,  that  he  may  long  live  to  tread  the 
footsteps  of  his  illustrious  father,  in  being  the 
friend  of  the  distressed,  and  the  advocate  for 
the  liberties  of  mankind. 

In  hopes  that  your  excellency  will  enjoy 
health  and  happiness,  while  you  reside  among 
us,  and  on  return  to  your  native  country,  may 
you  be  rewarded  by  your  sovereign,  in  propor 
tion  to  your  merits  and  services — we  remain, 
with  sentiments  of  gratitude  and  esteem,  on 
behalf  of  the  merchants  of  Baltimore,  your 
excellency's  most  obedient  servants, 

SAMUEL  PURVIANCE, 
RICHARD  CURSON, 
SAMUEL  SMITH, 
MARK  PRINGLE, 
WILLIAM  PATTERSON. 


REPLY 
OF  COUNT  DE  ROCHAMBEAU. 

BALTIMORE,  July,  178*. 
To  the  merchants  of  the  town  of  Baltimore. 

GENTLEMEN — The  intentions  of  the  king,  my 
master,  toward  his  faithful  allies,  being  that  his 
auxiliary  troops  should  not  only  protect  the 
liberties  of  the  United  States,  but  watch  over 
their  commercial  interests,  as  often  and  as 
much  as  would  be  in  their  power,  I  have  felt  a 
peculiar  pleasure  to  have  been  able  to  render 
some  service  to  your  state.  The  noblest  reward 
for  me  is,  without  doubt,  the  approbation  of 
such  a  respectable  body  of  citizens. 

The  praises  which  you  are  pleased  to  bestow 
on  my  conduct,  and  that  of  the  officers  and 
soldiers  under  my  command,  are  due,  in  a 
great  measure,  to  his  excellency  general  Wash 
ington,  and  his  army,  to  whose  exertions  we 
have  had  the  honor  to  co-operate,  in  the  reduc 
tion  of  the  British  army  at  York-Town. 

My  sovereign  will  certainly  be  impressed 
with  a  grateful  sense  of  the  general  joy  which 
has  been  diffused  among  the  people  of  all  ranks 
in  the  United  States,  upon  the  birth  of  an  heir 
to  his  kingdom.  I  shall  not  fail  to  make  him 
acquainted  with  your  patriotic  and  generous 
wishes. 

I  embrace  with  pleasure,  gentlemen,  this 
occasion,  to  render  you  my  sincere  thanks  foi 
the  readiness  with  which  you  have  taken  in 
your  houses  our  staff-officers  and  others,  whose 


duty  and  station  renders  the  convenience  of  a 
house  absolutely  necessary  to  them. 

I  flatter  myself  that  they  will  maintain,  with 
you,  that  good  understanding,  and  harmony  of 
sentiments,  which  we  have  been  happy  enough 
to  experience,  till  now,  from  your  fellow  citizens 
in  the  different  states. 

LE  CTE  DE  ROCHAMBEAU. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE  GOVERNOR  TO  COUNT  DE  ROCHAM 
BEAU. 

ANNAPOLIS,  August  15,  1783. 

On  Saturday  last  arrived  in  this  city,  on  a  visit 
to  our  governor,  his  excellency  count  Rocham- 
beau,  commander  in  chief  of  the  auxiliary  army 
in  the  United  States,  accompanied  by  the  Count 
Dillon,  and  several  other  French  officers  of  dis 
tinction,  and  on  Monday  morning  set  out  on 
his  return  to  Baltimore. 


To  his  excellency  COUNT  DE  ROCHAMBEAU, 
commander  in  chief  of  the  auxiliary  army  in 
the  United  States, 

ANNAPOLIS,  Aug.  n,  1782. 

SIR — It  is  with  singular  pleasure,  that  the  ex 
ecutive  of  Maryland  embrace  the  opportunity  af 
forded  by  your  arrival  in  this  city,  of  offering  your 
excellency  every  mark  of  esteem  and  respect. 

Accept,  sir,  our  warmest  thanks  for  the  dis 
tinguished  part  you  sustained  in  the  reduction 
of  York  ;  to  the  wisdom  of  your  counsels,  the 
vigor  of  your  conduct,  the  bravery  of  the  troops 
under  your  command,  and  to  the  judicious 
exertions  of  the  Count  de  Grasse,  the  success 
obtained  by  the  allied  army  is,  in  a  great  degree, 
to  be  attributed. 

We  are  happy  to  assure  your  excellency,  that 
the  people  of  this  state,  deeply  interested  in 
every  event  which  can  promote  the  felicity  of 
your  illustrious  monarch,  or  his  kingdom, 
received  with  the  most  lively  demonstrations 
of  joy,  the  account  of  the  birth  of  a  Dauphin. 
That  the  young  prince  may  emulate  the  virtues, 
and  inherit  the  dominions  of  his  royal  father, 
and  that  the  union,  founded  on  the  most  gen 
erous  equality,  and  cemented  by  the  blood  of 
both  nations,  may  endure  forever,  is  our  fervent 
wish  ;  the  incidents  of  war  have  only  more 
strongly  united  our  affections,  and  we  doubt 
not,  that  the  ancient  spirit  of  France,  with  her 
numerous  resources,  will  soon  humble  the 
pride  of  our  common  enemy. 

The  ready  protection  afforded  by  your  excel 
lency  to  the  commerce  of  Maryland,  demands 
our  grateful  acknowledgments  ;  the  decorum 
and  exemplary  discipline  observed  by  your 


2/2 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


troops,  on  their  march  through  the  state,  have 
given  entire  satisfaction  to  our  citizens ;  our 
duty  and  inclination  will  prompt  us  to  do  every 
thing  in  our  power  for  their  convenience  ;  and 
we  request  your  excellency  to  communicate  to 
the  generals  and  other  officers  of  your  army 
the  high  sense  we  entertain  of  their  merit,  and 
the  affection  and  regard  we  have  for  their  per 
sons  and  characters. 

In  behalf  of  the  executive, 

THOMAS  S.  LEE. 


REPLY  OF  THE  COUNT  DE  ROCHAMBEAU. 

To  his  excellency  the  governor,  and  the  honor 
able  council  of  the  state  of  Maryland. 

ANNAPOLIS,  August  u,  1782. 

I  am  very  sensible  of  the  marks  of  friendship 
and  affection  that  I  receive  from  his  excellency 
the  governor,  and  the  honorable  council  of  the 
state  of  Maryland. 


If  we  have  been  happy  enough  to  contribute 
toward  the  success  of  their  arms,  under  our 
commander  in  chief,  his  excellency  General 
Washington,  we  receive  the  most  flattering 
marks  of  approbation,  by  the  very  cordial  re 
ception  the  French  army  meet  with  from  all 
the  inhabitants  of  this  state. 

The  great  joy  and  interests  they  have  been 
pleased  to  show,  on  account  of  the  birth  of  the 
Dauphin,  will  undoubtedly,  be  very  agreeable 
to  the  king  my  master ;  he  will  be  equally  flat 
tered  at  the  warmth  with  which  the  state  of 
Maryland  support  their  alliance,  and  wish  it  to 
be  lasting.  The  strict  discipline  of  the  troops, 
is  the  least  mark  of  gratitude  that  we  could 
give  to  a  state  from  which  we  receive  so  many 
proofs  of  attachment  and  friendship. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  obedient  and 
most  humble  servant, 

LE  COMPTE  DE  ROCHAMBEAU. 


VIRGINIA. 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF  DELEGATES  ASSEMBLED  AT  WILLIAMS- 
BURG,  VA.,  AUGUST   i,  1774. 

At  a  very  full  meeting  of  the  delegates  from 
the  different  counties  in  the  colony  and  do 
minion  of  Virginia,  begun  in  Williams- 
burg,  the  first  day  of  August,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  1774,  and  continued  by  several 
adjournments  to  Saturday  the  6th  of  the  said 
month,  the  following  association  was  unani 
mously  resolved  upon  and  agreed  to. 

We,  his  majesty's  dutiful  and  loyal  subjects, 
the  delegates  of  the  freeholders  of  Virginia, 
deputed  to  represent  them  at  a  general  meet 
ing  in  the  city  of  Williamsburg,  avowing  our 
inviolable  and  unshaken  fidelity  and  attach 
ment,  to  our  most  gracious  sovereign,  our 
regard  and  affection  for  all  our  friends  and  fel  - 
low  subjects  in  Great  Britain  and  elsewhere, 
protesting  against  every  act  or  thing,  which 
may  have  the  most  distant  tendency  to  inter 
rupt,  or  in  any  wise  disturb  his  majesty's  peace, 
and  the  good  order  of  government,  within  this 
his  ancient  colony,  which  we  are  resolved  to 
maintain  and  defend,  at  the  risk  of  our  lives 
and  fortunes,  but  at  the  same  time  affected 
with  the  deepest  anxiety,  and  most  alarming 


apprehensions,  of  those  grievances  and  distres 
ses  by  which  his  majesty's  American  subjects 
are  oppressed,  and  having  taken  under  our  most 
serious  deliberation,  the  state  of  the  whole  con 
tinent,  find  that  the  present  unhappy  situation 
of  our  affairs  is  chiefly  occasioned  by  certain 
ill-advised  regulations,  as  well  of  our  trade  as 
internal  policy,  introduced  by  several  unconsti 
tutional  acts  of  the  British  parliament,  and  at 
length,  attempted  to  be  enforced  by  the  hand 
of  power  ;  solely  influenced  by  these  important 
and  weighty  considerations,  we  think  it  an  in 
dispensable  duty,  which  we  owe  to  our  countiy, 
ourselves,  and  latest  posterity,  to  guard  against 
such  dangerous  and  extensive  mischiefs,  by 
every  just  and  proper  means. 

If,  by  the  measures  adopted,  some  unhappy 
consequences  and  inconveniences  should  be 
derived  to  our  fellow  subjects,  whom  we  wish 
not  to  injure  in  the  smallest  degree,  we  hope 
and  flatter  ourselves,  that  they  will  impute  them 
to  their  real  cause — the  hard  necessity  to  which 
we  are  driven. 

That  the  good  people  of  this  colony  may,  on 
so  trying  an  occasion,  continue  steadfastly 
directed  to  their  most  essential  interests,  in 
hopes  that  they  will  be  influenced  and  stim 
ulated  by  our  example  to  the  greatest  industry, 
the  strictest  economy,  and  frugality,  and  the 


VIRGINIA. 


273 


§xecution  of  every  public  virtue,  persuaded  that 
the  merchants,  manufacturers,  and  other  inhab 
itants  of  Great  Britain,  and,  above  all,  that  the 
British  parliament  will  be  convinced  how  much 
the  true  interest  of  that  kingdom  must  depend 
on  the  restoration  and  continuance  of  that 
mutual  friendship  and  cordiality,  which  so 
happily  subsisted  between  us,  we  have  unani 
mously,  and,  with  one  voice,  entered  into  the 
following  resolutions  and  association,  which  we 
do  oblige  ourselves,  by  those  sacred  ties  of 
honor  and  love  to  our  country,  strictly  to  ob 
serve  ;  and  further  declare,  before  God  and 
the  world,  that  we  will  religiously  adhere  to 
and  keep  the  same  inviolate,  in  every  particular, 
until  redress  of  all  such  American  grievances 
as  may  be  defined  and  settled  at  the  general 
congress  of  delegates  from  the  different  col 
onies,  shall  be  fully  obtained,  or  until  this  asso 
ciation  shall  be  abrogated  or  altered  by  a  gen 
eral  meeting  of  the  deputies  of  this  colony,  to 
be  convened,  as  is  herein  after  directed.  And 
we  do,  with  the  greatest  earnestness,  recom 
mend  this  our  association,  to  all  gentlemen, 
merchants,  traders,  and  other  inhabitants  of 
this  colony,  hoping  that  they  will  cheerfully  and 
cordially  accede  thereto. 

i  st.  We  do  hereby  resolve  and  declare  that 
we  will  not,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  after 
the  first  day  of  November  next,  import  from 
Great  Britain,  any  goods,  wares,  or  merchan 
dises,  whatever,  (medicines  excepted.)  nor  will 
we,  after  that  day,  import  any  British  manu 
factures,  either  from  the  West-Indies  or  any 
other  place,  nor  any  article  whatever,  which 
we  shall  know,  or  have  reason  to  believe,  was 
brought  into  such  countries  from  Great  Britain, 
nor  will  we  purchase  any  such  articles  so  im 
ported,  of  any  person  or  persons  whatsoever, 
except  such  as  are  now  in  the  country,  or  such 
as  may  arrive  on  or  before  the  said  first  day  of 
November,  in  consequence  of  orders  already 
given,  and  which  cannot  now  be  counter 
manded  in  time. 

2dly.  We  will  neither  ourselves  import,  nor 
purchase  any  slave,  or  slaves,  imported  by  any 
person,  after  the  first  day  of  November  next, 
either  from  Africa,  the  West-Indies,  or  any 
other  place. 

3dly.  Considering  the  article  of  tea  as  the 
detestable  instrument  which  laid  the  founda 
tion  of  the  present  sufferings  of  our  distressed 
friends  in  the  town  of  Boston,  we  view  it  with 
horror,  and  therefore,  resolve  that  we  will  not, 
from  this  day,  either  import  tea  of  any  kind 
whatever,  nor  will  we  use  or  suffer,  even  such 
of  it  as  is  now  at  hand,  to  be  used  in  any  of 
our  families. 
18 


4thly.  If  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Bos 
ton,  or  any  other  colony,  should,  by  violence  or 
dire  necessity,  be  compelled  to  pay  the  East- 
India  company  for  destroying  any  tea,  which 
they  have  lately,  by  their  agents,  unjustly  at 
tempted  to  force  into  the  colonies,  we  will  not, 
directly  or  indirectly,  import  or  purchase  any 
British  East-India  commodity  whatever,  till 
the  company,  or  some  other  person,  on  their 
behalf,  shall  refund  and  fully  restore  to  the 
owners,  all  such  sum  or  sums  of  money  as 
may  be  so  extorted. 

5thly.  We  do  resolve,  that  unless  American 
grievances  be  redressed  before  the  loth  day  of 
August,  1775,  we  will  not,  after  that  day,  di 
rectly  or  indirectly,  export  tobacco  or  any 
other  article  whatever,  to  Great  Britain  ;  nor 
will  we  sell  any  such  articles  as  we  think  can 
be  exported  to  Great  Britain  with  a  prospect 
of  gain,  to  any  person  or  persons  whatever, 
with  a  design  of  putting  it  into  his  or  their 
power  to  export  the  same  to  Great  Britain, 
either  on  our  own,  his  or  their  account.  And 
that  this  resolution  may  be  the  more  effectu 
ally  carried  into  execution,  we  do  hereby  re 
commend  it  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony, 
to  refrain  from  the  cultivation  of  tobacco  as 
much  as  conveniently  may  be,  and  in  lieu 
thereof  that  they  will,  as  we  resolve  to  do, 
apply  their  attention  and  industry,  to  the  culti 
vation  of  all  such  articles,  as  may  form  a 
proper  basis  for  manufactures  of  all  sorts, 
which  we  will  endeavor  to  encourage  through 
out  this  colony  to  the  utmost  of  our  abilities. 

6thly.  We  will  endeavor  to  improve  our 
breed  of  sheep,  and  increase  their  number  to 
the  utmost  extent,  and  to  this  end,  we  will  be 
as  sparing  as  we  conveniently  can  in  killing  of 
sheep,  especially  those  of  the  most  profitable 
kind,  and  if  we  should  at  any  time  be  over 
stocked  and  can  conveniently  spare  any  we  will 
dispose  of  them  to  our  neighbors,  especially 
the  poorer  sort  of  people,  upon  moderate 
terms. 

7thly.  Resolved,  that  the  merchants  and 
others,  venders  of  goods  and  merchandises 
within  this  colony,  ought  not  to  take  advan 
tage  of  the  scarcity  of  goods  that  may  be  occa 
sioned  by  this  association,  but  that  they  ought 
to  sell  the  same,  at  the  rates  they  have  been 
accustomed  to  for  twelve  months  past,  and  if 
they  shall  sell  any  such  goods  on  higher  terms, 
or  shall  in  any  manner,  or  by  any  device  what 
ever,  violate  or  depart  from  this  resolution,  we 
will  not,  and  are  of  opinion  that  no  inhabitant 
of  this  colony  ought,  at  any  time  thereafter,  to 
deal  with  any  such  persons,  their  factors,  or 
agents,  for  any  commodity  whatever  ;  and  it  is 


274 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


recommended  to  the  deputies  of  the  several 
counties,  that  committees  be  chosen  in  each 
county,  by  such  persons  as  accede  to  this  asso 
ciation,  to  take  effectual  care  that  these  re 
solves  be  properly  observed,  and  for  corre 
sponding  occasionally  with  the  general  commit 
tee  of  correspondence  in  the  city  of  Williams- 
burg.  Provided  that,  if  exchange  should  rise, 
such  advance  may  be  made  in  the  prices  of 
goods  as  shall  be  approved  by  the  committee 
of  each  county. 

Sthly.  In  order  the  better  to  distinguish 
such  worthy  merchants  and  traders,  who  are 
well  wishers  to  this  colony,  from  those  who 
may  attempt,  through  motives  of  self-interest, 
to  obstruct  our  views,  we  do  hereby  resolve, 
that  we  will  not,  after  the  first  day  of  Novem 
ber  next,  deal  with  any  merchant  or  trader, 
who  will  not  sign  this  association,  nor  until  he 
hath  obtained  a  certificate  of  his  having  done 
so  from  the  county  committee,  or  any  three 
members  thereof.  And  if  any  merchant,  trader, 
or  other  persons,  shall  import  any  goods  or 
merchandise,  after  the  first  day  of  November, 
contrary  to  this  association,  we  give  it  as  our 
opinion,  that  such  goods  and  merchandise 
should  be  either  forthwith  re-shipped,  or  deliv 
ered  up  to  the  county  committee,  to  be  stored 
at  the  risk  of  the  importer,  unless  such  im 
porter  shall  give  a  proper  assurance  to  the  said 
committee,  that  such  goods  or  merchandises 
shall  not  be  sold  within  this  colony  during  the 
continuance  of  this  association  ;  and  if  such 
importer  shall  refuse  to  comply  with  one  or  the 
other  of  these  terms,  upon  application  and  due 
caution  given  to  him  or  her,  by  the  said  com 
mittee,  or  any  three  members  thereof,  such 
committee  is  required  to  publish  the  truth  of 
the  case  in  the  Gazettes,  and  in  the  county 
where  he  or  she  resides,  and  we  will  thereafter 
consider  such  person  or  persons  as  inimical  to 
this  country,  and  break  off  every  connection  and 
all  dealings  with  them. 

9thly.  Resolved,  That  if  any  person  or  per 
sons  shall  export  tobacco,  or  any  other  com 
modity,  to  Great  Britain,  after  the  loth  day  of 
August,  1775,  contrary  to  this  association,  we 
shall  holcl  ourselves  obliged  to  consider  such 
person  or  persons  as  inimical  to  the  commu 
nity,  and  as  an  approver  of  American  griev 
ances  ;  and  give  it  as  our  opinion,  that  the 
public  should  be  advertised  of  his  conduct,  as 
in  the  8th  article  is  desired. 

lothly.  Being  fully  persuaded  that  the 
united  wisdom  of  the  general  congress  may 
improve  these  our  endeavors  to  preserve  the 
•rights  and  liberties  in  British  America,  we  de 
cline  enlarging  at  present,  but  do  hereby  resolve 


that  we  will  conform  to,  and  strictly  observe, 
all  such  alterations,  or  additions,  assented  to 
by  the  delegates  for  this  colony,  as  they  may 
judge  it  necessary  to  adopt,  after  the  same 
shall  be  published  and  made  known  to  us. 

nthly.  Resolved,  That  we  think  ourselves 
called  upon  by  every  principle  of  humanity  and 
brotherly  affection,  to  extend  the  utmost  and 
speediest  relief  to  our  distressed  fellow  subjects 
in  the  town  of  Boston,  and  therefore  most 
earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  the  inhabitants 
of  this  colony,  to  make  such  liberal  contribu 
tions  as  they  can  afford  ;  to  be  collected  and 
remitted  to  Boston,  in  such  manner  as  may 
best  answer  so  desirable  a  purpose. 

I2thly,  and  lastly.  Resolved,  That  the  mod 
erator  of  this  meeting,  and,  in  case  of  his  death, 
Robert  Carter  Nicholas,  esquire,  be  empowered, 
on  any  future  occasion,  that  may  in  his  opinion 
require  it,  to  convene  the  several  delegates  of 
this  colony,  at  such  time  and  place  as  he  may 
judge  proper  ;  and  in  case  of  the  death  or  ab 
sence  of  any  delegate,  it  is  recommended  that 
another  be  chosen  in  his  place. 


Peyton  Randolph, 
Robert  C.  Nicholas, 
Richard  Bland, 
Richard  Henry  Lee, 
George  Washington, 
Benjamin  Harrison, 
Edmund  Pendleton, 
Patrick  Henry,  junior. 
Southy  Simpson, 
Isaac  Smith, 
J.  Walker, 
Thomas  Jefferson, 
John  Tabb, 
John  Winn, 
William  Cabell, 
Joseph  Cabell, 
Frederick  Macklin, 
Henry  Tazewell, 
Henry  Bell, 
R.  Rutherford, 
William  Acrill, 
P.  Carrington, 
James  Speed, 
Archibald  Gary, 
B.  Watkins, 
Henry  Pendleton, 
Henry  Field,  junior, 
William  Fleming, 
John  Mayo, 
Robert  Boiling, 
John  Banister, 
Francis  Slaughter, 
Henry  King, 


Meriwether  Smith, 
Charles  Broadwater, 
Thomas  Marshall, 
James  Scott,  junior, 
Isaac  Zane, 
George  Rootes, 
Thomas  Whiting, 
Lewis  Burwell, 
Thomas  M.  Ra/idolph, 
John  Woodson, 
Nathaniel  Terry, 
Micajah  Watkins, 
J.  Mercer, 
J.  Syme, 

Richard  Adams, 
Samuel  Du  Val, 
William  Norwell, 
John  S.  Wills, 
John  Day, 
Richard  Hardy, 
Joseph  Jones, 
William  Fitzhugh, 
George  Brooke, 
George  Lyne, 
Carter  Braxton, 
William  Aylett, 
James  Selden, 
Charles  Carter, 
Francis  Peyton, 
Thomas"  Walker, 
Thomas  Pettus, 
Edmund  Berkeley," 
James  Montague, 


VIRGINIA. 


275 


Worlich  Westwood, 
James  Edmonson, 
W.  Roane, 
Benjamin  Baker, 
Burwell  Basset, 
B.  Dandridge, 
Thomas  Newton,  jun. 
James  Holt, 
Adiel  Milby, 
John  Bowdoin, 
Peter  Presley  Thornton, 
Rodham  Kenner, 
Tiiomas  Barbour, 
William  Bibb, 
John  Morton, 
Peter  Poythress, 
William  Robinson, 
Christopher  Wright, 
Henry  Lee, 
T.  Blackburn, 
Robt.  Wormeley  Carter 


Robert  Burton, 
Benner  Goode, 
Lemuel  Riddick, 
Francis  Lightfoot  Lee, 
Edwin  Gray, 
Henry  Taylor, 
George  Stubblefield, 
Mann  Page,  jun. 
John  Alexander, 
C.  Carter, 
.Allen  Cocke, 
Nicholas  Faulcon,  jun. 
Davie  Mason, 
Michael  Blow, 
William  Harwood, 
William  Langhorne, 
Richard  Lee, 
Dudley  Digges, 
Thomas  Nelson,  jun. 
Champion  Travie, 
.Joseph  Hutchings. 


INSTRUCTIONS 
To  THE  DELEGATES  TO   CONGRESS,   WIL- 

LIAMSBURG,    1774. 

The  unhappy  disputes  between  Great  Britain 
and  her  American  colonies,  which  began  about 
the  third  year  of  the  reign  of  his  present  maj 
esty,  and  since  continually  increasing,  have 
proceeded  to  lengths  so  dangerous  and  alarm 
ing  as  to  excite  just  apprehensions,  in  the  minds 
of  his  majesty's  faithful  subjects  of  this  colony, 
that  they  are  in  danger  of  being  deprived  of 
their  natural,  ancient,  constitutional,  and  char 
tered  rights,  have  compelled  them  to  take  the 
same  into  their  most  serious  consideration  ; 
and  being  deprived  of  their  usual  and  accus 
tomed  mode  of  making  known  their  grievances, 
have  appointed  us  their  representatives  to  con 
sider  what  is  proper  to  be  done  in  this  danger 
ous  crisis  of  American  affairs.  It  being  our 
opinion  that  the  united  wisdom  of  North 
America  should  be  collected  in  a  general  con 
gress  of  all  the  colonies,  we  have  appointed  the 
honorable  Peyton  Randolph,  esquire,  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  George  Washington,  Patrick 
Henry,  Richard  Bland,  Benjamin  Harrison,  and 
Edmund  Pendleton,  esquires,  deputies  to  re 
present  this  colony  in  the  said  congress,  to  be 
held  at  Philadelphia  on  the  first  Monday  in 
September  next. 

And  that  they  may  be  the  better  informed 
of  our  sentiments,  touching  the  conduct  we 
wish  them  to  observe  on  this  important  occa 
sion,  we  desire  they  will  express,  in  the  first 


place,  our  faith  and  true  allegiance  to  his  ma 
jesty,  king  George  the  third,  our  lawful  and 
rightful  sovereign  ;  and  that  we  are  determined 
with  our  lives  and  fortunes,  to  support  him  in 
the  legal  exercise  of  all  his  just  rights  and  pre 
rogatives  ;  and  however  misrepresented,  we 
sincerely  approve  of  a  constitutional  connection 
with  Great  Britain,  and  wish  most  ardently  a 
return  of  that  intercourse  of  affection  and  com 
mercial  connection  that  formerly  united  both 
countries,  which  can  only  be  effected  by  a 
removal  of  those  causes  of  discontent  which 
have  of  late  unhappily  divided  us. 

It  cannot  admit  of  a  doubt  but  that  British 
subjects  in  America,  are  entitled  to  the  same 
rights  and  privileges  as  their  fellow  subjects 
possess  in  Britain ;  and  therefore,  that  the 
power  assumed  by  the  British  parliament  to 
bind  America  by  their  statutes,  in  all  cases 
whatsoever,  is  unconstitutional,  and  the  source 
of  these  unhappy  differences. 

The  end  of  government  would  be  defeated 
by  the  British  parliament  exercising  a  power 
over  the  lives,  the  property,  and  the  liberty  of 
the  American  subject  ;  who  are  not,  and  from 
their  local  circumstances  cannot,  be  there  re 
presented.  Of  this  nature  we  consider  the 
several  acts  of  parliament  for  raising  a  revenue 
in  America,  for  extending  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  courts  of  admiralty,  for  seizing  American 
subjects  and  transporting  them  to  Britain  to 
be  tried  for  crimes  committed  in  America,  and 
the  several  late  oppressive  acts  respecting  the 
town  of  Boston,  and  province  of  the  Massa 
chusetts-Bay. 

The  original  constitution  of  the  American 
colonies  possessing  their  assemblies  with  the 
sole  right  of  directing  their  internal  polity,  it  is 
absolutely  destructive  of  the  end  of  their  insti 
tution  that  their  legislatures  should  be  sus 
pended,  or  prevented,  by  hasty  dissolutions, 
from  exercising  their  legislative  power. 

Wanting  the  protection  of  Britain,  we  have 
long  acquiesced  in  their  acts  of  navigation 
restrictive  of  our  commerce,  which  we  consider 
as  an  ample  recompense  for  such  protection  ; 
but  as  those  acts  derive  their  efficacy  from  that 
foundation  alone,  we  have  reason  to  expect 
they  will  be  restrained,  so  as  to  produce  the 
reasonable  purposes  of  Britain,  without  being 
injurious  to  us. 

To  obtain  a  redress  of  those  grievances,  with 
out  which  the  people  of  America  can  neither  be 
safe,  free,  nor  happy,  they  are  willing  to  under 
go  the  great  inconvenience  that  will  be  derived 
to  them  from  stopping  all  imports  whatsoever 
from  Great  Britain,  after  the  first  day  of  No 
vember  next,  and  also  to  cease  exporting  anv 


276 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS   OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


commodity  whatsoever,  to  the  same  place,  after 
the  loth  day  of  August,  1775.  The  earnest 
desire  we  have,  to  make  as  quick  and  full  pay 
ment,  as  possible,  of  our  debts  to  Great  Bri 
tain,  and  to  avoid  the  heavy  injury  that  would 
arise  to  this  country  from  an  earlier  adoption 
of  the  non-exportation  plan,  after  the  people 
have  already  applied  so  much  of  their  labor  to 
the  perfecting  of  the  present  crop,  by  which 
means  they  have  been  prevented  from  pursuing 
other  methods  of  clothing  and  supporting  their 
families,  have  rendered  it  necessary  to  restrain 
you  in  this  article  of  non-exportation  ;  but  it  is 
our  desire  that  you  cordially  co-operate  with 
our  sister  colonies,  in  general  congress,  in  such 
other  just  and  proper  methods  as  they,  or  the 
majority,  shall  deem  necessary  for  the  accom 
plishment  of  these  valuable  ends. 

The  proclamation  issued  by  general  Gage,  in 
the  government  of  the  province  of  the  Massa 
chusetts-Bay,  declaring  it  treason  for  the  in 
habitants  of  that  province  to  assemble  them 
selves  to  consider  of  their  grievances,  and  form 
associations  for  their  common  conduct  on  the 
occasion,  and  requiring  the  civil  magistrates 
and  officers  to  apprehend  all  such  persons  to 
be  tried  for  their  supposed  offences,  is  the  most 
alarming  process  that  ever  appeared  in  a  Brit 
ish  government ;  that  the  said  general  Gage 
hath  thereby  assumed  and  taken  upon  himself 
power  denied  by  the  constitution  to  our  legal 
sovereign  ;  that  he,  not  having  condescended 
to  disclose  by  what  authority  he  exercises  such 
extensive  and  unheard  of  powers,  we  are  at  a 
luss  to  determine  whether  he  intends  to  justify 
himself  as  the  representative  of  the  king,  or  as 
the  commander  in  chief  of  his  majesty's  forces 
in  North  America.  If  he  considers  himself  as 
acting  in  the  character  of  his  majesty's  repre 
sentative,  we  would  remind  him,  that  the 
statute  25th  Edward  III.  has  expressed  and 
defined  all  treasonable  offences,  and  that  the 
legislature  of  Great  Britain  hath  declared  that 
no  offence  shall  be  construed  to  be  treason 
but  such  as  is  pointed  out  by  that  statute, 
and  that  this  was  done  to  take  out  of  the 
hands  of  tyrannical  kings,  and  of  weak  and 
wicked  ministers,  that  deadly  weapon  which 
constructive  treason  had  furnished  them  with, 
and  which  had  drawn  the  blood  of  the  best  and 
honestest  men  in  the  kingdom,  and  that  the 
king  of  Great  Britain  hath  no  right,  by  his 
proclamation,  to  subject  his  people  to  imprison 
ment,  pains,  and  penalties. 

That,  if  the  said  general  Gage  conceives  he 
is  empowered  to  act  in  this  manner,  as  the  com 
mander  in  chief  of  his  majesty's  forces  in  Amer 
ica,  this  odious  and  illegal  proclamation  must  be 


considered  as  a  plain  and  full  declaration  that 
this  despotic  -viceroy  will  be  bound  by  no  law,  nor 
regard  the  constitutional  rights  of  his  majesty's 
subjects,  whenever  they  interfere  with  the  plan 
he  had  formed  for  oppressing  the  good  people 
of  the  Massachusetts-Bay  ;  and  therefore,  that 
the  executing  or  attempting  to  execute,  such 
proclamation,  will  justify  RESISTANCE  and 

REPRISAL. 


INSTRUCTIONS 

• 

FROM  THE  FREEHOLDERS  OF  CUMBERLAND 
COUNTY,  VIRGINIA,  TO  JOHN  MAYO  AND 
WILLIAM  FLEMING,  GENTLEMEN,  THEIR 
DELEGATES,  MARCH,  1775. 

"  We  the  freeholders  of  Cumberland  county, 
having  elected  you  to  represent  us  in  a  pro 
vincial  convention,  to  be  held  in  the  town  of 
Richmond,  on  Monday  the  2oth  of  this  instant, 
and  being  convinced  that  the  safety  and  happi 
ness  of  British  America  depend  on  the  unani 
mity,  firmness,  and  joint  efforts  of  all  the  col 
onies,  we  expect  you  will,  on  your  parts,  let 
your  measures  be  as  much  for  the  common 
safety,  as  the  peculiar  interests  of  this  colony 
will  permit ;  and  that  you,  in  particular,  comply 
with  the  recommendation  of  the  continental 
congress,  in  appointing  delegates  to  meet  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia  in  May  next. 

"  The  means  of  constitutional  legislation  in 
this  colony,  being  now  interrupted,  and  entirely 
precarious,  and  being  convinced  that  some 
rule  is  necessary,  for  speedily  putting  the  col 
ony  in  a  state  of  defence,  we,  in  an  especial 
manner,  recommend  this  matter  to  your  consid 
eration  in  convention ;  and  you  may  depend 
that  any  general  tax,  by  that  body  imposed,  for 
such  purposes,  will  be  cheerfully  submitted  to 
and  paid  by  the  inhabitants  of  this  county. 

"  We  desire  that  you  will  consider  the  Bos- 
tonians  as  suffering  in  the  common  cause,  and 
cheerfully  join  in  their  support  to  the  utmost  of 
your  power. 

"  That  you  will  direct  the  deputies  to  con 
gress,  on  the  parts  ot  this  colony,  to  use  their 
best  endeavors  to  establish  a  trade  between  the 
colonies  ;  and  to  procure  a  quantity  si  gunpow 
der  and  a  number  of  cotton  and  wool  cards 
from  the  northward,  or  elsewhere. 

"  We  desire  further,  that  you  will  not  depart 
from  the  association  formed  by  the  continental 
congress  in  September  last,  but  will  strictly 
adhere  to  it  in  every  particular." 


VIRGINIA. 


277 


INTERESTING   DEBATE 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  VIRGINIA  ON  THE 
MOTION  OFFERED  BY  PATRICK  HENRY, 
ESQ.,  IN  THE  YEAR  1775,  TO  PUT  THE 
COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  IN  A  STATE  OF 

DEFENCE. 

FROM   WIRT'S   LIFE   OF   HENRY. 

On  Monday,  the  2otk  of  March,  1775,  the 
convention  of  delegates  from  the  several  coun 
ties  and  corporations  of  Virginia,  met  for  the 
second  time.  Their  meeting  was  held  in  the 
Old  Church,  in  the  town  of  Richmond — Mr. 
Henry  was  a  member  of  this  body  also.  The 
reader  will  bear  in  mind  the  tone  of  the 
instructions  given  by  the  convention  of  the  pre 
ceding  year,  to  their  deputies  in  congress.  He 
will  remember  that  while  they  recite,  with  great 
feeling,  the  series  of  grievances  under  which 
the  colonies  had  labored,  and  insist,  with  firm 
ness,  on  their  constitutional  rights,  they  give 
nevertheless  the  most  explicit  and  solemn 
pledge  of  their  faith,  and  true  allegiance  to  his 
majesty,  king  George  the  III.  and  avow  their 
determination  to  support  him  with  their  lives 
and  fortunes,  in  the  legal  exercise  of  all  his 
just  rights  and  prerogatives.  He  will  remem 
ber  that  these  instructions  contain  also  an  ex 
pression  of  their  sincere  approbation  of  a  con 
nection  with  Great  Britain — and  of  their  ardent 
wishes  for  a  return  of  that  friendly  intercourse, 
prosperity  and  happiness.  These  sentiments 
still  actuated  many  of  the  leading  members  of 
the  convention  of  1775 — they  could  not  part 
with  the  fond  hope,  that  those  peaceful  days 
would  again  return,  which  had  shed  so  much 
light  and  warmth  over  the  land,  and  the  report 
of  the  king's  gracious  reception  of  the  petition 
from  congress,  tended  to  cherish  that  hope 
and  to  render  them  averse  to  any  measure  of 
violence — but  Mr.  Henry  saw  things  with  a 
steadier  eye,  and  a  deeper  insight.  His  judg 
ment  was  too  solid  to  be  duped  by  appearan 
ces,  and  his  heart  too  firm  and  manly,  to  be 
amused  by  false  and  flattering  hopes. — He  had 
long  since  read  the  true  character  of  the 
British  court,  and  saw  that  no  alternative 
remained  for  his  country,  but  abject  submis 
sion,  or  heroic  resistance.  It  was  not  for  a 
soul  like  Henry's  to  hesitate  between  these 
courses.  He  had  offered  upon  the  altar  of 
liberty  no  divided  heart.  The  gulf  of  war 
which  yawned  before  him,  was  indeed  fiery 
and  fearful.  But  he  saw  that  the  awful  plunge 
was  inevitable.  The  body  of  the  convention, 
however,  hesitated.  They  cast  around  a 
"longing  lingering  look"  to  those  flowery 
fields,  on  which  peace  and  ease  and  joy  were 


still  sporting,  and  it  required  all  the  energies 
of  a  mentor,  like  Henry,  to  push  them  from  the 
precipice,  and  conduct  them  over  the  stormy 
sea  of  the  revolution,  to  liberty  and  glory. 

The  convention  being  formed,  and  organized 
for  business,  proceeded  in  the  first  place  to  ex 
press  their  unqualified  approbation  of  the 
measures  of  congress,  and  to  declare  that  they 
considered  this  whole  continent  as  under  the 
highest  obligations  to  that  respectable  body  for 
the  wisdom  of  their  councils,  and  their  unre-  * 
mitted  endeavors  to  maintain  and  preserve 
inviolate,  the  just  rights  and  liberties  of  his 
majesty's  dutiful  and  loyal  subjects  in  America. 

They  next  resolved,  "  that  the  warmest 
thanks  of  the  convention,  and  of  all  the  inhabi 
tants  of  this  colony  were  due,  and  that  this 
just  tribute  of  applause,  be  presented  to  the 
worthy  delegates,  deputed  by  a  former  conven 
tion  to  represent  this  colony  in  general  con 
gress,  for  their  cheerful  undertaking,  and  faith 
ful  discharge  of  the  very  important  trust  reposed 
in  them." 

The  morning  of  the  2jd  of  March  was 
opened  by  reading  a  petition  and  memorial 
from  the  assembly  of  Jamaica,  "  to  the  king's 
most  excellent  majesty :  "  whereupon  it  was 
resolved  "that  the  unfeigned  thanks,  and  most 
grateful  acknowledgments  of  the  convention 
be  presented  to  that  very  respectable  assembly, 
for  the  exceeding  generous  and  affectionate 
part  they  have  so  nobly  taken,-  in  the  unhappy 
contest  between  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies, 
and  for  their  truly  patriotic  endeavors  to  fix  the 
just  claims  of  the  colonists  upon  the  most  per 
manent  constitutional  principles ;  that  the 
assembly  be  assured,  that  it  is  the  most  ardent 
wish  of  this  colony  (and  they  were  persuaded, 
of  the  whole  continent  of  North  America)  to 
see  a  speedy  return  of  those  halcyon  days  when 
we  lived  a  free  and  happy  people." 

These  proceedings  were  not  adapted  to  the 
taste  of  Mr.  Henry.  On  the  contrary,  they 
were  "  gall  and  worm-wood "  to  him.  The 
house  required  to  be  wrought  up  to  a  bolder 
tone.  He  rose,  therefore,  and  moved  the  fol 
lowing  manly  resolutions : 

"  Resolved,  That  a  well-regulated  militia, 
composed  of  gentlemen  and  yeomen,  is  the 
natural  strength  and  only  security  of  a  free 
government ;  that  such  a  militia,  in  this  colony, 
would  forever  render  it  unnecessary  for  the 
mother  country  to  keep  among  us,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  our  defence,  any  standing  army  of 
mercenary  soldiers,  always  subversive  of  the 
quiet,  and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the 
people,  and  would  alleviate  the  pretext  of 
taxing  us  for  their  support. 


2/8 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


"  That  the  establishment  of  such  a  militia  is, 
at  this  time,  peculiarly  necessary,  by  the  state 
of  our  laws,  for  the  protection  and  defence  of 
the  country,  some  of  which  are  already  expired, 
and  others  will  shortly  be  so,  and  that  the 
known  remissness  of  government,  in  calling 
us  together,  in  legislative  capacity,  renders  it 
too  insecure,  in  this  time  of  danger  and  distress, 
to  rely  that  opportunity  will  be  given  of  renew 
ing  them,  in  general  assembly,  or  making  any 
'provision  to  secure  our  inestimable  rights  and 
liberties  from  those  further  violations  with 
which  they  are  threatened. 

"  Resolved,  therefore,  that  this  colony  be  im 
mediately  put  into  a  state  of  defence,  and  that 

be  a  committee  to 

paepare  a  plan  for  the  embody  ing,  arming  and 
disciplining  such  a  number  of  men,  as  may  be 
sufficient  for  that  purpose." 

The  alarm  which  such  a  proposition  must 
have  given  to  those  who  had  contemplated  no 
resistance  of  a  character  more  serious  than 
petition,  non-importation  and  passive  fortitude, 
and  who  still  hung,  with  suppliant  tenderness, 
on  the  skirts  of  Britain,  in  the  hope  of  seeing, 
once  more,  her  maternal  smile,  will  be  readily 
conceived  by  the  reflecting  reader.  The  shock 
was  painful ;  it  was  almost  general.  The  reso 
lutions  were  opposed,  as  not  only  rash  in  policy, 
but  as  harsh,  and  well  nigh  impious,  in  point 
of  feeling.  Some  of  the  warmest  patriots  of 
the  convention  opposed  them.  Richard  Bland, 
Benjamin  Harrison,  and  Edmund  Pendleton, 
who  had  so  lately  drunk  of  the  fountain  of 
patriotism,  in  the  continental  congress,  and 
Robert  C.  Nicholas,  one  of  the  best,  as  well  as 
ablest  men  and  patriots  in  the  state,  gave  them 
all  the  resistance  of  their  great  influence  and 
abilities.  They  urged  the  late  gracious  recep 
tion  of  the  congressional  petition  by  the  throne. 
— They  insisted  that  national  comity,  and  much 
more,  filial  respect,  demanded  the  exercise  of  a 
more  dignified  patience  : — that  the  sympathies 
of  the  parent  country  were  now  on  our  side  ; 
that  the  friends  of  American  liberty,  in  parlia 
ment,  were  still  with  us,  and  had,  as  yet,  had 
no  cause  to  blush  for  our  indiscretion  ;  that  the 
manufacturing  interest  of  Great  Britain,  already 
smarting  under  the  effects  of  our  non-importa 
tion,  co-operated  powerfully  towards  our  relief ; 
that  the  sovereign  himself  had  relented,  and 
shown  that  he  looked  upon  our  sufferings  with 
an  eye  of  pity.  Was  this  the  moment,  they 
asked,  to  disgust  our  friends,  to  extinguish  all 
the  conspiring  sympathies  which  were  working 
in  our  favor,  to  turn  their  friendship  into 
hatred ;  their  pity  into  revenge  ?  And  what 
was  there,  they  asked,  in  the  situation  of  the 


colony,  to  tempt  us  to  this  ?  Were  we  a  great 
military  people?  Were  we  ready  for  war? 
Where  were  our  stores — where  were  our  arms 
— where  our  soldiers — where  our  generals — 
where  our  money,  the  sinews  of  war  ?  They 
were  no  where  to  be  found.  In  truth,  we  were 
poor — we  were  naked — we  were  defenceless  : 
and  yet  we  talk  of  assuming  the  front  of  war  ! 
of  assuming  it  too,  against  a  nation,  one  of  the 
most  formidable  in  the  world  !  a  nation,  ready 
and  armed  at  all  points ! — her  navies  riding 
triumphant  in  every  sea — her  armies  never 
marching  but  to  certain  victory  ? — What  was 
to  be  the  issue  of  the  struggle  we  were  called 
upon  to  court  ?  What  could  be  the  issue,  in  the 
comparative  circumstances  of  the  two  countries, 
but  to  yield  up  this  country,  an  easy  prey  to 
Great  Britain,  and  to  convert  the  illegitimate 
right,  which  the  British  parliament  now  claimed, 
into  a  firm  and  indubitable  right,  by  conquest  ? 
The  measure  might  be  brave  ;  but  it  was  the 
bravery  of  madmen.  It  had  no  pretension  to 
the  character  of  prudence,  and  as  little  to  the 
grace  of  genuine  courage.  It  would  be  time 
enough  to  resort  to  measures  of  despair,  when 
every  well  founded  hope  had  entirely  vanished. 

To  this  strong  view  of  the  subject,  supported 
as  it  was,  by  the  stubborn  fact  of  the  well 
known  helpless  condition  of  the  colony,  the  op 
ponents  of  those  resolutions  superadded  every 
topic  of  persuasion  which  belonged  to  the  case. 
"  The  strength  and  lustre  which  we  derived 
from  our  connections  with  Great  Britain — the 
domestic  comforts  which  we  had  drawn  from 
the  same  source,  and  whose  value  we  were 
now  able  to  estimate,  by  their  loss — that  ray  of 
reconciliation,  which  was  dawning  upon  us 
from  the  east,  and  which  promised  so  fair  and 
happy  a  day :  with  this  they  contrasted  the 
clouds  and  storms  which  the  measure,  now 
proposed,  was  so  well  calculated  to  raise,  and 
in  which  we  should  not  have  even  the  poor 
consolation  of  being  pitied  by  the  world,  since 
we  should  have,  so  needlessly  and  rashly,  drawn 
them  upon  ourselves." 

These  arguments  and  topics  of  persuasion 
were  so  well  justified  by  the  appearance  of 
things,  and  were,  moreover,  so  entirely  in  unison 
with  that  love  of  ease  and  quiet,  which  is  natu 
ral  to  man,  and  that  disposition  to  hope  for 
happier  times,  even  under  the  most  forbidding 
circumstances,  that  an  ordinary  man,  in  Mr. 
Henry's  situation,  would  have  been  glad  to 
compound  with  the  displeasure  of  the  house, 
by  being  permitted  to  withdraw  his  rrs^utiana 
in  silence. 

Not  so  Mr.  Henry.  His  was  a  spirit  fitted  to 
raise  the  whirlwind,  as  well  as  to  ride  in  and 


VIRGINIA. 


direct  it.  His  was  that  comprehensive  view, 
that  unerring  prescience,  that  perfect  command 
over  the  actions  of  men,  that  qualified  him,  not 
merely  to  guide,  but  almost  to  create  the  des 
tinies  of  nations. 

He  rose,  at  this  time,  with  a  majesty  unusual 
to  him,  in  an  exordium,  and  with  all  that  self- 
possession  by  which  he  was  so  invariably  dis 
tinguished.  "No  man,"  he  said,  "thought 
more  highly  than  he  did  of  the  patriotism,  as 
well  as  abilities,  of  the  very  worthy  gentlemen 
who  had  just  addressed  the  house.  But  differ 
ent  men  often  saw  the  same  subject  in  different 
lights ;  and  therefore,  he  hoped  it  would  not  be 
thought  disrespectful  to  those  gentlemen,  if  en 
tertaining,  as  he  did,  opinions  of  a  character 
very  opposite  to  theirs,  he  should  speak  his 
sentiments,  freely  and  without  reserve.  This, 
he  said,  was  no  time  for  ceremony.  The  ques 
tion  before  the  house,  was  one  of  awful  moment 
to  this  country.  For  his  own  part,  he  con 
sidered  it,  as  nothing  less  than  a  question  of 
freedom  or  slavery  ;  and  in  proportion  to  the 
magnitude  of  the  subject,  ought  to  be  the  free 
dom  of  the  debate.  It  was  only  in  this  way 
that  they  could  hope  to  arrive  at  truth,  and  ful 
fil  the  great  responsibility  which  they  held  to 
God  and  their  country.  Should  he  keep  back 
his  opinions,  at  such  a  time,  through  fear  of 
giving  offence,  he  should  consider  himself  as 
guilty  of  treason  towards  his  country,  and  of  an 
act  of  disloyalty  towards  the  Majesty  of  Heaven, 
which  he  revered  before  all  earthly  kings." 

"Mr.  President,"  said  he,  "It  is  natural  to 
man  to  indulge  in  the  illusions  of  hope.  We 
are  apt  to  shut  our  eyes  against  a  painful  truth, 
and  listen  to  the  song  of  that  syren,  till  she 
transforms  us  into  beasts.  Was  this,  he  asked, 
the  part  of  wise  men,  engaged  in  a  great  and 
arduous  struggle  for  liberty?  Were  we  dis 
posed  to  be  of  the  number  of  those  who,  having 
eyes,  see  not,  and,  having  ears,  hear  not  the 
things  which  so  nearly  concern  their  temporal 
salvation  ?  For  his  part,  whatever  anguish  of 
spirit  it  might  cost,  he  was  willing  to  know  the 
whole  truth — to  know  the  worst,  and  to  provide 
for  it." 

"He  had,"  he  said,  "  but  one  lamp, by  which 
his  feet  were  guided,  and  that  was  the  lamp  of 
experience.  He  knew  of  no  way  of  judging  the 
future,  but  by  the  past ;  and  judging  by  the 
past,  he  wished  to  know  what  there  had  been 
in  the  conduct  of  the  British  ministry  for  the 
last  ten  years,  to  justify  those  hopes  with  which 
gentlemen  had  been  pleased  to  solace  them 
selves  and  the  house.  Is  it  that  insidious 
smile  with  which  our  petition  has  been  lately 
received  ?  Trust  it  not,  sir,  it  will  prove  a 


snare  to  your  feet. — Suffer  not  yourself  to  be 
betrayed  with  a  kiss.  Ask  yourselves  how 
this  gracious  reception  of  our  petition  comports 
with  those  war-like  preparations,  which  cover 
our  waters,  and  darken  our  land  ?  Are  fleets 
and  armies  necessary  to  a  work  of  love  and 
reconciliation  ?  Have  we  shewn  ourselves  so 
unwilling  to  be  reconciled,  that  force  must  be 
called  in,  to  win  back  our  love  ?  Let  us  not 
deceive  ourselves,  sir.  These  are  the  imple 
ments  of  war  and  subjugation — the  last  argu 
ments,  to  which  kings  resort.  I  ask  gentle 
men,  sir,  what  means  this  martial  array,  if  its 
purposes  be  not  to  force  us  to  submission  ? — 
Can  gentlemen  assign  any  other  possible 
motive  for  it  ?  Has  Great  Britain  any  enemy, 
in  this  quarter  of  the  world,  to  call  for  all  this 
accumulation  of  navies  and  armies  ?  No,  sir, 
she  has  none.  They  are  meant  for  us  :  they 
can  be  meant  for  no  other.  They  are  sent 
over,  to  bind  and  rivet  upon  us  those  chains, 
which  the  British  ministry  have  been  so  long 
forging.  And  what  have  we  to  oppose  to 
them  ?  Shall  we  try  argument  ? — Sir,  we 
have  been  trying  that,  for  the  last  ten  years. 
Have  we  anything  new  to  offer  upon  the  sub 
ject  ?  Nothing.  We  have  held  the  subject 
up  in  every  light  of  which  it  is  capable  :  but  it 
has  been  all  in  vain. — Shall  we  resort  to  entreaty 
and  humble  supplication  ?  What  terms  shall 
we  find,  which  have  not  been  already  ex 
hausted  ?  Let  us  not,  I  beseech  you,  sir, 
deceive  ourselves  longer.  Sir,  we  have  done 
everything  that  could  be  done,  to  avert  the 
storm  which  is  now  coming  on.  We  have 
petitioned — we  have  remonstrated — we  have 
supplicated — we  have  prostrated  ourselves 
before  the  throne,  and  have  implored  its 
interposition,  to  arrest  the  tyrannical  hands 
of  the  ministry  and  parliament. — Our  petitions 
have  been  slighted — our  remonstrances  have 
produced  additional  violence  and  insult — our 
supplications  have  been  disregarded,  and  we 
have  been  spurned  with  contempt  from  the 
foot  of  the  throne.  In  vain,  after  these  things, 
may  we  indulge  the  fond  hope  of  peace  and 
reconciliation.  There  is  no  longer  any  room 
for  hope.  If  we  wish  to  be  free — if  we  mean 
to  preserve  inviolate  those  inestimable  privi 
leges,  for  which  we  have  been  so  long-con 
tending — if  we  mean  not  basely  to  abandon 
the  noble  struggle,  in  which  we  have  been  so 
long  engaged,  and  which  we  have  pledged  our 
selves  never  to  abandon — until  the  glorious 
object  of  our  contest  shall  be  obtained — WE 
MUST  FIGHT  !  I  repeat  it,  sir,  WE  MUST 
FIGHT  !!  An  appeal  to  arms,  and  to  the  God 
of  Hosts,  is  all  that  is  left  us  !  " 


280 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


"  Imagine  to  yourselves,"  says  my  corre 
spondent,*  "  this  sentence,  delivered  with  all 
the  calm  dignity  of  Cato,  of  Utica  —imagine 
to  yourself  the  Roman  senate,  assembled  in  the 
capitol,  when  it  was  entered  by  the  profane 
Gauls,  who,  at  first,  were  awed  by  their  pres 
ence,  as  if  they  had  entered  an  assembly  of 
the  Gods  ! — imagine  that  you  heard  that  Cato 
addressing  such  a  senate — imagine  that  you 
saw  the  handwriting  on  thewallofBelshazzar's 
palace — imagine  you  had  heard  a  voice,  as 
from  Heaven,  uttering  the  words  "'  We  must 
fight,"  as  the  doom  of  fate,  and  you  may 
have  some  idea  of  the  speaker,  the  assembly  to 
whom  he  addressed  himself,  and  the  auditory, 
of  which  I  was  one. 

"They  tell  us,  sir,"  continued  Mr.  Henry, 
"  that  we  are  weak — unable  to  cope  with  so 
formidable  an  adversary. — But  when  shall  we 
be  stronger  ? — Will  it  be  the  next  week  or  the 
next  year  ?  Will  it  be  when  we  are  totally  dis 
armed,  and  when  a  British  guard  shall  be  sta 
tioned  in  every  house?  Shall  we  gather 
strength  by  irresolution  and  inaction  ?  Shall 
we  acquire  the  means  of  effectual  resistance, 
by  lying  supinely  on  our  backs,  and  hugging 
the  delusive  phantom  of  hope,  until  our  ene 
mies  shall  have  bound  us  hand  and  foot  ?  Sir, 
we  are  not  weak,  if  we  make  a  proper  use  of 
those  means  which  the  God  of  nature  hath 
placed  in  our  power. — Three  millions  of  peo 
ple,  armed  in  the  holy  cause  of  liberty,  and  in 
such  a  country  as  that  which  we  possess,  are 
invincible  by  any  force  which  our  enemy  can 
send  against  us.  Besides,  sir,  we  shall  not 
fight  our  battles  alone.  There  is  a  just  God, 
who  presides  over  the  destinies  of  nations,  and 
who  will  raise  up  friends  to  fight  our  battles 
for  us.  The  battle,  sir,  is  not  to  the  strong 
alone ;  it  is  to  the  vigilant,  the  active,  the 
brave.  Besides,  sir,  we  have  no  election.  If 
we  were  base  enough  to  desire  it,  it  is  now  too 
late  to  retire  from  the  contest.  There  is  no 
retreat,  but  in  submission  and  slavery  !  Our 
chains  are  forged :  their  clanking  may  be 
heard  on  the  plains  of  Boston  !  The  war  is 
inevitable  ;  and  let  it  come  !  !  I  repeat  it,  sir— 
LET  IT  COME  ! ! !  " 

"  It  is  in  vain,  sir,  to  extenuate  the  matter : 
Gentlemen  may  cry,  "  peace  peace  ; "  but  there 
is  no  peace ;  the  war  is  actually  begun  !  The 
next  gale  that  sweeps  from  the  north  will  bring 
to  our  ears  the  clash  of  resounding  arms  ? 
Our  brethren  are  already  in  the  field  !  Why 
stand  we  here  idle  ? — What  is  it  that  gentlemen 
wish?  What  would  they  have?  Is  life  so 
dear,  or  peace  so  sweet,  as  to  be  purchased  at 

*  Judge  Tucker. 


the  price  of  chains  and  slavery  ! ! !  Forbid  it, 
Almighty  God !  I  know  not  what  course 
others  may  take ;  but,  as  for  me  "  (cried  he, 
with  both  arms  extended  aloft,  his  brows  knit, 
every  feature  marked  with  the  resolute  pur 
pose  of  his  soul,  and  his  voice  swelled  to  its 
boldest  note  of  exclamation,)  "  GIVE  ME  LIB 
ERTY  OR  GIVE  ME  DEATH." 

He  took  his  seat.  No  murmur  of  applause 
was  heard  ;  the  effect  was  too  deep.  After 
the  trance  of  a  moment,  several  members  were 
seen  to  start  from  their  seats.  The  cry  "  to 
arms,"  seemed  to  quiver  on  every  lip,  and 
gleam  from  every  eye  !  Richard  H.  Lee  arose 
and  supported  Mr.  Henry,  but  even  his  melody 
was  lost  amidst  the  agitation  of  that  ocean, 
which  the  master  spirit  of  the  storm  had  lifted 
on  high.  That  supernatural  voice  still  sounded 
in  their  ears,  and  shivered  along  their  arteries. 
They  heard  in  every  pause  the  cry  of  liberty  or 
death.  They  became  impatient  of  speech. 
Their  souls  were  on  fire  for  action. 

The  measure  was  adopted ;  and  Patrick 
Henry,  Richard  H.  Lee,  Robert  C.  Nicholas, 
Benjamin  Harrison,  Lemuel  Riddick,  George 
Washington,  Adam  Stevens,  Andrew  Lewis, 
William  Christian,  Edmund  Pendleton,  Thomas 
Jefferson,  and  Isaac  Zane,  esquires,  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  the  plan 
called  for  by  the  last  resolution. 


RESOLUTIONS 

OF  THE  CONVENTION,  RECOMMENDING  THE 
STAY  OF  PROCEEDINGS  IN  CIVIL  SUITS. 

SATURDAY,  March  35,  1775. 

Resolved,  as  the  opinion  of  this  convention, 
that  on  account  of  the  unhappy  disputes  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies,  and  the 
unsettled  state  of  this  country,  the  lawyers, 
suitors,  and  witnesses,  ought  not  to  attend  the 
prosecution  or  defence  of  civil  suits  at  the  nex' 
general  court:  and  it  is  recommended  to  the 
several  courts  of  justice,  not  to  proceed  to  tht 
hearing  or  determination  of  suits  on  their 
dockets,  except  attachments  ;  nor  to  give  judg 
ment,  but  in  the  case  of  sheriffs,  or  other  col 
lectors  of  money  or  tobacco  received  by  them, 
in  other  cases  where  such  judgment  shall  be 
voluntarily  confessed,  or  upon  such  amicable 
proceedings  as  may  become  necessary  for  the 
settlement,  division,  or  distribution  of  estates : 
and,  during  the  suspension  of  the  administra 
tion  of  justice,  it  is  earnestly  recommended  to 
the  people,  to  observe  a  peaceable  and  orderly 
behavior ;  to  all  creditors  to  be  as  indulgent  to 
their  debtors  as  may  be  ;  and  to  all  debtors  to 
pay  as  far  as  they  are  able  ;  and  where  differ 
ences  may  arise,  which  cannot  be  adjusted 


VIRGINIA. 


28l 


between  the  parties,  that  they  refer  the  decision 
thereof  to  judicious  neighbors,  and  abide  by 
their  determination. 


RESOLUTIONS 

FOR  THE  ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  HOME 
MANUFACTURES. 

MONDAY,  March  27,  1775. 

The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  plan 
for  the  encouragement  of  arts  and  manu 
factures,  reported  the  following  resolutions, 
which  being  severally  read,  were  unanimously 
agreed  on. 

Whereas,  it  hath  been  judged  necessary,  for 
the  preservation  of  the  just  rights  and  liberties 
of  America,  firmly  to  associate  against  importa 
tion  ;  and,  as  the  freedom,  happiness,  and 
prosperity  of  a  state  greatly  depend  on  provid 
ing  within  itself,  a  supply  of  articles  necessary 
for  subsistence,  clothing,  and  defence  ;  and 
whereas,  it  is  judged  essential,  at  this  critical 
juncture,  to  form  a  proper  plan  for  employing 
the  different  inhabitants  of  this  colony,  provid 
ing  for  the  poor,  and  restraining  vagrants  and 
other  disorderly  persons,  who  are  nuisances  to 
every  society,  a  regard  for  our  country,  as  well 
as  common  prudence,  call  upon  us  to  encour 
age  agriculture,  manufactures,  economy,  and 
the  utmost  industry  ;  therefore,  this  convention 
doth  resolve  as  follows  : 

Resolved  unanimously — That  it  be  earnestly 
recommended  to  the  different  magistrates, 
vestries,  and  churchwardens,  throughout  this 
colony,  that  they  pay  a  proper  attention  and 
strict  regard  to  the  several  acts  of  assembly, 
made  for  the  restraint  of  vagrants,  and  the 
better  employing  and  maintaining  the  poor. 

Resolved  unanimously — That  from  and  after 
the  first  day  of  May  next,  no  person  or  persons 
whatever,  ought  to  use,  in  his  or  their  families, 
unless  in  case  of  necessity,  and  on  no  account, 
sell  to  butchers,  or  kill  for  market,  any  sheep 
under  four  years  old  ;  and  where  there  is  a 
necessity  for  using  any  mutton,  in  his,  her,  or 
their  families,  it  is  recommended  to  kill  such 
only  as  are  least  profitable  to  be  kept. 

Resolved  unanimously — That  the  setting  up 
and  promoting  woolen,  cotton,  and  linen  manu 
factures,  ought  to  be  encouraged  in  as  many 
different  branches  as  possible,  especially  coat 
ing,  flannel,  blankets,  rugs,  or  overlids,  hosiery, 
and  coarse  cloths,  both  broad  and  narrow. 

Resolved  unanimously — That  all  persons, 
having  proper  lands  for  the  purpose,  ought  to 
cultivate  and  raise  a  quantity  of  flax,  hemp, 


and  cotton,  sufficient  not  only  for  the  use  of  his 
or  her  own  family,  but  also  to  spare  to  others 
on  moderate  terms. 

Resolved  unanimously — As  salt  is  a  daily 
and  indispensable  necessary  of  life,  and  the 
making  of  it  among  ourselves  must  be  deemed 
a  valuable  acquisition,  it  is  therefore  recom 
mended,  that  the  utmost  endeavors  be  used  to 
establish  salt  works,  and  that  proper  encour 
agement  be  given  to  Mr.  James  Tait,  who  hath 
made  proposals,  and  offered  a  scheme  to  the 
public,  for  so  desirable  a  purpose. 

Resolved  unanimously — That  saltpetre  and 
sulphur,  being  articles  of  great  and  necessary 
use,  the  making,  collecting,  and  refining  them 
to  the  utmost  extent,  be  recommended,  the 
convention  being  of  opinion  that  it  may  be 
done  to  great  advantage. 

Resolved  unanimously — That  the  making  of 
gunpowder  be  recommended. 

Resolved  unanimously — That  the  manufac 
turing  of  iron  into  nails  and  wire,  and  other 
necessary  articles,  be  recommended. 

Resolved  unanimously — That  the  making  of 
steel  ought  to  be  largely  encouraged,  as  there 
will  be  a  great  demand  for  this  article. 

Resolved  unanimously — That  the  making  of 
different  kinds  of  paper  ought  to  be  encouraged  ; 
and  as  the  success  of  this  branch  depends  on  a 
supply  of  old  linen  and  woolen  rags,  the  in 
habitants  of  this  colony  are  desired,  in  their 
respective  families,  to  preserve  these  articles. 

Resolved  unanimously — That,  whereas,  wool 
combs,  cotton  and  wool  cards,  hemp  and  flax 
heckels,  have  been  for  some  time  made  to  ad 
vantage,  in  some  of  the  neighboring  colonies, 
and  are  necessary  for  carrying  on  linen  and 
woollen  manufactures,  the  establishing  such 
manufactures  be  recommended. 

Resolved  unanimously — That  the  erecting 
fulling  mills,  and  mills  for  breaking,  swingling, 
and  softening  hemp  and  flax,  and  also  that  the 
making  grindstones  be  recommended. 

Resolved  unanimously — That  the  brewing 
malt  liquors  in  this  colony,  would  tend  to  ren 
der  the  consumption  of  foreign  liquors  less 
necessary,  it  is  therefore  recommended,  that 
proper  attention  be  given  to  the  cultivation  of 
hops  and  barley. 

Resolved  unanimously — That  it  be  recom 
mended  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony, 
that  they  use  as  the  convention  engageth  to  do, 
our  own  manufactures,  and  those  of  other 
colonies,  in  preference  to  all  others. 

Resolved  unanimously — That  for  the  more 
speedily  and  effectually  carrying  these  resolu 
tions  into  execution,  it  be  earnestly  recom 
mended,  that  societies  be  formed  in  different 


282 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


parts  of  this  colony  ;  and  it  is  the  opinion  of  this 
convention,  that  proper  premiums  ought  to  be 
offered  in  the  several  counties  and  corporations, 
to  such  persons  as  shall  excel  in  the  several 
branches  of  manufactures ;  and  it  is  recom 
mended  to  the  several  committees  of  the  differ 
ent  counties  and  corporations,  to  promote  and 
encourage  the  same,  to  the  utmost  of  their 
power. 


PATRIOTIC   ACTION 

OF    THE    TOWN    COUNCIL    OF  FREDERICKS- 
BURG,  VA. 

FREDERICKSBURG,  COMMITTEE  CHAMBER, 

Saturday  April  39,  1775. 

At  a  council  of  102  members,  delegates  of 
the  provincial  convention,  officers  and  special 
deputies  of  14  companies  of  light  horse,  con 
sisting  of  upwards  of  600  well  armed  and  dis 
ciplined  men,  friends  of  constitutional  liberty 
and  America,  now  rendezvoused  here  in  conse 
quence  of  an  alarm  occasioned  by  the  powder 
being  removed  from  the  county  magazine,  in 
the  city  of  Williamsburg,  in  the  night  of 
Thursday  the  2ist  inst.  and  deposited  on 
board  an  armed  schooner  by  order  of  his 
excellency  the  governor. 

The  council  having  before  them  the  several 
matters  of  intelligence  respecting  this  transac 
tion,  and  particularly  a  letter  from  the  hon. 
Peyton  Randolph,  esq.,  speaker  of  the  late 
house  of  burgesses  of  Virginia,  received  here 
last  night  by  an  express  despatched  to  Wil 
liamsburg,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  intelli 
gence,  informing  that  the  gentlemen  of  the  city 
of  Williamsburg  and  neighborhood,  have  had 
full  assurances  from  his  excellency  that  this 
affair  shall  be  accommodated,  and  advising 
that  the  gentlemen  assembled  here  should 
proceed  no  further  at  this  time — this  council 
came  to  the  following  determination,  and  offer 
the  same  as  their  advice  to  those  public 
spirited  gentlemen,  friends  to  British  liberty 
and  America,  who  have  honored  them  by  this 
appointment.  Highly  condemning  the  conduct 
of  the  governor,  on  this  occasion,  as  impolitic, 
and  justly  alarming  to  the  good  people  of  this 
colony,  tending  to  destroy  all  confidence  in 
government,  and  to  widen  the  unhappy  breach 
between  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies,  ill- 
timed  and  totally  unnecessary,  consider  this 
instance  as  a  full  proof  that  no  opinion  which 
may  be  formed  of  the  good  intentions  of  a 
governor  in  private  life,  can  afford  security  to 
our  injured  and  oppressed  country  ;  but  that 
obedience  to  arbitrary,  ministerial  mandate, 


and  the  most  oppressive  and  tyrannical  system 
of  government,  must  be  the  fatal  line  of  con 
duct  to  all  his  majesty's  present  servants  in 
America  ;  at  the  same  time  justly  dreading  the 
horrors  of  a  civil  war,  influenced  by  motives 
of  the  strongest  affection  to  our  fellow  subjects 
of  Great  Britain,  most  ardently  wishing  to  heal 
our  mutual  wounds,  and  therefore  preferring 
peaceable  measures,  whilst  the  least  hope  of 
reconciliation  remains,  do  advise  that  the  sev 
eral  companies  now  rendezvoused  here  do 
return  to  their  respective  homes.  But  con 
sidering  the  just  rights  and  liberty  of  America 
to  be  greatly  endangered  by  the  violent  and 
hostile  proceedings  of  an  arbitrary  ministry, 
and  being  firmly  resolved  to  resist  such  at 
tempts  at  the  utmost  hazard  of  our  lives  and 
fortunes,  do  now  pledge  ourselves  to  each 
other  to  be  in  readiness,  at  a  moment's 
warning,  to  re-assemble,  and,  by  force  of 
arms,  to  defend  the  laws,  the  liberty  and 
rights  of  this,  or  any  sister  colony,  from  un 
just  and  wicked  invasion.  Ordered,  that  ex 
presses  be  despatched  to  the  troops  assembled 
at  the  Bowling-Green,  and  also  to  the  compa 
nies  from  Frederick,  Berkely,  Dunmore,  and 
such  other  counties  as  are  now  on  their  march, 
to  return  them  thanks  for  their  cheerful  offers 
of  service,  and  to  acquaint  them  with  the  de 
termination  now  taken. 

GOD   SAVE  THE   LIBERTIES  OF  AMERICA. 

The  foregoing  determination  of  council,  hav 
ing  been  read  at  the  head  of  each  company, 
was  cordially  and  unanimously  approved. 


IMPORTANT    LETTERS 

FROM  THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  RELATING  TO 
THE  CAUSES  RESULTING  IN  THE  DECLA 
RATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

FROM    THE   RICHMOND    COMPILER    OF  APRIL  6,  1816. 

The  following  are  extracts  from  letters  tend 
ing  to  prove  that  the  American  declaration  of 
independence  was  the  effect  of  ministerial  op 
pression  and  not  the  result  of  a  pre-concerted 
plan. — Though  intended  for  the  bosom  of  pri 
vate  friendship,  those  letters  may  legitimately 
be  considered  as  conveying  the  sentiments  of 
the  whole  American  people  at  that  time. 
They  evince  the  reluctance  with  which  a  sepa 
ration  from  Great  Britain  was  contemplated ; 
and  do  away  the  idea  held  out  by  some  Eng 
lish  writers,  that  "  independence  had  long  been 
meditated  by  the  leading  characters  in  the 


VIRGINIA. 


283 


colonies,  and  that  they  availed  themselves  of 
the  obnoxious  acts  of  the  British  government 
for  its  assertion." 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  TO  DR.  SMALL. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Wm. 
Small,  formerly  one  of  the  professors  of  Wil 
liam  and  Mary,  but  then  at  Birmingham,  in 
England,  where  he  successfully  applied  his  ex 
tensive  scientific  knowledge  to  practical  im 
provements,  in  various  manufactures,  etc., 
dated  May  7th,  1775,  writes  as  follows  : 

"  Within  this  week,  we  have  received  the  un 
happy  news  of  an  action  of  considerable  mag 
nitude  between  the  king's  troops  and  our 
brethren  of  Boston,  in  which  it  is  said  500  of 
the  former,  with  the  earl  of  Percy,  were  slain. 
That  such  an  action  has  happened  is  un 
doubted,  though,  perhaps,  the  circumstances 
may  not  yet  have  reached  us  with  truth.  This 
accident  has  cut  off  our  last  hopes  of  reconcilia 
tion,  and  a  frenzy  of  revenge  seems  to  have 
seized  all  ranks  of  people.*— It  is  a  lamentable 
circumstance  that  the  only  mediatory  power 
acknowledged  by  both  parties,  instead  of  lead 
ing  to  a  reconciliation  this  divided  people, 
should  pursue  the  incendiary  purpose  of  still 
blowing  Up  the  flames,  as  we  find  him  con 
stantly  doing  in  every  speech,  and  public  dec 
laration.  This  may,  perhaps,  be  intended  to 
intimidate  into  an  acquiescence,  but  the  effect 
has  been  most  unfortunately  otherwise.  A 
little  knowledge  of  human  nature,  and  atten 
tion  to  its  ordinary  workings,  might  have  fore 
seen  that  the  spirits  of  the  people  were  in  a 
state,  in  which  they  were  more  likely  to  be  pro 
voked  than  frightened  by  haughty  deportment ; 
and  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  irritation,  pro 
scription  of  individuals  has  been  substituted  in 
room  of  a  just  trial.  Can  it  be  believed  that  a 
grateful  people  will  suffer  those  to  be  con 
signed  to  execution  whose  sole  crime  has  been 
developing  and  asserting  their  right  ?  Had 
the  parliament  possessed  the  liberty  of  reflec 
tion,  they  would  have  avoided  a  measure  as  im 
potent  as  it  was  inflammatory.  When  I  saw  lord 
Chatham's  bill,  I  entertained  high  hopes  that 
a  reconciliation  could  have  been  brought  about. 
The  difference  between  his  terms,  and  those 
offered  by  our  congress,  might  have  been  ac 
commodated,  if  entered  on  by  both  parties 
with  a  disposition  to  accommodate  ;  but  the 
dignity  of  parliament,  it  seems,  can  brook  no 
opposition  to  its  power.  Strange,  that  a  set  of 
men  who  have  made  sale  of  their  virtue  to  the 
minister,  should  yet  talk  of  retaining  dignity  !  " 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  TO  JOHN  RANDOLPH, 
FORMERLY  ATTORNEY  GENERAL. 

August  35,  1775. 

I  am  sorry  the  situation  of  our  country 
should  render  it  not  eligible  to  you  to  remain 
longer  in  it.  I  hope  the1  returning  wisdom  of 
Great  Britain  will  ere  long  put  an  end  to  the 
unnatural  contest.  There  may  be  people  to 
whose  tempers  and  dispositions  contention 
may  be  pleasing,  and  who  may  therefore  wish 
a  continuance  of  confusion  ;  but  to  me,  it  is  of 
all  states  but  one,  the  most  horrid.  My  first 
wish  is  a  restoration  of  our  just  rights  ;  my 
second  a  return  of  the  happy  period  when, 
consistently  with  duty,  I  may  withdraw  my 
self  totally  from  the  public  eye,  and  pass  the 
rest  of  my  days  in  domestic  ease  and  tran- 
quility,  banishing  every  desire  of  afterwards 
even  hearing  what  passes  in  the  world.  Per 
haps,  ardor  for  the  latter  adds  considerably 
to  the  warmth  of  the  former  wish.  Looking 
with  fondness  towards  a  reconciliation  with 
Great  Britain,  I  cannot  help  hoping  you  may 
be  able  to  contribute  towards  expediting  this 
good  work.  I  think  it  must  be  evident  to 
yourself  that  the  ministry  have  been  deceived 
by  their  officers  on  this  side  of  the  water,  who 
(for  what  purposes  I  cannot  tell)  have  con 
stantly  represented  the  American  opposition  as 
that  of  a  small  faction,  in  which  the  body  of 
the  people  took  little  part.  This  you  can  in 
form  them,  of  your  own  knowledge,  to  be 
untrue.  They  have  taken  it  into  their  heads, 
too,  that  we  are  cowards,  and  shall  surrender 
at  discretion  to  an  armed  force.  The  past  and 
future  operations  of  the  war  must  confirm  or 
undeceive  them  on  that  head.  I  wish  they 
were  thoroughly  and  minutely  acquainted  with 
every  circumstance  relative  to  America,  as  it 
exists  in  truth.  I  am  persuaded  they  would 
go  far  towards  disposing  them  to  reconcilia 
tion.  Even  those  in  parliament  who  are  called 
friends  to  America,  seem  to  know  nothing  of 
our  real  determinations.  I  observe  they  pro 
nounced  in  the  last  parliament  that  the  con 
gress  of  1774  did  not  mean  to  insist  rigorously 
on  the  terms  they  held  out,  but  kept  something 
in  reserve  to  give  up,  and  in  fact  that  they 
would  give  up,  every  thing  but  the  right  ot 
taxation.  Now,  the  truth  is  far  from  this,  as  I 
can  affirm,  and  put  my  honor  to  the  assertion. 
Their  continuing  in  this  error  may,  perhaps 
have  very  ill  consequences.  The  congress 
stated  the  lowest  terms  they  thought  possible 
to  be  accepted,  in  order  to  convince  the  world 
they  were  not  unreasonable.  They  gave  up 
the  monopoly  and  regulation  of  trade,  and  all 
acts  passed  prior  to  1764,  leaving  to  British 


284 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


generosity  to  render  these,  at  some  future 
time,  as  easy  to  America  as  the  interests  of 
Great  Britain  could  admit.  I  wish  no  false 
sense  of  honor,  no  ignorance  of  our  real  inten 
tions,  no  vain  hope  that  partial  concessions  of 
right  will  be  accepted,  may  induce  the  ministry 
to  trifle  with  accommodation  till  it  shall  be  put 
even  out  of  our  own  power  to  accommodate. 
If,  indeed,  Great  Britain,  disjoined  from  her 
colonies  be  a  match  for  the  most  potent  na 
tions  of  Europe,  with  the  colonies  thrown  into 
their  scale,  they  may  go  on  securely ;  but  if 
they  are  not  assured  of  this,  it  would  be  cer 
tainly  unwise,  by  trying  the  event  of  another 
campaign,  to  risk  our  accepting  a  foreign  aid, 
which,  perhaps,  may  not  be  unattainable  but 
on  a  condition  of  everlasting  avulsion  from 
Great  Britain.  This  would  be  thought  a  hard 
condition  to  those  who  wish  for  re-union  with 
the  parent  country.  I  am  sincerely  one  of 
those,  and  would  rather  be  in  dependence  on 
Great  Britain,  properly  limited,  than  on  any 
nation  upon  earth,  or  than  on  no  nation ;  but 
I  am  one  of  those  too,  who  rather  than  sub 
mit  to  the  right  of  legislating  for  us,  assumed 
by  the  British  parliament,  and  which  late  ex 
perience  *  has  shown  they  will  so  cruelly 
exercise,  would  lend  my  hand  to  sink  the 
whole  island  in  the  ocean. 


ACTION 

OF  COMMON  COUNCIL  OF  WILLIAMSBURG, 
RELATIVE  TO  THE  REMOVAL  OF  ARMS  BE 
LONGING  TO  HIS  MAJESTY. 

At  a  court  of  common  council  for  the  city  of 
Williamsburg,  held  the  %th  of  May,  1775. 

Whereas  it  hath  been  represented  to  this 
hall,  that,  on  the  4th  inst.  in  the  night  time, 
some  person  or  persons  unknown,  had  broke 

*  This  is  understood  to  have  alluded  to  a  bill,  passed  by 
the  house  of  lords  at  their  preceding  session,  excepting 
from  the  benefit  of  any  general  pardon  which  might  be 
offered,  certain  individuals  by  name.  Mr.  Montague, 
then  agent  for  the  house  of  burgesses  of  Virginia  (which 
place  was  procured  for  him  by  the  interest  of  Peyton 
Randolph,  speaker  of  the  house,  and  his  early  and  inti 
mate  friend)  extracted  the  substance  of  the  bill,  and  the 
names  excepted,  and  enclosed  the  extract  to  Peyton  Ran 
dolph.  Among  the  persons  excepted  were  Hancock  and 
one  or  both  Adamses,  as  notorious  leaders  of  the  opposi 
tion  in  Massachusetts,  Patrick  Henry,  as  the  same  in 
Virginia,  Peyton  Randolph,  as  president  of  the  general 
.  congress  at  Philadelphia,  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  as  author 
of  a  proposition  to  the  convention  of  Virginia  for  an  ad 
dress  to  the  king,  in  which  was  maintained  that  there  was 
in  right  no  link  of  union  between  England  and  the  colo 
nies  but  that  of  the  same  king,  and  that  neither  the  parlia 
ment,  nor  any  other  functionary  of  that  government,  had 
any  more  right  to  exercise  authority  over  the  colonies, 
than  over  the  electorate  of  Hanover,  &c. 


into  the  public  magazine,  and  taken  from 
thence  sundry  fire-arms  belonging  to  his 
majesty : 

We,  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and  common 
council  of  the  said  city,  being  desirous  to 
maintain  peace,  order  and  good  government,  do 
hereby  declare  our  abhorrence  of  such  unlaw 
ful  proceeding,  and  do  hereby  require  the  in 
habitants  to  use  their  utmost  endeavors  to  pre 
vent  the  like  outrage  in  future,  and  exhort  all 
persons  who  may  be  in  possession  of  any  of 
the  said  arms,  to  return  the  same  immediately, 
to  be  replaced  in  the  magazine. 

And  it  having  been  recommended  to  this 
meeting  by  the  governor  and  council,  to  ap 
point  a  guard  to  protect  the  said  magazine, 
they  are  of  opinion  that  they  have  no  authority 
to  lay  any  tax  for  that  purpose,  but  that  if  some 
trusty  person  should  be  appointed,  by  his  ex 
cellency  the  governor,  to  be  keeper  thereof, 
and  care  taken  to  strengthen  it  with  proper  bars, 
there  probably  would  be  a  stop  put  to  violences 
of  that  nature,  and  they  do  humbly  recommend 
to  his  excellency,  Mr.  Gabriel  Maupin,  who 
lives  near  the  magazine,  as  a  person  worthy 
of  that  trust. 

(A  copy)    MAT.  DAVENPORT,  town  clerk. 


PROCEEDINGS 

IN  HANOVER  COUNTY,  RELATIVE  TO  HOS 
TILITIES  COMMITTED  BY  THE  KING'S 
TROOPS. 

At  a  committee  appointed  and  held  for  Han 
over  county,  at  the  court  house,  on  Thursday 
the  9th  of  May,  1775 — present,  John  Syme, 
Samuel  Overton,  William  Craghead,  Mcri- 
weather  Skelton,  Richard  Morris,  Benjamin 
Anderson,  John  Pendleton,  John  Robinson, 
Nelson  Berkely,  and  George  Dabney,  jun. 

Agreeably  to  a  resolution  of  the  committee 
held  at  Newcastle  the  2d  inst.  setting  forth, 
that  they  being  fully  informed  of  the  violent 
hostilities  committed  by  the  king's  troops  in 
America,  and  of  the  danger  arising  to  the 
colony  by  the  loss  of  the  public  powder,  and 
of  the  conduct  of  the  governor,  which  threatens, 
altogether,  calamities  of  the  greatest  magnitude 
and  most  fatal  consequences  to  this  colony, 
and  therefore  recommending  reprisals  to  be 
made  upon  the  king's  property,  sufficient  to 
replace  the  gun-powder  taken  out  of  the  maga 
zine,  it  appears  to  this  committee,  that  the 
volunteers  who  marched  from  Newcastle,  to 
obtain  satisfaction  for  the  public  powder,  by 
reprisal  or  otherwise,  proceeded  on  that  busi- 


VIRGINIA. 


285 


ness  as  follows,  to  wit :  "  That  an  officer  with 
16  men  was  detached  to  seize  the  king's 
receiver  general,  with  orders  to  detain  him  ; 
and  this,  it  was  supposed,  might  be  done  with 
out  impeding  the  progress  of  the  main  body. 
The  said  receiver  general  not  being  appre 
hended,  owing  to  his  absence  from  home,  the 
said  detachment,  according  to  orders  proceeded 
to  join  the  main  body  on  its  march  to  Williams- 
burg,  and  the  junction  happened  the  3d  instant 
at  Doncastle's  ordinary  about  sunset.  A  little 
after  sunrise  next  morning,  the  commanding 
officer  being  assured  that  proper  satisfaction  in 
money  should  be  instantly  made,  the  volunteers 
halted,  and  the  proposal  being  considered  by 
them  was  judged  satisfactory  as  to  that  point ; 
and  the  following  receipt  was  given,  viz., 
"  Doncastle's  ordinary,  New  Kent,  May  4, 
1775:  Received  from  the  hon.  Richard  Cor- 
bin,  esq.  his  majesty's  receiver  general,  ^330, 
as  a  compensation  for  the  gun-powder  lately 
taken  out  of  the  public  magazine  by  the  gover 
nor's  order ;  which  money  I  promise  to  convey 
to  the  Virginia  delegates  at  the  general  con 
gress,  to  be  under  their  direction,  laid  out  in 
gun-powder  for  the  colony's  use,  and  to  be 
stored  as  they  shall  direct,  until  the  next  colony 
convention  or  general  assembly,  unless  it  shall 
be  necessary,  in  the  mean  time,  to  use  the 
same  in  defence  of  this  colony.  It  is  agreed 
that  in  case  the  next  convention  shall  determine 
that  any  part  of  this  said  money  ought  to  be 
returned  to  his  majesty's  said  receiver  general, 
that  the  same  shall  be  done  accordingly. 


Test, 

SAM.  MEREDITH, 
PARKE  GOODALE. 


PAT.  HENRY,  jun." 


. 
true 


It  was  then  considered  that  as  a  general 
congress  would  meet  in  a  few  days,  and  pro 
bably  a  colony  convention  would  shortly  assem 
ble,  and  that  the  reprisal  now  made  would 
amply  replace  the  powder,  with  the  charges  of 
transportation,  the  commanding  officer  wrote 
the  following  letter,  and  sent  it  by  express. 

SIR  —  The  affair  of  the  powder  is  now  settled, 
so  as  to  produce  satisfaction  to  me,  and  I 
earnestly  wish  to  the  colony  in  general.  The 
people  here  have  it  in  charge,  from  Hanover 
committee,  to  tender  their  service  to  you,  as  a 
public  officer,  for  the  purpose  of  escorting  the 
public  treasury  to  any  place  in  this  colony, 
where  the  money  may  be  judged  more  safe 
than  in  the  city  of  Williamsburg.  The  repri 
sal  now  made  by  the  Hanover  volunteers, 
though  accomplished  in  a  manner  least  liable 
to  the  imputation  of  violent  extremity,  may 
possibly  be  the  cause  of  future  injury  to  the 


treasury.  If  therefore  you  apprehend  the  least 
danger,  a  sufficient  guard  is  at  your  service. 
I  beg  the  return  of  the  bearer  may  be  instant, 
because  the  men  wish  to  know  their  destina 
tion.  With  great  regard,  I  am,  sir,  your  most 
humble  servant, 

PAT.  HENRY,  jun. 

To  ROBERT  CARTER  NICHOLAS,  esq.  treas. 
Test,    SAMUEL  MEREDITH,     )  ,A  , 

GARLAND  ANDERSON.  f<A  true  c°P>r) 

To  which  an  answer  was  received  from  the 
said  Mr.  Nicholas,  importing  that  he  had  no 
apprehensions  of  the  necessity  or  propriety  of 
the  proffered  service.  For  which  reasons,  and 
understanding,  moreover,  from  others,  that  the 
private  citizens  of  Williamsburg  were  in  a 
great  measure  quieted  from  their  late  appre 
hension  for  their  persons  and  property,  the 
volunteers  judged  it  best  to  return  home,  and 
did  so  accordingly,  in  order  to  wait  the  further 
directions  of  the  general  congress,  or  colony 
convention.  It  appears  also  to  this  committee, 
that  before,  and  on  the  march,  strict  orders 
were  repeatedly  given  to  the  volunteers  to 
avoid  all  violence,  injury  and  insult,  towards 
the  persons  and  property  of  every  private  indi 
vidual  ;  and  'that  in  executing  the  plan  of  re 
prisal  on  the  persons  of  the  king's  servants 
and  his  property,  bloodshed  should  be  avoided, 
if  possible ;  and  that  there  is  the  strongest 
reason  to  believe  that  the  foregoing  orders, 
respecting  private  persons  and  property,  were 
strictly  observed. 

Resolved,  That  this  committee  do  approve  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  of 
the  volunteer  company,  and  do  return  them 
their  most  sincere  thanks  for  their  services  on 
the  late  expedition  ;  and  also  that  the  thanks 
of  this  committee  be  given  to  the  many  volun 
teers  of  the  different  counties  who  joined,  and 
were  marching  and  ready  to  co-operate  with 
the  volunteer  company  of  this  county. 

Ordered,  That  the  clerk  do  transmit  a  copy 
of  those  proceedings  to  the  printers,  and  desire 
that  they  will  be  pleased  to  publish  the  same 
in  the  Gazettes,  as  soon  as  possible. 

By  order  of  the  committee, 

(A  copy)  BART.  ANDERSON,  Clerk. 


PATRIOTIC   ADDRESS 
OF  THE  BAPTISTS  OF  VIRGINIA  TO  THE 
CONVENTION,  AND  THE  ACTION  TAKEN 

THEREON. 

August  16,  1775. 

An  address  from  the  Baptists  in  this  colony 
was  presented  to  the  convention,  and   read ; 


286 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS   OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


setting  forth,  that  however  distinguished  from 
the  body  of  their  countrymen,  by  appellatives 
and  sentiments  of  a  religious  nature,  they  nev 
ertheless  consider  themselves  as  members  of 
the  same  community  in  respect  to  matters  of  a 
civil  nature,  and  embarked  in  the  same  com 
mon  cause ;  that,  alarmed  at  the  oppression 
which  hangs  over  America,  they  had  consid 
ered  what  part  it  would  be  proper  to  take  in 
the  unhappy  contest,  and  had  determined  that 
in  some  cases  it  was  lawful  to  go  to  war,  and 
that  they  ought  to  make  a  military  resistance 
against  Great  Britain  in  her  unjust  invasion, 
tyrannical  oppressions,  and  repeated  hostilities  ; 
that  their  brethren  were  left  at  discretion  to 
enlist,  without  incurring  the  censure  of  their 
religious  community  ;  and,  under  these  circum 
stances,  many  of  them  had  enlisted  as  soldiers, 
and  many  more  were  ready  to  do  so,  who  had 
an  earnest  desire  their  ministers  should  preach 
to  them  during  the  campaign  ;  that  they  had 
therefore  appointed  four  of  their  brethren  to 
make  application  to  this  convention  for  the 
liberty  of  preaching  to  the  troops  at  convenient 
times,  without  molestation  or  abuse,  and  pray 
ing  the  same  may  be  granted  them. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  an  instruction  to  the 
commanding  officers  of  the  regiments  or  troops 
to  be  raised,  that  they  permit  dissenting  clergy 
men  to  celebrate  Divine  worship,  and  to  preach 
to  the  soldiers,  or  exhort,  from  time  to  time,  as 
the  various  operations  of  the  military  service 
may  permit,  for  the  ease  of  such  scrupulous 
consciences  as  may  not  choose  to  attend  Divine 
service  as  celebrated  by  the  chaplain. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE  FREEHOLDERS  OF  BOTETOURT 
COUNTY,  VIRGINIA,  TO  COLONEL  AN 
DREW  LEWIS,  AND  MR.  JOHN  BOYER. 

WlLLIAMSBURG,     Oct.    1775. 

Gentlemen — For  your  past  service  you  have 
our  thanks,  and  we  presume  it  is  all  the  reward 
you  desire.  And  as  we  have  again  committed 
to  you  the  greatest  trust  we  can  confer  (that  of 
appearing  for  us  in  the  great  council  of  the 
colony)  we  think  it  expedient  you  hear  our 
sentiments  at  this  important  juncture.  And 
first,  we  require  you  to  represent  us  with 
hearts  replete  with  the  most  grateful  and  loyal 
veneration  for  the  race  of  Brunswick,  for  they 
have  been  truly  our  fathers  ;  and  at  the  same 
time  the  most  dutiful  affection  for  our  sov 
ereign,  of  whose  honest  heart  we  cannot  en 
tertain  any  diffidence  ;  but  sorry  we  are  to  add, 


that  in  his  councils  we  can  no  longer  confide  ; 
a  set  of  miscreants,  unworthy  to  administer  the 
laws  of  Britain's  empire,  have  been  permitted 
impiously  to  sway.  How  unjustly,  cruelly,  and 
tyrannically,  they  have  invaded  our  rights,  we 
need  not  put  you  in  mind.  We  only  say,  and 
we  assert  it  with  pride,  that  the  subjects  of 
Britain  are  one  ;  and  when  the  honest  man  of 
Boston  who  has  broke  no  law,  has  his  pro 
perty  wrested  from  him,  the  hunter  on  the 
Allegany  must  take  the  alarm,  and,  as  a  free 
man  of  America,  he  will  fly  to  his  representa 
tives,  and  thus  instruct  them  : — Gentlemen, 
my  gun,  my  tomahawk,  my  life  I  desire  you  to 
render  to  the  honor  of  my  king  and  country  ; 
but  my  liberty  to  range  these  woods  on  the 
same  terms  my  father  has  done,  is  not  mine  to 
give  up  ;  it  was  not  purchased  by  me,  and  pur 
chased  it  was  ;  it  is  entailed  on  my  son,  and 
the  tenure  is  sacred.  Watch  over  it,  gentle 
men,  for  to  him  it  must  descend  unviolated,  if 
my  arm  can  defend  it ;  but  if  not,  if  wicked 
power  is  permitted  to  prevail  against  me,  the 
original  purchase  was  blood,  and  mine  shall 
seal  the  surrender. 

That  our  countrymen  and  the  world  may 
know  our  disposition,  we  choose  that  this  be 
published.  And  we  have  one  request  to  add, 
that  is,  that  the  sons  of  freedom  who  appeared 
for  us  at  Philadelphia,  will  accept  our  most 
ardent,  grateful  acknowledgments ;  and  we 
hereby  plight  them  our  faith,  that  we  will  reli 
giously  observe  their  resolutions,  and  obey  their 
instructions,  in  contempt  of  power  and  tem 
porary  interest ;  and  should  the  measures  they 
have  wisely  calculated  for  our  relief  fail,  we 
will  stand  prepared  for  every  contingency. 
We  are,  gentlemen,  your  dutiful,  etc. 

THE  FREEHOLDERS  OF  BOTETOURT. 


PROCLAMATION 

OF  LORD  DUNMORE  OFFERING  FREEDOM  TO 
THE  SLAVES  BELONGING  TO  THE  REBELS 
IN  VIRGINIA,  NOVEMBER  7,  1775. 

In  Norfolk  and  the  adjacent  country,  Dun- 
more  counted  on  numerous  adherents.  The 
rash  advice,  together  with  his  own  impetuous, 
haughty  and  revengeful  temper,  early  impelled 
him  to  a  measure  characterized  by  folly,  and 
fraught  with  incalculable  mischief,  not  only  to 
the  people  of  Virginia,  but  to  his  own  cause. 
Under  date  of  Nov.  7th,  he  issued  the  following 
proclamation,  the  style  of  which  strongly  indi 
cates  the  agitation  of  a  perturbed  mind,  whilst 
its  substance  betrays  a  blind,  impolitic,  ruin- 


VIRGINIA. 


287 


ous  inflexibility,  and,  what  is  still  worse,  a  sav 
age  and  wanton  disregard  for  the  fundamental 
principles  upon  which  the  social  fabric  essen 
tially  rests,  and  for  those  rules  of  civilization, 
which  are  usually  respected,  even  in  the  frenzy 
and  calamitous  intent  of  war. 


By  kis  excellency,  the  right  honorable  JOHN, 
EARL  OF  DUNMORE,  his  majesty's  lieutenant 
and  governor  general  of  the  colony  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  -vice  admiral  of  the  same. 

A  PROCLAMATION. 

"  As  I  have  ever  entertained  hopes  that  an 
accommodation  might  have  taken  place  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  this  colony,  without 
being  compelled  by  my  duty  to  do  this  most 
disagreeable,  but  now  absolutely  necessary 
duty,  rendered  so  by  a  body  of  men,  unlawfully 
assembled,  firing  on  his  majesty's  tenders,  and 
the  formation  of  an  army,  and  an  army  now 
on  its  march  to  attack  his  majesty's  troops, 
and  destroy  the  well  disposed  subjects  of  this 
colony.  To  defeat  such  treasonable  purposes, 
and  that  all  such  traitors,  and  their  abettors 
may  be  brought  to  justice,  and  that  the  peace 
and  good  order  of  this  colony  may  be  again 
restored,  which  the  ordinary  course  of  the  civil 
law  is  unable  to  effect,  I  have  thought  fit  to 
issue  this  my  proclamation,  hereby  declaring 
that,  until  the  aforesaid  good  purposes  can  be 
obtained,  I  do,  in  virtue  of  the  power  and  author 
ity  to  me  given,  by  his  majesty,  determine  to 
execute  martial  law,  and  cause  the  same  to  be 
executed  throughout  this  colony ;  and  to  the 
end  that  peace  and  good  order  may  the  sooner 
be  restored,  I  do  require  every  person  capable 
of  bearing  arms  to  resort  to  his  majesty's 
standard,  or  be  looked  upon  as  traitors 
to  his  majesty's  crown  and  government,  and 
thereby  become  liable  to  the  penalty  the  law 
inflicts  upon  such  offences ;  such  as  for 
feiture  of  life,  confiscation  of  lands,  etc.,  etc. 
And  I  do  hereby  further  declare  all  indented 
servants,  negroes,  or  others  (appertaining  to 
rebels)  free,  that  are  able  and  willing  to  bear 
arms,  they  joining  his  majesty's  troops  as  soon 
as  may  be,  for  the  more  speedily  reducing  his 
colony  to  a  proper  sense  of  their  duty  to  his 
majesty's  crown  and  dignity.  I  do  further 
order  and  require  all  his  majesty's  liege  sub 
jects,  to  retain  their  quit-rents  or  other  taxes 
due,  or  that  may  become  due  in  their  own  cus 
tody,  till  such  a  time  may  again  be  restored  to 
this  at  present  most  unhappy  country,  or  de 
manded  of  them  for  their  former  salutary  pur 


poses,  by  officers  properly  authorized  to  receive 
the  same. 

"  Given  under  my  hand,  on  board  the  ship 
William,  off  Norfolk,  the  yth  day  of  November, 
in  the  i6th  year  of  his  majesty's  reign. 

"  DUNMORE. 
"  GOD  save  the  KING." 


LETTER 

FROM  LORD  DUNMORE,  TO  GENERAL  HOWE, 
REFERRING  TO  HIS  PROCLAMATION,  OF 
FERING  FREEDOM  TO  SLAVES  OF  THE 

REBELS  IN  VIRGINIA.    Nov.  30,  1775. 

"  I  must  inform  you,  that  with  our  little  corps 
I  think  we  have  done  wonders.  We  have  taken 
and  destroyed  above  fourscore  pieces  of  ord 
nance,  and  by  landing  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  we  keep  them  in  continual  hot  water  ; 
but  as  captain  Leslie  tells  me  he  means  to  give 
you  particulars  enough,  I  shall  say  no  more  on 
that  subject.  Among  the  prisoners,  we  have 
taken  one  Oliver  Porter,  and  Deane,  two 
natives  of  Boston,  bringing  in  gunpowder  to 
North  Carolina.  The  latter  was  sent  from 
Boston  to  influence  the  minds  of  the  people,  in 
which  he  has  been  but  too  successful.  He 
was  taken  from  on  board  a  schooner  going 
from  this  place  to  the  Western  Islands,  to 
bring  powder  to  this  colony ;  and  the  others 
have  carried  arms  against  his  majesty  in  this 
province.  I  have  sent  them  more  with  a  view 
of  intimidating  others  than  to  punish  them,  as 
they  expect  here  that,  so  sure  as  they  are  sent 
to  Boston,  they  are  to  be  hanged.  Robinson 
is  a  delegate  of  our  convention.  Matthews 
was  a  captain  of  their  minute-men.  Perhaps 
they  may  be  of  some  use  to  you,  in  exchanging 
them  for  good  men.  The  sloop  not  sailing  so 
soon  as  I  expected,  I  have  to  inform  you  that, 
on  the  1 4th  inst,  I  had  information  that  a 
party  of  about  a  hundred  of  the  North  Carolina 
rebels  had  marched  to  the  assistance  of  those 
in  this  colony,  and  were  posted  at  a  place  called 
the  Great-Bridge,  a  very  essential  pass  in  the 
country.  I  accordingly  embarked  our  little 
corps  in  boats,  in  the  night  of  the  I4th,  with 
between  twenty  and  thirty  volunteers  from 
Norfolk.  We  landed  within  four  miles  of  the 
bridge,  and  arrived  there  a  little  after  daylight ; 
but,  to  our  great  mortification,  fonnd  the  birds 
had  flown  the  evening  before.  But  hearing 
that  a  body,  between  2  and  300,  of  our  rebels 
were  within  about  ten  miles  of  us,  we  deter 
mined  to  beat  up  their  quarters,  and  accord 
ingly  proceeded  about  eight  miles,  when  they 


288 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


fired  on  our  advanced  guards  from  the  woods : 
on  which  I  immediately  ordered  our  people  to 
rush  upon  them,  and  at  the  same  time  sent  a 
party  of  the  regulars,  with  the  volunteers,  to 
out-flank  them.  The  enemy  immediately  fled 
on  all  quarters,  and  our  people  pursued  them 
for  a  mile  or  more,  killed  a  few,  drove  others  to 
a  creek,  where  they  were  drowned,  and  took 
nine  prisoners,  among  whom  is  one  of  their 
colonels.  We  only  had  one  man  wounded, 
who  is  recovering.  I  immediately  upon  this 
issued  the  enclosed  proclamation ;  which  has 
had  a  wonderful  effect,  as  there  are  no  less 
than  300  who  have  taken  and  signed  the 
enclosed  oath.  The  blacks  are  also  flocking 
from  all  quarters,  which  I  hope  will  oblige  the 
rebels  to  disperse,  to  take  care  of  their  families 
and  property,  and  had  I  but  a  few  more  men 
here,  I  would  immediately  march  to  Williams- 
burg,  my  former  place  of  residence,  by  which 
I  should  soon  compel  the  whole  colony  to  sub 
mit.  We  are  in  great  want  of  small  arms  ;  and 
if  two  or  three  field  pieces  and  their  carriages 
could  be  spared,  they  would  be  of  great  service 
to  us ;  also  some  cartridge  paper,  of  which  not 
a  sheet  is  to  be  got  in  this  country,  and  all  our 
cartridges  are  expended. — Since  the  igth  of  May 
last  I  have  not  received  a  single  line  from  any 
one  in  administration,  though  I  have  wrote 
volumes  to  them,  in  each  of  which  I  have 
prayed  to  be  instructed,  but  to  no  purpose.  I 
am  therefore  determined  to  go  on  doing  the 
best  of  my  power  for  his  majesty's  service.  I 
have  accordingly  ordered  a  regiment,  called 
the  Queen's  own  loyal  regiment,  of  500  men, 
to  be  raised  immediately,  consisting  of  a  lieu 
tenant-colonel  commandant,  major,  and  ten 
companies,  each  of  which  is  to  consist  of  one 
captain,  two  lieutenants,  one  ensign,  and  fifty 
privates,  with  non-commissioned  officers  in 
proportion.  You  may  observe,  by  my  procla 
mation,  that  I  off er  freedom  to  the  blacks  of  all 
rebels  that  join  me,  in  consequence  of  which 
there  are  between  2  and  300  already  come  in, 
and  those  I  form  into  corps  as  fast  as  they 
come  in,  giving  them  white  officers  and  non- 
commissioners  in  proportion.  And  from  these 
two  plans,  I  make  no  doubt  of  getting  men 
enough  to  reduce  this  colony  to  a  proper  sense 
of  their  duty.  My  next  distress  will  be  the 
want  of  arms,  accoutrements  and  money,  all 
of  which  you  may  be  able  to  relieve  me  from. 
The  latter  I  am  sure  you  can,  as  there  are 
many  merchants  here  who  are  ready  to  supply 
me,  on  my  giving  them  bills  on  you,  which  you 
will  have  to  withdraw,  and  give  your  own  in 
their  room.  I  hope  this  mode  will  be  agreeable 
to  you  ;  it  is  the  same  that  general  Gage  pro 


posed.  I  have  now,  in  order  to  carry  on  the 
recruiting  business,  victualling,  clothing,  etc. 
drawn  on  you  for  ,£5000  sterling,  and  have 
appointed  a  pay-master,  who  will  keep  exact 
accounts.  I  wish  you  would  inform  me,  by 
the  return  of  the  sloop,  what  bounty  money 
may  be  given  to  those  who  enlist. — Having 
heard  that  1000  chosen  men  belonging  to  the 
rebels,  a  great  part  of  whom  were  riflemen, 
were  on  their  march  to  attack  us  here,  or  to 
cut  off  our  provisions,  I  determined  to  take 
possession  of  the  pass  at  the  Great-Bridge, 
which  secures  us  the  greatest  part  of  two 
counties,  to  supply  us  with  provisions.  I 
accordingly  ordered  a  stockade  to  be  erected 
there,  which  was  done  in  a  few  days ;  and  I 
put  an  officer  and  25  men  to  garrison  it,  with 

some  volunteers  and ,  who  have  defended 

it  against  all  the  efforts  of  the  rebels  for  these 
eight  days  past.  We  have  killed  several  of 
their  men,  and  I  make  no  doubt  we  shall  now 
be  able  to  maintain  our  ground  there ;  but 
should  we  be  obliged  to  abandon  it,  we  have 
thrown  up  an  intrenchment  on  the  land  side  of 
Norfolk,  which  I  hope  they  never  will  be  able 
to  force.  Here  we  are  contending,  with  only 
a  very  small  part  of  a  regiment,  against  the 
extensive  colony  of  Virginia.  If  you  could  but 
spare  me,  for  a  few  months,  the  64th  regiment 
now  in  the  castle,  and  the  remaining  part  of 
the  1 4th,  I  really  believe  we  should  reduce  this 
colony  to  a  proper  sense  of  their  duty." 


PROCEEDINGS 

IN  THE  CONVENTION  OF  VIRGINIA  RE 
LATING  TO  THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  LORD 
DUNMORE. 

WILLIAMSBURG,  VIRGINIA,  January  25,  1776. 

Resolved,  unanimously,  that  this  convention 
do  highly  approve  of  col.  Woodford's  conduct, 
manifested,  as  well  in  the  success  of  the  troops 
under  his  command,  as  in  the  humane  treat 
ment  of,  and  kind  attention  to,  the  unfortunate, 
though  brave  officers  and  soldiers,  who  were 
made  prisoners  in  the  late  action  near  the  Great 
Bridge,  and  that  the  president  communicate  to 
col.  Woodford  the  sense  of  his  country  on  this 
occasion. 

Whereas  lord  Dunmore,  by  his  proclamation, 
dated  on  board  the  ship  William,  the  7th  day 
of  November,  1775,  hath  presumed,  in  direct 
violation  of  the  constitution,  and  the  laws  of 
this  country,  to  declare  martial  law  in  force, 
and  to  be  executed  throughout  this  colony, 
whereby  our  lives,  our  liberty,  and  our  property. 


VIRGINIA. 


289 


are  arbitrarily  subjected  to  his  power  and  di 
rection  :  and  whereas  the  said  lord  Dunmore, 
assuming  powers  which  the  king  himself  can 
not  exercise,  to  intimidate  the  good  people  of 
this  colony  into  a  compliance  with  his  arbi 
trary  will,  hath  declared  those  who  do  not 
immediately  repair  to  his  standard,  and  submit 
in  all  things  to  a  government  not  warranted  by 
the  constitution,  to  be  in  actual  rebellion,  and 
thereby  to  have  incurred  the  penalties  inflicted 
by  the  laws  for  such  offences  ;  and  hath  offered 
freedom  to  the  servants  and  slaves  of  those  he 
is  pleased  to  term  rebels,  arming  them  against 
their  masters,  and  destroying  the  peace  and 
happiness  of  his  majesty's  good  and  faithful 
subjects,  whose  property  is  rendered  insecure, 
and  whose  lives  are  exposed  to  the  dangers  of 
a  general  insurrection.  We,  as  guardians  of 
the  lives  and  liberty  of  the  people,  our  consti 
tuents,  conceived  it  to  be  indispensably  our 
duty  to  protect  them  against  every  species  of 
despotism,  and  to  endeavor  to  remove  those 
fears  with  which  they  are  so  justly  alarmed. 

If  it  were  possible  the  understandings  of  men 
could  be  so  blinded,  that  every  gleam  of  reason 
might  be  lost,  the  hope,  his  lordship  says,  he 
hath  ever  entertained  of  an  accommodation 
between  Great  Britain  and  this  colony,  might 
pass  unnoticed ;  but  truth,  justice,  and  common 
sense,  must  ever  prevail,  when  facts  can  be 
appealed  to  in  their  support.  It  is  the  peculiar 
happiness  of  this  colony,  that  his  lordship  can 
be  traced  as  the  source  of  innumerable  evils, 
and  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  misfor 
tunes  under  which  we  now  labor.  A  particular 
detail  of  his  conduct,  since  his  arrival  in  this 
colony,  can  be  considered  only  as  a  repetition, 
it  having  been  already  fully  published  to  the 
world  by  the  proceedings  of  the  general  assem 
bly,  and  a  former  convention  ;  but  the  un 
remitting  violence  with  which  his  lordship 
endeavors  to  involve  this  country  in  the  most 
dreadful  calamities,  certainly  affords  new  matter 
for  the  attention  of  the  public,  and  will  remove 
every  imputation  of  ingratitude  to  his  lordship, 
or  of  injustice  to  his  character.  His  lordship 
is  pleased  to  ascribe  the  unworthy  steps  he 
hath  taken  against  this  colony  to  a  necessity 
arising  from  the  conduct  of  its  inhabitants, 
whom  he  hath  considered  in  a  rebellious  state, 
but  who  know  nothing  of  rebellion  except  the 
name.  Ever  zealous  in  support  of  tyranny,  he 
hath  broken  the  bonds  of  society,  and  trampled 
justice  under  his  feet.  Had  his  lordship  been 
desirous  of  effecting  an  accommodation  of  these 
disputes,  he  hath  had  the  most  ample  occasion 
of  exerting  both  his  interest  and  abilities  ;  but 
that  he  never  had  in  view  any  such  salutary 

19 


end,  most  evidently  appears  from  the  whole 
tenor  of  his  conduct.  The  supposed  design  of 
the  Canada  bill  having  been  to  draw  down 
upon  us  a  merciless  and  savage  enemy,  the 
present  manoeuvres  amongst  the  Roman  Cath 
olics  in  Ireland,  and  the  schemes  concerted 
with  Doctor  Connelly,  and  other  vile  instru 
ments  of  tyranny,  which  have  appeared  by  the 
examination  of  the  said  Connelly,  justify  the 
supposition,  and  most  fully  evince  his  lordship's 
inimical  and  cruel  disposition  towards  us,  and 
can  best  determine  whether  we  have  been 
wrong  in  preparing  to  resist,  even  by  arms, 
that  system  of  tyranny  adopted  by  the  ministry 
and  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  of  which  he  is 
become  the  rigid  executioner  in  this  colony. 
The  many  depredations  committed  also  upon 
the  inhabitants  of  this  colony,  by  the  tenders 
and  other  armed  vessels  employed  by  his  lord 
ship  for  such  purposes  ;  the  pilfering  and  plun 
dering  the  property  of  the  people,  and  the  actual 
seduction  and  seizure  of  their  slaves,  were  truly 
alarming  in  their  effects,  and  called  aloud  for 
justice  and  resistance.  The  persons  of  many 
of  our  peaceable  brethren  have  been  seized  and 
dragged  to  confinement,  contrary  to  the  prin 
ciples  of  liberty,  and  the  constitution  of  our 
country :  yet  have  we  borne  this  injurious  treat 
ment  with  unexampled  patience,  unwilling  to 
shed  the  blood  of  our  fellow-subjects,  who, 
prosecuting  the  measures  of  a  British  parlia 
ment,  would  sacrifice  our  lives  and  property  to 
a  relentless  fury  and  unabating  avarice.  If  a 
governor  can  be  authorized,  even  by  majesty 
itself,  to  annul  the  laws  of  the  land,  and  to  in 
troduce  the  most  execrable  of  all  systems,  the 
law  martial ;  if,  by  his  single  fiat,  he  can  strip 
us  of  our  property,  can  give  freedom  to  our 
servants  and  slaves,  and  arm  them  for  our 
destruction,  let  us  bid  adieu  to  every  thing 
valuable  in  life  ;  let  us  at  once  bend  our  necks 
to  the  galling  yoke,  and  hug  the  chains  prepared 
for  us  and  our  latest  posterity  ! 

It  is  with  inexpressible  concern  we  reflect 
upon  the  distressed  situation  of  some  of  our 
unhappy  countrymen,  who  had  thought  them 
selves  too  immediately  within  the  power  of 
lord  Dunmore,  and  have  been  induced  thereby 
to  remain  inactive.  We  lament  the  advantage 
he  hath  taken  of  their  situation,  and  at  present 
impute,  their  inactivity,  in  the  cause  of  freedom 
and  the  constitution,  not  to  any  defection  or 
want  of  zeal,  but  to  their  defenceless  state  ;  and 
whilst  we  endeavor  to  afford  them  succor, 
and  to  support  their  rights,  we  expect  they  will 
contribute  every  thing  in  their  deliverance : 
yet  if  any  of  our  people,  in  violation  of  their 
faith  plighted  to  this  colony,  and  the  duty  they 


2QO 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


owe  to  society,  shall  be  found  in  arms,  or  con 
tinue  to  give  assistance  to  our  enemies,  we  shall 
think  ourselves  justified,  by  the  necessity  we 
are  under,  in  executing  upon  them  the  law  of 
retaliation. 

Impressed  with  a  just  and  ardent  zeal  for 
the  welfare  and  happiness  of  our  countrymen, 
we  trust  they  will,  on  their  part,  exert  them 
selves  in  defence  of  our  common  cause,  and 
'that  we  shall  all  acquit  ourselves  like  freemen, 
being  compelled  by  a  disagreeable,  but  abso 
lute  necessity,  of  repelling  force  by  force,  to 
maintain  our  just  rights  and  privileges,  and  we 
appeal  to  God,  who  is  the  Sovereign  Disposer 
of  all  events,  for  the  justice  of  our  cause,  trust 
ing  to  his  unerring  wisdom  to  direct  our  coun 
cils,  and  give  success  to  our  arms. 

Whereas  lord  Dunmore,  by  his  proclamation, 
dated  on  board  the  ship  William  off  Norfolk, 
the  7th  day  of  November,  1775,  hath  offered 
freedom  to  such  able  bodied  slaves  as  are  will 
ing  to  join  him,  and  take  up  arms  against  the 
good  people  of  this  colony,  giving  thereby  en 
couragement  to  a  general  insurrection,  which 
may  induce  a  necessity  of  inflicting  the  severest 
punishments  upon  those  unhappy  people 
already  deluded  by  his  base  and  insidious  arts, 
and  whereas,  by  an  act  of  the  general  assembly 
now  in  force  in  this  colony,  it  is  enacted,  that 
all  negro,  or  other  slaves,  conspiring  to  rebel 
or  make  insurrection,  shall  suffer  death,  and  be 
excluded  all  benefit  of  clergy — we  think  it  pro 
per  to  declare,  that  all  slaves  who  have  been, 
or  shall  be,  seduced  by  his  lordship's  proclama 
tion,  or  other  arts,  to  desert  their  master's  ser 
vice,  and  take  up  arms  against  the  inhabitants 
of  this  colony,  shall  be  liable  to  such  punishment 
as  shall  hereafter  be  directed  by  the  convention. 
And  to  the  end  that  all  such,  who  have  taken 
this  unlawful  and  wicked  step,  may  return  in 
safety  to  their  duty,  and  escape  the  punishment 
due  to  their  crimes,  we  hereby  promise  pardon 
to  them,  they  surrendering  themselves  to  colo 
nel  "William  Woodford,  or  any  other  comman 
der  of  our  troops,  and  not  appearing  in  arms 
after  the  publication  hereof.  And  we  do  fur 
ther  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  humane 
and  benevolent  persons  in  this  colony,  to  explain 
and  make  known  this  our  offer  of  mercy  to 
those  unfortunate  people. 

And  whereas,  notwithstanding  the  favorable 
and  kind  dispositions  shewn  by  the  convention 
and  the  natives  of  this  colony,  and  the  extraor 
dinary  and  unexampled  indulgence  by  them 
held  out  to  the  natives  of  Great  Britain,  resid 
ing  in  this  colony,  (the  Scotch  who  gave  them 
selves  this  title  in  their  petition)  many  of  these 
have  lately  become  strict  adherents  to  the  lord 


Dunmore  and  the  most  active  promoters  of  all 
his  cruel  and  arbitrary  persecutions  of  the  good 
people  of  this  colony,  not  only  by  violating  the 
continental  association,  to  which  they  had 
solemnly  subscribed,  in  many  the  most  flagrant 
instances  ;  not  merely  by  giving  intelligence  to 
our  enemies  and  furnishing  them  with  provi 
sions,  but  by  propagating,  as  well  in  Great 
Britain  as  in  this  colony,  many  of  the  most  mis 
chievous  falsehoods,  to  the  great  prejudice  and 
dishonor  of  this  country  :  And  moreover,  many 
of  these  natives  of  Great  Britain,  instead  of 
giving  their  assistance  in  suppressing  insurrec 
tions,  have  contrary  to  all  faith,  solemnly 
plighted  in  their  petition,  excited  our  slaves  to 
rebellion,  and  some  of  them  have  daringly  led 
those  slaves  in  arms  against  our  inhabitants ; 
the  committee  having  these  things  in  full  proof, 
and  considering  their  alarming  and  dangerous 
tendency,  do  give  it  as  their  opinion,  and  it  is 
accordingly  resolved,  that  the  former  resolution 
in  their  favor  ought  from  henceforth  to  be 
totally  abrogated  and  rescinded ;  that  none 
of  the  freemen,  inhabitants  of  this  country, 
wherever  born,  ought  to  exempted  from  any 
of  the  burthens  or  dangers  to  which  the  colony 
is  exposed  ;  but  that,  as  good  citizens,  it  is  in 
cumbent  on  them  to  use  every  exertion  of  their 
power  and  abilities  in  the  common  defence  ; 
and  should  any  persons  of  ability  decline  or 
shrink  from  so  necessary  a  duty  to  the  com 
munity,  that  all  such,  except  those  who  have 
taken  up  arms  against  our  inhabitants,  or  shewn 
themselves  to  us,  may  be  permitted,  under  a 
license  of  the  committee  of  safety,  to  leave  the 
country. 


OUTRAGES 

COMMITTED  BY  BRITISH  TROOPS,  1776. 

One  of  lord  Dunmore's  tenders  went  to  a 
place  called  Mulberry  -  island,  in  Warwick 
county,  and  landed  her  men,  who  went  to  Mr. 
Benjamin  Wells's  house,  with  their  faces  blacked 
like  negroes,  whose  companions  they  are,  and 
robbed  the  house  of  all  the  furniture,  four  ne 
groes,  a  watch,  and  stock-buckle.  The  inhu 
man  wretches  even  took  the  bed  on  which  lay 
two  sick  infants. 


OATH 

EXTORTED  FROM  THE  PEOPLE  OF  NORFOLK 
.AND  PRINCESS  ANNE,  BY  LORD  DUNMORE, 
1776. 

"  We  the  inhabitants  of being  fully  sen- 


VIRGINIA. 


29I 


sible  of  the  errors  and  guilt  into  which  this 
colony  hath  been  misled,  under  color  of  seeking 
redress  of  grievances,  and  that  a  set  of  factious 
men  styling  themselves  committees,  conven 
tions,  and  congresses,  have  violently,  and  under 
various  pretences,  usurped  the  legislative  and 
executive  powers  of  government,  and  are  there 
by  endeavoring  to  overturn  our  most  happy 
constitution,  and  have  incurred  the  guilt  of 
actual  rebellion  against  our  most  gracious  sov 
ereign  :  We  have  therefore  taken  an  oath  ab 
juring  their  authority,  and  solemnly  promising 
in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  to  bear  faith 
and  true  allegiance  to  his  sacred  majesty 
George  the  third ;  and  that  we  will,  to  the  ut 
most  of  our  power  and  ability,  support,  main 
tain,  and  defend  his  crown  and  dignity,  against 
all  traitorous  attempts  and  conspiracies  what 
soever.  And  whereas  armed  bodies  of  men 
are  collected  in  various  parts  of  this  colony, 
without  any  legal  authority,  we  wish  them  to 
be  informed,  that  however  unwilling  we  should 
be  to  shed  the  blood  of  our  countrymen,  we 
must,  in  discharge  of  our  duty  to  God  and  the 
king,  and  in  support  of  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  our  country,  oppose  their  marching  into 
this  county,  where  their  coming  can  answer  no 
good  end,  but,  on  the  contrary,  must  expose  us 
to  the  ravages  and  horrors  of  a  civil  war  ;  and 
for  that  purpose,  we  are  determined  to  take 
advantage  of  our  happy  situation,  and  will  de 
fend  the  passes  into  our  country,  and  neighbor 
hood  to  the  last  drop  of  our  blood." 


INSTRUCTIONS 

OF  THE  VIRGINIA  CONVENTION  TO  THEIR 
DELEGATES  IN  CONGRESS. 

In     the     Virginia    Convention — present    112 
members. 

WILLIAMSBURG,  Wednesday ,  May  15, 1776. 

Forasmuch  as  all  the  endeavors  of  the  UNI 
TED  COLONIES,  by  the  most  decent  representa 
tions  and  petitions  to  the  king  and  parliament 
of  Great  Britain,  to  restore  peace  and  security 
to  America  under  the  British  government,  and 
a  re-union  with  that  people  upon  just  and  libe 
ral  terms,  instead  of  a  redress  of  grievances, 
have  produced,  from  an  imperious  and  vindic 
tive  administration,  increased  insult,  oppres 
sion,  and  a  vigorous  attempt  to  effect  our  total 
destruction.  By  a  late  act,  all  these  colo 
nies  are  declared  to  be  in  rebellion,  and  out  of 
the  protection  of  the  British  crown,  our  proper 
ties  subject  to  confiscation,  our  people,  when 


captivated,  compelled  to  join  in  the  murder  and 
plunder  of  their  relations  and  countrymen,  and 
all  former  rapine  and  oppression  of  Americans 
declared  legal  and  just.  Fleets  and  armies 
are  raised,  and  the  aid  of  foreign  troops  en 
gaged  to  assist  these  destructive  purposes. 
The  king's  representative  in  this  colony  hath 
not  only  withheld  all  the  powers  of  govern 
ment  from  operating  for  our  safety,  but,  having 
retired  on  board  an  armed  ship,  is  carrying  on 
a  practical  and  savage  war  against  us,  tempt 
ing  our  slaves,  by  every  artifice,  to  resort  to 
him,  and  training  and  employing  them  against 
their  masters.  In  this  state  of  extreme  dan 
ger,  we  have  no  alternative  left  but  an  abject 
submission  to  the  will  of  those  over-bearing  ty 
rants,  or  a  total  separation  from  the  crown  and 
government  of  Great  Britain,  uniting  and  ex 
erting  the  strength  of  all  America  for  defence, 
and  forming  alliances  with  foreign  powers  for 
commerce  and  aid  in  war.  Wherefore,  appeal 
ing  to  the  Searcher  of  hearts  for  the  sincerity 
of  former  declarations,  expressing  our  desire  to 
preserve  the  connection  with  that  nation,  and 
that  we  are  driven  from  that  inclination  by 
their  wicked  councils,  and  the  eternal  laws  of 
self-preservation : 

Resolved,  unan.  That  the  delegates  ap 
pointed  to  represent  this  colony  in  general 
congress  be  instructed  to  propose  to  that  re 
spectable  body  to  declare  the  United  Colonies 
free  and  independent  states,  absolved  from  all 
allegiance  to,  or  dependence  upon,  the  crown 
or  parliament  of  Great  Britain  ;  and  that  they 
give  the  assent  of  this  colony  to  such  declara 
tion,  and  to  whatever  measures  may  be  thought 
proper  and  necessary  by  the  congress  for  form 
ing  foreign  alliances,  and  A  CONFEDERATION 
OF  THE  COLONIES,  at  such  time,  and  in  the 
manner,  as  to  them  shall  seem  best.  Pro 
vided,  that  the  power  of  forming  government 
for,  and  the  regulations  of  the  internal  con 
cerns  of  each  colony,  be  left  to  the  respective 
colonial  legislatures. 

Resolved,  ^tnan.  That  a  committee  be  ap 
pointed  to  prepare  A  DECLARATION  OF  RIGHTS, 
and  such  a  plan  of  government  as  will  be  most 
likely  to  maintain  peace  and  order  in  this  col 
ony,  and  secure  substantial  and  equal  liberty  tc 
the  people. 

EDMUND  PENDLETON,  President. 

(A  copy) 
JOHN  TAZEWELL,  Clerk  of  the  Convention. 


292 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


PATRIOTIC   DEMONSTRATIONS 

OF  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CONVENTION. 
TOASTS  DRANK,  AND  THE  UNION  FLAG 
UNFURLED. 

WILLIAMSBURG,  May  15,  1776. 

In  consequence  of  the  above  resolution,  uni 
versally  regarded  as  the  only  door  which  will 
lead  to  safety  and  prosperity,  some  gentlemen 
made  a  handsome  collection  for  the  purpose  of 
treating  the  soldiery,  who  next  day  were 
paraded  in  Waller's  grove,  before  brigadier 
general  Lewis,  attended  by  the  gentlemen  of 
the  committee  of  safety,  the  members  of  the 
general  convention,  the  inhabitants  of  this 
city,  etc.,  etc.  The  resolution  being  read 
aloud  to  the  army,  the  following  toasts  were 
given,  each  of  them  accompanied  by  a  discharge 
of  the  artillery  and  small  arms,  and  the  accla 
mations  of  all  present : 

1.  The  American  independent  states. 

2.  The  grand  congress  of  the  United  States, 
and  their  respective  legislatures. 

3.  General  Washington,  and  victory  to  the 
American  arms. 

The  UNION  FLAG  of  the  American  states 
waved  upon  the  capitol  during  the  whole  of 
this  ceremony,  which  being  ended,  the  soldiers 
partook  of  the  refreshment  prepared  for  them 
by  the  affection  of  their  countrymen,  and  the 
evening  concluded  with  illuminations,  and 
other  demonstrations  of  joy ;  every  one  seem 
ing  pleased  that  the  domination  of  Great  Bri 
tain  was  now  at  an  end,  so  wickedly  and 
tyrannically  exercised  for  these  twelve  or  thir 
teen  years  past,  notwithstanding  our  repeated 
prayers  and  remonstrances  for  redress. 


TEST  OATH 

PRESCRIBED  BY  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIR 
GINIA  TO  BE  TAKEN  BY  THE  INHABITANTS 
THEREOF,  1776,  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  ITS 
ORDER. 

"  I,  A.  B.  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God, 
do  solemnly  swear,  that  I  will,  to  the  utmost  of 
my  power,  support,  maintain,  and  defend  the 
government  of  Virginia,  in  the  present  just  and 
necessary  war,  against  all  powers  whatever, 
who  do,  or  may  levy  or  carry  on  any  hostility 
of  war  against  the  same,  and  that  I  will  not  in 
any  manner  aid,  or  assist,  comfort,  countenance, 
correspond  with  or  abet  any  person  whatever, 
whom  I  know,  or  have  cause  to  suspect,  have 
designs  to  further,  aid,  or  assist  the  tyrannical 
and  cruel  war,  which  the  British  parliament 


have  levied  against  America,  and  that  I  will, 
from  time  to  time,  declare  and  make  known  all 
traitorous  conspiracies  and  attempts  against 
the  peace  and  safety  of  Virginia,  which  shall 
come  to  my  knowledge  ;  So  help  me  God." 


VIRGINIA— CALLED   TO   ARMS. 

The  following  address  was  issued  to  the  peo 
ple  of  Virginia,  at  the  time  when  the  gov 
ernor,  Patrick  Henry,  issued  his  proclamation 
on  the  i4//£  of  May,  1779,  announcing  the 
arrival  of  a  British  fleet  in  the  Chesapeake, 
and  noticing  some  of  the  ravages  they  had 
committed. 

Friends  and  countrymen. — When  our  country 
is  invaded  by  the  avowed  enemies  to  the  com 
mon  rights  of  mankind  ;  when  it  is  threatened 
with  all  those  calamities  which  barbarity  and 
cruelty  can  inflict,  it  is  no  longer  time  to  pause. 
We  have  not  an  enemy  to  oppose  who  can 
claim  the  common  pretension  for  war.  We 
have  to  combat  those  who  seek  not  for  a  retal 
iation  of  injuries  done  them,  but  who  would  be 
our  tyrants.  Tyrants  of  the  blackest  nature, 
who  would  rob  us  not  only  of  those  privileges 
which  are  dearest  to  us,  but  would  bring  our 
grey  hairs  down  with  sorrow  to  the  grave.  To 
be  the  base  slaves  of  arbitrary  power,  to  be  in 
sulted,  trampled  under  foot  by  a  soldiery,  the 
outcasts  of  jails,  to  be  stripped  of  your  property, 
to  behold  your  wives  and  children  the  victims 
of  brutal  lust,  or  nobly  to  resist  the  torrent  of 
despotism,  nobly  to  stand  forth  and  to  wreak 
your  vengeance  upon  an  enemy  the  most 
barbarous  and  cruel,  is  the  only  alternative 
which  now  awaits  you.  They  have  already 
commenced  the  horrid  war.  Your  houses  are 
already  devoted  to  the  flames  ;  your  wives  have 
been  driven  with  the  flocks  and  herds  to  their 
ships.  To  the  Hessian,  and  the  still  more 
barbarous  Highlander,  let  them  now  offer  up 
their  prayers  for  mercy.  But  what  mercy  are 
they  to  hope  from  those  whose  avowed 
design  is  conquest,  ruin,  and  misery !  Indigna 
tion  usurps  the  place  of  reflection.  Indigna 
tion  should  hurry  us  to  action,  should  fire  our 
souls  with  the  noble  emulation,  who  first  should 
have  the  immortal  glory  of  plunging  his  dag 
ger  in  the  breast  of  such  an  enemy. 

Fortunately  for  us,  we  have  men  to  com 
mand,  beloved,  respected,  and  admired  for 
their  intrepidity,  activity,  and  good  conduct ; 
men  who,  if  supported  by  their  fellow  citizens, 
will  soon  baffle  the  designs  of  our  enemy  ;  will 
soon  rescue  this  country  from  the  disgrace  of 
being  plundered  and  ravaged  by  a  merciless 


VIRGINIA. 


293 


banditti.  Virginia  stands  foremost  for  public 
spirit.  Her  sons  have  now  the  most  glorious 
opportunity  of  gaining  immortal  fame.  They 
have  a  commander  to  lead  them  to  the  field, 
whose  experience  and  bravery  will  ensure  them 
victory.  They  may  now  have  the  satisfaction 
not  only  of  saving  their  country  but  of  revenge 
— of  revenge  for  attempts,  which,  if  carried 
into  execution,  will  entail  shame  and  ruin  upon 
us  to  the  latest  ages. 

Activity,  vigor,  a  determination  to  conquer 
or  to  die,  will  soon  expel  those  invaders  of  our 
rights  ;  torpor  and  inactivity  will  confirm  them 
in  their  conquest.  Example  will  create  heroes. 
The  body  of  the  people  must  be  put  in  motion 
by  the  influence  of  those  whom  they  respect 
and  esteem.  Follow  then  the  conduct  of  our 
brave  brethren  to  the  north,  remember  what 
gave  a  favorable  cast  to  the  melancholy  pros 
pect  they  had  before  them.  Men  of  fortune 
and  distinction  were  the  first  to  oppose  the 
enemy.  Success  crowned  their  efforts,  and 
patriotism  received  eternal  honor.  Similar 
example  here  will  ensure  similar  success.  The 
progress  of  the  enemy  in  our  country  may 
carry  along  with  it  the  most  dangerous  conse 
quences.  What  accessions  will  they  not  gain 
from  those  among  us  who  feel  every  day  the 
yoke  of  slavery  !  We  shall  supply  them  with 
the  certain  means  of  our  own  destruction, 
unless  our  activity  and  vigor  arrest  them  in 
their  progress.  The  possession  of  sufficient 
ground  for  their  encampment  is  not  only  dis 
graceful  to  us,  but  ruinous.  It  will  be  an  asy 
lum  for  our  slaves ;  they  will  flock  to  their 
standards,  and  form  the  flower  of  their  army. 
They  will  rival  the  Hessian  or  Highlander,  if 
possible,  in  cruelty  and  desolation.  It  is  said 
that  at  present  their  army  does  not  consist  of 
more  than  two  thousand.  This  circumstance, 
which  may  lull  us  into  security,  seems  big  with 
the  most  fatal  consequences,  unless  we  resolve 
to  anticipate  the  evil.  They  doubtless  expect 
reinforcements  from  our  slaves  ;  not  to  mention 
from  tories  and  the  disaffected. 

In  a  word,  the  means  of  our  salvation  are 
difficult,  but  certain  and  glorious,  if  we  will 
seize  them  in  time.  Delay  and  inactivity  will 
bring  along  with  them  infamy,  disgrace,  and 
certain  perdition. 


BATTLE  OF  YORKTOWN,  VA. 

THE    SURRENDER    OF    LORD    CORNWALLIS, 

VA.,  OCT.  19,  1781. 

FROM   THE  VILLAGE   RECORD,  NOVEMBER   7,    1821. 

This  week  the  Journal  of  capt.   Davis    is 
brought  to  a  close.     The  event  to  which  it 


particularly  relates  is  the  most  important  in 
our  military  annals.  It  is  not  recollected  that 
the  general  orders,  issued  during  the  invest 
ment  of  Cornwallis,  were  ever  before  published. 

JOURNAL  OF  CAPT.  DAVIS. 
Oct.  12. — A  tremendous  fire  from  both  sides. 

Head-quarters,  Oct.  12,  1781. 
For  to-morrow. 
M.  G.  M.  La  Fayette, 
B.  G.  Muhlenburgh. 

The  Marquis'  division  will  mount  in  the 
trenches  to-morrow.  The  superintendent  of 
the  deposite  of  the  trenches,  is  required  to 
have  the  quality  of  saucisson,  fascines  and 
gabions  brought  to  the  deposite,  accurately 
inspected  ;  to  reject  such  as  are  not  fit  for  use, 
and  report  the  corps  that  offer  them. 

17 — Two  Hessian  deserters  came  in;  every 
thing  favorable. 

Head-quarters,  Oct.  13,  1781. 
For  to-morrow. 
B.  G.  Wayne  and 
Gist's  brigade. 

14. — This  morning  a  deserter  says  the  in 
fantry  refuse  doing  duty.  That  Cornwallis  pro 
mised  them  they  would  be  relieved  from  New- 
York,  and  give  each  reg.  a  pipe  of  wine. 

The  marquis,  at  dark,  stormed  their  river 
battery,  and  baron  viscount  Viomnel  stormed 
another  on  their  extreme,  to  the  left,  with  little 
loss.  We  run  our  second  parallel  complete. 

Head-quarters  Oct  14,  1781. 
For  to-morrow. 
M.  G.  Lincoln, 
B.  G.  Clinton. 

Maj.  general  Lincoln's  division  will  mount 
the  trenches  to-morrow. 

The  effects  of  the  late  col.  Scammel  will  be 
disposed  of  at  public  sale,  to-morrow  at  3 
o'clock.  P.  M.  at  maj.  Rice's  tent,  in  gen. 
Hayne's  Brigade. 

15. — This  night  the  enemy  made  a  sally  and 
imposed  themselves  on  the  French  for  Ameri 
cans  ;  forced  their  works  and  made  themselves 
masters  of  an  American  battery  which  they 
spiked.  Imposition  being  found  out,  they  re 
tired,  with  eight  men  killed  on  the  spot. 

Head-quarters,  Oct.  15,  1781. 
For  to-morrow. 
M.  G.  M.  La  Fayette, 
B.  G.  Muhlenburg  and 
Hayne's  brigade. 

Maj.  gen.  La  Fayette's  division  will  mount 
the  trenches  to-morrow. 


294 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


The  commander  in  chief  congratulates  the 
army  on  the  success  of  the  enterprise  against  the 
two  important  works  on  the  left  of  the  enemy's 
lines.  He  requests  the  baron  Viomnel,  who 
commanded  the  French  grenadiers  and  chas 
seurs,  and  marquis  La  Fayette,  who  com 
manded  the  American  light  infantry,  to  accept 
his  warmest  acknowledgments  for  the  excel 
lency  of  their  dispositions  and  their  own  gal 
lant  conduct  on  the  occasion  ;  and  he  begs 
them  to  present  his  thanks  to  every  individual 
officer,  and  to  the  men  of  their  respective  com 
mands,  for  the  spirit  and  rapidity  with  which 
they  advanced  to  the  attacks  assigned  them, 
and  for  the  admirable  firmness  with  which  they 
supported  them,  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy, 
without  returning  a  shot. 

The  general  reflects  with  the  highest  degree 
of  pleasure  on  the  confidence  which  the  troops 
of  the  two  nations  must  hereafter  have  in  each 
other. — Assured  of  mutual  support,  he  is  con 
vinced  there  is  no  danger  which  they  will  not 
cheerfully  encounter — no  difficulty  which  they 
will  not  bravely  overcome. 

The  troops  will  be  supplied  with  fresh  beef  to 
Thursday  next,  inclusive  ;  they  will  receive  3 
pints  of  salt  to   every    100  rations,   for  their 
allowance  of  Wednesday  and  Thursday. 
16. — Our  batteries  completing  very  fast. 

Head-quarters,  Oct.  16,  1781. 
For  to-morrow. 
M.  G.  B.  Steuben, 
B.  G.  Wayne  and 
Gist's  brigade. 

Maj.  gen.  baron  Steuben's  division  will  mount 
in  the  trenches  to-morrow. 

The  commander  in  chief  having  observed 
that  the  trenches  are  constantly  crowded  with 
spectators,  who,  by  passing  and  repassing  pre 
vent  the  men  from  working,  and  thereby 
greatly  impede  the  operations  of  the  siege. 
He  therefore  orders  that  no  officer,  who  is  not 
on  duty,  shall  hereafter  enter  the  trenches, 
except  gen.  officers  and  their  aids,  and  that  no 
inhabitant,  or  person  not  belonging  to  the  army, 
be  suffered  to  enter  the  trenches,  at  any  time, 
without  permission  from  the  maj.  general  of 
the  trenches. 

In  future  the  relief  for  the  trenches  are  not 
to  beat  their  drums  after  they  pass  the  mill 
dam  ;  they  are  from  that  place  to  inarch  silently, 
with  trailed  arms  and  colors  furled,  until  they 
arrive  at  their  posts  in  the  trenches. 

Lieut,  col.  Dehart  being  relieved  from  his 
arrest,  the  court  martial,  of  which  col.  Cortland 
is  president,  will  proceed  to  the  trial  of  the 
prisoners  confined  in  the  provost. 

17, — At  ii  o'clock,  his  lordship  closes  the 


scene  by  propositions  for  deputies  from  each 
army,  to  meet  at  Moore's  house,  to  agree  on 
terms  for  the  surrender  of  York  and  Gloster. 
An  answer  was  sent  by  3  o'clock,  when  a  ces 
sation  of  arms  took  place. 

Head-quarters,  Oct.  17,  1781. 
For  the  trenches  to-morrow. 

Maj.  gen.  Lincoln's  Division. 
1 8. — Flags  alternately  passing  this  day. 

Head-quarters,  Oct.  18,  1781. 
For  the  trenches  to-morrow. 
Maj.  gen.  marquis  La  Fayette 's  division. 
19. — At  i  o'clock  this  day,  our  troops  marched 
in  and   took   possession  of  their  horn-works, 
and  the  British  marched  out.     The  American 
and  French  armies  form  a  lane  through  which 
the  British  pass  and  ground  their  arms. 

Head-quarters,  Oct.  19,  1781. 
For  to-morrow. 
M.  G.  Lincoln, 
Col.  Butler, 
Maj.  Woodson, 
B.  M.  Blake. 

Gen.  Muhlenburg's  brigade  will  hold  itseit  in 
readiness  for  duty  to-morrow. 

20. — Lay  quiet  this  day  cleaning  our  arms. 
Head-quarters,  Oct.  20,  1781. 
For  to-morrow. 
M.  G.  M.  La  Fayette, 
Col.  Stewart, 
Maj.  Bird, 
M.  M.  Cox. 

Brig,  general  Hayne's  brigade  for  duty  to 
morrow,  to  parade  at  10  o'clock  on  their  own 
parade. 

The  general  congratulates  the  army  upon 
the  glorious  event  of  yesterday  :  the  generous 
proofs  which  his  most  Christian  majesty  has 
given  of  his  attachment  to  the  cause  of  Ameri 
ca,  must  force  conviction  in  the  minds  of  the 
most  deceived  among  the  enemy,  relative  to 
the  decisive  good  consequences  of  the  alliance  ; 
and  inspire  every  citizen  of  these  states  with 
sentiments  of  the  most  unalterable  gratitude. 
His  fleet,  the  most  numerous  and  powerful 
that  ever  appeared  in  those  seas,  commanded 
by  an  admiral  whose  fortune  and  talents  insure 
success  ;  an  army  of  the  most  admirable  com 
position,  both  in  officers  and  men,  are  the 
pledges  of  his  friendship  to  the  United  States, 
and  their  co-operation  has  secured  us  the  pre 
sent  signal  success. 

The  general,  upon  this  occasion,  entreats  his 
excellency  count  Rochambeau,  to  accept  his 
most  grateful  acknowledgments  for  his  counsel 
and  assistance  at  all  times.  He  presents  his 
warmest  thanks  to  the  generals  baron  de  Vi 
omnel,  chevalier  Chastelleux,  marquis  de  St. 


VIRGINIA. 


295 


Simon,  count  cle  Vionmel,  and  to  brig,  de 
Choisey  (who  had  a  separate  command),  for 
the  illustrious  manner  in  which  they  have 
advanced  the  interest  of  the  common  cause. 
He  requests  the  count  de  Rochambeau  will  be 
pleased  to  communicate  to  the  army  under  his 
immediate  command,  the  high  sense  he  enter 
tains  of  the  distinguished  merits  of  the  officers 
and  soldiers  of  every  corps,  and  that  he  will 
present,  in  his  name,  to  the  regiment  of  Arge- 
nois  and  Deaponts,  the  pieces  of  brass  ord 
nance  captured  by  them,  as  a  testimony  of  their 
gallantry  in  storming  the  enemy's  redoubts,  on 
the  night  of  the  I4th  inst.  when  officers  and 
men  so  universally  vied  with  each  other  in  the 
exercise  of  every  soldierly  virtue. 

The  general's  thanks  to  each  individual  of 
merit,  would  comprehend  the  whole  army  :  but 
he  thinks  himself  bound  however  by  affection, 
duty  and  gratitude,  to  express  his  obligation  to 
maj-gens.  Lincoln,  La  Fayette  and  Steuben, 
for  their  dispositions  in  the  trenches — to  gen. 
Duportail  and  col.  Carney  for  the  vigor  and 
knowledge  which  were  conspicuous  in  their 
conduct  of  the  attacks ;  and  to  gen.  Knox  and 
col.  de  Abberville  for  their  great  attention  and 
fatigue  in  bringing  forward  the  artillery  and 
stores ;  and  for  their  judicious  and  spirited 
management  of  them  in  the  parallels.  He 
requests  the  gentlemen  above  mentioned,  to 
communicate  his  thanks  to  the  officers  and 
soldiers  of  their  commands.  Ingratitude, 
which  the  general  hopes  never  to  be  guilty  of, 
would  be  conspicuous  in  him,  was  he  to  omit 
thanking  in  the  warmest  terms  his  excellency 
governor  Nelson,  for  the  aid  he  has  derived 
from  him,  and  from  the  militia  under  his  com 
mand  :  to  whose  activity,  emulation  and  cour 
age  such  applause  is  due ;  the  greatness  of  the 
acquisition  would  be  ample  compensation  for 
the  hardships  and  hazards  which  they  en 
countered  with  so  much  patriotism  and  firm 
ness. 

In  order  to  diffuse  the  general  joy  in  every 
breast,  the  general  orders  those  men  belonging 
to  the  army,  who  may  now  be  in  confinement, 
shall  be  pardoned,  and  join  their  respective 
corps. 

21.— British  marched  out  for  their  canton 
ments  under  militia  guards. 

22. — York  affords  very  good  Port-wine. 

23. — Orders  for  the  troops  to  hold  themselves 
in  readiness  to  march  at  the  shortest  notice. 

24. — Marquis  de  St.  Simon's  troops  embark 
their  cannon. 

25. — Demolish  our  works  by  brigades. 

26. — Expectations  of  a  supply  of  necessaries 
from  the  merchants  of  York  and  Gloster. 


27. — Report  says  sir  H.  Clinton  has  embarked 
rom  New- York  for  Virginia. 

28. — The  American  cannon  put  on  board  ves 
sels  for  the  head  of  Elk. 

29. — Nothing  material. 

30. — I  was  on  duty  at  Gloster. 

31. — Col.  Tarlton  dismounted  from  his  horse 
an  inhabitant,  who  claimed  him  in  the 
midst  of  the  street. 

Nov.  i. — A  supply  of  clothing  purchased  by 
agents,  appointed  for  that  purpose. 

2. — Distribution  of  the  supplies. 

3. — Orders  for  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland 
troops  to  march  to-morrow  for  South  Carolina. 

4. — General  beat  at  8  o'clock.  Tents  struck 
and  loaded.  Troops  march  at  9. 


DESCRIPTION 
OF  THE  SURRENDER  AT  YORKTOWN. 

As  every  incident  connected  with  our  revolu 
tionary  history  is  interesting  to  the  great  mass 
of  the  people,  I  shall  solicit  a  niche  in  your 
paper  to  answer  an  inquiry  in  a  late  Compiler, 
concerning  the  surrender  of  the  British  army  at 
Yorktown,  Virginia  ;  and  hope  that  your  readers 
will  experience  the  same  pleasure  in  reading  the 
account,  that  I  enjoy  in  the  narration  : 


"At  two  o'clock  in  the  evening  Oct. 
1781,  the  British  army,  led  by  general  O'Hara, 
marched  out  of  its  lines,  with  colors  cased  and 
drums  beating  a  British  march. 

"  It  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel,  that  O'Hara, 
and  not  Cornwallis,  surrendered  the  British 
army  to  the  allied  forces  of  France  and  America. 
In  this  affair,  lord  Cornwallis  seemed  to  have 
lost  all  his  former  magnanimity  and  firmness 
of  character,  —  he  sunk  beneath  the  pressure  of 
his  misfortunes,  and  for  a  moment  gave  his  soul 
up  to  chagrin  and  sorrow.  The  road  through 
which  they  marched  was  lined  with  spectators, 
French  and  American.  On  one  side  the  com 
mander  in  chief,  surrounded  by  his  suite  and 
the  American  staffs,  took  his  station  ;  on  the 
other  side  opposite  to  him,  was  the  count  de 
Rochambeau,  in  like  manner  attended.  The 
captive  army  approached,  moving  slowly  in 
column,  with  grace  and  precision. 

"  Universal  silence  was  observed  amidst 
the  vast  concourse,  and  the  utmost  decency 
prevailed,  exhibiting  in  demeanor  an  awful 
sense  of  the  vicissitudes  of  human  life,  mingled 
with  commiseration  for  the  unhappy.  The 
head  of  the  column  approached  the  com 
mander  in  chief—  O'Hara,  mistaking  the  circle, 


296 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


turned  to  that  on  his  left  for  the  purpose  of 
paying  his  respects  to  the  commander  in  chief, 
and  requesting  further  orders ;  when  quickly 
discovering  his  error,  with  embarrassment  in 
his  countenance,  he  flew  across  the  road,  and 
advancing  up  to  Washington,  asked  pardon  for 
his  mistake,  apologized  for  the  absence  of  lord 
Cornwallis,  and  begged  to  know  his  further 
pleasure. 

"  The  general  feeling  his  embarrassment, 
relieved  it  by  referring  him,  with  much  polite 
ness,  to  general  Lincoln  for  his  government. 
Returning  to  the  head  of  the  column,  it  again 
moved,  under  the  guidance  of  Lincoln,  to  the 
field  selected  for  the  conclusion  of  the  ceremony. 

"  Every  eye  was  turned,  searching  for  the 
British  commander  in  chief,  anxious  to  look  at 
that  man  heretofore  so  much  their  dread.  All 
were  disappointed. 

"  Cornwallis  held  himself  back  from  the 
humiliating  scene ;  obeying  sensations  which 
his  great  character  ought  to  have  stifled.  He 
had  been  unfortunate,  not  from  any  false  step 
or  deficiency  of  exertion  on  his  part,  but  from 
the  infatuated  policy  of  his  superior,  and  the 
united  power  of  his  enemy  brought  to  bear 
upon  him  alone.  There  was  nothing  with 
which  he  could  reproach  himself;  there  was 
nothing  with  which  he  could  reproach  his  brave 
and  faithful  army ;  why  not  then  appear  at  its 
head  in  the  day  of  misfortune,  as  he  had  always 
done  in  the  day  of  triumph  ? 

"  The  British  general  in  this  instance  deviated 
from  his  usual  line  of  conduct,  dimming  the 
splendor  of  his  long  and  brilliant  career. 

"  Thus  ended  the  important  co-operation  of 
the  allied  forces.  Great  was  the  joy  diffused 
throughout  our  infant  empire." 

I  cannot  end  this  interesting  detail  as 
recorded  by  Henry  Lee,  without  giving  you  his 
panegyric  on  the  father  of  our  country. 

"  This  wide  acclaim  of  joy  and  confidence,  as 
rare  as  sincere,  sprung  not  only  from  the  con 
viction  that  our  signal  success  would  bring  in 
its  train  the  blessings  of  peace,  so  wanted  by 
our  wasted  country.  And  from  the  splendor 
with  which  it  encircled  our  national  name,  but 
from  the  endearing  reflection  that  the  mighty 
exploit  had  been  achieved  by  our  faithful, 
beloved  Washington.  We  had  seen  him  strug 
gling  throughout  the  war  with  inferior  force 
against  the  best  troops  of  England,  assisted  by 
her  powerful  navy ;  surrounded  by  difficulties, 
oppressed  by  want ;  never  dismayed,  never  ap 
palled,  never  despairing  of  the  commonwealth. 

"  We  have  seen  him  renouncing  his  fame  as 
a  soldier,  his  safety  as  a  man  ;  in  his  unalloyed 
love  of  country,  weakening  his  own  immediate 


force  to  strengthen  that  of  his  lieutenants ; 
submitting  with  equanimity  to  his  own  conse 
quent  inability  to  act,  and  rejoicing  in  their 
triumphs,  become  best  calculated  to  uphold  the 
great  cause  entrusted  to  his  care  ;  at  length,  by 
one  great  and  final  exploit,  under  the  benign 
influence  of  Providence,  lifted  to  the  pinnacle 
of  glory,  the  rewards  of  his  toil,  his  sufferings, 
his  patience,  his  heroism,  and  his  virtue. 
Wonderful  man  !  rendering  it  difficult  by  his 
conduct  throughout  life  to  decide  whether  he 
most  excelled  in  goodness  or  in  greatness." 


ANECDOTE 

CONNECTED     WITH    THE   SURRENDER    OF 
YORKTOWN. 

Baron  Steuben  commanded  in  the  trenches 
at  the  moment  Lord  Cornwallis  made  his  over 
ture  for  capitulation.  The  proposals  were  im 
mediately  despatched  to  the  commander-in- 
chief,  and  the  negotiation,  as  we  say,  pro 
gressed. — The  marquis  de  la  Fayette,  whose 
tour  it  was  next  to  mount  guard  in  the  tren 
ches,  marched  to  relieve  the  Baron,  who,  to 
his  astonishment,  refused  to  be  relieved.  He 
informed  General  de  la  Fayette,  that  the  cus 
torn  of  European  war  was  in  his  favor,  and 
that  it  was  a  point  of  honor  which  he  could 
neither  give  up  for  himself,  nor  deprive  his 
troops  of — that  the  offer  to  capitulate  had  been 
made  during  his  guard,  and  that  in  the  tren 
ches  he  would  remain  until  the  capitulation 
was  signed  or  hostilities  commenced.  The 
marquis  immediately  galloped  to  head  quar 
ters  : — general  Washington  decided  in  favor  of 
the  baron — to  the  joy  of  one,  and  to  the  morti 
fication  of  the  other  of  those  brave  and  valua 
ble  men.  The  baron  remained  till  the  business 
was  finished.  I  should  not  have  sent  you  this 
recollection,  had  I  not  seen  in  your  paper  of 
this  morning  an  extract  from  Lee's  memoirs 
relative  to  the  surrender.  My  anecdote  may 
not  be  worth  much  now,  but  such  as  it  is,  it  is 
at  your  service. 

ONE  WHO  WAS  IN  THE  TRENCHES. 


EFFECT 

OF  THE  INTELLIGENCE  OF  THE  SURRENDER 
OF  LORD  CORNWALLIS  WHEN  RECEIVED 
IN  LONDON,  ENGLAND. 

From  sir  N.  W.  Wraxall's  memoirs  of  his 
own  time. 

NOVEMBER,  1781. — During  the  whole  month 


VIRGINIA. 


297 


of  November,  the  concurring  accounts  trans 
mitted  to  government,  enumerating  lord  Corn- 
wallis's  embarrassments,  and  the  positions 
taken  by  the  enemy,  augmented  the  anxiety  of 
the  cabinet.  Lord  George  Germain,  in  partic 
ular,  conscious  that  on  the  prosperous  or 
adverse  termination  of  that  expedition,  must 
hinge  the  fate  of  the  American  contest,  his 
own  stay  in  office,  as  well  as  probably  the 
duration  of  the  ministry  itself,  felt,  and  even 
expressed  to  his  friends,  the  strongest  uneasi 
ness  on  the  subject.  The  meeting  of  parlia 
ment  meanwhile  stood  fixed  for  the  27th  of 
November.  On  Sunday  the  25th,  about  noon, 
official  intelligence  of  the  surrender  of  the 
British  forces  at  Yorktown,  arrived  from  Fal- 
mouth,  at  lord  Germain's  house  in  Pall-mall. 
Lord  Walsingham,  who,  previous  to  his  father 
sir  William  de  Grey's  elevation  to  the  peerage, 
had  been  under  secretary  of  state  in  that  de 
partment,  and  who  was  selected  to  second  the 
address  in  the  house  of  peers,  on  the  subse 
quent  Tuesday,  happened  to  be  there  when 
the  messenger  brought  the  news.  Without 
communicating  it  to  any  other  person,  lord 
George,  for  the  purpose  of  despatch,  immedi 
ately  got  with  him  into  a  hackney-coach  and 
drove  to  lord  Stormount's  residence  in  Portland- 
place.  Having  imparted  to  him  the  disastrous 
information,  and  taken  him  into  the  carriage, 
they  instantly  proceeded  to  the  Chancellor's 
house  in  Great  Russell-street,  Bloomsbury, 
whom  they  found  at  home  ;  when,  after  a  short 
consultation,  they  determined  to  lay  it  them 
selves,  in  person  before  lord  North.  He  had 
not  received  any  intimation  of  the  event  when 
they  arrived  at  his  door,  in  Downing-street, 
between  i  and  2  o'clock.  The  first  minister's 
firmness,  and  even  his  presence  of  mind  gave 
way  for  a  short  time,  under  this  awful  disaster. 
I  asked  lord  George  afterwards,  how  he  took 
the  communication,  when  made  to  him  ?  "  As 
he  would  have  taken  a  ball  in  his  breast," 
replied  lord  George.  P'or  he  opened  his  arms, 
exclaiming  wildly,  as  he  paced  up  and  down 
the  apartment  during  a  few  minutes,  "  Oh 
God !  it  is  all  over !  "  Words  which  he 
repeated  many  times,  under  emotions  of  the 
deepest  agitation  and  distress. 

When  the  first  agitation  of  their  minds  had 
subsided,  the  four  ministers  discussed  the 
question,  whether  or  not  it  might  be  expedient 
to  prorogue  parliament  for  a  few  days  ;  but,  as 
scarcely  an  interval  of  forty-eight  hours  re 
mained  before  the  appointed  time  of  assemb 
ling,  and  as  many  members  of  both  houses  were 
already  either  arrived  in  London,  or  on  the  road, 
that  proposition  was  abandoned.  It  became, 


riowever,  indispensable  to  alter,  and  almost 
model  anew  the  king's  speech,  which  had  been 
already  drawn  up,  and  completely  prepared  for 
delivery  from  the  throne.  This  alteration  was 
therefore  made  without  delay  ;  and  at  the  same 
time,  lord  George  Germain,  as  secretary  for  the 
American  department,  sent  off  a  despatch  to 
his  majesty,  who  was  then  at  Kew,  acquainted 
him  with  the  melancholy  termination  of  lord 
Cornwallis's  expedition.  Some  hours  having 
elapsed,  before  these  different,  but  necessary 
acts  of  business  could  take  place,  the  ministers 
separated,  and  lord  George  Germain  repaired 
to  his  office  in  Whitehall.  There  he  found  a 
confirmation  of  the  intelligence,  which  arrived 
about  two  hours  after  the  first  communication  ; 
having  been  transmitted  from  Dover,  to  which 
place  it  was  forwarded  from  Calais  with  the 
French  account  of  the  same  event. 

I  dined  on  that  day  at  lord  George's ;  and 
though  the  information,  which  had  reached 
London  in  the  course  of  the  morning,  from  two 
different  quarters,  was  of  a  nature  not  to  admit 
of  long  concealment ;  yet  it  had  not  been  com 
municated  either  to  me,  or  to  any  individual  of 
the  company,  as  it  might  naturally  have  been 
through  the  channel  of  common  report,  when 
I  got  to  Pall-mall,  between  five  and  six  o'clock. 
— Lord  Walsingham,  who  likewise  dined  there, 
was  the  only  person  present,  except  lord 
George,  who  was  acquainted  with  the  fact. — 
The  party,  nine  in  number,  sat  down  to  table. 
I  thought  the  master  of  the  house  appeared 
serious,  though  he  manifested  no  discompos 
ure.  Before  the  dinner  was  finished,  one  of 
his  servants  delivered  him  a  letter,  brought 
back  by  the  messenger  who  had  been  de 
spatched  to  the  king.  Lord  George  opened 
and  perused  it :  then  looking  at  lord  Walsing 
ham,  to  whom  he  exclusively  directed  his 
observation,  "  The  king  writes"  said  he,  "just 
as  he  always  does,  except  that  I  observe  he  has 
omitted  to  mark  the  hour  and  the  minute  of 
his  writing  with  his  usual  precision."  This 
remark,  though  calculated  to  awaken  some 
interest,  excited  no  comment ;  and  while  the 
ladies,  lord  George's  three  daughters,  remained 
in  the  room,  we  repressed  our  curiosity.  But 
they  had  no  sooner  withdrawn,  than  lord 
George  having  acquainted  us,  that  from  Paris 
information  has  just  arrived  of  the  old  Count 
de  Maurepas,  first  minister,  lying  at  the  point 
of  death  :  "It  would  grieve  me,"  said  I,  "to 
finish  my  career,  however  far  advanced  in 
years,  were  I  first  minister  of  France,  before 
I  had  witnessed  the  termination  of  this  great 
contest  between  England  and  America."  "  He 
has  survived  to  see  that  event,"  replied  lord 


298 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS   OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


George,  with  some  agitation.  Utterly  unsus 
picious  of  the  fact  which  had  happened  beyond 
the  Atlantic,  I  conceived  him  to  allude  to  the 
indecisive  naval  action  fought  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Chesapeake,  early  in  the  preceding  month 
of  September,  between  admiral  Graves  and 
count  de  Grasse ;  which,  in  its  results,  might 
prove  most  injurious  to  Lord  Cornwallis. 
Under  this  impression,  "my  meaning,"  said  I, 
"  is  that  if  I  were  the  Count  de  Maurepas,  I 
should  wish  to  live  long  enough,  to  behold  the 
final  issue  of  the  war  in  Virginia."  "  He  has 
survived  to  witness  it  completely,"  answered 
lord  George. — "The  army  has  surrendered, 
and  you  may  peruse  the  particulars  of  the  cap 
itulation  in  that  paper,"  taking  at  the  same 
time  one  from  his  pocket,  which  he  delivered 
into  my  hand,  not  without  visible  emotion. 
By  his  permission  I  read  it  aloud,  while  the 
company  listened  in  profound  silence.  We 
then  discussed  its  contents,  as  it  affected  the 
ministry,  the  country  and  the  war.  It  must 
be  confessed  that  they  were  calculated  to 
diffuse  a  gloom  over  the  most  convivial  society, 
and  that  they  opened  a  wide  field  for  political 
speculation. 

After  perusing  the  account  of  lord  Cornwal- 
lis's  surrender  at  Yorktown,  it  was  impossi 
ble  for  all  present  not  to  feel  a  lively  curiosity  to 
know  how  the  king  had  received  the  intelligence, 
as  well  as  how  he  had  expressed  himself  in  his 
note  to  lord  Germain,  on  the  first  communica 
tion  of  so  painful  an  event.  He  gratified  our 
wish  by  reading  it  to  us,  observing  at  the  same 
time,  that  it  did  the  highest  honor  to  his  maj 
esty's  fortitude,  firmness  and  consistency  of 
character.  The  words  made  an  impression  on 
my  memory  which  the  lapse  of  more  than 
thirty  years  has  not  erased ;  and  I  shall  here 
commemorate  its  tenor,  as  serving  to  show 
how  that  prince  felt  and  wrote,  under  one  of 
the  most  afflicting,  as  well  as  humiliating 
occurrences  of  his  reign.  The  billet  ran  nearly 
to  this  effect :  "  I  have  received,  with  senti 
ments  of  the  deepest  concern,  the  communica 
tion  which  lord  George  Germain  had  made  me, 
of  the  unfortunate  result  of  the  operations  in 
Virginia.  I  particularly  lament  it,  on  account 
of  the  consequences  connected  with  it,  and  the 
difficulties  which  it  may  produce  in  carrying  on 
the  public  business,  or  in  repairing  such  a  mis 
fortune, — But  I  trust  that  neither  lord  George 
Germain,  nor  any  member  of  the  cabinet,  will 
suppose  that  it  makes  the  smallest  alteration 
in  those  principles  of  my  conduct  which  have 
directed  me  in  past  times,  and  which  will 
always  continue  to  animate  me  under  every 
event,  in  the  prosecution  of  the  present  con 


test."  Not  a  sentiment  of  despondency  or  of 
despair  was  to  be  found  in  the  letter  ;  the  very 
hand-writing  of  which  indicated  composure  of 
mind. — Whatever  opinion  we  may  entertain 
relative  to  the  practicability  of  reducing  Amer 
ica  to  obedience  by  force  of  arms,  at  the  end 
of  1781,  we  must  admit  that  no  sovereign  could 
manifest  more  calmness,  dignity  or  self-com 
mand  than  George  III.  displayed  in  this  reply. 
Severely  as  the  general  effect  of  the  blow 
received  in  Virginia  was  felt  throughout  the 
nation,  yet  no  immediate  symptoms  of  minis 
terial  dissolution,  or  even  of  parliamentary 
defection  became  visible  in  either  house.  All 
the  animated  invectives  of  Fox,  aided  by  the 
contumelious  irony  of  Burke,  and  sustained  by 
dignified  denunciations  of  Pitt,  enlisted  on  the 
same  side,  made  little  apparent  impression  on 
their  hearers,  who  seemed  stupefied  by  the  dis 
astrous  intelligence.  Yet  never  probably,  at 
any  period  of  our  history,  was  more  indignant 
language  used  by  the  opposition,  or  sup 
ported  by  administration.  In  the  ardor  of  his 
feelings  at  the  recent  calamity  beyond  the 
Atlantic,  Fox  not  only  accused  ministers  of 
being  virtually  in  the  pay  of  France,  but 
menaced  them  with  the  vengeance  of  an  un 
done  people,  who  would  speedily  compel  them 
to  expiate  their  crimes  on  the  public  scaffold. 
Burke,  with  inconceivable  warmth  of  color 
ing,  depicted  the  folly  and  impracticability  of 
taxing  America  by  force,  or,  as  he  describes  it, 
"shearing  the  wolf."  The  metaphor  was 
wonderfully  appropriate,  and  scarcely  admitted 
of  denial.  Pitt  leveled  his  observations  princi 
pally  against  the  cabinet,  whom  he  represented 
as  destitute  of  principle,  wisdom  or  union  of 
design.  All  three  were  sustained,  and  I  had 
almost  said,  outdone  by  Mr.  Thomas  Pitt,  who, 
in  terms  of  gloomy  despondency,  seemed  to 
regard  the  situation  of  the  country  as  scarcely 
admitting  of  a  remedy,  under  such  a  parlia 
ment,  such  ministers  and  such  a  sovereign. 
Lord  North,  in  this  moment  of  general  depres 
sion,  found  resources  within  himself. — He 
scornfully  repelled  the  insinuations  of  Fox,  as 
deserving  only  contempt,  justified  the  principle 
of  the  war,  which  did  not  originate  in  a  des 
potic  wish  to  tyrannize  over  America,  but  from 
the  desire  of  maintaining  the  constitutional 
authority  of  parliament  over  the  colonies ; 
deplored  in  common  with  the  opposition,  the 
misfortunes  which  had  marked  the  progress 
of  the  contest ;  defied  the  threat  of  punish 
ment  ;  and  finally  adjured  the  house  not  to 
aggravate  the  present  calamity  by  dejection  or 
despair,  but,  by  united  exertions,  to  secure  our 
national  extrication. 


VIRGINIA. 


299 


GEN.  WASHINGTON. 
IMPORTANT  LETTER  FROM  HIM. 

It  has  been  controverted  whether  the  capture 
of  gen.  Cornwallis  was  the  result  of  a  plan 
preconcerted  between  gen.  Washington  and 
count  de  Grasse  ;  or  rather  whether  the  arrival 
of  the  count  in  the  Chesapeake,  was  pre-de- 
termined  and  expected  by  gen.  Washington, 
and  consequently  all  the  preparations  to  attack 
New  York,  a  mere  finesse  to  deceive  the  enemy, 
or  whether  the  real  intention  was  against  New 
York,  and  the  siege  of  Yorktown  planned  upon 
the  unexpected  arrival  of  the  French  fleet  in 
the  bay.  The  following  letter  will  set  the  mat 
ter  in  its  true  light. — Carey  s  Museum. 

MOUNT  VERNON,  July  13,  1788. 

SIR — I  duly  received  your  letter  of  the  I4th 
inst.  and  can  only  answer  you  briefly  and  gen 
erally  from  memory  :  that  a  combined  operation 
of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  France  in  Amer 
ica,  for  the  year  1781,  was  preconcerted  the 
year  before ;  that  the  point  of  attack  was  not 
absolutely  agreed  upon,*  because  it  could  not 
be  foreknown  where  the  enemy  would  be  most 
susceptible  of  impression ;  and  because  we 
(having  the  command  of  the  water  with  suffi 
cient  means  of  conveyance)  could  transport 
ourselves  to  any  spot  with  the  greatest  celerity ; 
that  it  was  determined  by  me,  nearly  twelve 
months  before  hand,  at  all  hazards,  to  give  out, 
and  cause  it  to  be  believed  by  the  highest  mili 
tary  as  well  as  civil  officers,  that  New- York 
was  the  destined  place  of  attack,  for  the  impor 
tant  purpose  of  inducing  the  eastern  and  middle 
states  to  make  greater  exertions  in  furnishing 
specific  supplies,  than  they  otherwise  would 
have  done,  as  well  as  for  the  interesting  pur 
pose  of  rendering  the  enemy  less  prepared 
elsewhere;  that,  by  these  means,  and  these 
alone,  artillery,  boats,  stores,  and  provisions, 
were  in  seasonable  preparation  to  move  with 
the  utmost  rapidity  to  any  part  of  the  continent ; 
for  the  difficulty  consisted  more  in  providing, 
than  knowing  how  to  apply  the  military  appa 
ratus  ;  that,  before  the  arrival  of  the  count  de 
Grasse,  it  was  the  fixed  determination  to  strike 
the  enemy  in  the  most  vulnerable  quarter,  so  as 
to  insure  success  with  moral  certainty,  as  our 
affairs  were  then  in  the  most  ruinous  train 
imaginable  ;  that  New- York  was  thought  to  be 
beyond  our  effort,  and  consequently,  that  the 
only  hesitation  that  remained,  was  between  an 
attack  upon  the  British  army  in  Virginia,  and 

*  Because  it  would  be  easy  for  count  de  Grasse,  in 
good  time  before  his  departure  from  the  West  Indies,  to 
give  notice,  by  express,  at  what  place  he  could  most  con 
veniently  first  touch  to  receive  advice. 


that  in  Charleston :  and  finally,  that,  by  the 
intervention  of  several  communications,  and 
some  incidents  which  cannot  be  detailed  in  a 
letter,  the  hostile  post  in  Virginia,  from  being  a 
Provisional  and  strongly  expected,  became 
the  definitive  and  certain,  object  of  the  cam 
paign. 

I  only  add,  that  it  never  was  in  contempla 
tion  to  attack  New- York,  unless  the  garrison 
should  first  have  been  so  far  degarnished,  to 
carry  on  the  southern  operations,  as  to  render 
our  success  in  the  siege  of  that  place,  as  infalli 
ble  as  any  future  military  event  can  ever  be 
made.  For  I  repeat  it,  and  dwell  upon  it  again, 
some  splendid  advantage  (whether  upon  a 
larger  or  smaller  scale  was  almost  immaterial) 
was  so  essentially  necessary,  to  revive  the  ex 
piring  hopes  and  languid  exertions  of  the 
country,  at  the  crisis  in  question,  that  I  never 
would  have  consented  to  embark  in  any  enter 
prise  wherein,  from  the  most  rational  plan  and 
accurate  calculations,  the  favorable  issue 
should  not  have  appeared  to  my  view  as  a  ray 
of  light.  The  failure  of  an  attempt  against  the 
posts  of  the  enemy,  could,  in  no  other  possible 
situation  during  the  war,  have  been  so  fatal  to 
our  cause. 

That  much  trouble  was  taken,  and  finesse 
used,  to  misguide  and  bewilder  sir  Henry  Clin 
ton,  in  regard  to  the  real  object,  by  fictitious 
communications,  as  well  as  by  making  a  decep 
tive  provision  of  ovens,  forage,  and  boats  in 
his  neighborhood,  is  certain ;  nor  were  less 
pains  taken  to  deceive  our  own  army  ;  for  I 
had  always  conceived,  where  the  imposition 
does  not  completely  take  place  at  home,  it 
would  never  sufficiently  succeed  abroad. 

Your  desire  of  obtaining  truth,  is  very  lauda 
ble  ;  I  wish  I  had  more  leisure  to  gratify  it,  as 
I  am  equally  solicitous  the  undisguised  verity 
should  be  known.  Many  circumstances  will 
unavoidably  be  misconceived,  and  misrepre 
sented.  Notwithstanding  most  of  the  papers, 
which  may  properly  be  deemed  official,  are 
preserved  ;  yet  the  knowledge  of  innumerable 
things  of  a  more  delicate  and  secret  nature,  is 
confined  to  the  perishable  remembrance  of 
some  few  of  the  present  generation. 

With  esteem,  I  am,  sir,  your  most  obedient 
humble  servant, 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


300 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


GEORGE  MASON,  OF  VIRGINIA, 

AUTHOR  OF  THE  CELEBRATED  BILL  OF 
RIGHTS  THE  FIRST  ADOPTED  IN  AMERICA, 
AND  ONE  OF  THE  MOST  DISTINGUISHED 
PATRIOTS  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

MR.  NILES, 

Sir :  The  emancipation  of  the  states  of  North 
America  must  ever  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
most  memorable  events  recorded  in  the  annals  of 
the  human  race.  The  revolutions,  which  have 
embroiled  and  desolated  the  great  nations  from 
which  they  sprang,  are  acknowledged  to  have 
received  their  first  impulse  from  the  principles 
and  events  of  the  American  struggle.  The 
grave  has  closed  upon  a  great  majority  of  the 
leaders  in  the  American  revolution  ;  and  the 
characters  of  the  founders  of  our  independence 
and  freedom  are  beginning  to  be  contemplated 
with  the  severe  impartiality  of  a  distant  pos 
terity.  The  passions  which  buoyed,  annoyed, 
or  infested  their  individual  fame  have  subsided. 
Each  is  receiving  a  settled  and  mellow  lustre  ; 
and  a  just  judgment  is  already  busily  engaged 
in  assigning  the  decree  of  estimation  and  re 
spect  which  a  grateful  posterity  should  continue 
to  render  to  the  memory  of  each  of  those  whose 
efforts  have  obtained  so  many  blessings  and 
such  everlasting  glory  for  this  nation. 

Among  the  conductors  of  those  important 
events,  the  name  of  George  Mason,  must  always 
hold  a  distinguished  place.  An  exhibition  of 
character,  in  a  public  station,  may  be  calcula 
ted  to  give  an  impression  of  the  profoundest 
respect ;  but,  the  sincerest,  and  best  affections 
of  the  heart  can  only  be  won  by  those  traits, 
which  are  developed  when  the  individual  has 
been  divested  of  the  imposing  forms  and  cir 
cumstances  of  place  and  office.  It  is  for  these 
reasons,  as  well  as  for  the  rays  of  light  which 
they  shed  upon  the  most  interesting  portion  of 
the  history  of  our  country,  that  I  send  you  the 
following  papers. 

George  Mason,  their  author,  was  an  inde 
pendent  planter,  resident  in  Fairfax  county, 
Virginia,  his  native  state,  when  the  revolution 
commenced.  He  was  a  man  endowed  by  na 
ture  with  a  vigorous  understanding,  which  had 
been  well  cultivated  by  a  liberal  education.  He 
was  a  sound  constitutional  lawyer,  although  he 
had  not  practiced  or  been  bred  to  the  profes 
sion.  His  mind  had,  evidently,  been  well  stored 
from  the  best  political  writers  of  his  time.  In 
temperance  he  was,  like  the  younger  Cato, 
constitutionally  stern,  firm,  and  honest ;  and  in 
all  the  affairs  of  life,  in  which  he  was  engaged, 
as  well  private  as  public,  he  was  habitually, 


minutely,  and  critically  clear,  punctual,  exact, 
and  particular.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first 
conventions  and  assemblies  elected  by  the  peo 
ple  independently  of  the  colonial  authorities. 
He  chose  and  valued  most,  the  station  of  a 
representative  of  the  people  ;  because  he  thought 
it  most  honorable,  and  one  where  he  could  be 
most  useful ;  nor  did  he  ever  consent  to  accept 
of  any  other,  but  once,  when  he  acted  as  a 
commissioner  to  adjust  the  navigation  and 
boundary,  between  Maryland  and  Virginia.  He 
was  a  man  of  the  people  in  spirit  and  in  truth  ; 
and  every  act  of  his  life  incontestibly  evinces, 
that  in  their  cause  he  never  once,  or  for  a  sin 
gle  moment,  trembled,  hesitated,  or  wavered. 

Many  intelligent  foreigners,  and  some  of  our 
own  countrymen,  whose  judgments  have  been 
confused  or  perverted  by  aristocratic  princi 
ples,  entertain  a  belief,  and  propagate  the 
opinion,  that  our  liberties  were  principally  es 
tablished  by  the  integrity,  wisdom,  and  for 
bearance  of  our  military  leaders.  To  such  it 
will  be  particularly  instructive  to  attend  to  the 
first  of  the  following  letters  from  this  venerable 
patriot ;  written  at  a  time,  and  under  circum 
stances  singularly  impressive  and  affecting.  In 
a  ripe  old  age,  chastened  by  experience,  when 
the  hand  of  Providence  had  visited  his  house 
hold  with  such  an  affliction  as  to  induce  him 
to  desire  no  more  the  return  of  hilarity  to  his 
heart,  he  seats  himself  in  his  closet  to  unbosom 
himself  to  his  friend  ;  to  tell  him  of  his  political 
opinions  and  principles  and  to  speak  of  the  sen 
timents,  feelings,  and  probable  fortunes  of  his 
country.  This  letter,  which  is  so  highly  honor 
able  to  its  author,  furnishes  conclusive  proof, 
that  all  the  chiefs,  as  well  military  as  civil, 
were  guided  and  controled  by  the  people,  and 
bears  ample  testimony  to  their  virtue  and  their 
glory. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  convention  which 
formed  the  present  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  appears  to  have  been  deeply,  and 
sincerely  impressed  with  the  magnitude  of  the 
undertaking.  He  was  afterwards  a  member  of 
the  convention  of  Virginia  by  which  it  was 
ratified,  which  he  actively  and  firmly  opposed, 
without  previous  amendments.  He  was  a 
most  decided  enemy  to  all  constructive  and 
implied  powers.  And  it  is  remarkable,  that  he 
was  the.  author  of  some,  and  the  warm  advocate 
of  every  amendment  since  made  to  it.  His 
friend  and  coadjutor,  the  illustrious  Henry, 
poured  forth  the  boundless  wealth  of  his  im 
passioned  eloquence  in  opposition  ;  he  charmed, 
enchanted,  or  won  over  many  of  his  auditors  to 
withhold  their  assent  from  the  proposed  plan 
of  government  But,  when  Mason  spoke,  he 


VIRGINIA. 


301 


seemed  to  cite  his  hearers  severally  to  the  bar 
of  reason  and  truth,  and  imperatively  to  demand 
of  them  to  produce  the  reason  and  grounds 
upon  which  they  proposed  to  tolerate  the  per 
nicious  principles  he  denounced.  Henry  de 
lighted,  astonished,  and  captivated.  Mason 
stirred  the  house,  and  challenged  every  friend 
of  the  new  constitution  to  stand  forth  ;  at  the 
same  time,  that  he  made  them  feel,  they  would 
have  to  meet  an  antagonist  whom  it  was  diffi 
cult  to  vanquish,  and  impossible  to  put  to 
flight ;  such  was  the  clear,  condensed,  and 
dauntless  vigor  he  displayed. 

George  Mason  was  a  member  of  that  conven 
tion  of  Virginia,  which,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of 
May,  1776,  declared  that  state  independent  and 
formed  the  constitution  by  which  it  is  still  gov 
erned.  And  to  him  belongs  the  honor  of  having 
draughted  the  first  declaration  of  rights  ever 
adopted  in  America,  of  which  the  following  is 
a  copy.  The  few  alterations  made  by  the  con 
vention,  which  adopted  it  unanimously  on  the 
twelfth  day  of  June,  1776,  and  made  it  a  part 
of  the  constitution  of  Virginia,  where  it  yet  re 
mains,  are  noted.  This  declaration  contains 
principles  more  extensive,  and  much  more 
perspicuously  expressed  than  any  then  to  be 
found  in  the  supposed  analogous  instruments 
of  any  other  age  or  country. 

The  English  magna  charta  was,  strictly 
speaking,  a  contract  between  an  assemblage  of 
feudal  lords  and  a  king,  not  a  declaration  of 
the  rights  of  man,  and  the  fundamental  princi 
ples  on  which  all  government  should  rest.  "  It 
was  not  so  much  their  intention  to  secure  the 
liberties  of  the  people  at  large,  as  to  establish 
the  privileges  of  a  few  individuals.  A  great 
tyrant  on  the  one  side,  and  a  set  of  petty 
tyrants  on  the  other,  seem  to  have  divided  the 
kingdom  ;  and  the  great  body  of  the  people, 
disregarded  and  oppressed  on  all  hands,  were 
beholden  for  any  privileges  bestowed  upon 
them,  to  the  jealousy  of  their  masters  ;  who,  by 
limiting  the  authority  of  each  other  over  their 
dependents,  produced  a  reciprocal  diminution 
of  their  power." 

The  articles  drawn  up  by  the  Spanish  junta, 
in  the  year  1522,  under  the  guidance  of  the 
celebrated  Padilly,  are  much  more  distinct  and 
popular  in  their  provisions  than  those  of  the 
English  magna  charta.  But,  although  it  is 
admitted,  that  the  principles  of  liberty  were  ably 
defended,  and  better  understood,  at  that  time 
in  Spain,  than  they  were  for  more  than  a  cen 
tury  after,  in  England,  the  power  of  Charles  5th 
proved  to  be  irresistible,  the  people  failed  in 
their  attempt  to  bridle  his  prerogative,  and  their 
liberties  were  finally  crushed. 


The  famous  English  bill  of  rights  sanctioned 
by  William  and  Mary  on  their  ascending  the 
throne,  and  which,  under  the  name  of  the  peti 
tion  of  rights,  appears  to  have  been  projected 
many  years  before  by  that  profound  lawyer,  sir 
Edward  Coke,  like  magna  charta,  and  the 
articles  of  the  Spanish  junta,  is  a  contract  with 
nobility  and  royalty,  a  compromise  with  despot 
ism,  in  which  the  voice  of  the  people  is  heard 
in  a  tone  of  disturbed  supplication  and  prayer. 
But  in  this  declaration  of  Mason's,  man  seems 
to  stand  erect  in  all  the  majesty  of  his  nature 
— to  assert  the  inalienable  rights  and  equality 
with  which  he  has  been  endowed  by  his  Creator, 
and  to  declare  the  fundamental  principles  by 
which  all  rulers  should  be  controled,  and  on 
which  all  governments  should  rest.  The  con 
trast  is  striking,  the  difference  prodigious. 
And  when  I  read,  at  the  foot  of  this  curious 
original,  the  assertion  of  its  author,  that  "  This 
Declaration  of  Rights  was  the  first  in  Amer 
ica  ;  "  I  see  a  manly  mind  indulging  its  feelings 
under  a  consciousness  of  having  done  an  act  so 
permanently  and  extensively  useful.  And  what 
feeling  can  be  so  exquisitely  delightful  ?  what 
pride  more  truly  virtuous  and  noble  ? 

The  principles  of  liberty  filled  and  warmed 
the  bosom  of  this  venerable  patriot  in  that  last 
hour,  which  is  an  awful,  and  an  honest  one  to 
us  all ;  in  his  last  will,  he  speaks  in  his  dying 
hour,  and  charges  his  sons,  on  a  father's  bless 
ing,  to  be  true  to  freedom  and  their  country. 
He  was  indeed  and  in  truth  one  of  the  fathers 
of  this  nation.  Therefore,  let  every  son  of  free 
America,  as  he  enters  upon  the  busy  scenes  of 
life,  hear  and  solemnly  beseech  Heaven  to 
fortify  him  in  the  faithful  observance  of  this 
sacred  charge  of  one  of  the  most  worthy  fathers 
of  this  country. 


DECLARATION  OF  RIGHTS. 

(Copy  of  the  first  draught  by  George  Mason.} 

A  declaration  of  rights  made  by  the  representa 
tives  of  the  good  people  of  Virginia,  assem 
bled  in  full  and  free  convention  ;  which  rights 
do  pertain  to  them  and   their  posterity,  as 
the    basis  and   foundation   of   government, 
unanimously  adopted  by  the  convention  of 
Virginia,  June  I2th,  1776. 
i.  That  all  men  are  created  equally  free  and 
independent,  and  have  certain  inherent  natural 
rights  of  which,  they  cannot,  by  any  compact, 
deprive,  or  divest   their  posterity ;   (A)  among 
which  are  the  enjoyment  of  life  and  liberty, 
with  the  means  of  acquiring  and  possessing 


302 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


property,  and  pursuing  and   obtaining  happi 
ness  and  safety. 

2.  That  all  power  is  by  God  and  nature  vested 
in  and  consequently  derived  from  the  people ; 
that  magistrates  are  their  trustees  and  servants, 
and  at  all  times  amenable  to  them. 

3.  That  government  is,  or  ought  to  be,  in 
stituted  for  the  common  benefit,  protection  and 
security  of  the  people,  nation  or  community. 
Of  all  the  various  modes  and  forms  of  govern 
ment,  that  is  best,  which  is  capable  of  produc 
ing  the  greatest  degree  of  happiness  and  safety, 
and   is   most    effectually  secured   against   the 
danger  of  administration  ;  and  that  whenever 
any  government  shall  be  found  inadequate  or 
contrary  to  these  purposes,  a  majority  of  the 
community   hath    an  indubitable,  unalienable 
indefeasible  right,  to  reform,  alter,  or  abolish  it, 
in  such  manner  as  shall  be  judged  most  condu 
cive  to  the  public  weal. 

4.  That  no  man,  or  set  of  men,  are  entitled 
to  exclusive  or  separate  emoluments  or  priv 
ileges  from  the  community,  but  in  considera 
tion  of  public  services ;   which   not  being  de 
scendible,  neither  ought  the  offices  of  magis 
trate,  legislator,  or  judge,  to  be  hereditary. 

5.  That  the  legislative  and  executive  powers 
of  the  state   should   be  separate  and   distinct 
from  \ht  judicial;  and  that  the  members  of  the 
two   first  may   be  restrained  from  oppression, 
by  feeling  and  participating  the  burthens  of  the 
people,  they  should,  at  fixed  periods,  be  reduced 
to  a  private  station,  and  return  unto  that  body 
from   which   they  were   originally  taken,   and 
vacancies  be  supplied  by  frequent,  certain  and 
regular  election.  (A) — 

6.  That  elections  of  members,  to   serve  as 
representatives  of  the  people  in  the  legislature, 
ought  to  be  free,  and  that  all  men  having  suffi 
cient  evidence  of  permanent  common  interest 
with,  and  attachment  to  the  community,  have 
the  right  of  suffrage  ;  and  cannot  be  taxed,  or 
deprived   of    their   property    for  public    uses 
without  their  own  consent,  or  that  of  their  re 
presentatives  so  elected,  nor  bound  by  any  law 
to  which  they  have  not,  in  like  manner,  as 
sented  for  the  common  good. 

7.  That  all  power  of  suspending  laws,  or  the 
execution  of  laws,  by  any  authority,  without 
consent  of  the  representatives  of  the  people,  is 
injurious  to  their  rights,  and  ought  not  to  be 
exercised. 

8.  That  in  all  capital  or  criminal  prosecutions, 
a  man  hath  a  right  to  demand  the  cause  and 
nature  of  his  accusation,  to  be  confronted  with 
the  accusers  and  witnesses,  to  call  for  evidence 
in    his   favor,   and  to  a  speedy  trial    by  an 
impartial  jury  of  his  vicinage,  without  unani 


mous  consent  he  cannot  be  found  guilty,  nor 
can  he  be  compelled  to  give  evidence  against 
himself ;  and  that  no  man  be  deprived  of  his 
liberty,  except  by  the  law  of  the  land,  or  the 
judgment  of  his  peers. 

9.  That  excessive  bail  ought  not  to  be  re 
quired,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed,  nor  cruel 
and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 

10.  (This  article  was   inserted  by  the  con 
vention.) 

11.  That  in  controversies  respecting  prop 
erty,  and  in  suits  between  man  and  man,  the 
ancient  trial  by  jury  is  preferable  to  any  other, 
and  ought  to  be  held  sacred. 

12.  That  the  freedom  of  the  press  is  one  of 
the  great  bulwarks  of  liberty,  and  can  never  be 
restrained  but  by  despotic  governments. 

13.  That  a  well  regulated  militia,  composed 
of  the  body  of  the  people  trained  to  arms,  is  the 
proper,   natural,   and   safe  defence   of  a  free 
state ;  that  standing  armies  in  time  of  peace, 
should  be  avoided,  as  dangerous  to   liberty: 
and  that,  in  all  cases,  the  military  should  be 
under  strict  subordination  to,  and  governed  by 
the  civil  power. 

14.  (This  article  also  was  inserted  by  the 
convention.) 

1 5.  That  no  free  government,  or  the  bless 
ing  of  liberty,  can  be  preserved  to  any  people, 
but  by  a  firm  adherence  to  justice,  moderation, 
temperance,  frugality  and   virtue,  and  by  fre 
quent  recurrence  to  fundamental  principles. 

1 6.  That  religion,  or  the  duty  which  we  owe 
to  our  Creator,  and  the  manner  of  discharging 
it,  can  be  directed  only  by  reason  and  convic 
tion,  not  by  force  or  violence,  and,  therefore 
that  all  men  should  enjoy  the  fullest  toleration 
in  the  exercise  of  religion,  according  to  the 
dictates  of  conscience,  unpunished  and  unre 
strained  by    the    magistrate;     unless    imder 
color  of  religion,  any  man  disturb  the  peace, 
the  happiness,  or  the  safety  of  society.     And 
that  it  is  the  mutual  duty  of  all  to  practise 
Christian  forbearance,  love,  and  charity  toward 
each  other. 


"  This  declaration  of  rights  was  the  first  in 
America ;  it  received  few  alterations  or  addi 
tions  in  the  Virginia  convention,  (some  of  them 
not  for  the  better,)  and  was  afterwards  closely 
imitated  by  the  other  United  States." 


The  foregoing  was  copied  verbatim  from  the 
original,  the  hand-writing  of  the  author,  col. 
George  Mason,  of  Virginia,  left  in  the  posses 
sion  of  his  son,  gen.  John  Mason  of  Georgetown. 
In  order  to  facilitate  the  comparison  of  it  with 


VIRGINIA. 


303 


that  which  was  adopted  by  the  convention,  and  is 
still  in  force,  it  has  been  thought  proper  to  num 
ber  the  articles  as  in  the  adopted  declaration, 
omitting  the  tenth  and  fourteenth  which  were 
inserted  entire  by  the  convention  ;  and  to  place 
those  words  in  italics,  which  were  either  ex 
punged  or  altered,  and  to  put  a  caret  where 
others  were  added. 


LETTER  FROM  GEORGE  MASON. 

"  VIRGINIA,  GUNSTON-HALL,  Oct.  a,  1778. 

"  My  dear  sir. — It  gave  me  great  pleasure, 
upon  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  23d  of  April, 
(by  Mr.  Digges)  to  hear  that  you  are  alive  and 
well,  in  a  country,  where  you  can  spend  your 
time  agreeably ;  not  having  heard  a  word  from 
you,  or  of  you,  for  two  years  before.  I  am 
much  obliged,  by  the  friendly  concern  you  take 
in  my  domestic  affairs,  and  your  kind  enquiry 
after  my  family;  great  alterations  have  hap 
pened  in  it.  About  four  years  ago  I  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  my  wife  :  to  you,  who  knew 
her,  and  the  happy  manner  in  which  we  lived, 
I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  my  feelings :  I 
was  scarce  able  to  bear  the  first  shock,  a  de 
pression  of  spirits,  a  settled  melancholy  fol 
lowed,  from  which  I  never  expect,  or  desire  to 
recover.  I  determined  to  spend  the  remain 
der  of  my  days  in  privacy  and  retirement  with 
my  children,  from  whose  society  alone,  I  could 
expect  comfort.  Some  of  them  are  now  grown 
up  to  men  and  women  ;  and  I  have  the  satis 
faction  to  see  them  free  from  vices,  good-na 
tured,  obliging  and  dutiful :  they  all  still  live 
with  me,  and  remain  single,  except  my  second 
daughter,  who  is  lately  married  to  my  neigh 
bor  son.  My  eldest  daughter  (who  is 

blessed  with  her  mother's  amiable  disposition) 
is  mistress  of  my  family,  and  manages  my  lit 
tle  domestic  matters,  with  a  degree  of  prudence 
far  above  her  years.  My  eldest  son  engaged 
early  in  the  American  cause,  and  was  chosen 
ensign  of  the  first  independent  company  formed 
in  Virginia,  or  indeed  on  the  continent ;  it  was 
commanded  by  the  present  general  Washing 
ton  as  captain,  and  consisted  entirely  of  gen 
tlemen.  In  the  year  1775,  he  was  appointed  a 
captain  of  foot,  in  one  of  the  first  minute-regi 
ments  raised  here  ;  but  was  soon  obliged  to 
quit  the  service,  by  a  violent  rheumatic  dis 
order  ;  which  has  followed  him  ever  since,  and, 
I  believe  will  force  him  to  try  the  climate  of 
France  or  Italy.  My  other  sons  have  not  yet 
finished  their  education  :  as  soon  as  they  do, 
if  the  war  continues,  they  seem  strongly  in 
clined  to  take  an  active  part. 


In  the  summer  of  '75,  I  was,  much  against 
my  inclination,  drag'd  out  of  my  retirement,  by 
the  people  of  my  county  and  sent  a  delegate  to 
the  general  convention  at  Richmond  ;  where  I 
was  appointed  a  member  of  the  first  committee, 
of  safety  ;  and  have  since,  at  different  times, 
been  chosen  a  member  of  the  privy-council, 
and  of  the  American  congress  ;  but  have  con 
stantly  declined  acting  in  any  other  public 
character  than  that  of  an  independent  repre 
sentative  of  the  people,  in  the  house  of  dele 
gates  ;  where  I  still  remain,  from  a  conscious 
ness  of  being  able  to  do  my  country  more  ser 
vice  there,  than  in  any  other  department,  and 
have  ever  since  devoted  most  of  my  time  to 
public  business ;  to  the  no  small  neglect  and 
injury  of  my  private  fortune ;  but  if  I  can  only 
live  to  see  the  American  union  firmly  fixed, 
and  free  governments  well  established  in  our 
western  world,  and  can  leave  to  my  children 
but  a  crust  of  bread  and  liberty,  I  shall  die 
satisfied ;  and  say,  with  the  psalmist,  "  Lord 
now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace." 
— To  show  you  that  I  have  not  been  an  idle 
spectator  of  this  great  contest,  and  to  amuse 
you  with  the  sentiments  of  an  old  friend  upon 
an  important  subject,  I  enclose  you  a  copy  of 
the  first  draught  of  the  declaration  of  rights, 
just  as  it  was  drawn  and  presented  by  me,  to 
the  Virginia  convention,  where  it  received  few 
alterations ;  some  of  them  I  think  not  for  the 
better :  this  was  the  first  thing  of  the  kind 
upon  the  continent,  and  has  been  closely  imi 
tated  by  all  the  states.  There  is  a  remarkable 
sameness  in  all  the  forms  of  government 
throughout  the  American  union,  except  in  the 
states  of  South  Carolina  and  Pennsylvania ; 
the  first  having  three  branches  of  legislature, 
and  the  last  only  one  ;  all  the  other  states 
have  two :  this  difference  has  given  general 
disgust,  and  it  is  probable  an  alteration  will 
take  place,  to  assimilate  these  to  the  constitu 
tions  of  the  other  states.  We  have  laid  our 
new  government  upon  a  broad  foundation,  and 
have  endeavored  to  provide  the  most  effectual 
securities  for  the  essential  rights  of  human 
nature,  both  in  civil  and  religious  liberty ;  the 
people  become  every  day  more  and  more  at 
tached  to  it ;  and  I  trust  that  neither  the  pow 
er  of  Great  Britain,  nor  the  power  of  hell  will 
be  able  to  prevail  against  it. 

There  never  was  an  idler  or  a  falser  notion, 
than  that  which  the  British  ministry  have 
imposed  upon  the  nation,  that  this  great  revo 
lution  has  been  the  work  of  a  faction,  of  a  jun 
to  of  ambitious  men  against  the  sense  of  the 
people  of  America.  On  the  contrary,  nothing 
has  been  done  without  the  approbation  of  the 


304 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


people,  who  have  indeed  outrun  their  leaders  : 
so  that  no  capital  measure  hath  been  adopted 
until  they  called  loudly  for  it :  to  any  one  who 
knows  mankind,  there  needs  no  greater  proof 
than  the  cordial  manner  in  which  they  have  co 
operated,  and  the  patience  and  perseverance 
with  which  they  have  struggled  under  their 
sufferings  ;  which  have  been  greater  than  you, 
at  a  distance  can  conceive,  or  I  describe. 
Equally  false  is  the  assertion  that  independ 
ence  was  originally  designed  here  :  things  have 
gone  such  lengths,  that  it  is  a  matter  of  moon 
shine  to  us,  whether  independence  was  at  first 
intended,  or  not,  and  therefore  we  may  now  be 
believed.  The  truth  is,  we  have  been  forced 
into  it,  as  the  only  means  of  self-preservation, 
to  guard  our  country  and  posterity  from  the 
greatest  of  all  evils,  such  another  infernal  gov 
ernment  (if  it  deserves  the  name  of  govern 
ment)  as  the  provinces  groaned  under,  in  the 
latter  ages  of  the  Roman  commonwealth.  To 
talk  of  replacing  us  in  the  situation  of  1763, 
as  we  first  asked,  is  to  the  last  degree  absurd, 
and  impossible  :  they  obstinately  refused  it, 
while  it  was  in  their  power,  and  now,  that  it  is 
out  of  their  power,  they  offer  it.  Can  they 
raise  our  cities  out  of  their  ashes  ?  Can  they 
replace,  in  ease  and  affluence  ;  the  thousands 
of  families  whom  they  have  ruined  ?  Can  they 
restore  the  husband  to  the  widow,  the  child  to 
the  parent,  or  the  father  to  the  orphan  ?  In  a 
word,  can  they  reanimate  the  dead  ? — Our 
country  has  been  made  a  scene  of  desolation 
and  blood — enormities  and  cruelties  have  been 
committed  here,  which  not  only  disgrace  the 
British  name,  but  dishonor  the  human  kind,  we 
can  never  again  trust  a  people  who  have  thus 
used  us  ;  human  nature  revolts  at  the  idea  ! — 
The  die  is  cast — the  Rubicon  is  passed — and  a 
reconciliation  with  Great  Britain,  upon  the 
terms  of  returning  to  her  government  is  im 
possible. 

No  man  was  more  warmly  attached  to  the 
Hanover  family  and  the  whig  interest  of 
England,  than  I  was,  and  few  men  had 
stronger  prejudices  in  favor  of  that  form  of 
government  under  which  I  was  born  and  bred, 
or  a  greater  aversion  to  changing  it ;  it  was 
ever  my  opinion  that  no  good  man  would  wish 
to  try  so  dangerous  an  experiment  upon  any 
speculative  notions  whatsoever,  without  an 
absolute  necessity. 

The  ancient  poets,  in  their  elegant  manner 
of  expression,  have  made  a  kind  of  being  of 
necessity,  and  tell  us  that  the  Gods  themselves 
are  obliged  to  yield  to  her. 

When  I  was  first  a  member  of  the  convention, 
I  exerted  myself  to  prevent  a  confiscation  of 


the  and  although  I  was  for  putting  the 

country  immediately  into  a  state  of  defence, 
and  preparing  for  the  worst ;  yet  as  long  as  we 
had  any  well  founded  hopes  of  reconciliation,  I 
opposed  to  the  utmost  of  my  power,  all  violent 
measures,  and  such  as  might  shut  the  door  to 
it ;  but  when  reconciliation  became  a  lost  hope, 
when  unconditional  submission,  or  effectual 
resistance  were  the  only  alternatives  left  us, 
when  the  last  dutiful  and  humble  petition  from 
congress  received  no  other  answer  than  declar 
ing  us  rebels,  and  out  of  the  king's  protection, 
I,  from  that  moment,  looked  forward  to  a  revo 
lution  and  independence,  as  the  only  means  of 
salvation ;  and  will  risk  the  last  penny  of  my 
fortune,  and  the  last  drop  of  my  blood  upon 
the  issue  :  for  to  imagine  that  we  could  resist 
the  efforts  of  Great  Britain,  still  professing  our 
selves  her  subjects,  or  support  a  defensive  war 
against  a  powerful  nation,  without  the  reins  of 
government  in  the  hands  of  America  (whatever 
our  pretended  friends  in  Great  Britain  may  say 
of  it)  is  too  childish  and  futile  an  idea  to  enter 
into  the  head  of  any  man  of  sense.  I  am  not 
singular  in  my  opinions ;  these  are  the  senti 
ments  of  more  than  nine  tenths  of  the  best  men 
in  America. 

God  has  been  pleased  to  bless  our  endeavors, 
in  a  just  cause,  with  remarkable  success.  To 
us  upon  the  spot,  who  have  seen  step  by  step 
the  progress  of  this  great  contest,  who  know 
the  defenceless  state  of  America  in  the  begin 
ning,  and  the  numberless  difficulties  we  have 
had  to  struggle  with,  taking  a  retrospective 
view  of  what  is  passed,  we  seem  to  have  been 
treading  upon  enchanted  ground.  The  case  is 
now  altered.  American  prospects  brighten, 
and  appearances  are  strongly  in  our  favor. 
The  British  ministry  must  and  will  acknowledge 
us  independent  states." 


GEORGE  MASON  TO  HIS  SON. 

An  extract  from  the  copy  of  a  letter  from  col. 
George  Mason  to  his  son,  Mr.  George  Mason, 
then  in  France,  dated  1781,  the  original  of 
which  was  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Cottnt  de 
Vergennes  by  Dr.  Franklin. 

"  Our  affairs  have  been,  for  some  time,  grow 
ing  from  bad  to  worse.  The  enemy's  fleet 
commands  our  rivers,  and  puts  it  in  their 
power  to  remove  their  troops,  from  place  to 
place,  when  and  where  they  please  without 
opposition  ;  so  that  we  no  sooner  collect  a  force 
sufficient  to  counteract  them  in  one  part  of  the 
country,  but  they  shift  to  another,  ravaging, 
plundering,  and  destroying  every  thing  before 


VIRGINIA. 


305 


them.  Our  militia  turn  out  with  great  spirit, 
and  have,  in  several  late  actions,  behaved 
bravely;  but  they  are  badly  armed  and  ap 
pointed.  General  Greene  with  about  1200 
regular  troops  and  some  militia,  is  in  South 
Carolina  :  where  he  has  taken  all  the  enemy's 
posts,  except  Charleston.  The  enemy's  capital 
object,  at  this  time,  seems  to  be  Virginia.  Gen 
eral  Phillips  died  lately  in  Petersburg;  upon 
which  the  command  of  the  British  troops  then 
devolved  upon  Arnold.  But  lord  Cornwallis, 
quitting  North  Carolina,  has  since  joined 
Arnold,  with  about  1200  infantry  and  300 
cavalry,  and  taken  the  chief  command  of  their 
army  in  Virginia,  now  consisting  of  about 
5000  men.  They  have  crossed  James  river, 
and  by  the  latest  accounts  were  at  Westover  ; 
their  light  horse  having  advanced  as  far  as 
Hanover  court  house.  They  have  burnt  Page's 
warehouses,  where  the  greatest  part  of  the 
York  River  tobacco  was  collected  ;  they  had 
before  burned  most  of  the  tobacco  upon  James 
river,  and  have  plundered  great  part  of  the 
adjacent  country.  The  Marquis  de  la  Fayette 
is  about  twenty  miles  below  Fredericksburg 
with  about  1200  regulars  and  3000  militia,  wait 
ing  the  arrival  of  general  Wayne,  with  about 
1500  regular  troops  of  the  Pennsylvania  line. 

"  We  have  had  various  accounts  of  the  sail 
ing  of  a  Fiench  fleet,  with  a  body  of  land  forces, 
for  America  ;  should  they  really  arrive  it  would 
quickly  change  the  face  of  our  affairs,  and  infuse 
fresh  spirits  and  confidence  ;  but  it  has  been  so 
long  expected  in  vain,  that  little  credit  is  now 
given  to  reports  concerning  it. 

"  You  know,  from  your  own  acquaintance  in 
this  part  of  Virginia,  that  the  bulk  of  the  people 
here  are  staunch  whigs ;  strongly  attached  to 
the  American  cause,  and  well  affected  to  the 
French  alliance ;  yet  they  grow  uneasy  and 
restless,  and  begin  to  think  that  our  allies  are 
spinning  out  the  war,  in  order  to  weaken 
America,  as  well  as  Great  Britain,  and  thereby 
leave  us  at  the  end  of  it,  as  dependent  as  possi 
ble  upon  themselves. 

"  However  unjust  this  opinion  may  be,  it  is 
natural  enough  for  planters  and  farmers,  bur- 
thened  with  heavy  taxes,  and  frequently  drag 
ged  from  their  families  upon  military  duty  on 
the  continual  alarms  occasioned  by  the  supe 
riority  of  the  British  fleet.  They  see  their 
property  daily  exposed  to  destruction,  they  see 
with  what  facility  the  British  troops  are  re 
moved  from  one  part  of  the  continent  to 
another,  and  with  what  infinite  charge  and 
fatigue  ours  are,  too  late,  obliged  to  follow ; 
and  they  see  too,  very  plainly,  that  a  strong 
French  fleet  would  have  prevented  all  this. 
ao 


"  If  our  allies  had  a  superior  fleet  here,  I 
should  have  no  doubt  of  a  favorable  issue  to  the 
war :  but,  without  it,  I  fear  we  are  deceiving 
both  them  and  ourselves,  in  expecting  we  shall 
be  able  to  keep  our  people  much  longer  firm, 
in  so  unequal  an  opposition  to  Great  Britain. 

"  France  surely  intends  the  separation  of 
these  states,  forever,  from  Great  Britain.  It  is 
highly  her  interest  to  accomplish  this  ;  but  by 
drawing  out  the  thread  too  fine  and  long,  it 
may  unexpectedly  break  in  her  hands. 

"  God  bless  you,  my  dear  child ;  and  grant 
that  we  may  again  meet,  in  your  native  coun 
try,  as  freemen, — otherwise  that  we  may  never 
see  each  other  more,  is  the  prayer  of 
Your  affectionate  father, 

G.  MASON." 


GEORGE  MASON  TO  HIS  SON  THEN  IN  FRANCE, 
DATED  JAN.  8,  1783. 

"  As  to  the  money  you  have  spent  in  Europe, 
provided  you  can  satisfy  me  that  it  has  not 
been  spent  in  extravagance,  dissipation  or  idle 
parade,  I  don't  regard  it.  It  is  true,  I  have  a 
large  family  to  provide  for;  and  that  I  am 
determined  from  motives  of  morality  and  duty 
to  do  justice  to  them  all ;  it  is  certain  also  that 
I  have  not  lost  less  than  ^10,000  sterling  b) 
the  war,  in  the  depreciation  of  paper  money 
and  the  loss  of  the  profits  of  my  estate  ;  but 
think  this  a  cheap  purchase  of  liberty  and 
independence.  I  thank  God,  I  have  been  able, 
by  adopting  principles  of  strict  economy  and 
frugality,  to  keep  my  principal,  I  mean  my 
country  estate,  unimpaired, and  I  have  suffered 
little  by  the  depredations  of  the  enemy.  I  have 
at  this  time,  two  years'  rents  (you  know  mine 
are  all  tobacco  rents)  in  arrear  and  two  crops 
uninspected  ;  so  that  if  a  peace  happens,  it  will 
find  me  plentiful  handed  in  the  article  of  to 
bacco,  which  will  then  be  very  valuable.  The 
money  it  has  cost  you  to  relieve  the  distresses 
of  your  unfortunate  countrymen  was  worthily 
expended,  and  you  will  receive  retribution,  with 
large  interest,  in  heaven — but  in  order  to 
shorten  the  time  of  credit  and  also  to  entitle 
myself  to  some  proportion  of  the  merit,  I  shall 
insist  upon  replacing  to  you  every  shilling  of  it 
here.  I  hope  you  will  therefore  keep  an  exact 
account  of  it. 

"  I  beg  you  will  freely  communicate  to  me 
the  situation  of  your  affairs;  and  if  there 
should  be  a  necessity  of  making  you  remit 
tances,  I  will  endeavor  to  do  it  at  all  events, 
though  it  must  be  by  selling  some  of  the 
produce  of  my  estate  at  an  undervalue.  I  am 


306 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


now  pretty  far  advanced  in  life,  and  all  my 
views  are  centred  in  the  happiness  and  welfare 
of  my  children — you  will  therefore  find  from 
me  every  indulgence  which  you  have  a  right  to 
expect  from  an  affectionate  parent. 

I  have  been  for  some  time  in  retirement  and 
shall  not  probably  return  again  to  public  life  ; 
my  anxiety  for  my  country,  in  these  times  of 
danger,  makes  me  sometimes  dabble  a  little  in 
politics,  and  keep  up  a  correspondence  with 
some  men  upon  the  public  stage.  You  know 
I  am  not  apt  to  form  opinions  lightly  and  with 
out  due  examination.  And  I  can  venture  to 
say  that  the  French  court  and  nation,  may 
confide  in  the  honor  and  good  faith  of  America. 
We  reflect  with  gratitude  on  the  important  aids 
France  has  given  us  ;  but  she  must  not,  and  I 
hope  will  not  attempt  to  lead  us  into  a  war  of 
ambition  or  conquest,  or  trail  us  around  the 
mysterious  circle  of  European  politics.  We 
have  little  news  worth  communicating — nothing 
of  consequence  has  happened  here  this  cam 
paign  ;  the  enemy  having  generally  kept  close 
within  their  lines,  and  the  American  army  not 
strong  enough  to  force  them.  We  have  along 
time  expected  the  evacuation  of  Charlestown  ; 
the  enemy  have  dismantled  their  out  works  and 
embarked  their  heavy  artillery  and  some  of 
their  troops. — However,  by  the  last  accounts 
(in  December)  they  had  still  a  garrison  there. 
By  late  accounts  from  Kentucky,  we  are 
informed  that  general  Clarke  with  1 200  volun 
teers  had  crossed  the  Ohio  river  and  destroyed 
six  of  the  Shawnese  towns,  destroying  also  about 
2,000  barrels  of  their  corn  and  bringing  off  furs 
and  other  plunder  to  the  value  of  .£3,000,  which 
was  sold  and  the  money  divided  among  his 
men ;  this  will  probably  drive  these  savages 
near  the  Lakes  or  the  Mississippi.  Upon 
Clarke's  return  the  Chickasaws  sent  deputies 
to  him  to  treat  for  peace.  Every  thing  was 
quiet  in  the  new  settlements,  and  upwards  of 
5,000  souls  have  been  added  to  them  since  last 
September.  The  people  there  are  extremely 
uneasy  lest  the  free  navigation  of  the  river  Mis 
sissippi  to  the  sea  should  not  be  secured  to  them 
upon  a  treaty  of  peace  ;  if  it  is  not,  it  will  occa 
sion  another  war  in  less  than  seven  years  :  the 
inhabitants  think  they  have  a  natural  right  to 
the  free,  though  not  the  exclusive  navigation 
of  that  river  ;  and  in  a  few  years  they  will  be 
strong  enough  to  enforce  that  right." 


GEORGE  MASON  TO  A  FRIEND. 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  colonel  George  Mason, 
of  Virginia  (while  serving  in  the  general 
convention),  to  a  friend  in  that  state. 

PHILADELPHIA,  June  ist,  1787. 

"  The  idea  I  formerly  mentioned  to  you,  be 
fore  the  convention  met,  of  a  great  national 
council,  consisting  of  two  branches  of  the 
legislature,  a  judiciary  and  an  executive,  upon 
the  principle-of  fair  representation  in  the  legis 
lature,  with  powers  adapted  to  the  great  objects 
of  the  union,  and  consequently  a  control  in 
these  instances,  on  the  state  legislatures,  is 
still  the  prevalent  one.  Virginia  has  had  the 
honor  of  presenting  the  outlines  of  the  plan, 
upon  which  the  convention  is  proceeding  ;  but 
so  slowly,  that  it  is  impossible  to  judge  when 
the  business  will  be  finished  ;  most  probably 
not  before  August— -festina  lente  may  very  well 
be  called  our  motto.  When  I  first  came  here, 
judging  from  casual  conversations  with  gentle 
men  from  the  different  states,  I  was  very  ap 
prehensive  that,  soured  and  disgusted  with  the 
unexpected  evils  we  had  experienced  from  the 
democratic  principles  of  our  governments,  we 
should  be  apt  to  run  into  the  opposite  extreme, 
and  in  endeavoring  to  steer  too  far  from  Scylla, 
we  might  be  drawn  into  the  vortex  of  Charyb- 
dis,  of  which  I  still  think,  there  is  some 
danger  ;  though  I  have  the  pleasure  to  find  in 
the  convention,  many  men  of  fine  republican 
principles.  America  has  certainly,  upon  this 
occasion,  drawn  forth  her  first  characters ; 
there  are  upon  this  convention  many  gentle 
men  of  the  most  respectable  abilities ;  and,  so 
far  as  I  can  yet  discover,  of  the  purest  inten 
tions  ;  the  eyes  of  the  United  States  are  turned 
upon  this  assembly,  and  their  expectations 
raised  to  a  very  anxious  degree. 

"  May  God  grant,  we  may  be  able  to  gratify 
them  by  establishing  a  wise  and  just  govern 
ment.  For  my  own  part,  I  never  before  felt 
myself  in  such  a  situation ;  and  declare,  I 
would  not,  upon  pecuniary  motives,  serve  in 
this  convention  for  a  thousand  pounds  per  day. 
The  revolt  from  Great  Britain,  and  the  forma 
tions  of  our  new  governments  at  that  time, 
were  nothing  compared  with  the  great  business 
now  before  us ;  there  was  then  a  certain 
degree  of  enthusiasm,  which  inspired  and  sup 
ported  the  mind;  but  to  view,  through  the 
calm  sedate  medium  of  reason,  the  influence 
which  the  establishments  now  proposed  may 
have  upon  the  happiness  or  misery  of  millions 
yet  unborn,  is  an  object  of  such  magnitude,  as 
absorbs,  and  in  a  manner  suspends  the  opera 
tions  of  the  human  understanding." 


VIRGINIA. 


307 


"  P.  S.  All  communications  of  the  proceed 
ings  are  forbidden  during  the  sitting  of  the 
convention  ;  this  I  think  was  a  necessary  pre 
caution  to  prevent  misrepresentations  or  mis 
takes  ;  there  being  a  material  difference  be 
tween  the  appearance  of  a  subject  in  its  first 
crude  and  indigested  shape,  and  after  it  shall 
have  been  properly  matured  and  arranged." 


AN  EXTRACT  FROM  THE  LAST.  WILL  AND 
TESTAMENT  OF  COLONEL  GEORGE  MASON, 
OF  VIRGINIA. 

"  I  recommend  it  to  my  sons,  from  my  own 
experience  in  life,  to  prefer  the  happiness  of 
independence  and  a  private  station  to  the 
troubles  and  vexation  of  public  business  :  but 
if  either  their  own  inclinations  or  the  necessity 
of  the  times  should  engage  them  in  public 
affairs,  I  charge  them  on  a  father's  blessing, 
never  to  let  the  motives  of  private  interest  or 
ambition  induce  them  to  betray,  nor  the  terrors 
of  poverty  and  disgrace,  or  the  fear  of  danger 
or  of  death,  deter  them  from  asserting  the 
liberty  of  their  country,  and  endeavoring  to 
transmit  to  their  posterity  those  sacred  rights 
to  which  themselves  were  born." 


GEORGE  ROGERS  CLARKE, 

COMMANDER  OF  THE  WESTERN  DEPART 
MENT  OF  VIRGINIA.  INTERESTING  NO 
TICE  OF  HIM. 

[While  his  countrymen  on  the  sea-board  were 
contending  with  the  British  regulars,  col. 
George  Rogers  Clarke  was  the  efficient  pro 
tector  of  the  people  of  the  frontiers  of  Virginia 
and  Pennsylvania  from  the  inroads  of  the 
savage  allies  of  the  "  defender  of  the  faith." 
The  history  of  his  exploits  would  fill  a  volume 
— and  for  hair-breadth  'scapes  and  hardy 
enterprise,  would  hardly  have  a  parallel.  The 
character  of  this  veteran  is  well  developed  in 
the  following  extract,  recently  published  in  the 
(Philadelphia)  "National  Gazette,"  from  "the 
note  of  an  old  officer."] 

"  The  Indians  came  into  the  treaty  at  Fort 
Washington  in  the  most  friendly  manner, 
except  the  Shawnees — the  most  conceited 
and  most  warlike  of  the  aborigines  ;  the  first  in 
at  a  battle — the  last  at  a  treaty.  Three  hund 
red  of  their  finest  warriors,  set  off  in  all  their 
paint  and  feathers,  filed  into  the  council  house. 
Their  number  and  demeanor,  so  unusual  at  an 
occasion  of  this  sort,  was  altogether  unexpected 
and  suspicious.  The  United  States  stockade 
mustered  seventy  men. 


"  In  the  centre  of  the  hall,  at  a  little  table, 
sat  the  commissary  general  Clan<e,  the  inde 
fatigable  scourge  of  these  very  marauders, 
general  Richard  Butler,  and  the  hon.  Mr.  Par 
sons — there  was  present,  also,  a  captain  Denfry, 
who  I  believe  is  still  alive,  and  can  attest  this 
story.  On  the  part  of  the  Indians  an  old  coun 
cil  sachem  and  a  warrior  chief  took  the  lead  ; 
the  latter,  a  tall,  raw  boned  fellow  with  an 
impudent  and  villainous  look,  made  a  boister 
ous  and  threatening  speech,  which  operated 
effectually  on  the  passions  of  the  Indians,  who 
set  up  a  prodigious  whoop  at  every  pause.  He 
concluded  by  presenting  a  black  and  white 
wampum,  to  signify  they  were  prepared  for 
either  event,  peace  or  war.  Clarke  exhibited  the 
same  unaltered  and  careless  countenance  he  had 
shown  during  the  whole  scene,  his  head  lean 
ing  on  his  left  hand  and  his  elbow  resting  on 
the  table :  he  raised  his  little  cane  and  pushed 
the  sacred  wampum  off  the  table,  with  very  lit 
tle  ceremony — every  Indian  at  the  same  mo 
ment  started  from  his  seat  with  one  of  those 
sudden,  simultaneous  and  peculiarly  savage 
sounds  which  startle  and  disconcert  the  stout 
est  heart,  and  can  neither  be  described  nor  for 
gotten. 

"  Parsons,  more  civil  than  military  in  his 
habits,  was  poorly  fitted  for  an  emergency  that 
probably  embarrassed  even  the  hero  of  Sara 
toga — the  brother  and  father  of  soldiers.  At 
this  juncture  Clarke  rose — the  scrutinizing  eye 
cowered  at  his  glance ;  he  stamped  his  foot  on 
the  prostrate  and  insulted  symbol,  and  ordered 
them  to  leave  the  hall — they  did  so  appar 
ently  involuntarily. 

"  They  were  heard  all  that  night  debating  in 
the  bushes  near  the  fort.  The  raw-boned 
chief  was  for  war,  the  old  sachem  for  peace : 
the  latter  prevailed,  and  next  morning  they 
came  back  and  sued  for  peace." 


JOHN   CHAMPE, 

A  GALLANT  SOLDIER  OF  VIRGINIA,  WHO 
ATTEMPTED  THE  SEIZURE  OF  THE  TRAITOR 
ARNOLD,  HAVING  BEEN  SELECTED  FOR 
THAT  PURPOSE  BY  MAJOR  LEE  AT  THE  IN 
STANCE  OF  GENERAL  WASHINGTON. 

[Some  person  in  a  late  Compiler  having 
asked,  with  at  least  the  semblance  of  sincerity, 
whether  Slaughter  or  Champe  was  sent  to 
arrest  the  traitor  Arnold?  I  beg  leave  to 
inform  him,  upon  the  testimony  of  Henry  Lee, 
that  Champe  was  the  distinguished  soldier  se 
lected  for  this  highly  honorable,  and  most 
confidential  business,  by  major  Lee,  at  the 


308 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


request  of  General  Washington.  Lee,  in  his 
memoirs  of  the  war  in  the  southern  states, 
thus  describes  the  hero,  and  his  adventure  : — ] 

"  He  was  a  native  of  Loudon  county,  in  Vir 
ginia,  about  twenty-three  or  twenty-four  years 
of  age  ;  that  he  had  enlisted  in  '76 — rather 
above  the  common  size — full  of  bone  and  mus 
cle  ;  with  a  saturnine  countenance ;  grave, 
thoughtful  and  taciturn — of  tried  courage  and 
inflexible  perseverance,  and  as  likely  to  reject 
an  offer  coupled  with  ignominy,  as  any  officer 
in  the  corps  ;  a  commission  being  the  goal  of 
his  long  and  anxious  exertions,  and  certain  on 
the  first  vacancy." 

[It  will  be  proper  here  to  premise,  that 
although  Champe  was  young,  ardent,  and  de 
voted  to  his  country's  cause,  and  thirsting  for 
military  fame  ;  yet  his  noble  and  magnanimous 
soul  revolted  at  the  idea  of  doing  any  thing 
underhanded,  or  that  had  even  the  shadow  of 
a  deviation  from  the  paths  of  chivalry,  and  the 
high  notions  of  honor  which  glowed  in  every 
American  bosom. — At  last,  however,  Champe, 
convinced  that  no  action  stamped  with  the  ap 
probation  of  the  commander-in-chief,  could  be 
other  than  laudable  and  worthy  of  a  soldier's 
best  exertions,  engaged  in  the  enterprise  with 
alacrity  and  zeal ;  and  after  all  the  plans  of 
Washington  were  fully  explained  to  him  by 
Major  Lee,  it  was  determined,  to  give  a  greater 
chance  of  success,  that  Champe  should  enter 
the  enemy's  lines  as  a  deserter !  and  accord 
ingly  he  did  desert.]  —  "  Evidently  discerni 
ble  as  were  the  difficulties  in  the  way,  no 
relief  could  be  administered  by  major  Lee,  lest 
it  might  induce  a  belief  that  he  was  privy  to 
the  desertion,  which  opinion  getting  to  the 
enemy,  would  involve  the  life  of  Champe. 
The  sergeant  was  left  to  his  own  resources  and 
to  his  own  management,  with  the  declared  de 
termination  that,  in  case  his  departure  should 
be  discovered  before  morning,  Lee  would  take 
care  to  delay  pursuit  as  long  as  was  practicable. 

"  Giving  to  the  sergeant  three  guineas,  and 
presenting  his  best  wishes,  he  recommended 
him  to  start  without  delay,  and  enjoined  him  to 
communicate  his  arrival  in  New-York  as  soon 
thereafter  as  might  be  practicable.  Champe 
pulling  out  his  watch,  compared  it  with  the 
major's,  reminding  the  latter  of  the  import 
ance  of  holding  back  pursuit,  which  he  was 
convinced  would  take  place  during  the  night, 
and  which  might  be  fatal,  as  he  knew  that  he 
should  be  obliged  to  zig-zag  in  order  to  avoid 
the  patroles,  which  would  consume  time.  It 
was  now  eleven  o'clock  :  He  returned  to  camp,* 

*  From  Lee's  marque,  where  they  had  been  consulting 
on  the  best  plan  of  the  proposed  desertion. 


and  taking  his  cloak,  valise,  and  orderly  book, 
he  drew  his  horse  from  the  picket,  and  mount 
ing  him,  put  himself  upon  fortune.  Lee, 
charmed  with  his  expeditious  consummation 
of  the  first  part  of  his  enterprise,  retired  to 
rest.  Useless  attempt !  The  past  scene 
could  not  be  obliterated  ;  and,  indeed,  had 
that  been  practicable,  the  interruption  which 
ensued  would  have  stopped  repose. 

"  Within  half  an  hour,  Captain  Carnes,  offi 
cer  of  the  day,  waited  upon  the  major,  and, 
with  considerable  emotion,  told  him  that  one 
of  the  patrole  had  fallen  in  with  a  dragoon, 
who,  being  challenged,  put  spur  to  his  horse 
and  escaped,  though  instantly  pursued.  Lee, 
complaining  of  the  interruption,  and  pretending 
to  be  extremely  fatigued  by  his  ride  to  and 
from  head-quarters,  answered  as  if  he  did  not 
understand  what  had  been  said,  which  com 
pelled  the  captain  to  repeat  it.  Who  can  the 
fellow  that  was  pursued  be?  enquired  the 
major  ;  adding,  a  countryman,  probably.  No, 
replied  the  captain,  the  patrole  sufficiently  dis 
tinguished  him  to  know  that  he  was  a  dra 
goon  ;  probably  one  from  the  army,  if  not  cer 
tainly  of  our  own.  This  idea  was  ridiculed 
from  its  improbability,  as  during  the  whole 
war  but  a  single  dragoon  had  deserted  from 
the  legion.  This  did  not  convince  Carnes,  so 
much  stress  was  it  now  the  fashion  to  lay  on 
the  desertion  of  Arnold,  and  the  probable 
effect  of  his  example.  The  captain  withdrew 
to  examine  the  squadron  of  horse,  whom  he 
had  ordered  to  assemble  in  pursuance  of  es 
tablished  usage  on  such  occasions.  Very 
quickly  he  returned,  stating  that  the  scoundrel  * 
was  known,  and  no  other  person  than  the  ser 
geant  major,  who  had  gone  off  with  his  horse, 
baggage,  and  orderly  book — so  presumed,  as 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  could  be  found. 
Sensibly  affected  at  the  supposed  baseness  of  a 
soldier  extremely  respected,  the  captain  added 
that  he  had  ordered  a  party  to  make  ready  for 
pursuit,  and  begged  the  major's  written 
orders. 

"Occasionally  this  discourse  was  interrupted, 
and  every  idea  suggested  which  the  excellent 
character  of  the  sergeant  warranted,  to  induce 
the  suspicion  that  he  had  not  deserted,  but 
had  taken  the  liberty  to  leave  camp  with  a 
view  to  personal  pleasure  ;  an  example,  said 
Lee,  too  often  set  by  the  officers  themselves, 
destructive  as  it  was  of  discipline,  opposed  as  it 
was  to  orders,  and  disastrous  as  it  might  prove 
to  the  corps  in  the  course  of  the  service. 

*  The  reader  will  understand,  that  Washington  and 
Lee  were  the  only  persons  acquainted  with  the  facts  in 
this  case. 


VIRGINIA. 


309 


"  Some  little  delay  was  thus  interposed,  but 
it  being  now  announced  that  the  pursuing  party 
was  ready,  major  Lee  directed  a  change  in  the 
officer,  saying  that  he  had  a  particular  service 
in  view,  which  he  had  determined  to  entrust  to 
the  lieut.  ready  for  duty,  and  which  probably 
must  be  performed  in  the  morning.  He  there 
fore  directed  him  to  summon  cornet  Middleton 
for  the  present  command.  Lee  was  induced 
thus  to  act,  first  to  add  to  the  delay,  and  next 
from  his  knowledge  of  the  tenderness  of  Mid 
dleton 's  disposition,  which  he  hoped  would 
lead  to  the  protection  of  Champe,  should  he 
be  taken. — Within  ten  minutes  Middleton  ap 
peared  to  receive  orders,  which  were  delivered 
to  him  made  out  in  the  customary  form,  and 
signed  by  the  major.  '  Pursue  so  far  as  you 
can  with  safety,  sergeant  Champe,  who  is  sus 
pected  of  deserting  to  the  enemy,  and  has  taken 
the  road  leading  to  Pauler's  Hook.  Bring  him 
alive  that  he  may  suffer  in  the  presence  of  the 
army  ;  but  kill  him  if  he  resists  or  escapes  after 
being  taken.' 

"  Detaining  the  cornet  a  few  minutes  longer 
in  advising  him  what  course  to  pursue,  urging 
him  to  take  care  of  the  horse  and  accoutre 
ments,  if  recovered — and  enjoining  him  to  be 
on  his  guard,  lest  he  might,  by  his  eager  pur 
suit,  improvidently  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  the  major  dismissed  Middleton,  wish 
ing  him  success.  A  shower  of  rain  fell  soon 
after  Champe's  departure,  which  enabled  the 
pursuing  dragoons  to  take  the  trail  of  his 
horse ;  knowing,  as  officer  and  trooper  did, 
the  make  of  their  shoes,  whose  impression  was 
an  unerring  guide. 

"  When  Middleton  departed,  it  was  a  few  min 
utes  past  twelve  ;  so  that  Champe  had  only  the 
start  of  rather  more  than  an  hour — by  no  means 
as  long  as  was  desired.  Lee  became  very  un 
happy,  not  only  because  the  estimable  and 
gallant  Champe  might  be  injured,  but  lest  the 
enterprise  might  be  delayed  ;  and  he  spent  a 
sleepless  night.  The  pursuing  party  during 
the  night,  was,  on  their  part,  delayed  by  the 
necessary  halts  to  examine  the  road,  as  the 
impression  of  the  horse's  shoes  directed  their 
course  ;  this  was  unfortunately  too  evident,  no 
other  horse  having  passed  along  the  road  since 
the  shower.  When  the  day  broke,  Middleton 
was  no  longer  found  to  halt,  and  he  pressed  on 
with  rapidity.  Ascending  an  eminence  before 
he  reached  the  three  Pidgeons,  some  miles  on 
the  north  of  the  village  of  Bergen,  (Jersey)  as 
the  pursuing  party  reached  its  summit,  Champe 
was  discovered  not  more  than  half  a  mile  in 
front,  resembling  an  Indian  in  his  vigilance. 
The  sergeant  at  the  same  moment  discovered 


the  party,  (whose  object  he  was  no  stranger  to,) 
and  giving  spur  to  the  horse,  he  determined  to 
outstrip  his  pursuers.  Middleton,  at  the  same 
instant  put  his  horses  to  the  top  of  their  speed  ; 
and  being  (as  the  legion  all  were)  well  acquaint 
ed  with  the  country,  he  recollected  a  short  route 
through  the  woods  to  the  bridge  below  Bergen, 
which  diverged  from  the  great  road  just  after 
you  gain  the  three  Pidgeons.— Reaching  the 
point  of  separation  he  halted,  and  dividing  his 
party,  directed  a  sergeant  with  a  few  dragoons 
to  take  the  near  cut,  and  possess,  with  all  pos 
sible  despatch  the  bridge,  while  he  with  the 
residue  followed  Champe  ;  not  doubting  but 
that  Champe  must  deliver  himself  up,  as  he 
would  be  closed  between  himself  and  his  ser 
geant.  Champe  did  not  forget  the  short  cut, 
and  would  have  taken  it  himself,  but  he  knew 
it  was  the  usual  route  of  our  parties  when 
returning  in  the  way  from  the  neighborhood  of 
the  enemy,  properly  preferring  the  woods  to 
the  road. — He  consequently  avoided  it,  and 
persuaded  that  Middleton  would  avail  himself 
of  it,  wisely  resolved  to  relinquish  his  intention 
of  getting  to  Pauler's  Hook,  and  to  seek  refuge 
from  two  British  galleys,  lying  a  few  miles  to 
the  west  of  Bergen. 

"  This  was  a  station  always  occupied  by  one 
or  more  galleys,  and  which  it  was  known  now 
lay  there.  Entering  the  village  of  Bergen, 
Champe  turned  to  his  right,  and  disguised  his 
change  of  course  as  much  as  he  could  by  taking 
the  beaten  streets,  turning  as  they  turned  ;  he 
passed  through  the  village  and  took  the  road 
towards  Elizabeth  town  Point.  Middleton's 
sergeant  gained  the  bridge,  when  he  conceived 
himself  ready  to  pounce  upon  Champe  when 
he  came  up  ;  and  Middleton  pursuing  his  course 
through  Bergen,  soon  got  also  to  the  bridge, 
when  to  his  extreme  mortification  he  found 
that  the  sergeant  had  slipped  through  his  fin 
gers.  Returning  up  the  road,  he  enquired  of 
the  villagers  of  Bergen,  whether  a  dragoon  had 
been  seen  that  morning  preceding  his  party  ? 
He  was  answered  in  the  affirmative,  but  could 
learn  nothing  satisfactory  as  to  the  route  he 
took.  While  engaged  in  enquiries  himself,  he 
spread  his  party  through  the  village  to  take 
the  trail  of  Champe's  horse,  a  resort  always 
recurred  to.  Some  of  his  dragoons  hit  it  just 
as  the  sergeant,  leaving  the  village,  got  in  the 
road  leading  to  the  Point.  Pursuit  was  re 
newed  with  vigor,  and  again  Champe  was  dis 
covered.  He,  apprehending  the  event,  had 
prepared  himself  for  it,  by  lashing  his  valise, 
(containing  his  clothes  and  orderly  book)  on 
his  shoulders,  and  holding  a  drawn  sword  in 
his  hand,  having  thrown  away  its  scabbard. 


3io 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


This  he  did  to  save  what  was  indispensable  to 
him  and  to  prevent  any  interruption  to  swim 
ming  by  the  scabbard,  should  Middleton,  as  he 
presumed,  when  disappointed  at  the  bridge,  take 
the  measures  adopted  by  him.  The  pursuit 
was  rapid  and  close,  as  the  stop  occasioned  by 
the  sergeant's  preparation  for  swimming  had 
brought  Middleton  within  two  or  three  hundred 
yards.  As  soon  as  Champe  got  abreast  of  the 
galleys,  he  dismounted,  and  running  through  the 
marsh  to  the  river,  plunged  into  it,  calling  upon 
the  galleys  for  help.  This  was  readily  given  ; 
they  fired  upon  our  horse,  and  sent  a  boat  to 
meet  Champe,  who  was  taken  on  board,  and 
conveyed  to  New- York,  with  a  letter  from  the 
captain  of  the  galley  stating  the  past  scene,  all 
of  which  he  had  seen." 

Washington  was  highly  pleased  with  the 
result  of  his  adventure.  The  eagerness  of  the 
pursuit  he  thought  would  be  decisive  evidence 
to  the  British  commander,  that  this  was  a  real 
and  not  a  feigned  desertion.  Champe  was  im 
mediately  brought  before  sir  Henry  Clinton, 
and  questioned  by  him  on  a  variety  of  subjects, 
and  amongst  the  rest,  if  any  American  officers 
were  suspected  of  desertion,  and  who  those 
officers  were.  The  sergeant  was  forewarned  on 
this  point,  and  gave  such  answers  as  would 
more  effectually  mislead.  After  this  examina 
tion  he  was  consigned  to  the  care  of  general 
Arnold,  and  by  him  retained  in  his  former  rank. 
Washington  hoped  and  believed,  that  the  trial 
of  Andre  would  occupy  much  time,  and  enable 
Champe  to  accomplish  his  designs.  That  gal 
lant  officer  disdaining  all  subterfuge,  com 
pletely  foiled  this  hope,  by  broadly  confessing 
the  nature  of  his  connection  with  Arnold.  The 
commander  in  chief  offered  to  exchange  Andre 
for  Arnold,  a  proposal  sir  Henry  Clinton,  for 
obvious  motives,  declined.  Had  this  gallant 
officer  protracted  his  trial,  and  the  plot  proved 
successful,  the  life  of  Andre  would  have  been 
saved,  not  by  the  intrigues  of  sir  Henry  Clinton, 
but  of  Washington  in  his  favor.  The  honest 
and  precipitate  intrepidity  of  the  British  officer 
defeated  this  benevolent  project,  and  no  alter 
native  remained  but  a  speedy  death.  The  ser 
geant,  unfortunate  as  he  was  in  this,  was  more 
successful  in  obtaining  evidence  the  most  full 
and  satisfactory,  that  the  suspicions  resting  on 
several  American  officers  were  foul  calumnies, 
and  a  forgery  of  the  enemy.  He  now  deter 
mined  on  making  a  bold  attempt  for  the  seizure 
of  Arnold.  Having  been  allowed,  at  all  times, 
free  access  to  Arnold,  marked  all  his  habits  and 
movements,  he  awaited  only  a  favorable  oppor 
tunity  for  the  execution  of  his  project.  He  had 
ascertained  that  Arnold  usually  retired  to  rest 


about  twelve,  and  that  previous  to  this,  he 
spent  some  time  in  a  private  garden,  adjoining 
his  quarters.  He  was  there  to  have  been 
seized,  bound  and  gagged,  and  under  the  pre 
text  that  he  was  a  soldier  in  a  state  of  intoxi 
cation,  to  have  been  conveyed  through  bye 
paths,  and  unsuspected  places  to  a  boat  lying 
in  readiness,  in  the  river  Hudson.  Champe 
engaged  two  confederates,  and  major  Lee,  who 
co-operated  in  the  plan,  received  timely  intelli 
gence  of  the  night  fixed  on  for  its  execution. 
At  the  appointed  time  that  officer,  attended 
by  a  small  party  well  mounted,  laid  in  wait  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Hudson  with  two  spare 
horses,  one  for  Champe,  and  the  other  for 
Arnold.  The  return  of  day  light  announced  the 
discomfiture  of  the  plan,  and  Lee  and  his  party 
retired  to  the  camp  with  melancholy  forebod 
ings  that  the  life  of  the  gallant  sergeant  had 
been  sacrificed  to  his  zeal  in  the  service  of  his 
country.  Consoling  was  the  intelligence, 
shortly  after  received  from  the  confederates, 
that  on  the  night  preceding  the  one  fixed  for 
Arnold's  arrest,  that  officer  had  shifted  his 
quarters.  It  appeared  that  he  was  employed 
to  superintend  the  embarkation  of  certain  troops 
composed  chiefly  of  American  deserters,  and  it 
was  apprehended  that  unless  they  were  removed 
from  their  barracks,  which  were  adjacent  to 
the  shore,  many  might  seize  that  opportunity  to 
escape.  This  attempt,  was  never  afterwards 
renewed.  On  the  junction  of  Arnold  with  lord 
Cornwallis,  in  Virginia,  the  sergeant  found 
means  to  elude  the  vigilance  of  the  British  lines, 
and  to  reach  in  safety  the  army  of  general 
Greene.  Having  been  furnished  by  that  officer 
with  the  means  of  escaping  to  Washington's 
camp,  he  arrived  there  to  the  astonishment  and 
joy  of  his  old  confederates  in  arms. 

When  Washington  assumed  the  command  of 
the  army  under  president  Adams,  he  caused 
strict  enquiry  to  be  made  for  the  man  who  had 
so  honorably  distinguished  himself,  intending 
to  honor  such  tried  fidelity  with  military  pro 
motion,  and  heard  to  his  great  sorrow  that  he 
died  but  a  short  time  before,  in  the  state  of 
Kentucky.  These  facts  are  taken  and  con 
densed  from  the  interesting  manuscript  of  major 
general  Lee. 


SKETCH  OF  GEN.  JOHN  CROPPER, 

A    DISTINGUISHED    OFFICER    OF     THE    VIR 
GINIA  CONTINENTAL  LINE. 

DIED — At  his  seat  on  Bowman's  Folly,  at 
sixteen  minutes  past  two  o'clock  on  the  morn- 


VIRGINIA. 


ing  of  Monday,  I5th  of  January,  1821,  general 
John  Cropper,  in  the  66th  year  of  his  age,  after 
an  illness  of  eleven  days.  He  embarked  early 
in  the  cause  of  his  country,  and  was  chosen  a 
captain,  in  the  9th  Virginia  regiment  on  conti 
nental  establishment,  when  only  nineteen  or 
twenty  years  of  age,  and  marched  in  December 
1776,  to  the  north  to  join  the  army  under  the 
command  of  the  illustrious  Washington*  Gen 
eral  Cropper  was  promoted  from  a  captaincy 
in  the  9th  Virginia  regiment  to  a  major  in  the 
5th  Virginia  regiment.  Gen.  C.  was  at  the 
battle  of  Brandywine,  when  the  5th  Virginia 
regiment  was  nearly  cut  to  pieces,  and  from 
which,  during  the  action,  his  colonel  and  lieu 
tenant  both  ran  away.  Gen.  C.  then  retreated 
with  the  remainder  of  the  regiment,  and  lay 
concealed  in  some  bushes  on  the  battle  ground, 
until  near  day-break  of  the  same  night  of  the 
engagement  —  between  mid-night  and  day 
break,  he  stole  off  and  marched  to  Chester, 
with  a  red  handkerchief  lashed  to  a  ramrod  for 
colors.  On  Chester  Bridge,  general  C.  was 
met  by  the  illustrious  George  Washington  and 
general  Woodford.  The  latter  alighted  from 
his  horse,  embraced  gen.  Cropper,  and  pressed 
him  to  his  bosom  and  said,  "  He  whom  we 
thought  was  lost,  is  found."  —Gen.  C.  was  then 
promoted  to  a  lieutenant  colonel  in  the  7th 
Virginia  regiment,  and  was  at  the  battles 
of  Germantown  and  Monmouth  Courthouse. 
From  the  7th  Virginia  regiment  he  was  pro 
moted  to  the  command  of  the  eleventh  Virginia 
regiment,  by  the  Marquis  De  La  Fayette,  which 
regiment  he  commanded  until  his  return  to 
Virginia  on  the  3oth  of  November,  1782.  The 
day  on  which  the  preliminary  articles  of  peace 
were  signed  at  Paris,  Gen.  Cropper  was  en 
gaged  with  com.  Whaley,  in  the  barge  Victory, 
in  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  against  five  British 
barges,  under  the  command  of  com.  Perry.  At 
the  commencement  of  this  engagement,  there 
were  attached  to  com.  Whaley's  squadron  three 
other  American  barges,  all  of  which  ran  off  as 
soon  as  the  engagement  commenced,  and  left 
com.  Whaley  alone  to  contend  with  five  British 
barges,  full  manned. — Com.  W.  had  on  board 
his  barge  69  men,  principally  citizens  of  the 
counties  of  Accomack  and  Northampton. 


About  the  middle  of  the  engagement,  com.  W's 
magazine  took  fire,  at  which  time  several  of 
his  men  were  overboard  hanging  by  the  rig 
ging — 29  men  out  of  69  men  were  killed  on 
board  of  com.  W's  barge,  together  with  the 
commodore  himself.  In  this  engagement  gen 
eral  Cropper  had  to  contend  with  two  white 
men  and  one  negro,  all  armed  with  cutlasses, 
and  boarding  pikes,  and  defended  himself  with 
a  musket  and  bayonet. — One  of  the  general's 
antagonists  struck  him  with  a  cutlass  on  the 
head,  which  nearly  brought  him  down.  In  the 
middle  of  this  individual  conflict,  the  negro  dis 
covering  his  young  master  to  be  the  person 
with  whom  he  and  the  two  white  men  were 
engaged,  cried  out,  "  Save  him — he  is  my  young 
master  !  " — Gen.  Cropper  afterwards  set  this 
faithful  man  free,  and  settled  him  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore. — General  John  Cropper,  was  in  the 
service  of  his  beloved  country  about  45  years. 
Those  who  were  acquainted  with  him,  know 
how  he  discharged  his  duty  in  every  station  in 
which  he  was  placed.  Gen.  C.  retained  to  the 
last  hour  of  his  life  the  veneration  and  love  he 
bore  for  the  illustrious  Washington,  the  savior 
of  his  country.  He  tried  to  imitate  him  in  his 
conduct  as  a  soldier  and  citizen.  The  deeds 
of  this  great,  good,  and  illustrious  American 
was  the  theme  of  general  Cropper  at  all  times. 
He  could  not  bear  to  hear  the  least  whisper 
derogatory  to  the  character  of  the  best  of  men 
— and  more  than  once  has  gen.  Cropper  been 
personally  engaged  to  defend  his  fame.  Gen. 
C.  had  the  honor  to  die  possessed  with  a  writ 
ten  document,  from  the  pen  of  this  illustrious 
personage,  which  evidenced  the  high  opinion 
he  entertained  of  the  worth  of  the  deceased  as 
an  officer.  This  document  was  treasured  up  as 
a  miser  would  treasure  his  gold,  and  but  few 
persons  were  permitted  to  read  it,  or  hear  it 
read.  It  was  the  more,  highly  prized,  because 
this  illustrious  general  and  statesman  was  cau 
tious  in  discovering  his  opinions,  or  showing 
his  attachment  to  individuals. — Gen.  Cropper 
was  the  soldier's  friend. — The  deceased  has 
left  a  widow  and  seven  children,  and  ten  grand 
children,  to  deplore  his  loss.  The  writer  of 
this  is  one  who  was  well  acquainted  with  the. 
deceased. 


312 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


NORTH    CAROLINA. 


ADDRESS 

OF    THE    ASSEMBLY  OF    NORTH    CAROLINA, 
TO  GOVERNOR  JOSIAH  MARTIN,  APRIL  1775. 

To  his  excellency  Josiah  Martin,  esq.,  captain 
general,  governor,  and  commander  in  chief, 
in  and  over  the  province  of  North  Carolina. 
SIR  : — We,  his  majesty's  most  dutiful  and 
loyal  subjects,  the  members  of  the  assembly  of 
North  Carolina,  have  taken  into  consideration 
your  excellency's  speech,  at  the  opening  of  this 
session. 

We  met  in  general  assembly,  with  minds 
superior  to  private  dissension,  determined 
calmly,  unitedly,  and  faithfully,  to  discharge 
the  sacred  trust  reposed  in  us  by  our  constitu 
ents.  Actuated  by  sentiments  like  these,  it 
behoves  us  to  declare,  that  the  assembly  of  this 
colony  have  the  highest  sense  of  their  allegi 
ance  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  to  whom 
alone,  as  our  constitutional  sovereign,  we  ac 
knowledge  allegiance  to  be  due,  and  to  whom 
we  so  cheerfully  and  repeatedly  have  sworn  it, 
that  to  remind  us  of  the  oath  was  unnecessary. 
This  allegiance,  all  past  assemblies  have,  upon 
every  occasion,  amply  expressed  ;  and  we,  the 
present  representatives  of  the  people,  shall  be 
always  ready,  by  our  actions,  with  pleasure  to 
testify  ;  sensible,  however,  that  the  same  con 
stitution  which  established  that  allegiance,  and 
enjoined  the  oath  in  consequence  of  it,  hath 
bound  his  majesty  under  as  solemn  obliga 
tions,  to  protect  subjects  inviolate  in  all  their 
just  rights  and  privileges,  wisely  intending,  by 
reciprocal  dependence,  to  secure  the  happiness 
of  both. 

We  contemplate,  with  a  degree  of  horror, 
the  unhappy  state  of  America,  involved  in  the 
most  embarrassing  difficulties  and  distresses, 
by  a  number  of  unconstitutional  invasions  of 
their  just  rights  and  privileges  ;  by  which,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  continent  in  general,  and  of 
this  province  in  particular,  have  been  precipi 
tated  into  measures,  extraordinary  perhaps  in 
their  nature,  but  warranted  by  necessity,  from 
whence,  among  many  other  measures,  the 
appointment  of  committees,  in  the  several 
towns  and  counties,  took  its  birth,  to  prevent, 
as  much  as  in  them  lay,  the  operations  of  such 
unconstitutional  encroachments.  And  the 
assembly  remain  unconvinced  of  any  steps 
taken  by  those  committees,  but  such  as  they 


were  compelled  to  take  for  that  salutary 
purpose. 

It  is  not  to  be  controverted,  that  his  ma 
jesty's  subjects  have  a  right  to  petition  for  a 
redress  of  grievances,  or  to  remonstrate 
against  them ;  and  as  it  is  only  in  a  meeting  of 
the  people,  that  their  sense,  respecting  such 
petition  and  remonstrance,  can  be  obtained, 
that  the  right  of  assembling  is  as  undoubted. 
—To  attempt,  therefore,  under  the  mask  of 
authority,  to  prevent  or  forbid  a  meeting  of  the 
people  for  such  purposes,  or  to  interrupt  their 
proceedings  when  met,  would  be  a  vain  effort, 
unduly  to  exercise  power  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  constitution. 

Far  be  it  from  us,  then,  sir,  even  to  wish  to 
prevent  the  operations  of  the  convention  now 
held  at  Newbern,  or  to  agree  with  your  excel 
lency  in  bestowing  upon  them  the  injurious 
epithet  of  an  illegal  meeting.  They  are,  sir, 
the  respectable  representatives  of  the  people, 
appointed  for  a  special  and  important  purpose, 
to  which,  though  our  constituents  might  have 
thought  us  adequate,  yet,  as  our  meeting  de 
pended  upon  the  pleasure  of  the  crown,  they 
would  have  been  unwise  to  have  trusted  to  so 
precarious  a  contingence,  especially  as  the 
frequent  and  unexpected  prorogations  of  the 
assembly,  one  of  them  in  particular,  as  if  all 
respect  and  attention  to  the  convenience  of 
their  representatives  hath  been  lost,  was  pro 
claimed  but  two  or  three  days  before  the  time 
which  had  been  appoinied  for  the  meetings, 
gave  the  people  not  the  least  reason  to  expect 
that  their  assembly  would  have  been  permitted 
to  sit  till  it  was  too  late  to  appoint  delegates  to 
attend  the  continental  congress  at  Philadel 
phia  ;  a  measure  which  they  joined  the  rest  of 
America  in  thinking  essential  to  its  interest. 

The  house,  sir,  neither  know,  nor  believe 
that  any  base  arts  have  been  practised  upon 
the  people  in  order  to  lead  them  from  their 
duty;  but  we  know  with  certainty,  that  the 
steps  they  have  taken  proceeded  from  a  full 
conviction,  that  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain 
had,  by  a  variety  of  oppressive  and  unconstitu 
tional  proceedings,  made  those  steps  absolutely 
necessary.  We  think  it,  therefore,  a  duty  we 
owe  the  people,  to  assert,  that  their  conduct 
has  not  been  owing  to  base  arts,  practised 
upon  them  by  wicked  and  designing  men  ;  and 
have  it  much  to  lament,  that  your  excellency 


NORTH  CAROLINA. 


313 


should  add  your  sanction  to  such  groundless 
imputations,  as  it  has  a  manifest  tendency  to 
weaken  the  influence  which  the  united  petition 
of  his  majesty's  American  subjects  might  oth 
erwise  have,  upon  their  sovereign,  for  a  redress 
of  those  grievances  of  which  they  so  justly 
complain. 

We  should  feel  inexpressible  concern  at  the 
information,  given  us  by  your  excellency,  of  your 
being  authorized  to  say,  that  the  appointment 
of  delegates,  to  attend  the  congress  at  Phila 
delphia,  now  in  agitation,  will  be  highly  offen 
sive  to  the  king,  had  we  not  recently  been 
informed,  from  the  best  authority,  that  his 
majesty  has  been  pleased  to  receive,  very  gra 
ciously,  the  united  petition  of  his  American 
subjects,  addressed  to  him  by  the  continental 
delegates,  lately  convened  at  Philadelphia. 
We  have  not,  therefore,  the  least  reason  to 
suppose,  that  a  similar  application  to  the 
throne,  will  give  offence  to  his  majesty,  or  pre 
vent  his  receiving  a  petition  for  the  redress  of 
grievances,  which  his  American  subjects  have 
a  right  to  present,  either  separately  or  unitedly. 

We  shall  always  receive,  with  pleasure,  the 
information  of  any  marks  of  loyalty  to  the  king, 
given  to  your  excellency,  by  the  inhabitants  of 
this  colony ;  but  we  are  greatly  concerned,  lest 
the  manner  in  which  you  have  thought  proper 
to  convey  this  information,  should  excite  a 
belief,  that  a  great  number  of  the  people  of  this 
province  are  disaffected  to  their  sovereign,  to 
prevent  which,  it  is  incumbent  upon  us,  in  this 
manner,  solemnly  to  testify  to  the  world,  that 
his  majesty  has  no  subjects  more  faithful  than 
the  inhabitants  of  North  Carolina,  or  more 
ready,  at  the  expense  of  their  lives  and  fortunes, 
to  protect  and  support  his  person,  crown,  and 
dignity.  If,  however,  by  the  signal  proofs  your 
excellency  speaks  of,  you  mean  those  addresses 
lately  published  in  the  North  Carolina  Gazette, 
and  said  to  be  presented  to  you,  the  assembly 
can  receive  no  pleasure  from  your  congratula 
tions  thereupon,  but  what  results  from  the  con 
sideration  that  so  few  have  been  found  in  so 
populous  a  province,  weak  enough  to  be 
seduced  from  their  duty,  and  prevailed  upon  by 
the  base  arts  of  wicked  and  designing  men,  to 
adopt  principles  so  contrary  to  the  sense  of  all 
America,  and  so  destructive  of  those  rights  and 
privileges,  it  was  their  duty  to  maintain. 

We  take  this  opportunity,  sir,  the  first  that 
has  been  given  us,  to  express  the  warm  attach 
ment  we  have  to  our  sister  colonies  in  general, 
and  the  heart-felt  compassion  we  entertain  for 
the  deplorable  state  of  the  town  of  Boston  in 
particular,  and  also  to  declare  the  fixed  and 
determined  resolution  of  this  colony,  to  unite 


with  the  other  colonies  in  every  effort  to  retain 
those  just  rights  and  liberties  which,  as  subjects 
to  a  British  king,  we  possess,  and  which  it  is 
our  absolute  and  indispensable  duty,  to  hand 
down  to  posterity,  unimpaired. 

JOHN  HARVEY,  Speaker. 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

FROM   THE    RALEIGH     REGISTER. 

It  is  not  probably  known  to  many  of  our  read 
ers,  that  the  citizens  of  Mecklenburg  county, 
in  this  state,  made  a  declaration  of  inde 
pendence  more  than  a  year  before  congress 
made  theirs.  The  following  document  on 
the  subject  has  lately  come  to  the  hands  of 
the  editor  from  unquestionable  authority,  and 
is  published  that  it  may  go  down  to  posterity. 

[As  the  genuineness  of  this  declaration  of  In 
dependence  has  been  recently  questioned  in 
different  sections  of  the  country,  reference  is 
particularly  requested  to  an  extract  from  a  let 
ter  written  by  Sir  James  Wright,  Governor  of 

eorgia,  to  the  home  government,  of  date  June 
2oth,  1775,*  one  month  after  the  date  of  that 
declaration  (May  aoth,  1775,)  in  which  he  states 
that  "  by  the  enclosed  paper  your  lordship  will 
see  the  extraordinary  resolves  by  the  people  in 

harlotte  Town,  Mecklenburgh  county."  This 
statement  settles  for  all  time,  the  authenticity 
of  that  declaration.  The  extract  was  recently 
furnished  to  the  reviser  of  this  work,  March 
7,  1876,  by  the  Historical  Society  of  Georgia.] 


NORTH  CAROLINA,  MECKLENBURG  COUNTY,  May  20,  1775. 

In  the  spring  of  1775,  the  leading  characters 
of  Mecklenburg  county,  stimulated  by  the  en 
thusiastic  patriotism  which  elevates  the  mind 
above  considerations  of  individual  aggran 
disement,  and  scorning  to  shelter  themselves 
Tom  the  impending  storm,  by  submission  to 
lawless  power,  etc.  etc.,  held  several  detached 
meetings,  in  each  of  which  the  individual  senti 
ments  were  "  that  the  cause  of  Boston  was  the 
cause  of  all ;  that  their  destinies  were  indissolu- 
connected  with  those  of  their  eastern  fel- 
ow-citizens— and  that  they  must  either  submit 
:o  all  the  impositions  which  an  unprincipled 
and  to  them  an  unrepresented  parliament  might 
mpose — or  support  their  brethren  who  were 
doomed  to  sustain  the  first  shock  of  that  power, 
which,  if  successful  there,  would  ultimately 
overwhelm  all  in  the  common  calamity.  Con- 
brmably  to  these  principles,  col.  Adam  Alex- 

*  See  Georgia,  p.  390. 


314 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


ander,  through  solicitation,  issued  an  order  to 
each  captain's  company  in  the  county  of  Meck 
lenburg,  (then  comprising  the  present  county 
of  Cabarrus)  directing  each  militia  company  to 
elect  two  persons,  and  delegate  to  them  ample 
power  to  devise  ways  and  means  to  aid  and 
assist  their  suffering  brethren  in  Boston,  and 
also  generally  to  adopt  measures  to  extricate 
themselves  from  the  impending  storm,  and  to 
secure,  unimpaired,  their  inalienable  rights, 
privileges  and  liberties,  from  the  dominant 
grasp  of  British  imposition  and  tyranny. 

In  conforming  to  said  order,  on  the  ipth  of 
May,  1775,  the  said  delegation  met  in  Char 
lotte,  vested  with  unlimited  powers  ;  at  which 
time  official  news,  by  express,  arrived  of  the 
battle  of  Lexington  on  that  day  of  the  preceding 
month.  Every  delegate  felt  the  value  and 
importance  of  the  prize,  and  the  awful  and 
solemn  crisis  which  had  arrived — every  bosom 
swelled  with  indignation  at  the  malice,  invete 
racy,  and  insatiable  revenge  developed  in  the 
late  attack  at  Lexington.  The  universal  senti 
ment  was — let  us  not  flatter  ourselves  that 
popular  harangues — or  resolves  ;  that  popular 
vapor  will  avert  the  storm,  or  vanquish  our 
common  enemy — let  us  deliberate — let  us  cal 
culate  the  issue — the  probable  result :  and 
then  let  us  act  with  energy  as  brethren  leagued 
to  preserve  our  property — our  lives, — and  what 
is  still  more  endearing,  the  liberties  of  America. 
Adam  Alexander  was  then  elected  chairman, 
and  John  M'Knitt  Alexander,  clerk.  After  a 
free  and  full  discussion  of  the  various  objects 
for  which  the  delegation  had  been  convened,  it 
was  unanimously  ordained — 

1.  Resolved,  That  whosoever  directly  or  in 
directly  abetted,  or  in  any  way,  form  or  man 
ner,   countenanced  the  unchartered  and  dan 
gerous  invasion  of  our  rights,  as  claimed  by 
Great  Britain,  is  an  enemy  to  this  country — to 
America — and  to  the  inherent  and  inalienable 
rights  of  man. 

2.  Resolved,  That  we,  the  citizens  of  Meck 
lenburg  county,  do  hereby  dissolve  the  political 
bands  which  have  connected  us  to  the  mother 
country,  and  hereby  absolve  ourselves  from  al 
legiance  to  the  British  crown,  and  abjure  all 
political  connection,  contract,  association  with 
that  nation,  who  have  wantonly  trampled  on  our 
right  and  liberties — and  inhumanly   shed   the 
innocent  blood  of  American  patriots  at  Lex 
ington. 

3.  Resolved,  That  we  do  hereby  declare  our 
selves  a  free  and  independent  people  ;  are,  and 
of  right  ought  to  be,  a  sovereign  and  self-gov 
erning  association,   under  the   control   of  no 
power  other  than  that  of  God  and  the  general 


government  of-  the  congress:  to  the  mainte 
nance  of  which  independence,  we  solemnly 
pledge  to  each  other  our  mutual  co-operation, 
our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  most  sacred 
honor. 

4.  Resolved,  That,  as  we  now  acknowledge 
the  existence  and  control  of  no  law  or  legal 
officer,   civil  or   military    within   this    county, 
we  do  hereby  ordain  and  adopt,  as  a  rule  of 
life,  all,  each,  and  every  of  our  former  laws — 
wherein,  nevertheless,  the  crown  of  Great  Bri 
tain  never  can,  be  considered  as  holding  rights, 
privileges,  immunities,  or  authority  therein. 

5.  Resolved,  That  it  is  also  further  decreed, 
that  all,  each,  and  every  military  officer  in  this 
county  is  hereby  reinstated  to  his  former  com 
mand  and  authority,  he  acting  conformably  to 
these   regulations.     And   that   every  member 
present  of  this  delegation  shall  henceforth  be  a 
civil  officer,  viz.,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  in  the 
character  of  a  '  Committee  man,'  to  issue  pro 
cess,  hear  and  determine  all  matters  of  contro 
versy,  according  to  said  adopted  laws,  and  to 
preserve  peace,  and  union,  and   harmony,  in 
said  county  ;  and  to  use  every  exertion  to  spread 
the  love  of  country  and  fire  of  freedom  through 
out  America,  until  a  more  general  and  orga 
nized    government     be     established    in    this 
province. 

INCIDENTS   RELATING  TO  THE   DECLARA 
TION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

A  number  of  by-laws  were  also  added,  merely 
to  protect  the  association  from  confusion,  and 
to  regulate  their  general  conduct  as  citizens. 
After  sitting  in  the  court-house  all  night,  nei 
ther  sleepy,  hungry  or  fatigued,  and  after  dis 
cussing  every  paragraph,  they  were  all  passed, 
sanctioned,  and  decreed,  unanimously,  about 
2  o'clock,  A.  M.  May  20.  In  a  few  days,  a  dep 
utation  of  said  delegation  convened,  when  capt. 
James  Jack,  of  Charlotte,  was  deputed  as 
express  to  the  congress  at  Philadelphia,  with  a 
copy  of  said  resolves  and  proceedings,  to 
gether  with  a  letter  addressed  to  our  three 
representatives,  viz.,  Richard  Caswell,  Wm. 
Hooper,  and  Joseph  Hughes,  under  express  in 
junction,  personally,  and  through  the  state  rep 
resentation,  to  use  all  possible  means  to  have 
said  proceedings  sanctioned  and  approved  by 
the  general  congress.  On  the  return  of  capt. 
Jack,  the  delegation  learned  that  their  proceed 
ings  were  individually  approved  by  the  mem 
bers  of  congress,  but  that  it  was  deemed  pre 
mature  to  lay  them  before  the  house.  A  joint 
letter  from  said  three  members  of  congress  was 
also  received,  complimentary  of  the  zeal  in  the 


NORTH   CAROLINA. 


315 


common  cause,  and  recommending  persever 
ance,  order  and  energy. 

The  subsequent  harmony,  unanimity,  and 
exertion,  in  the  cause  of  liberty  and  independ 
ence,  evidently  resulting  from  these  regulations, 
and  the  continued  exertion  of  said  delegation, 
apparently  tranquilized  this  section  of  the 
state,  and  met  with  the  concurrence  and  high 
approbation  of  the  council  of  safety,  who  held 
their  sessions  at  Newbern  and  Wilmington,  and 
who  confirmed  the  nomination  and  acts  of  the 
delegation  in  their  official  capacity. 

From  this  delegation  originated  the  court  of 
enquiry  of  this  county,  who  constituted  and 
held  their  first  session  in  Charlotte  ;  they  then 
held  their  meetings  regularly  at  Charlotte,  at 
col.  James  Harris's,  and  at  col.  Phifer's,  alter 
nately,  one  week  at  each  place.  It  was  a  civil 
court  founded  on  military  process.  Before  this 
judicature  all  suspicious  persons  were  made 
to  appear,  who  were  formally  tried,  and  ban 
ished  or  continued  under  guard.  Its  jurisdic 
tion  was  as  unlimited  as  toryism,  and  its  decrees 
as  final  as  the  confidence  and  patriotism  of  the 
county.  Several  were  arrested  and  brought 
before  them  from  Lincoln,  Rowan,  and  the 
adjacent  counties. 

[The  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  of  the  papers 
on  the  above  subject,  left  in  my  hands  by  John 
Matthew  Alexander,  deceased.  I  find  it  men 
tioned  on  file,  that  the  original  book  was 
burned  in  April,  1800;  that  a  copy  of  the  pro 
ceedings  was  sent  to  Hugh  Williamson,  in 
New  York,  then  writing  a  history  of  North 
Carolina,  and  that  a  copy  was  sent  to  gen. 
W.  R.  Davie. 

J.  M'KNITT.] 

THE   MECKLENBURG  RESOLUTIONS. 

STATEMENTS  AS  TO  AUTHENTICITY  OF 
SAME. 

Declaration  of  Independence. — The  follow 
ing  paragraph  appears  in  the  Essex  Register 
of  the  24th  ult.,  in  relation  to  the  declaration  of 
independence  made  by  the  citizens  of  Mecklen 
burg  county,  in  this  state,  as  early  as  May,  1775, 
which  was  originally  published  in  this  paper  on 
the  30th  of  April,  1818,  and  which  has  been 
copied  into  most  of  the  newspapers  printed  in 
the  United  States. 

"  The  Mecklenburg  resolutions,  as  copied 
from  the  Raleigh  Register,  have  not  had  uni 
versal  credit.  It  has  been  surprising  that  they 
had  been  so  long  unknown.  Though  the  pub 
lisher  says  they  rest  upon  high  authority,  the 
public  would  be  pleased  to  know  more  about 


them.  If  they  are  forgeries,  they  are  highly 
criminal,  and  we  agree,  that  "fictions  of  this 
kind,  five  and  forty  years  after  the  pretended 
fact,  ought  to  be  discountenanced  by  every  man 
of  honor,  and  this  in  particular  ought  to  be 
hunted  from  the  dark  cavern  from  which  it 
originated.  The  more  ingenious  the  invention, 
the  more  detestable."  We  can  only  say  that, 
from  the  specious  form  in  which  they  appeared, 
we  were  induced  to  copy  them.  They  had  so 
many  circumstances  that  they  could  easily  be 
exposed,  if  fictions  ;  and,  being  printed  in  the 
state  in  which  the  resolutions  are  said  to  have 
been  taken,  they  originated  where  these  circum 
stances  might  be  explained.  We  know  not 
what  part  the  representatives  of  North  Caro 
lina  took  in  congress,  and  how  far  they  availed 
themselves  of  the  spirit  they  found  in  their  con 
stituents.  With  us,  it  was  no  objection  that 
they  were  not  published.  We  know  the  state 
of  the  press  at  that  time,  and  the  general  ina 
bility  to  take  a  fair  estimate  of  local  opinions. 
As  some  doubts  have  arisen  respecting  the 
documents,  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance  that 
the  documents  be  examined  and  traced  to  their 
true  history.  These  doubts  involve  some  se 
rious  questions.  We  copied  them  from  the 
press,  and  they  have  no  object  in  northern 
policy.  They  are,  if  true,  favorable  to  the  south 
in  which  they  appear.  As  they  regard  a  period 
of  our  history  in  which  every  thing  should  be 
clear  and  certain,  we  hope  the  publisher  will 
assist  to  more  satisfactory  knowledge  of  their 
true  character." 

For  the  satisfaction  of  the  respectable  editor 
of  the  Essex  Register,  we  are  desirous  of  giving 
him,  and  others,  who  may  have  doubts  as  to 
the  correctness  of  these  documents,  all  the  in 
formation  in  our  power  ;  and  we  feel  confident, 
after  we  shall  have  done  so,  no  longer  doubt 
will  remain  as  to  the  truth  and  reality  of  the 
proceedings  in  question. 

It  appears,  this  Mecklenburg  declaration  of 
independence  had,  during  last  winter,  been  the 
subject  of  conversation  at  Washington,  amongst 
members  of  congress  ;  and  that,  in  order  to  put 
the  matter  out  of  dispute,  one  of  our  senators, 
and  the  representative  from  the  Mecklenburg 
district,  in  congress,  wrote  to  gentlemen  in  that 
part  of  the  country,  most  likely  to  give  it,  for 
satisfactory  information  in  relation  to  this 
matter. 

Our  senator  received  the  following  answer 
to  the  letter  which  he  wrote  on  this  ocasion  : 


"ALEXANDRIA,  MECKLENBURG  COUNTY,  N.  C. 

February  7,  1819. 

"SiR — Your    application    to    gen.  Joseph 


3i6 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


Graham,  of  Lincoln  county  for  information 
respecting  the  declaration  of  independence  by 
the  county  of  Mecklenburg,  previous  to  the  dec 
laration  by  the  United  States,  induced  him  to 
forward  your  letter  to  me  for  the  like  purpose, 
with  a  request  to  furnish  you  from  my  father' 
old  papers,  every  thing  on  that  subject  that 
could  be  found  ;  but,  previous  to  the  reception 
of  your  letter,  William  Davidson*  had  addressed 
my  brother  on  the  same  subject,  and  he  has 
furnished  all  that  could  be  found  amongst  my 
father's  papers  on  that  subject.  But,  on  look 
ing  again,  I  found  an  old  proclamation^  which 
I  herein  enclose  to  you — if  it  should  be  of  any 
service,  you  can  use  it. 

"  Nearly  all  my  father's  papers  were  burned 
in   the   spring  of  1800;  which   destroyed  the 
papers  now  wanting,  as  I  believe  he  acted  as 
secretary  to  the  committee  that  declared  inde 
pendence  for  this  county  in  1775. 
"I  am,  sir,  with  respect  and  esteem,  yours,  etc. 
"WM.  B.  ALEXANDER." 

"  Hon.  NATHANIEL  MACON. 

The  declaration  and  resolutions  published, 
were  received  by  Mr.  Davidson  from  J.  M'Knitt 
(brother  of  Mr.  Alexander,  the  writer  of  the 
above  letter)  accompanied  with  the  following 
certificate : 

"  The  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  of  the  papers 
on  the  above  subject,  left  in  the  hands  of  John 
M'Knitt  Alexander,  deceased.  I  find  it  men 
tioned  on  file,  that  the  original  book  was  burned 
April,  1800  ;  that  a  copy  of  the  proceedings 
was  sent  to  Hugh  Williamson,  in  New  York, 
then  writing  the  history  of  North  Carolina,  and 
that  a  copy  was  sent  to  gen.  W.  R.  Davie. 

"  J.  M'KNITT." 

And  the  papers,  thus  certified,  were  sent  to 
us  for  publication,  by  the  senator  who  had  col 
lected  the  information.  We  trust,  therefore, 
that  the  most  sceptical  will  no  longer  entertain 
a  doubt  of  the  authenticity  of  this  declaration  of 
independence  of  Mecklenburg  county.  If  fur 
ther  evidence  of  these  facts  were  wanting,  it  is 
believed,  the  testimony  of  one  the  most  respect 
able  inhabitants  of  this  city,  who  was  present 
when  the  declaration  was  resolved  upon,  might 
be  added. 

*  Mr.  Davidson  is  the  representative  in  congress  from 
that  district. 

t  This  was  the  proclamation  of  George  sd ,  published 
with  the  declaration. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS  OF  NORTH 
CAROLINA,  TO  THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE, 
SEPTEMBER  3,  1775. 

Mr.  Hooper  laid  before  the  house  an  address 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  British  empire  ;  and 
the  same  being  read  was  unanimously  received, 
and  is  as  follows, viz. 

Friends  and  fellow-citizens — "  The  fate  ol 
the  contest  which  at  present  subsists  between 
these  American  colonies  and  the  British  minis 
ters  who  now  sit  at  the  helm  of  public  affairs, 
will  be  one  of  the  most  important  epochs  which 
can  mark  the  annals  of  the  British  history. 

"  Foreign  nations  with  anxious  expectation 
.wait  the  result,  and  see  with  amazement  the 
blind  infatuated  policy  which  the  present  ad 
ministration  pursues  to  subjugate  these  colo 
nies,  and  reduce  them  from  being  loyal  and 
useful  subjects,  to  an  absolute  dependence  and 
abject  slavery  ;  as  if  the  descendants  of  those 
ancestors  who  have  shed  rivers  of  blood,  and 
expended  millions  of  treasure,  in  fixing  upon  a 
lasting  foundation  the  liberties  of  the  British 
constitution,  saw  with  envy  the  once  happy 
state  of  this  western  region,  and  strove  to  ex 
terminate  the  patterns  of  those  virtues  which 
shone  with  a  lustre  which  bids  fair  to  rival  and 
eclipse  their  own. 

"  To  enjoy  the  fruits  of  our  own  honest  in 
dustry  ;  to  call  that  our  own  which  we  earn 
with  the  labor  of  our  hands,  and  the  sweat  of 
our  brows  ;  to  regulate  that  internal  policy  by 
which  we,  and  not  they,  are  to  be  affected ; 
these  are  the  mighty  boons  we  ask.  And 
traitors,  rebels,  and  every  harsh  appellation 
that  malice  can  dictate,  or  the  violence  of  lan 
guage  express,  are  the  returns  which  we  re 
ceive  to  the  most  humble  petitions  and  earnest 
supplications.  We  have  been  told  that  inde 
pendence  is  our  object ;  that  we  seek  to  shake 
off  all  connection  with  the  parent  state.  Cruel 
suggestion  !  do  not  all  our  professions,  all  our 
actions,  uniformly  contradict  this  ? 

"  We  again  declare,  and  we  invoke  that  Al 
mighty  Being  who  searches  the  recesses  of  the 
human  heart  and  knows  our  most  secret  in 
tentions,  that  it  is  our  most  earnest  wish  and 
prayer  to  be  restored,  with  the  other  United 
Colonies,  to  the  state  in  which  we  and  they 
were  placed  before  the  year  1763,  disposed  to 
jlance  over  any  regulations  which  Britain  had 
made  previous  to  this,  and  which  seem  to  be 
njurious  and  oppressive  to  these  colonies, 
loping  that  at  some  future  day  she  will  be 
nignly  interpose,  and  remove  from  us  every 
cause  of  complaint. 


NORTH  CAROLINA. 


317 


"Whenever  we  have  departed  from  the 
forms  of  the  constitution,  our  own  safety  and 
self-presentation  have  dictated  the  expedient ; 
and  if  in  any  instances  we  have  assumed 
powers  which  the  laws  invest  in  the  sovereign 
or  his  representatives,  it  has  been  only  in 
defence  of  our  persons,  properties,  and  those 
rights  which  God  and  the  constitution  have 
made  unalienably  ours.  As  soon  as  the  cause 
of  our  fears  and  apprehensions  are  removed, 
with  joy  will  we  return  these  powers  to  their 
regular  channels  ;  and  such  institutions  formed 
from  mere  necessity,  shall  end  with  that  neces 
sity  which  created  them. 

"  These  expressions  flow  from  an  affection, 
bordering  upon  devotion,  to  the  succession  of 
the  house  of  Hanover,  as  by  law  established, 
from  subjects  who  view  it  as  a  monument  that 
does  honor  to  human  nature  ;  a  monument 
capable  of  teaching  kings  how  glorious  it  is  to 
reign  over  a  free  people. — These  are  the  heart 
felt  effusions  of  men  ever  ready  to  spend  their 
blood  and  treasure,  when  constitutionally  called 
upon,  in  support  of  that  succession  of  his  ma 
jesty  King  George  the  third,  his  crown  and 
dignity,  and  who  fervently  wish  to  transmit  his 
reign  to  future  ages  as  the  aera  of  common 
happiness  to  his  people.  Could  these  our  sen 
timents  reach  the  throne,  surely  our  sovereign 
would  forbid  the  horrors  of  war  and  desolation 
to  intrude  into  this  once  peaceful  and  happy 
land,  and  would  stop  that  deluge  of  human 
blood  which  now  threatens  to  overflow  this 
colony  ;  blood  too  precious  to  be  shed  but  in  a 
common  cause,  against  the  common  enemy  of 
Great  Britain  and  her  sons. 

"  This  declaration  we  hold  forth  as  a  testi 
mony  of  loyalty  to  our  sovereign,  and  affection 
to  our  parent  state,  and  as  a  sincere  earnest 
of  our  present  and  future  intentions. 

"  We  hope,  thereby,  to  remove  those  impres 
sions  which  have  been  made  by  the  represen 
tation  of  weak  and  wicked  men  to  the  preju 
dice  of  this  colony,  who  thereby  intended  that 
the  rectitude  of  our  designs  might  be  brought 
into  distrust,  and  sedition,  anarchy,  and  confu 
sion,  spread  through  this  loyal  province. 

"  We  have  discharged  a  duty  which  we  owe 
to  the  world,  to  ourselves,  and  posterity ;  and 
may  the  Almighty  God  give  success  to  the 
means  we  make  use  of,  so  far  as  they  are 
aimed  to  produce  just,  lawful,  and  good  pur 
poses,  and  the  salvation  and  happiness  of  the 
whole  British  empire." 


ROYAL  PROCLAMATION 

OF  GOVERNOR  Josi AH  MARTIN,  TO  THE  PEO 
PLE  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA,  OCTOBER  3, 1780. 

The  following  ROYAL  PROCLAMATION  was 
communicated  at  the  same  time,  and  published 
as  a  curiosity  : 

NORTH    CAROLINA. 

By  his  excellency  Josiah  Martin,  his  majesty's 
captain  general  and  governor  in  chief  of 
the  said  province,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

A  PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas  the  king,  ever  anxious  for  the  wel 
fare  and  happiness  of  all  his  people,  and  sensible 
to  the  representations  which  have  been  con 
stantly  made  to  him  of  the  steady  and  unshaken 
loyalty,  and  of  the  inviolable  fidelity  and  attach 
ment  of  his  faithful  subjects  in  this  province  to 
his  person  and  government,  and  confiding 
entirely  in  their  repeated  assurances  to  his 
majesty  of  their  own  uttermost  exertions  in 
co-operation  with  his  arms  whenever  they 
should  be  directed  to  their  support.  And 
whereas  his  majesty,  moved  by  these  considera 
tions,  by  every  the  most  tender  and  paternal 
feeling  of  concern  and  regard  for  the  sufferings 
and  misery  of  his  faithful  people,  under  the 
intolerable  yoke  of  arbitrary  power,  which  his 
majesty,  with  indignation,  sees  imposed  by  the 
tyranny  of  the  rebel  congress  upon  his  free- 
born  subjects,  hath  been  pleased  to  send  an 
army  to  their  aid  and  relief— I  have,  therefore, 
thought  it  proper,  by  this  proclamation,  to 
inform  his  majesty's  loyal  and  faithful  subjects 
in  this  province,  of  this  great  proof  and  instance 
of  his  majesty's  gracious  attention  to  them, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  advertise  them  that  the 
royal  army,  under  the  command  of  lieut.  gen. 
earl  Cornwallis,  is  thus  far  advanced  to  their 
support,  leaving  it  to  themselves  to  compute 
its  power  and  superiority  from  the  great, signal, 
and  complete  victory  which  it  obtained  when 
in  force  very  inferior  to  its  present  strength, 
over  the  rebel  army  on  the  i6th  of  August. 
And  whereas,  while  his  majesty,  on  the  one 
hand,  holds  forth  grace  and  mercy  to  his  de 
luded  subjects  who  shall  immediately,  and  with 
good  faith,  return  to  their  duty,  to  which  they 
have  been  invited,  in  vain  by  every  reason  and 
argument,  and  by  every  consideration  of  inter 
est,  of  freedom,  and  happiness,  he  is  deter 
mined,  on  the  other,  to  employ,  in  the  most 
vigorous  and  effectual  manner,  the  force  of  his 
arms,  and  the  united  strength  of  his  faithful 
people,  to  restore  and  maintain  to  them  that 
genuine  liberty,  peace,  and  prosperity,  which 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


they  formerly  enjoyed  in  such  full  security, 
under  the  mild  government  and  protection  of 
Great  Britain,  and  to  compel  the  disobedient 
to  submission  to  the  laws,  and  to  a  participa 
tion  of  those  blessings  of  a  free  constitution, 
which,  through  ignorance,  infatuation,  delusion, 
blindness,  and  fraud,  they  have  been  hitherto 
led  to  resist,  notwithstanding  .his  majesty's 
most  gracious  and  merciful  endeavors  to 
reclaim  them.  Having  thus  signified  to  the 
king's  loyal  and  faithful  subjects  the  arrival  and 
progress  of  his  majesty's  army  to  their  aid  and 
support,  which  they  have  so  long  and  eagerly 
wished  for,  it  becomes  my  duty  to  remind  them 
that  the  time  is  now  arrived  in  which  they  are 
to  evince  the  sincerity  of  their  professions  of 
loyalty  and  attachment  to  his  majesty's  person 
and  government ;  they  are  to  consider  them 
selves  in  this  hour  most  seriously  and  solemnly 
called  upon  by  every  duty  of  the  subject  to  the 
sovereign,  and  by  every  tie  and  consideration 
of  family,  liberty,  and  property,  of  present  and 
future  welfare  and  interest,  with  heart  and 
hand,  to  join  and  unite  their  strength  with  that 
of  his  majesty's  forces,  in  order  to  deliver 
themselves  from  that  intolerable  yoke  of  slavery 
and  arbitrary  power,  (which  the  tyranny  of  the 
rebel  congress,  lost  to  every  sense  of  truth  and 
virtue,  is  evidently  aiming  to  rivet  upon  them, 
by  calling  in  the  aid  of  the  two  Roman  Catholic 
powers  of  France  and  Spain,  whose  policy  and 
incessant  labor  it  has  been  for  ages  to  subvert 
the  civil  and  religious  liberties  of  mankind)  and 
to  restore  themselves  to  that  stale  of  perfect 
freedom  which  is  acknowledged  thoughout  the 
world  to  be  found  only  in  the  envied  rights  and 
condition  of  British  subjects. 

And  whereas  I  have  the  entire  confidence, 
that  it  is  the  wish,  inclination,  and  ardent 
desire  of  his  majesty's  faithful  and  loyal  sub 
jects  in  this  province,  to  employ  their  strength 
on  this  great  occasion  for  the  redemption  of 
every  thing  that  can  be  dear  to  men,  in  the 
way  that  is  likely  most  effectually  and  certainly 


to  accomplish  the  great  objects  of  peace  and 
happiness  which  they  have  in  view  :  I  do  here 
by  exhort  and  invite  all  the  young  and  able- 
bodied  men  to  testify  the  reality  of  their  loyalty 
and  spirit,  by  enlisting  in  the  provincial  corps, 
which  are  forthwith  to  be  raised  and  put  under 
my  command,  as  his  majesty's  governor  of  the 
province,  hereby  informing  and  assuring  them 
that  they  are  and  will  be  required  to  serve  only 
during  the  rebellion,  and  within  the  provinces 
of  North  and  South  Carolina  and  Virginia, 
under  officers  of  their  own  recommendation  ; 
that  each  man  will  receive  the  bounty  of  three 
guineas  at  the  time  of  enlisting,  and  all  the 
pay,  clothing,  appointments,  allowances,  and 
encouragements  of  soldiers  of  his  majesty's 
army ;  and  will  be  entitled,  at  the  end  of  the 
rebellion,  when  they  are  to  be  discharged,  to 
free  grants  of  land.  And  I  have  such  full  as 
surance  that  his  majesty's  loyal  and  faithful 
subjects  of  this  province  will  so  clearly  see  the 
propriety  and  necessity  of  forming  their 
strength  upon  this  plan,  which  experience  hath 
proved  can  alone  render  it  useful  and  effectual, 
to  the  speedy  suppression  of  the  tyranny  which 
has  for  years  past  deprived  them  of  every  bles 
sing,  right,  and  enjoyment  of  life,  that  I  am 
confident  their  honest  zeal  will  lead  them  to 
contend  and  vie  with  each  other  in  filling  the 
respective  battalions  in  which  they  shall  choose 
to  enlist,  from  a  just  sense  of  the  merit  and 
applause  that  will  be  due  to  such  as  are  soonest 
completed. 

Given  under  my  hand,  and  the  great  seal  of 
the  said  province  at  head  quarters,  in 
Charlottetown,  this  third  day  of  October 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  eighty,  and  in  the  twentieth 
year  of  his  majesty's  reign. 

Jo.  MARTIN. 

By  his  excellency's  command  : 
RIGDON  BRICE,  P.  Sec'y. 

God  save  the  king ! 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


319 


SOUTH    CAROLINA. 


ACTION 

OF  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  CHARLESTON, 
SOUTH  CAROLINA,  TO  RESIST  THE  STAMP 
ACT. 

FROM  DRAYTON  MEMOIRS,   1775- 

Among  other  extracts  made  from  this  work, 
and  published  in  the  Charleston  Courier,  we 
have  selected  the  following : 

The  proceedings  at  Charleston  to  resist  the 
operations  of  the  stamp-act  are  very  interest 
ing.  The  commons  house  of  assembly,  having 
been  assured  of  the  stamp-act  from  Great 
Britain,  endeavored  to  prevent  it  from  being  en 
forced  by  denying  it  official  promulgation.  This 
furnishes  additional  evidence  that  the  colonists 
resorted  to  the  chances  of  war,  after  having  in 
effectually  tried  every  mode  of  redress.  But  fate, 
for  wise  purposes,  had  rendered  remonstrance, 
argument,  and  even  entreaty,  unavailing. 

"  Having  received  the  stamp-act,  the  lieut. 
governor,  (in  the  absence  in  England  of  Thomas 
Boone,  the  governor),  manifested  a  desire  of 
complying  with  its  requisitions,  in  causing  it  to 
be  executed,  (the  governor  of  the  province 
being,  by  the  terms  of  the  act,  sworn  with  its 
due  execution) ;  but  his  powers  at  that  time 
were  insufficient  to  effectuate  the  same. 

"  Encouraged  by  this  weakness,  and  by  the 
public  opinion  which  was  hostile  to  the  act, 
the  members  of  assembly  deliberated  in  what 
manner  they  might  most  embarrass  and  elude 
its  operations.  And,  as  the  best  mode  they 
could  devise,  they  addressed  the  lieutenant 
governor  on  the  occasion,  requesting  to  be 
informed  whether  the  stamp-act,  said  to  have 
been  passed  in  parliament,  had  been  transmit 
ted  to  him,  and  if  it  had  through  what  chan 
nel ;  and  whether  he  had  received  it  from  a 
secretary  of  state,  the  lords  of  trade,  or  from 
any  other  authentic  source?  These  were 
questions  of  a  singular  nature — however,  his 
honor,  from  a  desire  to  soften  as  much  as  pos 
sible  the  fermentations  which  existed,  answered, 
he  had  received  it  from  Thomas  Boone,  the 
governor  of  the  province.  The  assembly  replied, 
that,  while  Mr.  Boone  was  out  of  the  bounds 
of  his  government  they  could  not  consider  him 
in  any  other  light  than  as  a  private  gentleman  ; 
and  the  act  being  received  through  such  a 


channel,  was  not  sufficiently  authentic,  to  place 
the  lieutenant  governor  under  the  obligation 
of  enforcing  it. 

"  The  stamps  soon  reached  Charleston,  and 
were  deposited  at  Fort  Johnson.  The  people 
finding  the  lieutenant  governor  and  crown 
officers  determined  to  circulate  them,  resolved 
to  counteract  all  their  movements,  and  obtain 
possession  of  the  stamp  paper. 

"About  one  hundred  and  fifty  volunteers 
were  soon  organized  and  armed  for  the  pur 
pose  ;  and  two  nights  after,  boats  being  pro 
vided  at  Lamboll's  bridge,  on  the  west  end  of 
South  Bay,  they  formed  and  marched  towards 
that  place  for  embarkation.  From  thence, 
they  proceeded  in  boats  across  Ashley  river, 
and  landed  after  twelve  o'clock  at  night,  on 
James  Island,  between  Style's  plantation  and 
the  fort.  They  then  proceeded  towards  the 
fort,  and  halting  at  a  small  distance  from  it,  a 
reconnoitering  party  was  sent  forward.  This 
party  proceeded  to  the  draw-bridge  unnoticed, 
or  challenged  by  sentries  ;  and  finding  it  down, 
through  the  omission  of  the  garrison,  they 
immediately  returned  and  reported  the  same. 

"  The  whole  body  of  volunteers  then  ad 
vanced  upon  the  fort;  and  arriving  at  the 
bridge,  they  crossed  it  without  opposition — 
pressed  through  the  inner  gate,  which  was  not 
secured,  and  immediately  possessed  them 
selves  of  the  fort.  Only  one  soldier  was  found 
awake ;  and  before  he  could  give  the  alarm, 
the  remainder  of  the  garrison  was  secured 
except  Lloyd,  its  commander,  who  had  not 
slept  there  that  night.  The  garrison  was 
then  placed  under  a  guard — the  bridge  was 
drawn  up — and  a  search  commenced  for  the 
obnoxious  stamped  paper.  This,  to  the  great 
joy  of  the  volunteers,  was  at  length  found  in 
one  of  the  rooms  of  the  barracks,  and  a  guard 
was  placed  over  it.  Preparations  were  then 
made  for  maintaining  the  fort  against  any 
attack  which  might  be  made  upon  it  by  the 
sloop-of-war,  when  day  light  should  arrive ; 
and  for  this  purpose,  the  cannon  on  the  plat 
form  were  loaded  with  ball  and  grape  shot, 
matches  were  provided,  and  a  number  of  men 
were  stationed  at  each  gun  ;  and  a  flag,  show 
ing  a  blue  field,  with  three  white  crescents, 
which  the  volunteers  had  brought  with  them 
for  the  purpose,  was  hoisted  on  the  flag  staff 
of  the  fort." 


320 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS  TO  LORD 
WILLIAM  CAMPBELL,  GOVERNOR  OF  THE 
PROVINCE,  JUNE  20,  1775. 

CHARLESTON,  June  21,  1773. 

Ordered — That  the  hon.  William  Henry 
Drayton,  the  hon.  Bernard  Elliot,  colonel 
Charles  Pinckney,  col.  James  Parsons,  col.  Isaac 
Motte,  col.  Stephen  Bull,  col.  William  Moultrie, 
major  Owen  Roberts,  captain  Thomas  Savage, 
captain  John  Huger,  Miles  Brewton,  Thomas 
Ferguson,  and  Gabriel  Capers,  esquires,  be  a 
deputation  to  present  his  excellency  the  gov 
ernor,  the  address  of  this  congress. 

To  his  excellency  the  right  honorable  lord 
William  Campbell,  governor  and  commander 
in  chief  over  the  province  aforesaid, 

The  humble  address  and  declaration  of  the 
provincial  congress. 

May  it  please  your  excellency — We,  his  ma 
jesty's  loyal  subjects,  the  representatives  of  the 
people  of  this  colony,  in  congress  assembled, 
beg  leave  to  disclose  to  your  excellency,  the 
true  cause  of  our  present  proceedings  ;  not  only 
that  upon  your  arrival  among  us,  you  may  re 
ceive  no  unfavorable  impression  of  our  conduct, 
but  that  we  may  stand  justified  to  the  world. 

When  the  ordinary  modes  of  application  for 
redress  of  grievances,  and  the  usual  means  of 
defence  against  arbitrary  impositions  have 
failed,  mankind  generally  have  had  recourse  to 
those  that  are  extraordinary.  Hence,  the  origin 
of  the  continental  congress — and  hence  the 
present  representation  of  the  people  in  this 
colony. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  enumerate  the  grievances 
of  America ;  they  have  been  so  often  represen 
ted,  that  your  excellency  cannot  be  a  stranger 
to  them. — Let  it,  therefore,  suffice  to  say,  that 
the  hands  of  his  majesty's  ministers,  having 
long  lain  heavy,  now  press  with  intolerable 
weight.  We  declare,  that  no  love  of  innovation 
— no  desire  of  altering  the  constitution  of  gov 
ernment — no  lust  of  independence  has  had  the 
least  influence  upon  our  councils  :  but,  alarmed 
and  roused  by  a  long  succession  of  arbitrary- 
proceedings,  by  wicked  administrations — im 
pressed  with  the  greatest  apprehension  of  in 
stigated  insurrections — and  deeply  affected  by 
the  commencement  of  hostilities  by  the  British 
troops  against  this  continent, — solely  for  the 
preservation  and  defence  of  our  lives,  liberties, 
and  properties,  we  have  been  impelled  to  asso 
ciate  and  take  up  arms. 

We  sincerely  deplore  those  slanderous  infor- 
fiations  and  wicked  councils,  by  which  his 


majesty  has  been  led  into  measures,  which,  if 
persisted  in,  must  inevitably  have  involved 
America  in  all  the  calamities  of  a  civil  war, 
and  rend  the  British  empire.  We  only  desire 
the  secure  enjoyment  of  our  invaluable  rights, 
and  we  wish  for  nothing  more  ardently,  than  a 
speedy  reconciliation  with  our  mother  country, 
upon  constitutional  principles. 

Conscious  of  the  justice  of  our  cause,  and  the 
integrity  of  our  views,  we  readily  profess  our 
loyal  attachment  to  our  sovereign,  his  crown, 
and  dignity ;  and,  trusting  the  event  to  Provi 
dence,  we  prefer  death  to  slavery.  These 
things,  we  have  thought  it  our  duty  to  declare, 
that  your  excellency,  and  through  you,  our 
august  sovereign — our  fellow  subjects — and  the 
whole  world — may  clearly  understand,  that 
our  taking  up  arms,  is  the  result  of  dire  neces 
sity,  and  in  compliance  with  the  first  law  of 
nature. 

We  entreat  and  trust,  that  your  excellency 
will  make  such  a  representation  of  the  state  of 
this  colony,  and  of  our  true  motives,  as  to  as 
sure  his  majesty,  that  in  the  midst  of  all  our 
complicated  distresses,  he  has  no  subjects  in 
his  wide  dominions,  who  more  sincerely  desire 
to  testify  their  loyalty  and  affection,  or  who 
would  be  more  willing  to  devote  their  lives  and 
fortunes  to  his  real  service. 

By  order  of  the  provincial  congress,  at 
Charleston,  June  20,  1775. 

HENRY  LAURENS,  President. 


RESOLUTIONS 
PASSED  BY  THE  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS. 

CHARLESTON,  Wednesday,  June  21,  1775. 

"  Whereas,  the  inhabitants  of  Poole,  a  sea 
port  in  the  English  Channel,  lost  to  all  sense 
of  honor,  humanity  and  gratitude,  have,  by  their 
late  petition  to  parliament,  manifested  them 
selves  not  only  inimical  to  America,  but  desi 
rous  to  add  to  the  heavy  oppressions  under 
which  the  unfortunate  and  virtuous  inhabitants 
of  the  four  New  England  governments  labor, 
in  consequence  of  their  laudable  conduct  in 
defence  of  the  liberties  of  America  and  of  man 
kind  :  to  testify  our  just  resentment  to  so  base 
and  cruel  a  conduct  in  the  inhabitants  of  Poole, 
it  is  hereby  resolved,  That  this  colony  will  not 
use  or  employ  any  shipping  belonging  to  that 
port,  or  owned  by  any  inhabitant  there,  or  carry 
on  any  transactions,  or  hold  any  communication 
with  that  people. 

Thursday,  June  22. 

"  Resolved,  That  all  absentees,  holding  estates 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


321 


in  this  colony,  except  the  sick,  those  above  60, 
and  those  under  21  years  of  age,  ought,  forth 
with  to  return  to  this  colony. 

"  Resolved,  That  no  persons,  holding  estates 
in  this  colony,  ought  to  withdraw  from  its 
service,  without  giving  good  and  sufficient  rea 
sons  for  so  doing  to  this  congress,  or,  during 
its  recess,  to  the  general  committee. 

PETER  TIMOTHY,  Secretary. 


ASSOCIATION 

FORMED  FOR  RESISTANCE  TO  THE  AGGRES 
SIONS  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN,  JUNE,  1775. 

The  actual  commencement  of  hostilities 
against  this  continent,  by  the  British  troops,  in 
the  bloody  scene  on  the  ipth  of  April  last,  near 
Boston  ;  the  increase  of  arbitrary  impositions, 
from  a  wicked  and  despotic  ministry,  and  the 
dread  of  instigated  insurrections  in  the  colonies, 
are  causes  sufficient  to  drive  an  oppressed  peo 
ple  to  the  use  of  arms: — We,  therefore,  the 
subscribers,  inhabitants  of  South  Carolina, 
holding  ourselves  bound,  by  that  most  sacred 
of  all  obligations,  the  duty  of  good  citizens 
towards  an  injured  country,  and  thoroughly 
convinced,  that,  under  our  present  distressed 
circumstances,  we  shall  be  justified  before  God 
and  man,  in  resisting  force  by  force,  do  unite 
ourselves  under  every  tie  of  religion  and  honor, 
and  associate  as  a  band  in  her  defence,  against 
every  foe ;  hereby  solemnly  engaging  that 
whenever  our  continental  and  provincial  coun 
cils  shall  decree  it  necessary,  we  will  go  forth, 
and  be  ready  to  sacrifice  our  lives,  and  for 
tunes,  to  secure  her  freedom  and  safety. — This 
obligation  to  continue  in  full  force  until  a  re 
conciliation  shall  take  place  between  Great 
Britain  and  America,  upon  constitutional  prin 
ciples  ;  an  event  which  we  most  ardently  desire. 
And  we  will  hold  all  those  persons  inimical  to 
the  liberties  of  the  colonies,  who  shall  refuse  to 
subscribe  to  this  association. 

Subscribed  by  every  member  present,  and 
certified  by  HENRY  LAURENS,  President. 

June,  1775. 


LETTER 

FROM    CHARLESTON,    SOUTH     CAROLINA, 
AUGUST  5,  1775. 

The  determination  of  the  people  to  resist  the 
aggression  of  Great  Britain. 

"Be  assured,   peace    will   never  be   firmly 
established  between  Great  Britain  and  America, 


until  the  latter  receives  an  ample  recognition 
of  her  rights,  and  full  satisfaction  for  the  blood 
that  has  or  may  be  shed.  The  inhabitants  of 
this  vast  continent  would  give  up  all  their  sea- 
coast  towns,  retire  into  the  interior  country, 
and  contentedly  subsist  on  the  bare  necessaries 
of  lite,  rather  than  submit  to  the  implicit  subju 
gation  of  a  British  parliament.  But  don't  ap 
prehend  they  will  suffer  this  distress  like  docile 
animals.  No :  depend,  they  will  protect  their 
property  to  the  last  extremity,  and  although 
they  have  hitherto  acted  only  on  the  defensive, 
believe  me,  unless  there  is  an  evident  prospect 
of  accommodation  this  winter,  hostilities  will 
commence  on  their  part,  by  and  with  the  assist 
ance  of  a  foreign  power,  and  with  a  spirit  that 
will  alarm  all  Europe.  And  then  farewell  to 
Great  Britain." 


RESOLUTIONS 

OF  THE  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS  OF  SOUTH 
CAROLINA,  AND  COMPLIMENTARY  AD 
DRESS  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  THE  REP 
RESENTATIVES  OF  THE  PROVINCE  IN  THE 
CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  FOR  THEIR 
PATRIOTIC  SERVICES. 

From  the  Journal  of  the  Provincial  congress 
of  South  Carolina. 

IN  CONGRESS,  Feb.  8,  1776. 

Resolved,  That  Mr.  President  do  signify  the 
approbation  of  this  congress,  and  present  their 
thanks  to  the  hon.  Henry  Middleton,  and 
John  Rutledge,  esqrs.  now  present  in  congress, 
and  to  the  other  delegates  of  this  colony  at 
Philadelphia,  for  their  important  services  in  the 
American  congress. 

Mr.  President  accordingly  addressed  himself 
to  the  hon.  Mr.  Middleton,  and  Mr.  Rutledge, 
as  follows : 

Gentlemen — When  the  hand  of  tyranny, 
armed  in  hostile  manner,  was  extended  from 
Great  Britain  to  spoil  America  of  whatever  she 
held  most  valuable,  it  was  for  the  most  im 
portant  purposes,  that  the  good  people  of  this 
colony  delegated  you  to  represent  them  in 
the  continental  congress,  at  Philadelphia.  It 
became  your  business  to  ascertain  the  rights  of 
America,  to  point  out  her  violated  franchises, 
to  make  humble  representation  to  the  king  for 
redress,  and  he,  being  deaf  to  the  cries  of  his 
American  subjects,  to  appeal  to  the  King  of 
kings,  for  the  recovery  of  the  rights  of  an  infant 
people,  by  the  majesty  of  Heaven  formed  for 
future  empire. 

In  this  most  important  business  you  engaged, 


322 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


as  became  good  citizens ;  and,  step  by  step, 
you  deliberately  advanced  through  it,  with  a 
regret  and  sorrow,  and  with  a  resolution  and 
conduct,  that  bear  all  the  characters  of  ancient 
magnanimity.  Your  constituents,  with  a  steady 
eye,  beheld  your  progress.  They  saw  the 
American  claim  of  rights,  the  association  for 
the  recovery  of  American  franchises,  and  the 
humble  petition  to  the  king  for  redress  of  griev 
ances.  They  saw  the  American  appeal  to  the 
King  of  kings  ;  and  a  second  humble  petition 
to  the  British  monarch,  alas  !  as  unavailing  as 
the  first.  They  have  also  seen  the  establish 
ment  of  an  American  naval  force,  a  treasury,  a 
general  post-office,  and  the  laying  on  a  conti 
nental  embargo :  in  short,  they  have  seen  per 
mission  granted  to  colonies  to  erect  forms  of 
government  independent  of,  and  in  opposition 
to  the  regal  authority. 

Your  country  saw  all  these  proceedings,  the 
work  of  a  body  of  which  you  were  and  are 
members ;  proceedings  arising  from  dire  ne 
cessity,  and  not  from  choice  ;  proceedings  that 
are  the  natural  consequences  of  the  present 
inauspicious  reign ;  proceedings  just  in  them 
selves,  and  which,  notwithstanding  the  declara 
tions  of  the  corrupt  houses  of  parliament,  the 
proclamation  at  the  court  of  St.  James's,  the 
23d  of  August,  and  the  subsequent  royal 
speech  in  parliament,  are  exactly  as  far  distant 
from  treason  and  rebellion,  as  stands  the  glori 
ous  revolution,  which  deprived  a  tyrant  of  his 
kingdoms,  and  elevated  the  house  of  Brunswick 
to  royalty. 

Worthy  delegates !  It  is  the  judgment  of 
your  country  that  your  conduct,  of  which  I 
have  marked  the  grand  lines,  in  the  American 
congress,  is  justifiable  before  God  and  man, 
and  that,  whatever  may  be  the  issue  of  this 
defensive  civil  war,  in  which,  unfortunately 
though  gloriously,  we  are  engaged,  whether 
independence  or  slavery,  all  the  blood,  and  all 
the  guilt,  must  be  imputed  to  British  not  to 
American  counsels, — Hence  your  constituents, 
sensible  of  the  propriety  of  your  conduct,  and 
of  the  benefits  which,  with  the  blessing  of  the 
Almighty,  it  is  calculated  to  shed  upon  America, 
have  constituted  me  their  instrument,  as  well 
to  signify  to  you  their  approbation,  as  to  pre 
sent  to  you  their  thanks  :  and  it  is  in  the  dis 
charge  of  these  duties  that  I  now  have  the 
honor  to  address  you. 

In  an  important  crisis,  like  the  present,  to 
receive  the  public  thanks  of  a  free  people,  is  to 
receive  the  most  honorable  recompense  for  past 
services,  and  to  deserve  such  thanks  is  to  be 
truly  great.  I  know  that  it  is  with  pain  such 
men  hear  their  commendations.  Gentlemen, 


with  the  public  recompense,  I  mean  to  pay 
in  to  you  my  mite  also  ;  and  lest  I  wound  your 
delicacy,  when  I  mean  only  to  do  justice  to 
your  merit,  I  forbear  to  particularize  what  is 
already  well  known.  I  therefore  confine  my 
self;  and  I  do  most  respectfully,  in  the  name 
of  the  congress,  present  to  you,  and  to  each  of 
you,  the  thanks  of  your  country,  for  your  im 
portant  services  in  the  American  congress  at 
Philadelphia. 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF   THE   GENERAL    ASSEMBLY    OF    SOUTH 
CAROLINA. 

At  a  general  assembly  begun  and  holden  at 
Charleston,  on  Tuesday  the  twenty-sixth  day 
of  March,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou 
sand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-six ;  and 
from  thence  continued,  by  divers  adjourn 
ments,  to  Thursday  the  eleventh  day  of  April, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-six. 

An  act  to  prevent  sedition,  and  punish  insur 
gents  and  disturbers  of  the  ptMic  peace. 

Whereas  a  horrid  and  unnatural  war  is  now 
carried  on  by  the  ministry  and  parliament  of 
Great  Britain,  against  the  united  colonies  of 
North  America  in  general,  and  this  colony  in 
particular,  with  a  cruel  and  oppressive  design 
of  robbing  the  colonies  and  good  people  of  this 
colony  of  their  dearest  and  most  valuable  rights 
as  freemen,  and  reducing  them  to  a  state  of 
the  most  abject  slavery  and  oppression :  and 
whereas,  also,  in  order  further  to  accomplish 
the  said  iniquitous  and  unwarrantable  designs, 
every  means  has  been  adopted  by  a  wicked  ad 
ministration  to  sow  civil  dissensions  and  ani 
mosities,  and  to  create  disorder,  confusion  and 
bloodshed  amongst  the  good  people  of  this 
colony,  by  employing  secret  emissaries  to  stir 
up  in  the  minds  of  wicked  and  evil-disposed 
persons,  persuasions  and  principles  inimical  to 
the  ties  of  humanity,  and  the  common  rights 
of  mankind,  and  thereby  inducing  them  not 
only  to  disturb  the  common  peace,  safety,  and 
good  order  of  this  colony,  but  to  take  up  arms 
and  spill  the  blood  of  their  fellow-citizens,  who 
are  only  acting  in  the  defence  of  their  lives,  lib 
erties,  and  properties,  against  the  hands  of  a 
lawless  and  despotic  power:  to  the  intent, 
therefore,  and  in  order  the  more  effectually  to 
preserve  and  secure  the  peace,  order,  and  good 
government  of  this  colony,  and  to  deter  and 
prevent  such  evil-minded  persons  from  com- 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


323 


mitting  such  offences,  and  all  such  other  of 
fences  declared  in  this  act,  to  the  great  danger 
of  the  lives,  liberties,  and  properties  of  the  in 
habitants  of  this  colony :  Be  it  enacted  by  his 
excellency  John  Rutledge,  esq.  president  and 
commander  in  chief  in  and  over  the  colony  of 
.South  Carolina,  and  by  the  honorable  the  legis 
lative  council  and  general  assembly  of  this 
colony,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  that 
if  any  person  or  persons  within  this  colony  do, 
or  shall,  from,  and  immediately  after,  the  pass 
ing  of  this  act,  take  up  arms  with  a  hostile 
intent,  and  by  force  and  violence,  or  by  words, 
deeds,  or  writing,  or  any  other  means  whatso 
ever,  cause,  induce,  or  persuade,  or  attempt  to 
cause,  induce,  or  persuade  any  other  person  or 
persons,  with  such  hostile  intent,  to  take  up 
arms,  and  by  force  and  violence  to  oppose  and 
subvert  the  authority  of  the  government  of  this 
colony,  established  by  the  constitution,  agreed  on 
and  confirmed  in  congress  at  Charleston,  on  the 
twenty-sixth  day  of  March,  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-six,  or  to  wound,  maim, 
or  kill  any  person  or  persons,  or  destroy  any  of 
the  houses,  goods,  or  chattels  of  any  such 
persons  who  shall  under,  and  by  virtue  of  any 
authority  of  the  said  government,  be  acting  in 
support  and  defence  of  the  same,  or  the  execu 
tion  of  any  power,  authority  or  office  derived 
therefrom,  all  and  every  of  such  person  or  per 
sons,  and  the  aider  and  abettor,  or  aiders  and 
abettors  of  such  person  or  persons  so  offend 
ing,  in  either  of  the  offences  aforesaid,  shall, 
on  being  indicted  and  convicted  of  the  same, 
by  due  course  of  law,  be  deemed  and  adjudged 
guilty  of  felony,  and  suffer  death  without 
benefit  of  clergy. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  That  if  any  persons  within  this  colo 
ny  shall,  immediately  after  the  passing  of  this 
act,  or  at  any  time  thereafter,  by  letter,  writing, 
message,  or  other  means  of  intelligence,  hold 
any  correspondence  or  intercourse,  or  conspire 
or  concert  in  any  manner  whatever  with,  or  aid 
or  abet  any  land  or  naval  force,  raised  or  to  be 
raised,  or  which  shall  be  sent  by  Great  Britain, 
in  a  hostile  manner,  against  this  colony,  or  any 
other  force  or  body  of  men  within  this  colony, 
who  shall,  in  a  hostile  intent  or  manner,  oppose 
the  power  and  authority  of  the  present  govern 
ment  of  this  colony,  established  as  aforesaid, 
with  an  intent  to  promote  the  accomplishment 
of  any  hostile  plan  of  operation,  designed  by 
such  force  or  forces  against  the  lives,  liberties 
and  properties  of  all  or  any  of  the  inhabitants 
and  friends  to  the  constitution  of  this  colony, 
established  as  aforesaid — every  such  person  or 
persons,  so  offending  in  any  of  the  said  of 


fences,  shall,  on  being  indicted  and  convicted 
thereof  by  due  course  of  law,  be  deemed  and 
adjudged  guilty  of  felony,  and  suffer  death 
without  benefit  of  clergy. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  that  if  any  person  or.  persons  within 
this  colony  shall,  immediately  after  the  passing 
of  this  act,  or  at  any  time  thereafter,  furnish  or 
supply,  or  cause  or  procure  to  be  furnished  or 
supplied,  with  any  bills  of  exchange,  monies, 
goods,  provisions,  liquors,  or  other  necessary  ar 
ticles  of  subsistence,  or  any  military  or  naval 
stores  whatever,  to  any  of  the  land  or  naval  for 
ces,  raised  or  to  be  raised,  or  sent  by  Great  Bri 
tain,  or  any  authority  derived  from  that  gov 
ernment,  against  this  colony,  or  shall,  in  like 
manner,  furnish  or  supply,  or  cause  to  be  fur 
nished  or  supplied,  any  force  or  body  of  men 
who  shall,  in  a  hostile  manner,  oppose  the  gov 
ernment  of  this  colony,  established  as  afore 
said — every  such  person  or  persons,  so  offend 
ing  in  either  of  the  offences  aforesaid,  and  the 
aider  or  abettor,  or  aiders  and  abettors  of  any 
of  the  said  offences,  shall,  on  being  indicted  or 
convicted  thereof,  by  due  course  of  law,  be 
deemed  and  adjudged  guilty  of  felony,  and  suf 
fer  death  without  benefit  of  clergy. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  That  if  any  person  or  persons  with 
in  this  colony  shall,  at  any  time  after  the  pass 
ing  of  this  act,  compel,  induce,  persuade,  or 
attempt  to  compel,  induce,  or  persuade  any 
white  person,  or  persons,  or  any  free  negro,  or 
negroes,  mulatto  or  mulattoes,  Indian  or  In 
dians,  to  desert  from  their  habitation  or  habi 
tations,  or  any  negro  or  other  slave  or  slaves, 
to  desert  from  his  or  their  master,  mistress,  or 
owner,  and  to  join  any  land  or  naval  force, 
raised  or  to  be  raised,  or  sent  by  Great  Bri 
tain,  or  any  authority  derived  from  that  govern 
ment,  against  the  united  colonies  of  America, 
or  this  colony,  to  join  any  person  or  persons 
armed  in  a  hostile  manner,  with  intent  to  op 
pose  or  subvert  the  government  of  this  colony, 
established  as  aforesaid,  or  with  intent  of  kill 
ing  any  person  or  persons,  or  destroying  his, 
her,  or  their  goods  or  property,  who  shall  be 
acting,  or  ready  and  willing  to-  act  in  support 
and  defence  of  such  government,  or  any  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  colony  and  friends  to  the 
same — every  such  person  or  persons,  so  offend 
ing  in  any  of  the  above  offences,  and  all  such 
as  shall  aid  and  abet  the  said  offender,  or  of 
fenders,  in  the  perpetration  and  execution  of  any 
of  the  said  offences,  shall,  on  conviction  there 
of,  by  due  course  of  ls.w,  be  deemed  and 
adjudged  guilty  of  felony,  and  shall  suffer 
death  without  benefit  of  clergy.  Provided 


324 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


always,  nevertheless,  that  nothing  in  this  act 
contained  shall  be  construed  or  taken  to  pre 
vent  the  good  people  of  this  colony  from  arm 
ing  of  slaves  or  negroes,  for  the  better  defence 
of  this  colony  against  all  enemies  whatsoever, 
who  shall  invade  or  attack  the  same,  or  endan 
ger  the  safety  thereof. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  That  if  any  person  or  persons 
within  this  colony  shall,  immediately  after  the 
passing  of  this  act,  or  at  any  time  thereafter,  col 
lect  or  assemble  with  any  body  or  assembly  of 
persons,  or  cause  or  procure  them  to  be  so  col 
lected  and  assembled,  with  intent,  in  a  riotous 
and  seditious  manner,  to  disturb  the  public 
peace  and  tranquility,  and  the  good  order  of 
the  government,  and  by  words  or  other 
wise  to  create  and  raise  traitorous  sedi 
tions  or  discontents  in  the  minds  of  the  good 
people  of  this  colony,  against  the  authority  of 
the  present  government  established  as  afore 
said — every  such  person  or  persons,  so  offend 
ing  in  any  of  the  said  offences,  shall,  on  convic 
tion  thereof,  by  due  course  of  law,  be  deemed 
and  adjudged  guilty  of  felony. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  That  the  lands  and  tenements, 
goods  and  chattels,  and  other  real  and  personal 
estate  of  all  such  person  or  persons,  who 
shall  be  duly  convicted,  by  virtue  of  this  act, 
of  any  of  the  crimes  and  offences  thereby  made 
felony,  shall,  within  one  month  after  such  con 
viction,  by  the  sheriff  of  each  district  respec 
tively,  in  which  such  real  and  personal  estate 
of  the  person  or  persons  so  convicted,  or  any 
part  thereof,  shall  be  found,  with  three  free 
holders  of  the  said  district,  be  appraised  upon 
oath,  and  the  said  appraisement  duly  returned, 
by  the  said  sheriff  of  such  district,  to  the  secre 
tary's  office  in  Charleston,  within  one  month 
after  such  appraisement  is  made,  and  the  said 
sheriff  of  such  district  in  which  the  appraise 
ment  is  made,  as  aforesaid,  shall,  within  one 
month  thereafter,  expose  such  estate  so  ap 
praised  to  public  sale,  first  giving  twenty-one 
days  public  notice  of  the  sale ;  and  shall, 
within  three  months  after  such  sale,  deposite 
the  amount  of  the  same,  deducting  legal 
poundage  and  charges,  in  the  office  of  the  col 
ony  treasury  in  Charleston,  and  the  commis 
sioners  of  the  colony  treasury,  or  any  one  of 
them,  on  receipt  of  such  monies  from  the 
sheriff,  as  aforesaid,  shall  give  a  receipt  or 
/oucher  for  the  same. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  That  if  any  sheriff  or  sheriffs,  for 
any  of  the  districts  in  this  colony,  shall  in  any 
wise  trangress,  or  disobey,  or  neglect  the  put 


ting  in  execution,  any  of  the  provisions  or 
clauses  in  this  act,  respecting  their  duty  and 
office — every  sheriff  so  offending,  disobeying  or 
neglecting  the  same,  shall  forfeit  his  office,  and 
incur  the  penalty  of  one  thousand  pounds  cur 
rent  money,  to  be  sued  for,  and  recovered  by 
bill  or  plaint  in  any  court  of  record  in  this  col 
ony,  wherein  no  essoign,  privilege,  protection 
or  wager  of  law,  or  more  than  one  imparlance, 
shall  be  allowed. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  That  the  monies  arising  from  the 
sale  of  all  such  estates  as  shall  become  for 
feited,  by  virtue  of  this  act,  shall  be  appro 
priated  for  a  fund,  and  shall  become  a  re 
prisal  fund,  for  reimbursing  all  such  losses 
and  damages  which  have  been,  or  shall  be 
sustained  by  any  person  or  persons  who 
have  been,  are,  or  shall  be,  engaged  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  oppressive  measures  of  the  British 
ministry,  or  the  defence  of  the  present  estab 
lished  constitution,  and  the  liberties  of  this 
colony. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  That  no  person  or  persons  shall  be 
reimbursed,  by  virtue  of  this  act,  for  any  losses 
or  damages  sustained  from  persons  acting  in 
open  hostility  against  the  present  constitution 
of  government,  and  the  liberties  of  this  colony, 
unless  the  said  reimbursement  be,  on  applica 
tion,  and  oath  made  of  the  damages  actually 
sustained,  deemed  just  and  reasonable  by  the 
general  assembly  of  this  colony,  or  such  other 
body  or  persons  as  the  legislative  body  of  this 
colony  shall  appoint.  Provided  always,  never 
theless,  That  such  person  or  persons,  to 
whom  such  reimbursement  shall  be  thought 
reasonable,  do  first,  before  the  receipt  thereof 
take  and  subscribe  the  oath  of  fidelity,  ordained 
in  the  present  constitution,  if  such  person  or 
persons  had  not  before  taken  and  subscribed 
the  same. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  That  the  fines  and  penalties  to  be 
incurred,  by  virtue  of  this  act,  shall  upon  re 
covery  thereof,  be  paid  into  the  colony  treasury, 
to  be  applied  to,  and  for  such  uses  and  pur 
poses  as  are  herein  mentioned. 

G.  G.  POWELL,  speaker  of  the 

Legislative  council. 
JAMES  PARSONS,  speaker  of  the 
General  assembly. 

In  the  council  chamber,  the  nth  day  of 
April,  1776 — Assented  to, 

J.  RUTLEDGE. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


325 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE  ASSEMBLY  TO   JOHN  RUTLEDGE, 
APRIL  3,  1776. 

To  his  excellency  John  Rut  ledge,  esq.  president 
and  commander  in  chief  in  and  over  the 
colony  of  South  Carolina. 

The  address  of  the  legislative  council  and  gen 
eral  assembly. 

May  it  please  your  excellency — 

We,  the  legislative  council  and  general  as 
sembly  of  South  Carolina,  convened  under  the 
authority  of  the  equitable  constitution  of  govern 
ment  established  by  a  free  people  in  congress, 
on  the  26th  ult.  beg  leave,  most  respectfully, 
to  address  your  excellency. 

Nothing  is  better  known  to  your  excellency 
than  the  unavoidable  necessity  which  induced 
us,  as  members  of  congress,  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  to  resume  the  powers  of  government, 
and  to  establish  some  mode  for  regulating  the 
internal  polity  of  this  colony ;  and,  as  members 
of  the  legislative  council  and  general  assembly 
to  vest  you,  for  a  time  limited,  with  the  exe 
cutive  authority.  Such  constitutional  proceed 
ings,  on  our  part,  we  make  no  doubt  will  be 
misconstrued  into  acts  of  the  greatest  crimin 
ality  by  that  despotism,  which,  lost  to  all  sense 
of  justice  and  humanity,  has  already  pretended 
that  we  are  in  actual  rebellion.  But,  sir,  when  we 
reflect  upon  the  unprovoked,  cruel,  and  accumu 
lated  oppressions  under  which  America,  in  gen 
eral,  and  this  colony  in  particular,  has  long  con 
tinued  ;  oppressions  which,  gradually  increasing 
in  injustice  and  violence,  are  now,  by  the 
inexorable  tyranny  perpetrated  against  the 
united  colonies,  under  the  various  forms  of  rob 
bery,  conflagrations,  massacre,  breach  of  public 
faith,  and  open  war  ;  conscious  of  our  natural 
and  unalienable  rights,  and  determined  to  make 
every  effort  in  our  power  to  retain  them,  we 
see  your  excellency's  elevation  from  the  midst 
of  us,  to  govern  this  country,  as  the  natural 
consequence  of  such  outrages. 

By  the  suffrages  of  a  free  people  you,  sir, 
have  been  chosen  to  hold  the  reins  of  govern 
ment,  an  event  as  honorable  to  yourself  as  bene 
ficial  to  the  public.  We  firmly  trust  that  you 
will  make  the  constitution  the  great  rule  of 
your  conduct ;  and,  in  the  most  solemn  manner, 
we  do  assure  your  excellency  that,  in  the  dis 
charge  of  your  duties,  under  that  constitution 
which  looks  forward  to  an  accommodation  with 
Great  Britain  (an  event  which  though  traduced 
and  treated  as  rebels,  we  still  earnestly  desire,) 
we  will  support  you  with  our  lives  and  fortunes. 


In  the  legislative   council,   the  3d   day  of 
April,  1776. 

GEORGE  GABRIEL  POWELL,  speaker. 
In  the  general  assembly,  the  3d  day  of  April, 
1776. 

By  order  of  the  house, 

JAMES  PARSONS,  speaker. 


ANSWER  OF  JOHN  RUTLEDGE,  APRIL  3,  1776. 

Honorable  gentlemen  of  the  legislative  council, 

Mr.  Speaker,  and  gentlemen  of  the  general 

assembly. 

My  most  cordial  thanks  are  clue,  and  I  re 
quest  that  you  will  accept  them,  for  this  solemn 
engagement  of  support,  in  discharging  the 
duty  of  the  honorable  station  to  which,  by  your 
favor,  I  have  been  elected. 

Be  persuaded,  that  no  man  would  embrace  a 
just  and  equitable  accommodation  with  Great 
Britain  more  gladly  than  myself;  but,  until  so 
desirable  an  object  can  be  obtained,  the  defence 
of  my  country,  and  preservation  of  that  con 
stitution  which,  from  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
the  rights,  and  a  laudable  regard  to  the  hap 
piness  of  the  people,  you  have  so  wisely  framed, 
shall  engross  my  whole  attention. 

To  this  country  I  owe  all  that  is  dear  and 
valuable,  and  would,  with  the  greatest  pleasure, 
sacrifice  every  temporal  felicity  to  establish  and 
perpetuate  her  freedom. 

J.  RUTLEDGE. 


RESOLUTIONS 

PASSED  BY   THE  GENERAL   ASSEMBLY  OF 
SOUTH  CAROLINA,  APRIL  6,  1776. 

Ordered,  That  the  following  resolutions  be 
forthwith  printed  and  made  public. 
By  order  of  the  house, 

PETER  TIMOTHY,  Clerk  G.  A. 

Whereas,  the  honorable  the  continental  con 
gress  hath  resolved,  "that  in  the  present 
situation  of  affairs,  it  will  be  very  dangerous  to 
the  liberties  and  welfare  of  America,  if  any 
colony  should  separately  petition  the  king  or 
either  house  of  parliament  :"  and  whereas  no 
step  should  be  left  unessayed  to  promote  the 
general  welfare :  and  whereas  the  sending 
commissioners  from  Great  Britain  to  treat  with 
the  different  colonies,  is  dangerous  to  the 
stability  of  the  liberties  of  America :  There 
fore — 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  house, 
that  no  measure  should  be  left  unessayed  to 


326 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


establish  the  liberties  of  America,  and  to  place 
them  as  far  as  may  be,  out  of  the  reach  of 
fraudulent  schemes  to  subvert  them  by  nego 
tiation  ;  and  that  this  colony  should  not  enter 
into  any  treaty  or  correspondence  with  the 
court  of  Great  Britain,  or  with  any  person  or 
persons  under  that  authority,  but  through  the 
medium  of  the  continental  congress. 

Resolved  also,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this 
house,  that  if  any  person  or  persons  sent  from 
Great  Britain  to  treat  with  the  several  colonies, 
shall  arrive  in  this  colony  by  water,  such  per 
son  or  persons  and  their  retinue  or  company, 
should  not,  upon  any  pretence,  be  allowed  to 
land,  or  to  remain  in  the  colony  longer  than' 
forty-eight  hours,  wind  and  weather  permit 
ting  ;  or  while  so  remaining,  to  hold  any  com 
munication  with  any  person  in  this  colony,  but 
through  his  excellency  the  president  ;  and  if  any 
such  persons  shall  arrive  by  land,  they  should 
be  forthwith  escorted  out  of  the  colony,  and  not 
permitted  to  hold  conference  with  any  person 
not  for  that  purpose  authorized  by  the  president 
and  that  for  the  mere  purpose  of  accommoda 
tion. 


SPEECH 

OF  JOHN  RUTLEDGE,  PRESIDENT,  TO  THE 
GENERAL  ASSEMBLY,  APRIL  n,  1776. 

Honorable  gentlemen  of  the  legislative  coun 
cil — Mr.  Speaker  and  gentlemen  of  the  gen 
eral  assembly. 

It  has  afforded  me  much  satisfaction  to 
observe  that  though  the  season  of  the  year 
rendered  your  sitting  very  inconvenient,  your 
private  concerns,  which  must  have  suffered 
greatly  by  your  long  and  close  application,  in 
the  late  congress,  to  the  affairs  of  the  colony, 
requiring  your  presence  in  the  county,  yet  con 
tinuing  to  prefer  the  public  weal  to  ease,  and 
retirement,  you  have  been  busily  engaged  in 
framing  such  laws  as  our  peculiar  circum 
stances  rendered  absolutely  necessary  to  be 
passed  before  your  adjournment.  Having  given 
my  assent  to  them,  I  presume  you  are  now 
desirous  of  a  recess. 

On  my  part,  a  most  solemn  oath  has  been 
taken  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  my  duty  ;  on 
yours,  a  solemn  assurance  has  been  given  to 
support  me  therein.  Thus  a  public  compact 
between  us  stands  recorded.  You  may  rest 
assured  that  I  shall  keep  this  oath  ever  in 
mind — the  constitution  shall  be  the  invariable 
rule  of  my  conduct — my  ears  shall  be  always 
open  to  the  complaints  of  the  injured,  justice, 


in  mercy,  shall  neither  be  denied,  or  delayed. 
Our  laws  and  religion,  and  the  liberties  of 
America,  shall  be  maintained  and  defended,  to 
the  utmost  of  my  power.  I  repose  the  most 
perfect  confidence  in  your  engagement. 

And  now,  gentlemen,  let  me  entreat  that 
you  will,  in  your  several  parishes  and  districts, 
use  your  influence  and  authority  to  keep  peace 
and  good  order,  and  procure  strict  observance 
of,  and  ready  obedience  to  the  law.  If  any 
persons  therein  are  still  strangers  to  the  nature 
and  merits  of  the  dispute  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  colonies,  you  will  explain  it  to  them 
fully,  and  teach  them,  if  they  are  so  unfortunate 
as  not  to  know  their  inherent  rights.  Prove  to 
them,  that  the  privileges  of  being  tried  by  a 
jury  of  the  vicinage,  acquainted  with  the  parties 
and  witnesses ;  of  being  taxed  only  with  their 
own  consent,  given  by  their  representatives, 
freely  chosen  by,  and  sharing  the  burthen  equally 
with  themselves,  not  for  the  aggrandizing  a 
rapacious  minister,  and  his  dependent  favorites, 
and  for  corrupting  the  people,  and  subverting 
their  liberties,  but  for  such  wise  and  salutary 
purposes,  as  they  themselves  approve  ;  and  of 
having  their  internal  polity  regulated,  only  by 
laws  consented  to  by  competent  judges  of  what 
is  best  adapted  to  their  situation  and  circum 
stances,  equally  bound  too  by  those  laws,  are 
inestimable,  and  derived  from  that  constitution, 
which  is  the  birth-right  of  the  poorest  man, 
and  the  best  inheritance  of  the  most  wealthy. 
Relate  to  them  the  various,  unjust  and  cruel 
statutes,  which  the  British  parliament,  claiming 
a  right  to  make  laws  for  binding  the  colonies 
in  all  cases  whatsoever,  have  enacted  ;  and  the 
many  sanguinary  measures  which  have  been, 
and  are  daily  pursued  and  threatened,  to 
wrest  from  them  those  invaluable  benefits,  and 
to  enforce  such  an  unlimited  and  destructive 
claim.  To  the  most  illiterate  it  must  appear, 
that  no  power  on  earth  can,  of  right,  deprive 
them  of  the  hardly  earned  fruits  of  their  honest 
industry,  toil  and  labor — even  to  them,  the 
impious  attempt  to  prevent  many  thousands 
from  using  the  means  of  subsistence  provided 
for  man  by  the  bounty  of  his  Creator,  and  to 
compel  them,  by  famine,  to  surrender  their 
rights  ;  will  seem  to  call  for  Divine  vengeance. 
The  endeavors,  by  deceit  and  bribery,  to  engage 
barbarous  nations  to  embrue  their  hands  in 
the  innocent  blood  of  helpless  women  and 
children ;  and  the  attempts  by  fair  but  false 
promises  to  make  ignorant  domestics  subser 
vient  to  the  most  wicked  purposes,  are  acts 
at  which  humanity  must  revolt. 

Shew  your  constituents  then,  the  indispensa 
ble  necessity  which  there  was  for  establishing 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


327 


some  mode  of  government  in  this  colony ;  the 
benefits  of  that,  which  a  full  and  free  represen 
tation  has  established ;  and  that  the  consent 
of  the  people  is  the  origin,  and  their  happiness 
the  end  of  government.  Remove  the  appre 
hensions  with  which  honest  and  well-meaning, 
but  weak  and  credulous,  minds  may  be  alarmed; 
and  prevent  ill  impressions  by  artful  and  design 
ing  enemies.  Let  it  be  known  that  this  consti 
tution  is  but  temporary,  till  an  accommodation 
of  the  unhappy  differences  between  Great 
Britain  and  America  can  be  obtained  ;  and  that 
such  an  event  is  still  desired  by  men  who  yet 
remember  former  friendships  and  intimate 
connections,  though  for  defending  their  per 
sons  and  properties,  they  are  stigmatized  and 
treated  as  rebels. 

Truth,  being  known,  will  prevail  over  artifice 
and  misrepresentation. — In  such  case  no  man, 
who  is  worthy  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  will, 
or  can,  refuse  to  join  with  you,  in  defending 
them  to  the  last  extremity,  disdaining  every 
sordid  view,  and  the  mean  paltry  considerations 
of  private  interest  and  present  emolument, 
when  placed  in  competition  with  the  liberties 
of  millions ;  and  seeing  that  there  is  no  alter 
native  but  absolute,  unconditional  submission, 
and  the  most  abject  slavery,  or  a  defence  becom 
ing  men  born  to  freedom,  he  will  not  hesitate 
about  the  choice.  Although  superior  force 
may,  by  the  permission  of  Heaven,  lay  waste 
our  towns,  and  ravage  our  country,  it  can 
never  eradicate  from  the  breasts  of  freemen, 
those  principles  which  are  ingrafted  in  their 
very  nature. — Such  men  will  do  their  duty, 
neither  knowing,  nor  regarding  consequen 
ces  ;  but  submitting  them,  with  humble  confi 
dence,  to  the  omniscient  and  omnipotent  arbi 
ter  and  director  of  the  fate  of  empires,  and  trust 
ing  that  his  Almighty  arm,  which  has  been  so 
signally  stretched  out  for  our  defence,  will 
deliver  them  in  a  righteous  cause. 

The  eyes  of  Europe,  nay  of  the  whole  world, 
are  on  America.  The  eyes  of  every  other  colony 
are  on  this ;  a  colony,  whose  reputation  for 
generosity  and  magnanimity,  is  universally 
acknowledged.  I  trust,  therefore,  it  will  not 
be  diminished  by  our  future  conduct ;  that 
there  will  be  no  civil  discord  here ;  and  that 
the  only  strife  amongst  brethren  will  be,  who 
shall  do  most  to  serve  and  to  save  an  oppres 
sed  and  injured  country. 

JOHN  RUTLEDGE. 

April  II,  1776. 

In  general  assembly.  South   Carolina,  April 

ii,  1776. 
Ordered,  That  the  speech  this  day  delivered 


to  both  houses,  by  his  excellency  the  president, 
and    commander  in  chief  of    this    colony,   be 
forthwith  printed  and  made  public,  as  well  in 
the  newspapers  as  otherwise. 
By  order  of  the  house, 

PETER  TIMOTHY,  Clerk  G.  A. 


CHIEF  JUSTICE  WILLIAM  HENRY 
DRAYTON,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

CHARGES  TO  THE  GRAND  JURY, 

Of  general  session  held  at  Charleston,  1776 
and  1777,  commending  the  constitution  as 
established  by  congress  March  2.6th,  1776  ; 
the  rise  of  the  American  empire  and  other 
topics  affecting  the  interests  of  the  people, 
with  the  PRESENTMENTS  of  the  Jury  ap 
pended. 

At  an  adjournment  of  the  court  of  GENERAL 
SESSIONS  OF  THE  PEACE,  OYER  AND  TERMI- 
NER,  ASSIZE  AND  GENERAL  GAOL  DELIV 
ERY,  held  at  Charleston  for  the  district  of 
Charleston,  on  Tuesday,  the  23d  day  of 
April,  1776  —  Before  the  hon.  WILLIAM 
HENRY  DRAYTON,  esq.  chief  justice,  and 
his  associates,  justices  of  the  colony  of 
South  Carolina, 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Attorney  General,  ORDERED, 
That  the  charge  of  his  honor,  the  chief  jus 
tice,  delivered  to  the  grand  jury,  be  pub 
lished  together  with  their  presentments. 
By  order  of  the  court, 

JOHN  COLCOCK,  C.  C.  S. 
May  2d. 

THE  CHARGE  TO  THE  GRAND  JURY. 

Gentlemen  of  the  grand  jury — When,  by 
evil  machinations  tending  to  nothing  less  than 
absolute  tyranny,  trials  by  jury  have  been  dis 
continued,  and  juries,  in  discharge  of  their 
duty,  have  assembled,  and  as  soon  as  met,  as 
silently  and  arbitrarily  dismissed  without  being 
impannelled,  whereby,  in  contempt  of  magna 
charta,  justice  has  been  delayed  and  denied  ; 
it  cannot  but  afford  to  every  good  citizen,  the 
most  sincere  satisfaction,  once  more  to  see 
juries,  as  they  now  are,  legally  impannelled,  to 
the  end,  that  the  laws  may  be  duly  adminis 
tered — I  do  most  heartily  congratulate  you 
upon  so  important  an  event. 

In  this  court,  where  silence  has  but  too  long 
presided,  with  a  direct  purpose  to  loosen  the 
bands  of  government,  that  this  country  might 
be  involved  in  anarchy  and  confusion,  you  are 
now  met  to  regulate  your  verdicts,  under  a 
new  constitution  of  government,  independent 


328 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


of  royal  authority  :  A  constitution  which  arose 
according  to  the  great  law  of  nature  and  of 
nations,  and  which  was  established  in  the  late 
congress,  on  the  26th  of  March  last — a  day 
that  will  be  ever  memorable  in  this  country — a 
month,  remarkable  in  our  history,  for  having 
given  birth  to  the  original  constitution  of  our 
governrient  in  the  year  1669;  for  being  the 
asra  of  the  American  calamities  by  the  stamp 
act,  in  the  year  1765  ;  for  being  the  date  of  the 
repeal  of  that  act  in  the  following  year  j  and 
for  the  conclusion  of  the  famous  siege  of  Bos 
ton,  when  the  American  arms  compelled  gen 
eral  Howe,  a  general  of  the  first  reputation  in 
the  British  service,  with  the  largest,  best  disci 
plined,  and  best  provided  army  in  that  service, 
supported  by  a  formidable  fleet,  so  precipi 
tately  to  abandon  the  most  impregnable  for 
tifications  in  America,  as  that  he  left  behind 
him  a  great  part  of  the  bedding,  military 
stores,  and  cannon  of  the  army.  And  for  so 
many  important  events,  in  the  month  of  March 
remarkable  in  our  annals — But  I  proceed  to  lay 
before  you,  the  principal  causes  leading  to  the 
late  revolution  of  our  government — the  law 
upon  the  point — and  the  benefits  resulting 
from  that  happy  and  necessary  establishment. 
The  importance  of  the  transaction  deserves 
such  a  state — the  occasion  demands, — and  our 
future  welfare  requires  it:  To  do  this  may  take 
up  some  little  time,  but  the  subject  is  of  the 
highest  moment,  and  worthy  of  your  particular 
attention  :  I  will  therefore  confine  my  discourse 
to  that  great  point ;  and,  after  charging  you 
to  attend  to  the  due  observance  of  the  jury 
law,  and  the  patrol  and  negro  acts,  forbearing 
to  mention  the  other  common  duties  of  a 
grand  jury,  I  will  expound  to  you  the  constitu 
tion  of  your  country. 

The  house  of  Brunswick  was  yet  scarcely 
settled  in  the  British  throne,  to  which  it  had 
been  called  by  a  free  people,  when,  in  the  year 
1719,  our  ancestors  in  this  country,  finding 
that  the  government  of  the  lords  proprietors 
operated  to  their  ruin,  exercised  the  rights 
transmitted  to  them  by  their  forefathers  of 
England ;  and  casting  off  the  proprietary  au 
thority,  called  upon  the  house  of  Brunswick  to 
rule  over  them — a  house  elevated  to  royal 
dominion,  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  pre 
serve  to  a  people  their  unalienable  rights. 
The  king  accepted  the  invitation,  and  thereby 
indisputably  admitted  the  legality  of  that  revo 
lution.  And  in  so  doing,  by  his  own  act,  he 
vested  in  those  our  forefathers,  and  us  their 
posterity,  a  clear  right  to  effect  another  revolu 
tion,  if  ever  the  government  of  the  house  of 
Brunswick  should  operate  to  the  ruin  of  the 


people. — So  the  excellent  Roman  emperor, 
Trajan,  delivered  a  sword  to  Saburanus,  his 
captain  of  the  Praetorian  guard,  with  this  ad 
mired  sentence.  "  Receive  this  sword,  and 
use  it  to  defend  me  if  I  govern  well,  but 
against  me,  if  I  behave  ill." 

With  joyful  acclamations  our  ancestors,  by 
act  of  assembly  passed  on  the  i8th  day  of 
August,  1721,  RECOGNIZED  the  British  mon 
arch  :  The  virtues  of  the  second  George  are 
still  revered  among  us — HE  was  the  father  of 
his  people  :  And  it  was  with  ecstacy  we  saw  his 
grandson  George  the  Third,  mount  the  throne 
possessed  of  the  hearts  of  his  subjects. 

But  alas  !  almost  with  the  commencement 
of  his  reign,  his  subjects  felt  causes  to  complain 
of  government.  The  reign  advanced — the 
grievances  became  more  numerous  and  intoler 
able — the  complaints  more  general  and  loud — 
the  whole  empire  resounded  with  the  cries  of 
injured  subjects  !  At  length,  grievances  being 
unredressed  and  ever  increasing ;  all  patience 
being  borne  down ;  all  hope  destroyed ;  all 
confidence  in  royal  government  blasted  ! — 
Behold  !  the  empire  is  rent  from  pole  to  pole  ! 
perhaps  to  continue  asunder  forever. 

The  catalogue  of  our  oppressions,  continen 
tal  and  local,  is  enormous.  Of  such  oppres 
sions,  I  will  mention  only  some  of  the  most 
weighty. 

Under  color  of  law,  the  king  and  parliament 
of  Great  Britain  have  made  the  most  arbitrary 
attempts  to  enslave  America  : 

By  claiming  a  right  to  bind  the  colonies  "  in 
all  cases  whatsoever" 

By  laying  duties  at  their  mere  will  and  pleas 
ure  upon  all  the  colonies ; 

By  suspending  the  legislature  of  New  York  ; 

By  rendering  the  American  charters  of  no 
validity,  having  annulled  the  most  material 
parts  of  the  charter  of  the  Massachusetts- 
Bay; 

By  divesting  multitudes  of  the  colonists  of 
their  property,  without  legal  accusation  or 
trial ; 

By  depriving  whole  colonies  of  the  bounty 
of  Providence  on  their  own  proper  coasts, 
in  order  to  coerce  them  by  famine  ; 

By  restricting  the  trade  and  commerce  of 
America ; 

By  sending  to,  and  continuing  in  America,  in 
time  of  peace,  an  armed  force  without  and 
against  the  consent  of  the  people  ; 

By  granting  impunity  to  a  soldiery  instigated 
to  murder  the  Americans ; 

By  declaring,  that  the  people  of  Massachu 
setts-Bay  are  liable  for  offences,  or  pretended 
offences,  done  in  that  colony,  to  be  sent  to,  and 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


329 


tried  for  the  same  in  England  ;  or  in  any  col 
ony  where  they  cannot  have  the  benefit  of  a  jury 
of  the  vicinage. 

By  establishing  in  Quebec  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion,  and  an  arbitrary  government ;  instead 
of  the  Protestant  religion  and  a  free  government. 

And  thus  America  saw  it  demonstrated,  that 
no  faith  ought  to  be  put  in  a  royal  proclama 
tion  ;  for  I  must  observe  to  you  that,  in  the 
year  1763,  by  such  a  proclamation,  people 
were  invited  to  settle  in  Canada,  and  were  as 
sured  of  a  legislative  representation,  the  bene 
fit  of  the  common  law  of  England,  and  a  free 
government.  It  is  a  misfortune  to  the  public, 
that  this  is  not  the  only  instance  of  the  ineffi- 
cacy  of  a  royal  proclamation.  However,  hav 
ing  given  you  one  instance  of  a  failure  of  royal 
faith  in  the  northern  extremity  of  this  abused 
continent,  let  it  suffice,  that  I  direct  your  atten 
tion  to  the  southern  extremity ;  respecting 
which,  the  same  particulars  were,  in  the  same 
manner  promised,  but  the  deceived  inhabitants 
of  St.  Augustine  are  left  by  their  grand  jury  in 
vain  to  complain  and  lament  to  the  world,  and 
yet  scarcely  permitted  to  exercise  even  that 
privilege  distinguishing  the  miserable,  that 
royal  taith  is  not  kept  with  them. 

The  proceedings  which  I  have  enumerated, 
either  immediately  or  in  their  evident  conse 
quences,  deeply  affected  all  the  colonies ;  ruin 
stared  them  in  the  face.  They  united  their 
counsels,  and  laid  their  just  complaints  before 
the  throne,  praying  a  redress  of  grievances. 
But,  to  their  astonishment,  their  dutiful  petition 
for  peace  and  safety,  was  answered  only  by  an 
actual  commencement  of  war  and  military 
destruction ! 

In  the  mean  time,  the  British  troops  that 
had  been  peaceably  received  by  the  devoted  in 
habitants  of  Boston,  as  the  troops  of  their 
sovereign  bound  to  protect  them  !  fortified  that 
town,  to  imprison  the  inhabitants,  and  to  hold 
that  capital  against  the  people  to  whom  it  be 
longed  !  And  the  British  rulers  having  deter 
mined  to  appeal  from  reason  and  justice,  to 
violence  and  arms,  a  select  body  of  those 
troops,  being  in  the  night  suddenly  and  pri 
vately  marched  from  Boston — at  Lexington,  on 
the  ipth  day  of  April,  1775,  they  by  surprise 
drew  the  sword  of  civil  war,  and  plunged  it 
into  the  breasts  of  the  Americans !  Against 
this  horrid  injustice  the  Almighty  gave  instant 
judgment :  A  handful  of  country  militia,  badly 
armed,  suddenly  collected,  and  unconnectedly, 
and  irregularly  brought  up  to  repel  the  attack, 
discomfited  the  regular  bands  of  the  tyranny  ; 
they  retreated,  and  night  saved  them  from 
total  slaughter. 


Thus  forced  to  take  up  arms  in  our  own 
defence,  America  yet  again  most  dutifully  peti 
tioned  the  king,  that  he  would  "  be  pleased  to 
direct  some  mode,  by  which  the  united  appli 
cations  of  his  faithful  colonists  to  the  throne, 
in  presence  of  their  common  councils,  might 
be  improved  into  a  happy  and  permanent  re 
conciliation  ;  and  that  in  the  meantime,  meas 
ures  might  be  taken  for  preventing  the  further 
destruction  of  the  lives  of  his  majesty's  sub 
jects  : — " — But,  it  was  in  vain  ! — The  petition 
on  the  part  of  millions,  praying  that  the  effu 
sion  of  blood  might  be  stayed,  was  not  thought 
worthy  of  an  answer  !  The  nefarious  war  con 
tinued.  The  ruins  of  Charlestown,  Falmouth 
and  Norfolk,  towns  not  constructed  for  offence 
or  defence,  mark  the  humane  progress  of  the 
royal  arms  ;  So  the  ruins  of  Carthage,  Corinth, 
and  Numantium,  proclaimed  to  the  world  that 
justice  was  expelled  the  Roman  senate  ! — On 
the  other  hand,  the  fortitude  with  which 
America  has  endured  these  civil  and  military 
outrages  ;  the  union  of  her  people,  as  astonish 
ing  as  unprecedented,  when  we  consider  their 
various  manners  and  religious  tenets  ;  their 
distance  from  each  other ;  their  various  and 
clashing  local  interests,  their  self  denial ;  and 
their  miraculous  success  in  the  prosecution  of 
the  war :  I  say,  these  things  all  demonstrate 
that  the  Lord  of  Hosts  is  on  our  side  !  So  it 
is  apparent,  that  the  Almighty  Constructor  of 
the  universe,  having  formed  this  continent  of 
materials  to  compose  a  state  pre-eminent  in 
the  world,  is  now  making  use  of  the  tyranny  of 
the  British  rulers,  as  an  instrument  to  fashion 
and  arrange  those  materials  for  the  end  for 
which,  in  his  wisdom,  he  had  formed  them. 

In  this  enlightened  age,  humanity  must  be 
particularly  shocked  at  a  recital  of  such  vio 
lences  ;  and  it  is  scarce  to  be  believed,  that  the 
British  tyranny  could  entertain  an  idea  of  pro 
ceeding  against  America  by  a  train  of  more 
dishonorable  machinations.  But,  nothing  less 
than  absolute  proof  has  convinced  us  that,  in 
carrying  on  the  conspiracy  against  the  rights  of 
humanity,  the  tyranny  is  capable  of  attempting 
to  perpetrate  whatever  is  infamous. 

For  the  little  purpose  of  disarming  the  im 
prisoned  inhabitants  of  Boston,  the  king's 
general,  Gage,  in  the  face  of  day,  violated  the 
public  faith,  by  himself  plighted  ;  and  in  con 
cert  with  other  governors,  and  with  John 
Stuart,  he  made  every  attempt  to  instigate  the 
savage  nations  to  war  upon  the  southern  colo 
nies,  indiscriminately  to  massacre  man,  woman 
and  child  :  The  governors  in  general  have  de 
monstrated,  that  truth  is  not  in  them ;  they 
have  enveigled  negroes  from,  and  have  armed 


330 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


them  against  their  masters ;  they  have  armed 
brother  against  brother — son  against  father ! 

Oh  !  Almighty  Director  of  the  universe  ! 

What  confidence  can  be  put  in  a  government 
ruling  by  such  engines,  and  upon  such  princi 
ples  of  unnatural  destruction  ! — A  government 
that  upon  the  2ist  day  of  December  last,  made 
a  law,  ex  post  facto,  to  justify  what  had  been 
done,  not  only  without  law,  but  in 'its  nature 
unjust ! — a  law  to  make  prize  of  all  vessels 
trading  in,  to,  or  from  the  united  colonies — a 
law  to  make  slaves  of  the  crews  of  such  vessels, 
and  to  compel  them  to  bear  arms  against  their 
conscience,  their  fathers,  their  bleeding  coun 
try  ! — The  world,  so  old  as  it  is,  heretofore  had 
never  heard  of  so  atrocious  a  procedure ;  It 
has  no  parallel  in  the  registers  of  tyranny. — 
But  to  proceed — 

The  king's  judges  in  this  country  refused  to 
administer  justice  ;  and  the  late  governor,  lord 
William  Campbell,  acting  as  the  king's  repre 
sentative  for  him,  and  on  his  behalf,  having 
endeavored  to  subvert  the  constitution  of  this 
country,  by  breaking  the  original  contract 
between  king  and  people,  attacking  the  people 
by  force  of  arms ;  having  violated  the  funda 
mental  laws  ;  having  carried  off  the  great  seal, 
and  having  withdrawn  himself  out  of  this  colony, 
he  abdicated  the  government. 

Oppressed  by  such  a  variety  of  enormous 
injuries,  continental  and  local,  civil  and  military, 
and  by  divers  other  arbitrary  and  illegal 
courses ;  all  done  and  perpetrated  by  the 
assent,  command,  or  sufferance  of  the  king  of 
Great  Britain ;  the  representatives  of  South 
Carolina,  in  congress  assembled,  found  them 
selves  under  an  unavoidable  necessity  of  estab 
lishing  a  form  of  government,  with  powers 
legislative,  executive  and  judicial,  for  the  good 
of  the  people  ;  the  origin  and  great  end  of  all 

just  government. For  this  only  end,  the 

house  of  Brunswick  was  called  to  rule  over  us. 
— Oh  !  agonizing  reflection  !  that  house  ruled 
us  with  swords,  fire  and  bayonets !  The 
British  government  operated  only  to  our  des 
truction.  Nature  cried  aloud,  self  preservation 
is  the  great  law — we  have  but  obeyed. 

If  I  turn  my  thoughts  to  recollect  in  history, 
a  change  of  government  upon  more  cogent 
reasons,  I  say  I  know  of  no  change  upon  prin 
ciples  so  provoking — compelling — justifiable. 
And  in  this  respect,  even  the  famous  revo 
lution  in  England,  in  the  year  1688,  is  much 
inferior. — However  we  need  no  better  authority 
than  that  illustrious  precedent ;  and  I  will 
therefore  compare  the  causes  of,  and  the  law 
upon  the  two  events. 

On  the  7th  of  February,  1688,  the  lords  and 


commons  of  England,  in  convention,  completed 
the  following  resolution. 

"  Resolved  that  king  James  the  second,  hav 
ing  endeavored  to  subvert  the  constitution  of 
the  kingdom,  by  breaking  the  original  contract 
between  king  and  people  ;  and,  by  the  advice 
of  Jesuits  and  other  wicked  persons,  having 
violated  the  fundamental  laws,  and  having  with 
drawn  himself  out  of  this  kingdom ;  has  abdi 
cated  the  government,  and  that  the  throne  is 
thereby  vacant." 

That  famous  resolution  deprived  James  of 
his  crown ;  and  became  the  foundation  on 
which  the  throne  of  the  present  king  of  Great 
Britain  is  built — it  also  supports  the  edifice  of 
government  which  we  have  erected. 

In  that  resolve,  there  are  but  three  facts 
stated  to  have  been  done  by  James :  I  will 
point  them  out,  and  examine  whether  those 
facts  will  apply  to  the  present  king  of  Great 
Britain,  with  regard  to  the  operations  of  gov 
ernment,  by  him  or  his  representative,  imme 
diately  or  by  consequence  affecting  this  colony. 

The  first  fact  is,  the  having  endeavored  to 
subvert  the  constitution  of  the  kingdom  by 
breaking  the  original  contract. 

The  violation  of  the  fundamental  laws  is  the 
second  fact ;  and  in  support  of  these  two 
charges,  the  lords  spiritual  and  temporal  and 
commons,  assembled  at  Westminster,  on  the 
1 2th  day  of  February,  1688,  declared  that  James 
was  guilty. 

"  By  assuming,  and  exercising  a  power  of 
dispensing  with,  and  suspending  of  laws,  and 
the  execution  of  laws,  without  consent  of 
parliament : 

"By  committing  and  persecuting  divers 
worthy  prelates,  for  humbly  petitioning  to  be 
excused  from  concurring  to  the  said  assumed 
power : 

"  By  issuing  and  causing  to  be  executed  a 
commission,  under  the  great  seal,  for  erecting 
a  court,  called  the  court  of  commissioners  for 
ecclesiastical  causes : 

"  By  levying  money  for,  and  to  the  use  of 
the  crown,  by  pretence  of  prerogative,  for  other 
time,  and  in  other  manner,  than  the  same  was 
granted  by  parliament : 

"  By  raising  and  keeping  a  standing  army 
within  this  kingdom  in  time  of  peace,  without 
consent  of  parliament ;  and  quartering  soldiers 
contrary  to  law : 

"  By  causing  several  good  subjects,  being 
protestants,  to  be  disarmed,  at  the  same  time 
when  papists  were  both  armed  and  employed 
contrary  to  law : 

"By  violating  the  freedom  of  election  of 
members  to  serve  in  parliament : 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


331 


"  By  prosecutions  in  the  court  of  king's  bench, 
for  matters  and  causes  cognizable  only  in  par 
liament  ;  and  by  divers  other  arbitrary  and 
illegal  courses." 

This  declaration,  thus  containing  two  points 
of  criminality — breach  of  the  original  contract, 
and  violation  of  fundamental  laws — I  am  to 
distinguish  one  from  the  other. 

In  the  first  place  then,  it  is  laid  down  in  the 
best  law  authorities,  that  protection  and  sub 
jection  are  reciprocal ;  and  that  these  reciprocal 
duties  form  the  original  contract  between  king 
and  people.  It  therefore  follows,  that  the  orig 
inal  contract  was  broken  by  James'  conduct  as 
above  stated,  which  amounted  to  a  not  affording 
due  protection  to  his  people.  And,  it  is  as 
clear,  that  he  violated  the  fundamental  laws, 
by  the  suspending  of  laws,  and  the  execution 
of  laws  ;  by  levying  money ;  by  violating  the 
freedom  of  election  of  members  to  serve  in 
parliament ;  by  keeping  a  standing  army  in 
time  of  peace  ;  and  by  quartering  soldiers  con 
trary  to  law,  and  without  consent  of  parliament ; 
which  is  as  much  as  to  say,  that  he  did  those 
things  without  consent  of  the  legislative  assem 
bly  chosen  by  the  personal  election  of  that 
people,  over  whom  such  doings  were  exercised. 

These  points,  reasonings,  and  conclusions, 
being  settled  in,  deduced  from,  and  estab 
lished  upon  parliamentary  proceedings,  and  the 
best  law  authorities,  must  ever  remain  unshaken. 
I  am  now  to  undertake  the  disagreeable  task 
of  examining,  whether  they  will  apply  to  the 
violences  which  have  lighted  up,  and  now  feed 
the  flames  of  civil  war  in  America. 

James  the  second  suspended  the  operations 
of  laws — George  the  third  caused  the  charter 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  to  be  in  effect  annihi 
lated  ;  he  suspended  the  operation  of  the  law 
which  formed  a  legislature  in  New  York,  vest 
ing  it  with  adequate  powers  ;  and  thereby  he 
caused  the  very  ability  of  making  laws  in  that 
colony  to  be  suspended. 

King  James  levied  money  without  the  con 
sent  of  the  representatives  of  the  people  called 
upon  to  pay  it — King  George  has  levied  money 
upon  America,  not  only  without,  but  expressly 
against  the  consent  of  the  representatives  of 
the  people  in  America. 

King  James  violated  the  freedom  of  election 
of  members  to  serve  in  parliament  —  King 
George,  by  his  representative,  lord  William 
Campbell,  acting  for  him  and  on  his  behalf, 
broke  through  a  fundamental  law  of  this  coun 
try,  for  the  certain  holding  of  general  assem 
blies  ;  and  thereby,  as  far  as  in  him  lay,  not  only 
violated  but  annihilated  the  very  ability  of 
holding  a  general  assembly. 


King  James  in  time  of  peace  kept  a  standing 
army  in  England,  without  consent  of  the  rep 
resentatives  of  the  people  among  whom  that 
army  was  kept — king  George  hath  in  time  of 
peace  invaded  this  continent  with  a  large  stand 
ing  army  without  the  consent,  and  he  hath 
kept  it  within  this  continent,  expressly  against 
the  consent  of  the  representatives  of  the  people 
among  whom  that  army  is  posted. 

All  which  doings  by  king  George  the  third 
respecting  America  are  as  much  contrary  to 
our  interests  and  welfare  ;  as  much  against  law, 
and  tend  as  much,  at  least,  to  subvert  and 
extirpate  the  liberties  of  this  colony,  and  of 
America,  as  the  similar  proceedings,  by  James 
the  second,  operated  respecting  the  people  of 
England.  For  the  same  principle  of  law, 
touching  the  premises,  equally  applies  to  the 
people  of  England  in  the  one  case,  and  to  the 
people  of  America  in  the  other.  And  this  is 
the  great  principle.  Certain  acts  done,  over, 
and  affecting  a  people,  against  and  without 
their  consent  expressed  by  themselves,  or  by  rep 
resentatives  of  their  own  election. — Upon  this 
only  principle  was  grounded  the  complaints  of 
the  people  of  England  —  upon  the  same  is 
grounded  the  complaints  of  the  people  of 
America.  And  hence  it  clearly  follows,  that  if 
James  the  second  violated  the  fundamental 
laws  of  England,  George  the  third  hath  also 
violated  the  fundamental  laws  of  America. 

Again — 

King  James  broke  the  original  contract  by 
not  affording  due  protection  to  his  subjects, 
although  he  was  not  charged  with  having 
seized  their  towns  and  with  having  held  them 
against  the  people — or  with  having  laid  them 
in  ruins  by  his  arms — or  with  having  seized 
their  vessels  —  or  with  having  pursued  the 
people  with  fire  and  sword — or  with  having 
declared  them  rebels,  for  resisting  his  arms  lev 
elled  to  destroy  their  lives,  liberties  and  prop 
erties — But  George  the  third  hath  done  all  those 
things  against  America;  and  it  is  therefore  un 
deniable,  that  he  hath  not  afforded  due  protec 
tion  to  the  people.  Wherefore,  if  James  the 
second  broke  the  original  contract,  it  is  undeni 
able  that  George  the  third  has  also  broken  the 
original  contract  between  king  and  people  ;  and 
that  he  made  use  of  the  most  violent  measures 
by  which  il  could  be  done — Violences,  of  which 
James  was  guiltless — Measures,  carrying  con 
flagration,  massacre  and  open  war  amidst  a 
people,  whose  subjection  to  the  king  of  Great 
Britain,  the  law  holds  to  be  due  only  as  a  re 
turn  for  protection.  And  so  tenacious  and 
clear  is  the  law  upon  this  very  principle,  that 
it  is  laid  down,  subjection  is  not  due  even  to  a 


332 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


king,  de  jure,  or  of  right,  unless  he  be  also 
king  de  facto,  or  in  possession  of  the  executive 
powers  dispensing  protection. 

Again — 

The  third  fact  charged  against  James  is,  that 
he  withdrew  himself  out  of  the  kingdom — 
And  we  know  that  the  people  of  this  country 
have  declared,  that  lord  William  Campbell,  the 
king  of  Great  Britain's  representative,  "  having 
used  his  umost  efforts  to  destroy  the  lives, 
liberties,  and  properties  of  the  good  people 
here,  whom  by  the  duty  of  his  station  he  was 
bound  to  protect,  withdrew  himself  out  of  the 
colony." — Hence  it  will  appear  that  George  the 
third  hath  withdrawn  himself  out  of  this  colony, 
provided  it  be  established  that  exactly  the  same 
natural  consequence  resulted  from  the  with 
drawing  in  each  case  respectively  :  king  James 
personally  out  of  England,  and  king  George 
out  of  Carolina,  by  the  agency  of  his  substitute 
and  representative,  lord  William  Campbell. — 
By  king  James  withdrawing,  the  executive 
magistrate  was  gone,  thereby,  in  the  eye  of  the 
law,  the  executive  magistrate  was  dead,  and  of 
consequence  royal  government  actually  ceased 
in  England — So  by  king  George's  representa 
tive's  withdrawing,  the  executive  magistrate 
was  gone,  the  death,  in  law,  became  apparent, 
and  of  consequence  royal  government  actually 
ceased  in  this  colony.  Lord  William  withdrew 
as  the  king's  representative,  carrying  off  the 
great  seal  and  royal  instructions  to  governors, 
and  acting  for  and  on  the  part  of  his  principal, 
by  every  construction  of  law,  that  conduct 
became  the  conduct  of  his  principal ;  and  thus, 
James  the  second  withdrew  out  of  England  and 
George  the  third  withdrew  out  of  South  Caro 
lina  ;  and  by  such  a  conduct,  respectively,  the 
people  in  each  country  were  exactly  in  the  same 
degree  injured. 

The  three  facts  against  king  James  being 
thus  stated  and  compared  with  similar  pro 
ceedings  by  king  George,  we  are  now  to  ascer 
tain  the  result  of  the  injuries  done  by  the  first, 
and  the  law  upon  that  point ;  which  being 
ascertained,  must  naturally  constitute  the  judg 
ment  in  law,  upon  the  result  of  similar  injuries 
done  by  the  last :  And  I  am  happy  that  I 
can  give  you  the  best  authority  upon  this 
important  point. 

Treating  upon  this  great  precedent  in  consti 
tutional  law,  the  learned  judge  Blackstone 
declares  that  the  result  of  the  facts  "amounted 
to  an  abdication  of  the  government,  which 
abdication  did  not  affect  only  the  person  of  the 
king  himself,  but  also,  all  his  heirs ;  and  ren 
dered  the  throne  absolutely  and  completely 
vacant."  Thus  it  clearly  appears  that  the  gov 


ernment  was  not  abdicated,  and  the  throne 
vacated  by  the  resolution  of  the  lords  and  com 
mons  ;  but  that  the  resolution  was  only  decla 
ratory  of  the  law  of  nature  and  reason,  upon 
the  result  of  the  injuries  proceeding  from  the 
three  combined  facts  of  mal-administration. 
And  thus,  as  I  have  on  the  foot  of  the  best 
authorities  made  it  evident,  that  George  the 
third,  king  of  Great  Britain  has  endeavored  to 
subvert  the  constitution  of  this  country,  by 
breaking  the  original  contract  between  king 
and  people ;  by  the  advice  of  wicked  persons, 
has  violated  the  fundamental  laws,  and  has 
withdrawn  himself,  by  withdrawing  the  consti 
tutional  benefits  of  the  kingly  office,  and  his 
protection  out  of  this  country :  From  such  a 
result  of  injuries,  from  such  a  conjuncture  of 
circumstances — the  law  of  the  land  authorizes 
me  to  declare,  and  it  is  my  duty  boldly  to  declare 
the  law,  that  George  the  third,  king  of  Great 
Britain,  has  abdicated  the  government,  and 
that  the  throne  is  thereby  vacant ;  that  is,  HE 
HAS  NO  AUTHORITY  OVER  US,  and  WE  OWE 
NO  OBEDIENCE  TO  HIM The  British  minis 
ters  already  have  presented  a  charge  of  mine 
to  the  notice  of  the  lords  and  commons  in  par 
liament  ;  and  I  am  nothing  loth  that  they  take 
equal  resentment  against  this  charge.  For, 
supported  by  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  con 
stitution,  and  engaged  as  I  am  in  the  cause 
of  virtue — I  fear  no  consequences  from  their 
machinations. 

Thus  having  stated  the  principal  causes  of 
our  last  revolution,  it  is  as  clear  as  the  sun  in 
meridian,  that  George  the  third  has  injured  the 
Americans,  at  least  as  grievously  as  James  the 
second  injured  the  people  of  England  ;  but  that 
James  did  not  oppress  these  in  so  criminal  a 
manner  as  George  has  oppressed  the  Ameri 
cans.  Having  also  stated  the  law  on  the  case, 
I  am  naturally  led  to  point  out  to  you  some  of 
the  great  benefits  resulting  from  that  revolution. 

In  one  word  then,  you  have  a  form  of  gov 
ernment  in  every  respect  preferable  to  the 
mode  under  the  British  authority.  And  this  will 
most  clearly  appear  by  contrasting  the  two 
forms  of  government. 

Under  the  British  authority,  governors  were 
sent  over  to  us,  who  were  utterly  unacquainted 
with  our  local  interests,  the  genius  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  our  laws,  generally,  they  were  but  too 
much  disposed  to  obey  the  mandates  of  an 
arbitrary  ministry;  and  if  the  governor  be 
haved  ill,  we  could  not  by  any  peaceable  means 
procure  redress.  But  under  our  present  happy 
constitution,  our  executive  magistrate  arises 
according  to  the  spirit  and  letter  of  holy  writ — 
"  their  governors  shall  proceed  from  the  midst 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


333 


of  them"  Thus,  the  people  have  an  opportu 
nity  of  choosing  a  man  intimately  acquainted 
with  their  true  interests,  their  genius,  and  their 
laws  :  a  man  perfectly  disposed  to  defend  them 
against  arbitrary  ministers,  and  to  promote  the 
happiness  of  that  people  from  among  whom  he 
was  elevated  ;  and  by  whom,  without  the  least 
difficulty,  he  may  be  removed  and  blended  in 
the  common  mass. 

Again,  under  the  British  authority  it  was  in 
effect  declared,  that  we  had  no  property  ;  nay 
that  we  could  not  possess  any ;  and  that  we 
had  not  any  of  the  rights  of  humanity.  For 
men  who  knew  us  not,  men  who  gained  in 
proportion  as  we  lost,  arrogated  to  themselves 
a  right  to  bind  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever  ! — But, 
our  constitution  is  calculated  to  free  us  from 
foreign  bondage  ;  to  secure  to  us  our  prop 
erty  ;  to  maintain  to  us  the  rights  of  humanity, 
and  to  defend  us  and  our  posterity  against  Bri 
tish  authority,  aiming  to  reduce  us  to  the  most 
abject  slavery  ! 

Again,  the  British  authority  declared,  that 
we  should  not  erect  slitting-mills — and,  to  this 
unjust  law,  we  implicitly  and  respectfully  sub 
mitted  as  long  as,  with  safety  to  our  lives,  we 
could  yield  obedience  to  such  authority — but  a 
resolution  of  congress  now  grants  a  premium 
to  encourage  the  construction  of  such  mills. 
The  British  authority  discouraged  our  at 
tempting  to  manufacture  for  our  own  con 
sumption — but  the  new  constitution,  by  author 
izing  the  disbursement  of  large  sums  of  money 
by  way  of  loan,  or  premium,  encourages  the 
making  of  iron,  bar-steel,  nail-rods,  gun-locks, 
gun-barrels,  sulphur,  nitre,  gun-powder,  lead, 
woolens,  cottons,  linens,  paper  and  salt. 

Upon  the  whole,  it  has  been  the  policy  of  the 
British  authority  to  oblige  us  to  supply  our 
wants  at  their  market,  which  is  the  dearest  in 
the  known  world,  and  to  cramp  and  confine 
our  trade  so  as  to  be  subservient  to  their  com 
merce,  our  real  interest  being  ever  out  of  the 
question. — On  the  other  hand,  the  new  consti 
tution  is  wisely  adapted  to  enable  us  to  trade 
with  foreign  nations,  and  thereby  to  supply  our 
wants  at  the  cheapest  markets  in  the  universe  ; 
to  extend  our  trade  infinitely  beyond  what  it 
has  ever  been  known  ;  to  encourage  manufac 
turers  among  us ;  and  it  is  peculiarly  formed, 
to  promote  the  happiness  of  the  people,  from 
among  whom,  by  virtue  and  merit,  the  poorest 
man  may  arrive  at  the  highest  dignity. — Oh 
Carolinians  !  happy  would  you  be  under  this 
new  constitution,  if  you  knew  your  happy 
state. 

Possessed  of  a  constitution  of  government, 
founded  upon  so  generous,  equal  and  natural 


a  principle, — a  government  expressly  calculated 
to  make  the  people  rich,  powerful,  virtuous  and 
happy,  who  can  wish  to  change  it,  to  return 
under  a  royal  government ;  the  vital  princi 
ples  of  which  are  the  reverse  in  every  particu 
lar  !  It  was  my  duty  to  lay  this  happy  constitu 
tion  before  you,  in  its  genuine  light — it  is  your 
duty  to  understand — to  instruct  others — and  to 
defend  it.  , 

I  might  here  with  propriety  quit  this  truly 
important  subject,  but  my  anxiety  for  the  pub 
lic  weal  compels  me  yet  to  detain  your  atten 
tion,  while  I  make  an  observation  or  two  upon 
one  particular  part  of  the  constitution. 

When  all  the  various  attempts  to  enslave 
America  by  fraud,  under  guise  of  law  ;  by  mili 
tary  threats ;  by  famine,  massacre,  breach  of 
public  faith  and  open  war.  I  say,  when  these 
things  are  considered  on  the  one  hand,  and  on 
the  other,  the  constitution,  expressing  that 
some  mode  of  government  should  be  estab 
lished,  "  until  an  accommodation  of  the  unhappy 
differences  between  Great  Britain  and  America 
can  be  obtained,  an  event  which,  though  tra 
duced  and  treated  as  rebels,  we  still  ardently 
desire."  I  say  when  these  two  points  are  con 
trasted,  can  we  avoid  revering  the  magnanimity 
of  that  great  council  of  the  state,  who  after 
such  injuries  could  entertain  such  a  principle  ! — 
But,  the  virtuous  are  ever  generous :  We  do 
not  wish  revenge :  We  earnestly  wish  an 
accommodation  of  our  unhappy  disputes  with 
Great  Britain  ;  for,  we  prefer  peace  to  war. 
Nay,  there  may  be  even  such  an  accommoda 
tion  as,  excluding  every  idea  of  revenue  by 
taxation  or  duty,  or  of  legislation  by  act  of  par 
liament,  may  vest  the  king  of  Great  Britain 
with  such  a  limited  dominion  over  us  as  may 
tend,  bona  fide,  to  promote  our  true  commer 
cial  interests,  and  to  secure  our  freedom  and 
safety — the  only  just  ends  of  any  dominion. 
But,  while  I  declare  thus  much  on  the  one 
side,  on  the  other  it  is  my  duty  also  to  declare 
that,  in  my  opinion,  our  true  commercial  inter 
ests  cannot  be  provided  for  but  by  such  a  ma 
terial  alteration  of  the  British  acts  of  naviga 
tion  as,  according  to  the  resolve  of  the  honora 
ble  the  continental  congress,  will  "  secure  the 
commercial  advantages  of  the  whole  empire  to 
the  mother  country,  and  the  commercial  bene 
fits  of  its  respective  members."  And  that  out 
liberties  and  safety  cannot  be  depended  upon, 
if  the  king  of  Great  Britain  should  be  allowed 
to  hold  our  forts  and  cannon,  or  to  have  au 
thority  over  a  single  regiment  in  America,  or  a 
single  ship  of  war  in  our  ports. — For  if  he 
hold  our  forts,  he  may  turn  them  against  us,  as 
he  did  Boston  against  her  proprietors.  If  he 


334 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


acquires  our  cannon,  he  will  effectually  disarm 
the  colony.  If  he  has  a  command  of  troops 
among  us,  even  if  we  raise  and  pay  them, 
shackles  are  fixed  upon  us — witness  Ireland 
and  her  national  army. — The  most  express  act 
of  parliament  cannot  give  us  security,  for  acts 
of  parliament  are  as  easily  repealed  as  made. 
Royal  proclamations  are  not  to  be  depended 
ypon,  witness  the  disappointments  of  the  inhabi 
tants  of  Quebec  and  St.  Augustine.  Even  a 
change  of  ministry  will  not  avail  us,  because 
notwithstanding  the  rapid  succession  of  minis 
ters  for  which  the  British  court  had  been  famous 
during  the  present  reign,  yet  the  same  ruinous 
policy  ever  continued  to  prevail  against  Amer 
ica. — In  short  I  think  it  my  duty  to  declare  in 
the  awful  seat  of  justice  and  before  Almighty 
God,  that  in  my  opinion,  the  Americans  can 
have  no  safety  but  by  the  Divine  favor,  their 
own  virtue,  and  their  being  so  prudent  as  not 
to  leave  it  in  the  power  of  the  British  rulers  to 
injure  them.  Indeed,  the  ruinous  and  deadly 
injuries  received  on  our  side  ;  and  the  jealous 
ies  entertained  and  which,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  must  daily  increase  against  us,  on  the 
other ;  demonstrate  to  a  mind,  in  the  least 
given  to  reflection  upon  the  rise  and  fall  of  em 
pires,  that  true  reconcilement  never  can  exist 
between  Great  Britain  and  America,  the  latter 
being  in  subjection  to  the  former. — The  Al 
mighty  created  America  to  be  independent  of 
Britain.  Let  us  beware  of  the  impiety  of 
being  backward  to  act  as  instruments  in  the 
Almighty  hand,  now  extended  to  accomplish 
his  purpose  ;  and  by  the  completion  of  which 
alone  America,  in  the  nature  of  human  affairs, 
can  be  secure  against  the  craft  and  insidious 
designs  of  her  enemies  who  think  her  prosper 
ity  and  power  already  by  far  too  great.  In  a 
word,  our  piety  and  political  safety  are  so 
blended,  that  to  refuse  our  labors  in  this 
Divine  work,  is  to  refuse  to  be  a  great,  a  free, 
a  pious  and  a  happy  people  ! 

And  now  having  left  the  important  alterna 
tive,  political  happiness  or  wretchedness,  under 
God,  in  a  great  degree  in  your  own  hands,  I 
pray  the  Supreme  Arbiter  of  the  affairs  of  men, 
so  to  direct  your  judgment,  as  that  you  may  act 
agreeable  to  what  seems  to  be  his  will,  revealed 
in  his  miraculous  works  in  behalf  of  America, 
bleeding  at  the  altar  of  liberty  ! 


THE  PRESENTMENTS  OF  THE  JURY. 

At  a  court  of  GENERAL  SESSIONS  OF  THE 
PEACE,  OVER  AND  TERMINER,  ASSIZE  AND 
GENERAL  GAOL  DELIVERY,  begun  to  be 
holden  in  and  for  the  district  of  Charleston 
at  Charleston,  in  the  colony  aforesaid,  on 
Tuesday,  the  23^  day  of  April,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
seventy-six. 

The  presentments  of  the  grand  jury  for  the  said 
district. 

I.  Fully  sensible  and  thoroughly  convinced, 
that  to  live  in  society  without  laws  or  a  proper 
execution  of  them,  to  restrain  the  licentious 
nature  of  mankind,  is  the  greatest  misery  that 
can  befal  a  people,  and  must  render  any  body 
of  men,  in  such  a  situation,  but  little  superior 
to  a  herd  of  brutes :  and  being  no  less  sensible 
that  it  was  the  scheme  of  a  corrupt,  nefarious 
administration  in  Great  Britain  to  reduce  the 
good  people  of  this  colony  to  that  wretched 
situation,  from  a  want  of  officers  to  execute  the 
laws,  those  whom  they  had  appointed  having 
refused  to  act  in  their  respective  stations,  that, 
through  the  evil  effects  of  anarchy  and  con 
fusion,  the  people  might  become  an  easy  prey 
to  the  cruel  designs  of  their  insidious  enemies ; 
while  we  lament  the  necessity  which  has 
obliged  the  people  to  resume  into  their  hands 
those  powers  of  government  which  were  origin 
ally  derived  from  themselves  for  the  protection 
of  those  rights  which  God  alone  has  given 
them,  as  essential  to  their  happiness,  we  can 
not  but  express  our  most  unfeigned  joy  in  the 
happy  constitution  of  government  now  estab 
lished  in  this  colony,  which  promises  every 
blessing  to  its  inhabitants,  which  a  people, 
endued  with  virtue,  and  a  just  regard  to  the 
rights  of  mankind,  could  desire.  With  grati 
tude  to  the  Divine  Ruler  of  human  events 
and  with  the  most  pleasing  expectations  of 
happiness  from  a  constitution  so  wise  in  its 
nature,  and  virtuous  in  its  ends,  being  founded 
on  the  strictest  principles  of  justice  and  human 
ity,  and  consistent  with  every  privilege  inci 
dent  to  the  dignity  of  a  rational  being,  we 
cannot  but  declare  we  think  every  opposition 
to  its  operations,  or  disregard  to  its  authority, 
the  foulest  criminality  a  mortal  can  be  guilty 
of,  highly  offensive  in  the  eyes  of  God  and  of 
all  just  men,  and  deserving  the  most  exem 
plary  punishment. 

We  cannot  but  deplore  the  unhappy  situa 
tion  of  any  few  amongst  the  people  of  this 
colony  who  through  an  ignorance  of  their  true 
interests  and  just  rights,  and  from  a  want  of 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


335 


proper  information  of  the  real  truth,  may  be 
misled  by  the  artifice  and  cunning  of  their  false 
and  designing  enemies,  from  a  real  sense  of 
those  benefits  which  our  present  constitution  has 
so  amply  provided  for  ;  benefits  which  are  not 
confined  or  limited  to  any  ranks  or  degrees  of 
men  in  particular,  but  generally,  equally  and 
indiscriminately  extending  to  all,  from  the  rich 
est  to  the  poorest,  and  which  time  and  a  little 
patient  experience  must  soon  evince. 

Every  good  citizen  must  be  happy  in  the  con 
sideration  of  the  choice  of  those  officers,  ap 
pointed  in  the  administration  of  our  present 
government,  as  well  in  the  impartial  mode  of 
an  appointment  arising  from  the  people  them 
selves,  and  the  limited  duration  of  their  power 
as  in  their  personal  characters  as  men,  justly 
beloved  and  revered  by  their  country,  and 
whose  merits  and  virtues  entitle  them  to  every 
pre-eminence. 

Filled  with  these  sentiments,  arising  from 
mature  deliberation,  and  the  most  impartial 
enquiry,  we  must  further  declare,  that  blessings 
such  as  these  we  have  enumerated,  are  too 
inestimable  to  be  lost,  and  that  nothing  in 
nature  can  repay  the  least  violation  of  them ; 
and  although  an  accommodation  with  the  power 
which  attempts  to  destroy  them  may  be  highly 
worthy  of  attention,  and  upon  principles  truly 
honorable,  of  obtaining,  yet  we  think  it  a  sacred 
duty  incumbent  upon  every  citizen  to  maintain 
and  defend,  with  his  life  and  fortune,  what  is 
given  and  entrusted  to  him  by  the  hand  of 
Providence,  not  for  his  own  good  only,  but  for 
the  lasting  happiness  of  posterity :  A  trust 
which  no  law  can  ever  annul,  which  is  the 
grand  principle  of  existence,  and  the  source  of 
every  social  virtue. 

II.  We  present  as  a  grievance  intolerable  to 
the  spirit  of  a  people  born  and  nurtured  in  the 
arms  of  freedom,  and  (though  ever  submissive 
to  the  just  mandates  of  legal  authority)  holding 
every  oppression  as  destestable,  the  unjust,  cruel 
and  diabolical  acts  of  the  British  parliament, 
not  only  declaring  the  good  people  of  the  united 
colonies  of  North  America  rebels,  for  defend 
ing  those  invaluable  rights  which  no  human 
power  can  lawfully  divest  them  of,  by  making 
all  murders,  rapines,  thefts,  robberies,  and 
other  inhuman  oppressions,  done  before  the 
passing  of  those  acts  without  authority,  and 
which  were,  after  the  passing  the  said  acts, 
to  be  done  by  the  British  forces  in  these  colo 
nies,  legal  and  warrantable,  to  the  eternal  dis 
grace  and  indelible  infamy  of  a  kingdom,  once 
renowned  for  her  justice,  honor  and  humanity, 
but  now  meanly  descending  to  that  wanton  pro 
fligacy  which  even  savages  abhor. 


III.  We  present  as  a  very  great  grievance, 
the  indulgence  allowed   to  all  those  who  are 
inimical  to  the  liberties  of  America  and  the 
operations  of  the  united  colonies  among  us  in 
suffering  them  to  reside  here,  and  be  admitted 
to  intercourses   dangerous  to  the  peace  and 
welfare  of  this  colony. 

IV.  We  present  that  the  public  oaths  directed 
by  an  act  of  the  general  assembly,  passed  since 
the  forming  of  our  present  constitution,  to  be 
administered  to  those  exercising  public  offices, 
trusts,   and  professions,  are  not  administered 
to  such  of  the  clergy  as  are  included  in  the 
same. 

V.  We  present  that  the  times  at  which  the 
several  parochial  committees  meet  or  are  ap 
pointed  for  their  meeting,  are  not  made  public  ; 
and  we  do  recommend  that  they  do  publish  the 
same  in  the  public  papers,  that  all  persons  who 
are  desirous  of  obtaining  leave  to  sue  for  debts, 
may  know  when  to  apply. 

VI.  We  present  as  a  great  grievance,  more 
particularly  at  this  time,  the  want  of  due  atten 
tion  to  the  roads  and  ferries  in  this  colony; 
many  of  the  roads  not  being  sufficiently  wide 
and  worked  upon  agreeable  to  law,  and  the 
ferries  in  general  not  having  boats  sufficient  to 
forward   passengers    upon   any  emergent  oc 
casion. 

VII.  We    present  as  a  grievance   the   too 
frequent  forestalling  out  of  the  wagons,  coming 
from  the  back  parts  of  the  country,  the  many 
necessaries  of  life,  by  which  the  good  inhabit 
ants  of  this  town  are  obliged  to  pay  most  ex 
orbitant  prices  for  the  same  ;  and  with  submis 
sion    would    recommend  a  place  to    be  ap 
pointed   for  the  sale  of  bacon,   flour,  butter, 
and  other   such   necessaries  brought  to  town 
in   carriages,   to  be  regulated  by  the  market 
act. 

VIII.  We  present  the  want  of  a  proper  per 
son  by  law  to  oblige  the  sellers  of  blades  and 
hay,  to  weigh  the  same  at  a  public  scale. 

Jonathan  Scott,  foreman    [L.  S.] 

George  Cooke,  [L.  S.] 

Thomas  Jones,  [L.  S.] 

John  Lightwood,  [L.»S.] 

Peter  Leger,  [L.  S.] 

Philip  Meyer,  [L.  S.] 

Isaac  Mazyck,  [L.  S.] 

John  Owen,  [L.  S.] 

John  Smyth,  [L.  S.] 

Joseph  Jenkins,  [L.  S.] 

Joseph  Cox,  [L.  S.] 

Daniel  Lessesne,  [L.  S.] 

Lewis  Dutarque,  [L.  S.] 

John  Singletary,  [L.  S.] 


336 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


JUDGE   DRAYTON. 
At  a  court  of  GENERAL  SESSIONS  OF  THE 

PEACE,  OVER  AND  TERMINER,  ASSIZE  AND 

GENERAL  GAOL  DELIVERY,  begun  and  hol- 
den  at  Charleston,  for  the  district  of  Charles 
ton,  on  Tuesday,  October  15th,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord,  1776 — Before  the  hon.  WIL 
LIAM  HENRY  DRAYTON,  esq.  chief  justice, 
and  his  associates,  justices  of  the  said  court. 
ORDERED,  That  the  charge  delivered  by  his 
honor,  the  chief  justice,  to  the  grand  jury, 
and  their  presentments  at  this  sessions,  be 
forthwith  published. 

By  order  of  the  court, 
JOHN  COLCOCK,  C.  C.  S. 

THE  CHARGE  TO   THE   GRAND   JURY. 

Gentlemen  of  the  grand  jury. — The  last  time 
I  had  the  honor  to  address  a  grand  jury  in  this 
court,  I  expounded  to  them  the  constitution  of 
their  country,  as  established  by  congress  on 
the  26th  day  of  March  last,  independent  of 
royal  authority.  I  laid  before  them  the  causes 
of  that  important  change  of  our  government — 
a  comparison  of  these,  with  those  that  occa 
sioned  the  English  revolution  of  1688 — and  the 
law  resulting  from  the  injuries  in  each  case.  I 
spoke  to  that  grand  jury  of  the  late  revolution 
•of  South  Carolina.  I  mean  to  speak  to  you 
upon  a  more  important  subject — the  rise  of  the 
American  empire. 

The  great  act  in  March  last  upon  the  mat 
ter,  constituted  our  country  totally  independent 
of  Great  Britain.  For  it  was  calculated  to 
place  in  our  hands  the  whole  legislative,  exe 
cutive  and  judicial  powers  of  government ;  and 
to  enable  us,  in  the  most  effectual  manner,  by 
force  of  arms,  to  oppose,  resist  and  war  against 
the  British  crown.  The  act  naturally  looked 
forward  to  an  accommodation  of  the  unhappy 
differences  between  that  power  and  America : 
In  like  manner  every  declaration  of  war  be 
tween  independent  states,  implies  a  future  ac 
commodation  of  their  disputes.  But,  although 
by  that  act  we  were  upon  the  matter  made 
independent,  yet  there  were  no  words  in  it 
specially  declarative  of  that  independency. 
Such  a  declaration  was  of  right  to  be  made 
only  by  the  general  congress :  because  the 
united  voice  and  strength  of  America  were 
necessary  to  give  a  desirable  credit  and  pros 
pect  of  stability  to  a  declared  state  of  total 
separation  from  Great  Britain  :  And  the  general 
congress,  as  the  only  means  left  by  which  they 
had  a  chance  to  avert  the  ruin  of  America, 
have  issued  a  declaration,  by  which  all  politi 
cal  connection  between  you  and  the  state  of 
Great  Britain  is  totally  dissolved. 


Carolinians  :  heretofore  you  were  bound — by 
the  American  revolution  you  are  now  free. 
The  change  is  most  important — most  honora 
ble — most  beneficial.  It  is  your  birthright  by 
the  law  of  nature — it  is  even  valid  by  the  fun 
damental  laws  of  your  country  —  you  were 
placed  in  possession  of  it  by  the  hand  of  God  ' 
— particulars  evidencing  a  subject  of  the  high 
est  import. — Gentlemen  of  the  grand  jury  ;  it  is 
my  duty  to  mark  to  you  the  great  lines  of  your 
conduct ;  and  so  to  endeavor  to  explain  the 
nature  of  each,  that  you  may  clearly  see  your 
way,  and  thereby  be  animated  in  your  progress 
to  discharge  those  services  which  are  required 
at  your  hands.  And  hence,  it  is  necessary  for 
me  to  lay  before  you  some  observations  upon 
the  nature  of  the  American  revolution,  which 
by  every  tie,  divine  and  human,  you  are  bound 
to  support.  I  shall  therefore  endeavor  to  draw 
your  attention  to  this  great  subject,  necessarily 
including  the  lines  of  your  particular  conduct. 

It  is  but  to  glance  an  eye  over  the  historic 
page,  to  be  assured  that  the  duration  of  empire 
is  limited  by  the  Almighty  decree.  Empires 
have  their  rise  to  a  zenith — and  their  declen 
sion  to  a  dissolution.  The  years  of  a  man,  nay 
the  hours  of  the  insect  on  the  bank  of  the 
Hypanis,  that  lives  but  a  day,  epitomize  the 
advance  and  decay  of  the  strength  and  dura 
tion  of  dominion  !  One  common  fate  awaits 
all  things  upon  earth — a  thousand  causes 
accelerate  or  delay  their  perfection  or  ruin. 
To  look  a  little  into  remote  times,  we  see  that, 
from  the  most  contemptible  origin  upon  re 
cord,  Rome  became  the  most  powerful  state 
the  sun  ever  saw  :  The  world  bowed  before 
her  imperial  Fasces  ! — yet,  having  run  through 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  dominion,  her  course  was 
finished.  Her  empire  was  dissolved,  that  the 
separated  members  of  it  might  arise  to  run 
through  similar  revolutions. 

Great  Britain  was  a  part  of  this  mighty  em 
pire.  But,  being  dissolved  from  it,  in  her  turn 
she  also  extended  her  dominion  : — arrived  at, 
and  passed  her  zenith.  Three  and  thirty  years 
numbered  the  illustrious  days  of  the  Roman 
greatness — Eight  years  measure  the  duration  of 
the  British  grandeur  in  meridian  lustre  !  How 
few  are  the  days  of  true  glory.  The  extent  of 
the  Roman  period  is  from  their  complete-  con 
quest  of  Italy,  which  gave  them  a  place  where 
on  to  stand,  that  they  might  shake  the  world, 
to  the  original  cause  of  their  declension,  their 
introduction  of  Asiatic  luxury.  The  British 
period  is  from  the  year  1758,  when  they  victo 
riously  pursued  their  enemies  into  every  quar 
ter  of  the  globe,  to  the  immediate  cause  of 
their  decline— their  injustice  displayed  by  the 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


337 


stamp  act. — In  short,  like  the  Roman  empire, 
Great  Britain  in  her  constitution  of  govern 
ment,  contained  a  poison  to  bring  on  her 
decay,  and  in  each  case,  this  poison  was  drawn 
into  a  ruinous  operation  by  the  riches  and 
luxuries  of  the  east.  Thus,  by  natural  causes 
and  common  effects,  the  American  states  are 
become  dissolved  from  the  British  dominion. 
And  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  Britain  has 
experienced  the  invariable  fate  of  empire  ! 
We  are  not  surprised  when  we  see  youth  or 
age  yield  to  the  common  lot  of  humanity — 
Nay,  to  repine  that,  in  our  day,  America  is 
dissolved  from  the  British  state,  is  impiously  to 
question  the  unerring  wisdom  of  Providence. 
The  Almighty  setteth  up,  and  he  casteth 
down :  He  breaks  the  sceptre,  and  transfers 
the  dominion :  He  has  made  choice  of  the 
present  generation  to  erect  the  American  em 
pire.  Thankful  as  we  are,  and  ought  to  be, 
for  an  appointment  of  the  kind,  the  most 
illustrious  that  ever  was,  let  each  individual 
exert  himself  in  this  important  operation  di 
rected  by  Jehovah  himself. — From  a  short 
retrospect,  it  is  evident  the  work  was  not  the 
present  design  of  man. 

Never  were  a  people  more  wrapped  up  in  a 
king,  than  the  Americans  were  in  George  the 
third  in  the  year  1763.  They  revered  and 
obeyed  the  British  government,  because  it  pro 
tected  them — they  fondly  called  Great  Britain 
— home !  But,  from  that  time,  the  British 
counsels  took  a  ruinous  turn  ;  ceasing  to  pro 
tect — they  sought  to  ruin  America.  The  stamp 
act,  declaratory  law,  and  the  duties  upon  tea 
and  other  articles,  at  once  proclaimed  their  in 
justice,  and  announced  to  the  Americans,  that 
they  had  but  little  room  for  hope  ;  infinite  space 
for  fear. — In  vain  they  petitioned  for  redress  ! — 
Authorized  by  the  law  of  nature,  they  exerted 
the  inherent  powers  of  society,  and  resisted  the 
edicts  which  told  them  that  they  had  no  pro 
perty  ;  and  that  against  their  consent,  and  by 
men  over  whom  they  had  no  control,  they 
were  to  be  bound  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 
Dreadful  information  ! — Patience  could  not  but 
resent  them.  However  regardless  of  such  feel 
ings,  and  resolved  to  endeavor  to  support  those 
all  grasping  claims,  early  in  the  year  1774,  the 
British  tyranny  made  other  edicts — to  overturn 
American  charters — to  suspend  or  destroy,  at 
the  pleasure  of  the  crown,  the  value  of  private 
property — to  block  up  the  port  of  Boston,  in 
terrorem  to  other  American  ports — to  give 
murder  the  sanction  of  law — to  establish  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion,  and  to  make  the  king 
of  Great  Britain  a  despot  in  Canada  ;  and  as 
much  so  as  he  then  chose  to  be  in  Massa- 

22 


chusetts  Bay.  And  general  Gage  was  sent  to 
Boston  with  a  considerable  force  to  usher  these 
edicts  into  action,  and  the  Americans  into 
slavery. 

Their  petitions  thus  answered,  even  with  the 
sword  of  the  murderer  at  their  breasts,  the 
Americans  thought  only  of  new  petitions.  It 
is  well  known  there  was  not  then  even  an  idea 
that  the  independence  of  America  would  be 
the  work  of  this  generation :  For  people  yet 
had  a  confidence  in  the  integrity  of  the  British 
monarch.  At  length  subsequent  edicts  being 
also  passed,  to  restrain  the  Americans  from 
enjoying  the  bounty  of  Providence  on  their 
own  coast,  and  to  cut  off  their  trade  with  each 
other  and  with  foreign  states — the  royal  sword 
yet  reeking  with  American  blood,  and  the  king 
still  deaf  to  the  prayers  of  the  people  for  "  peace, 
liberty  and  safety  ;  "  it  was,  even  so  late  as  the 
latter  end  of  the  last  year,  before  that  confi 
dence  visibly  declined  ;  and  it  was  generally 
seen  that  the  quarrel  was  likely  to  force 
America  into  an  immediate  state  of  indepen 
dence.  But  such  an  event  was  not  expected, 
because  it  was  thought  the  monarch,  from 
motives  of  policy,  if  not  from  inclination,  would 
heal  our  wounds,  and  thereby  prevent  the 
separation  ;  but  it  was  not  wished  for,  because 
men  were  unwilling  to  break  off  old  connec 
tions,  and  change  the  usual  form  of  govern 
ment. 

Such  were  the  sentiments  of  America  until 
the  arrival  of  the  British  act  of  parliament  de 
claring  the  Americans  out  of  the  royal  protec 
tion,  and  denouncing  a  general  war  against 
them.  But  counsels  too  refined,  generally 
produce  contrary  and  unexpected  events.  So 
the  whole  system  of  British  policy  respecting 
America,  since  the  year  1763,  calculated  to 
surprise,  deceive,  or  drive  the  people  into 
slavery — urged  them  into  independence  ;  and 
this  act  of  parliament,  in  particular,  finally  re 
leased  America  from  Great  Britain.  Antece 
dent  to  this,  the  British  king,  by  his  hostilities, 
had,  as  far  as  he  personally  could,  absolved 
America  from  that  faith,  allegiance  and  sub 
jection  she  owed  him  ;  because  the  law  of  our 
land  expressly  declares  these  are  due  only  in 
return  for  his  protection,  allegiance  being 
founded  on  the  benefit  of  protection.  But  God 
knowing  that  we  are  in  peril  by  false  brethren 
as  well  as  by  real  enemies,  out  of  his  abundant 
mercy  has  caused  us  to  be  released  from  sub 
jection,  by  yet  a  better  title  than  the  mere  op 
pressions  of  a  man  in  the  kingly  office. — This 
title  is  singular  in  its  kind. — It  is  the  voluntary 
and  joint  act  of  the  whole  British  legislature, 
on  the  twenty-first  day  of  December,  1775,  re~ 


333 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


leasing  the  faith,  allegiance  and  subjection  of 
America  to  the  British  crown,  by  solemnly  de 
claring  ike  former  out  of  the  protection  of  the 
latter ;  and  thereby,  agreeable  to  every  prin 
ciple  of  law,  actually  dissolving  the  original 
contract  between  king  and  people. 

Hence,  an  American  cannot,  legally,  at  the 
suit  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  be  indicted  of 
high  treason  ;  because  the  indictment  cannot 
charge  him  with  an  act  contra  ligeantice  sues 
debitum  ;  for,  not  being  protected  by  that  king, 
the  law  holds  that  he  does  not  owe  him  any 
feith  and  allegiance.  So  an  alien  enemy,  even 
invading  the  kingdom  of  England,  and  taken 
in  arms,  cannot  be  dealt  with  as  a  traitor,  be 
cause  he  violates  no  trust  or  allegiance.  In 
short,  this  doctrine,  laid  down  in  the  best  law 
authorities,  is  a  criterion  whereby  we  may  safely 
judge,  whether  or  not  a  particular  people  are 
subject  to  a  particular  government.  And  thus 
upon  the  matter,  that  decisive  act  of  parliament 
ipso  facto  created  the  united  colonies  free  and 
independent  states. 

These  particulars  evidence  against  the  royal 
calumniator  in  the  strongest  manner.  Let  him 
not  with  unparalleled  effrontery  from  a  throne 
continue  to  declare,  that  the  Americans, 
"  meant  only  to  amuse,  by  vague  expressions 
of  attachment  and  the  strongest  professions  of 
loyalty,  whilst  they  were  preparing  for  a  general 
revolt,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  an  inde 
pendent  empire."  On  the  first  of  September, 
1775,  Richard  Penn  and  Arthur  Lee,  esquires, 
delivered  to  lord  Dartmouth,  he  being  secre 
tary  of  state,  a  petition  from  the  congress  to 
the  king,  when  lord  Dartmouth  told  them,  "  no 
answer  would  be  given."  The  petition  con 
tained  this  remarkable  passage,  that  the  king 
would  "  be  pleased  to  direct  some  mode,  by  which 
the  united  applications  of  his  faithful  colonists 
to  the  throne,  in  presence  of  their  common 
councils,  might  be  improved  into  a  PERMANENT 
AND  HAPPY  RECONCILIATION  ;  and  that  in  the 
mean  time,  measures  might  be  taken  for  pre 
venting  the  further  destruction  of  the  lives  of 
his  majesty's  subjects."  Yet,  notwithstanding 
this,  on  the  26th  of  October  following,  from 
the  throne  the  king  charged  the  Americans  with 
aiming  at  independence !  The  facts  I  have 
stated  are  known  to  the  world  ;  they  are  yet 
more  stubborn  than  the  tyrant.  But  let  other 
facts  be  also  stated  against  him. — There  was 
a  time,  when  the  American  army  before  Boston 
had  not  a  thousand  weight  of  gunpowder — the 
forces  were  unable  to  advance  into  Canada, 
until  they  received  a  small  supply  of  powder 
from  this  country,  and  for  which  the  general 
congress  expressly  sent — and  when  we  took  up 


arms  a  few  months  before,  we  begun  with  a 
stock  of  five  hundred  weight ! — These  grand 
magazines  of  ammunition  demonstrate,  to  be 
sure,  that  America,  or  even  Massachusetts  Bay, 
was  preparing  to  enter  the  military  road  to  in 
dependence  ! — On  the  contrary,  if  we  consider 
the  manner  in  which  Great  Britain  has  con 
ducted  her  irritating  and  hostile  measures,  we 
cannot  but  clearly  see,  that  God  has  darkened 
her  councils  ;  and  that  with  a  stretched  out 
arm,  he  himself  has  delivered  us  out  of  the 
house  of  bondage,  and  has  led  us  on  to  empire. 

In  the  year  1774,  general  Gage  arrived  at 
Boston  to  awe  the  people  into  a  submission  to 
the  edicts  against  America.  The  force  he 
brought  was,  by  the  oppressors,  thought  not 
only  sufficient  to  compel  obedience,  but  that 
this  would  be  effected  even  at  the  appearance 
of  the  sword.  But,  the  continent  being  roused 
by  the  edicts,  general  Gage,  to  his  surprise, 
found  that  he  had  not  strength  sufficient  to  carry 
them  into  execution.  In  this  situation  things 
continued  several  months,  while,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  general  received  reinforcements,  and 
on  the  other,  the  people  acquired  a  contempt 
for  the  troops,  and  found  time  to  form  their 
militia  into  some  order  to  oppose  the  force 
they  saw  accumulating  for  their  destruction. 
Hence,  in  the  succeeding  April,  when  the  gen 
eral  commenced  hostilities,  he  was  defeated. 
The  victory  produced  the  most  important  ef 
fects. — The  people  were  animated  to  besiege 
Boston,  where  it  soon  appeared,  that  the  British 
troops  were  too  weak  to  make  any  impression 
upon  them,  thus  acquiring  military  knowledge 
by  the  actual  operations  of  war.  —The  united 
colonies  were  roused  to  arms. — They  new 
modelled  their  militia — raised  regular  troops — 
fortified  the  harbors — and  crushed  the  tory  par 
ties  among  them. — Success  fired  the  Americans 
with  a  spirit  of  enterprise. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  king  passed  such  other 
edicts  as,  adding  to  the  calender  of  injuries, 
widened  the  civil  breach,  and  narrowed  the 
band  of  the  American  union.  And  such  sup 
plies  were,  from  time  to  time,  sent  for  the  relief 
of  Boston,  as  not  in  any  degree  sufficient  to 
enable  general  Gage  to  raise  the  siege  ;  an 
swered  no  other  ends  but  to  increase  the  num 
ber,  heighten  the  spirit,  advance  the  discipline 
of  the  American  army,  and  to  cause  every 
member  of  the  union  to  exert  every  ability  to 
procure  arms  and  ammunition  from  abroad. 
Thus  trained  on  evidently  by  the  Almighty, 
these  troops,  reproached  by  general  Gage,  when 
they  first  sat  down  before  Boston,  that  "  with 
a  preposterous  parade  of  military  arrangements, 
they  affected  to  hold  the  army  besieged,"  in 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


339 


less  than  eleven  months  compelled  that  British 
army,  although  considerably  reinforced,  to 
abandon  Boston  by  stealth,  and  to  trust  their 
safety,  not  to  their  arms,  but  to  the  winds. 
The  British  ministry  have  attempted  to  put  a 
gloss  upon  this  remove  of  their  army.  How 
ever,  the  cannon,  stores  and  provisions  they 
left  in  Boston,  are  in  our  hands,  substantial 
marks  of  their  flight. 

Thus  there  appears  to  have  been  a  fatality  in 
their  counsels  respecting  Boston,  the  grand 
seat  of  contention  ;  their  forces  being  inade 
quate  to  the  enterprise  on  which  they  were 
sent.  And  under  the  same  influence  have  their 
attacks  been  directed  against  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  Savannah  and  this  capital. 
Such  a  series  of  events  is  striking  !  It  surely, 
displays  an  over-ruling  Providence  that  has 
confounded  the  British  counsels,  to  the  end 
that  America  should  not  have  been  at  first 
shackled,  and  thereby  prevented  from  acquiring 
a  knowledge  of,  and  confidence  in  her  strength 
to  be  attained  only  by  an  experimental  trial 
and  successful  exertion  of  it,  previous  to  the 
British  rulers  doing  acts  driving  her,  either  into 
slavery  or  independence.  The  same  trace  of  an 
over-ruling  Providence  is  evident  throughout 
the  whole  transaction  of  the  English  revolution 
of  1688.  King  James  received  early  informa 
tion  of  the  prince  of  Orange's  intention  to 
invade  England  ;  and  Louis  the  XIV.  offered 
the  king  a  powerful  assistance.  But  his  coun 
sels  were  confounded  from  on  high :  He  paid 
little  attention  to  the  first — he  neglected  the 
last.  The  winds  blew,  and  how  opportunely 
have  they  aided  us  ;  the  winds  detained  James' 
fleet  at  anchor  ;  while  they,  directing  the  course 
of  the  prince,  enabled  him  without  any  loss  to 
land  in  England,  at  a  time  when  no  person 
thought  of  a  revolution,  which  was  destined  to 
take  place  within  but  a  few  weeks.  Unex 
pected,  wonderful  and  rapid  movements,  char 
acterized  the  British  and  American  revolutions  : 
They  do  not  appear  to  have  been  premeditated 
by  man.  And  from  so  close  a  similitude  in  so 
many  points,  between  the  two  revolutions,  we 
have  great  reason  to  hope  that  the  American, 
like  the  British,  will  be  stable  against  the  tyrant. 
As  I  said  before,  in  my  last  charge,  I  drew  a 
parallel  between  the  causes  which  occasioned 
the  English  revolution,  and  those  which  occa 
sioned  our  local  revolution  in  March  last ;  and 
I  examined  the  famous  resolution  of  the  lords 
and  commons  of  England  at  Westminster, 
declaring  the  law  upon  James's  conduct.  The 
two  first  points  of  it  applied  to  our  own  case  in 
the  closest  manner,  and  in  applying  the  third, 
treating  of  James's  withdrawing,  I  pointed  out 


that  the  abdication  of  the  regal  government 
among  us,  was  immediately  effected,  not  only 
by  the  withdrawing  of  the  regal  substitute, 
with  the  ensigns  of  government,  but  that  king 
George  had  withdrawn  himself,  "  by  withdraw 
ing  the  constitutional  benefits  of  the  kingly 
office,  and  his  protection  out  of  this  country." 
Thus  couching  my  thoughts  upon  the  article  of 
the  withdrawing,  in  order  that  the  parallel 
should  be  continued  throughout  as  close  as  the 
subject  would  admit,  without  attempting  to 
extract  the  essence  from  the  substance  of  the 
resolution,  to  demonstrate  that  such  a  parallel 
was  not  necessary :  A  mode  which  the  subject 
being  new,  might  not  then  perhaps  have  been 
so  generally  satisfactory.  But,  as  the  Ameri 
can  revolution  leads  me  again  to  mention  that 
resolution,  which  in  the  strongest  manner  jus 
tifies  it,  I  make  no  scruple  now  to  say,  that  the 
resolution,  though  appearing  to  point  out  seve 
ral  kinds  of  criminality,  yet  has  only  one  idea 
thus  variously  represented. 

"  Resolved,  That  king  James  the  second 
having  endeavored  to  subvert  the  constitution 
of  the  kingdom  by  breaking  the  original  con 
tract  between  king  and  people  ;  and  by  the 
advice  of  Jesuits  and  other  wicked  persons, 
having  violated  the  fundamental  laws,  and 
having  withdrawn  himself  out  of  the  kingdom, 
has  abdicated  the  government,  and  that  the 
throne  is  thereby  vacant." 

But,  before  I  make  any  further  observation 
upon  this  resolution,  allow  me  to  show  you  the 
sense  of  Scotland  in  the  last,  and  of  America 
in  the  present  century,  touching  an  abdication 
of  government:  and  you  will  find,  that  the 
voice  of  nature  is  the  same,  in  either  extremity 
of  the  globe,  and  in  different  ages. 

The  estates  of  Scotland  having  enumerated 
king  James's  mal-administration,  and  in  which 
there  was  no  article  of  withdrawing,  they 
declared,  that  "  thereby  he  had  forefaulted  the 
rights  of  the  crown,  and  the  throne  was  become 
vacant."  And  the  representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  stating  their  griev 
ances  under  king  George  the  third,  decreed, 
that  "  he  has  abdicated  government  here,  by 
declaring  us  out  of  his  protection,  and  waging 
war  against  us."  And  that  "  a  prince,  whose 
character  is  thus  marked  by  every  act  which 
may  define  a  tyrant,  is  unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of 
a  free  people." 

Thus  in  each  case  it  is  apparent,  the  abdi 
cation  or  forefaulting  took  place  from  but  one 
and  the  same  cause — the  failure  of  protection  : 
And  this  is  the  single  idea  that,  I  apprehend,  is 
the  resolution  of  Westminster.  Search  to 
understand,  what  is  a  breach  of  the  original 


340 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


contract — what  a  violation  of  the  fundamental 
laws  wherein  consisted  the  criminality  of  James's 
withdrawing  ?  Your  enquiry  must  terminate 
thus — a  failure  of  protection.—  Independent 
of  the  nature  of  the  subject,  the  history  of  that 
time  warrants  this  construction  upon  the  with 
drawing  in  particular.  For,  upon  James's  first 
flying  from  Whitehall,  quitting  the  administra 
tion  without  providing  a  power  to  protect  the 
people,  he  was  considered  by  the  prince  of 
Orange,  and  the  heads  of  the  English  nation  as 
having  then  absolutely  abdicated  the  govern 
ment,  and  terminated  his  reign ;  and  they 
treated  him  accordingly  upon  his  sudden  return 
to  Whitehall,  from  whence  he  was  immediately 
ejected.  In  short,  a  failure  of  protection  being 
once  established,  it  necessarily  includes,  and 
implies  a  charge  of  a  breach  of  original  con 
tract — a  violation  of  fundamental  laws — and  a 
withdrawing  of  the  king :  I  do  not  mean  the 
individual  person,  but  the  officer  so  called. 
For  the  officer  being  constituted  to  dispense 
protection,  and  there  being  a  failure  of  it,  it  is 
evident,  prima  facie,  that  the  officer  is  with 
drawn  ;  and  in  reality,  because  the  law  will  not 
admit  that  the  officer  can  be  present  and  not 
dispense  protection,  as  the  law  ascribes  to  the 
king  in  his  political  capacity  absolute  perfec 
tion  ;  and  therefore  it  will  intend  a  withdrawing 
and  abdication,  in  exclusion  of  any  idea  of  his 
being  present  and  doing  wrong.  Protection  was 
the  great  end  for  which  mankind  formed  socie 
ties.  On  this  hang  all  the  duties  of  a  king.  It 
is  the  one  thing  needful  in  royalty. 

Upon  the  whole,  what  is  civil  liberty,  or  by 
what  conduct  it  may  be  oppressed,  by  what 
means  the  oppression  ought  to  be  removed 
or  an  abdication  or  forefaulting  of  the  govern 
ment  may  be  induced,  cannot  precisely  be  as 
certained,  and  laid  down  as  rules  to  the  world. 
Humanity  is  interested  in  these  subjects.  Na 
ture  alone  will  judge  ;  and  she  will  decide  upon 
the  occasion  without  regard  to  precedent.  In 
America,  nature  has  borne  British  oppression 
so  long  as  it  was  tolerable  ;  but  there  is  a  load 
of  injury  which  cannot  be  endured.  Nature  felt 
it.  And  the  people  of  America.,  acting  upon 
natural  principles,  by  the  mouths  of  their  repre 
sentatives  in  congress  assembled,  at  Philadel 
phia,  on  the  fourth  day  of  July  last,  awfully 
declared — and  I  revere  the  sentence  ! — "  That 
these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought 
to  be,  free  and  independent  states,  that  they  are 
absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British 
crown  ;  and  that  all  political  connection  between 
them  and  the  state  of  Great  Britain  is,  and 
ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved." 

A  decree  is  now  gone  forth,  not  to  be  recalled. 


And  thus  has  suddenly  arisen  in  the  world,  a 
new  empire,  styled  the  United  States  of  Amer 
ica.  An  empire  that  as  soon  as  started  into 
existence  attracts  the  attention  of  the  rest  of 
the  universe,  and  bids  fair,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  to  be  the  most  glorious  of  any  upon  record 
— America  hails  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa  ! — 
She  proffers  peace  and  plenty ! 

This  revolution,  forming  one  of  the  most 
important  epochas  in  the  history,  not  of  a 
nation,  but  of  the  world,  is,  as  it  were,  an 
eminence  from  which  we  may  observe  the 
things  around  us.  And  I  am  naturally  led 
to  explain  the  value  of  that  grand  object  now 
in  our  possession  and  view — to  state  the 
American  ability  by  arms  to  maintain  the 
acquisition — and  to  shew  the  conduct,  by 
which  a  patriotic  grand  jury  may  aid  the  estab 
lishment  of  our  infant  empire. 

To  make  men  sensible  of  the  value  of  the 
object  now  in  our  possession,  we  need  no 
ingenuity  of  thought,  or  display  of.  eloquence. 
To  him  who  doubts  of  the  meridian  sun,  it  is 
sufficient  to  point  to  it.  So  in  the  present  case, 
as  well  to  demonstrate  the  value  of  the  object  as 
the  justice  of  our  claim  to  it,  we  need  only  hold 
it  up  to  view. — //  is,  to  maintain  among  the 
powers  of  the  earth,  the  separate  and  equal 
station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  na 
ture's  God  entitle  us. — A  few  months  ago  we 
fought  only  to  preserve  to  the  laborer  the  fruits 
of  his  toil,  free  from  the  all-coveting  grasp 
of  the  British  tyrant,  alieni  appetens,  sui  pro- 
fusus,  and  to  defend  a  people  from  being,  like 
brute  beasts,  bound  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 
But  these  two  last  ingredients  to  make  life  agree 
able  are  now  melted  into,  inseparably  blended 
with,  and  wholly  included  in  the  first,  which  is 
now  become  the  object  for  which  America,  ex 
necessitate,  wars  against  Britain — And  I  shall 
now  point  out  to  you  the  continental  ability,  by 
arms,  to  maintain  this  invaluable  station. 

When,  in  modern  times,  Philip  of  Spain 
became  the  tyrant  of  the  low  countries  in 
Europe,  of  seventeen  provinces  which  composed 
those  territories,  seven  only  effectually  con 
federated  to  preserve  their  liberties,  or  to  perish 
in  the  attempt.  They  saw  Philip  the  most 
powerful  prince  in  the  old  world,  and  master 
of  Mexico  and  Peru  in  the  new — nations  in 
cessantly  pouring  into  his  territories  floods  of 
gold  and  silver.  They  saw  him  possessed  of 
the  best  troops,  and  the  most  formidable  navy 
in  the  universe ;  and  aiming  at  no  less  than 
universal  monarchy !  But  these  seven  pro 
vinces,  making  but  a  speck  upon  the  globe,  saw 
themselves  without  armies,  fleets,  or  funds  of 
money  :  yet  seeing  themselves  on  the  point  of 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


341 


being  by  a  tyrant  bound  in  all  cases  whatsoever, 
nobly  relying  upon  Providence  and  the  justice 
of  their  cause,  they  resolved  to  oppose  the 
tyrant's  whole  force,  and  at  least  deserve  to  be 
free.  They  fought,  they  bled,  and  were  often 
brought  to  the  door  of  destruction. — They 
redoubled  their  efforts  in  proportion  to  their 
danger.  And  the  inhabitants  of  that  speck 
of  earth,  compelled  the  master  of  dominions  so 
extensive,  that  it  was  boasted  the  sun  was 
never  absent,  to  treat  with  them  as  a  free  and 
independent  people ! 

For  a  moment,  and  with  the  aid  of  a  fearful 
imagination,  let  us  suppose  that  the  American 
states  are  now  as  defenceless  as  the  Hollanders 
then  were  ;  and  that  the  king  of  Great  Britain 
is  now  as  powerful  as  Philip  then  was.  Yet 
even  such  a  state  of  things  could  not  be  a  plea 
for  any  degree  of  submission  on  our  part. 
Did  not  the  Hollanders  oppose  their  weakness 
to  the  strength  of  Spain  ?  Are  not  the  Ameri 
cans  engaged  in  as  good  a  cause  as  the  Hol 
landers  fought  in  ?  Are  the  Americans 
less  in  love  with  liberty  than  the  Hollanders 
were  ?  Shall  we  not  in  this,  a  similar  cause, 
dare  those  perils  that  they  successfully  com 
bated  ?  Shall  we  not  deserve  freedom  ! — Our 
past  actions  presage  our  future  achievements 
and  animate  us  in  our  military  efforts  for 
"  peace,  liberty  and  safety." — But  see  the  real 
powers  of  Great  Britain. 

Staggering  beneath  the  load  of  an  enormous 
debt,  the  very  annual  interest  of  which,  in  the 
year  1775,  amounted  to  upwards  of  four  mill 
ions  eight  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  pounds 
sterling,  Great  Britain  scarcely  supports  the 
weight  which  is  yet  rapidly  increasing.  During 
the  present  year,  she  prosecutes  the  war  at  a 
charge  of  more  than  nineteen  millions  sterling, 
incurred  by  actual  expenses,  and  by  loss  of 
revenue  in  consequence  of  the  war.  Her 
trade,  her  only  resource  for  money,  is  now  in 
a  manner  destroyed  ;  for  her  principal  trade, 
which  was  to  this  continent,  is  now  at 
an  end ;  and  she  sustains  heavy,  very  heavy, 
losses  by  the  American  captures  of  her 
West  India  ships.  Her  manufactures  are 
almost  at  their  last  morsel.  Her  public 
credit  is  certain  to  fail  even  by  a  short 
continuance  of  the  war.  Her  fleets  are  not 
half  manned.  And  she  is  so  destitute  of  an 
army,  that  she  is  reduced  to  supplicate  even 
the  petty  German  princes  for  assistance ;  and 
thinks  it  worth  the  while  to  make  a  separate 
treaty  to  procure  only  668  men  ! — a  last  effort 
to  form  an  army  in  America. — But,  after  all  this 
humiliating  exertion,  she  has  even  upon  paper 
raised  a  German  army  of  only  16,868  men  who, 


with  about  14,000  national  troops  and  a  few 
Hanoverian  regiments,  compose  the  whole  mili 
tary  force  that  she  can  collect  for  the  American 
service.  Nay,  so  arduous  a  task  was  even 
this,  that  her  grand  army  of  but  26,000  men, 
could  not  open  the  present  campaign  before 
the  end  of  August  last. — Add  to  these  particu 
lars,  the  troops  are  unaccustomed  to  the  sud 
den  vicissitudes  of  the  American  climate  and 
the  extremes  of  cold,  heat  and  rain.  They 
cannot  proceed  without  camp  equipage, 
because  they  are  used  to  such  luxuries.  The 
very  scene  of  their  operations  is  a  matter  of 
discouragement  to  them,  because  they  know 
not  the  country ;  and  for  their  supplies  of  men, 
stores  and  the  greatest  part  of  their  provisions, 
they  must  look  to  Great  Britain — and  there  is 
a  vast  abyss  between. — Hence  their  supplies 
must  be  precarious  at  best ;  and  failing,  they 
may  be  involved  in  ruin.  A  check  may  affect 
them  as  a  defeat — a  defeat  in  battle  may  anni 
hilate  their  very  army. — Such  seems  to  be  the 
situation  of  Great  Britain,  while  only  the  Amer 
ican  war  is  on  our  hands.  But  do  we  not  see 
France  and  Spain,  her  inveterate  enemies,  now 
watching  for  the  critical  moment  when  they 
shall  swallow  up  her  West  India  islands ! 
When  this  crisis  appears,  which,  from  the  now 
quick  arrivals  of  French  vessels  in  America, 
and  from  the  forces  already  collected,  and 
others  now  daily  poured  into  the  islands  by 
those  powers,  cannot  be  far  distant,  what  will 
be  the  situation  of  Great  Britain  ! 

On  the  other  hand,  America  is  possessed  of 
resources  for  the  war,  which  appears  as  soon 
as  enquired  after ;  are  found  only  by  being 
sought  for ;  and  are  but  scarce  imagined  even 
when  found.  Strong  in  her  union,  on  each 
coast  and  frontier  she  meets  the  invaders, 
whether  British  or  Indian  savages,  repelling 
their  allied  attacks.  The  Americans  now  live 
without  luxury.  They  are  habituated  to  despise 
their  yearly  profits  by  agriculture  and  trade. 
They  engage  in  the  war  from  principle.  They 
follow  their  leaders  to  battle  with  personal 
affection.  Natives  of  the  climate,  they  bear  the 
vicissitudes  and  extremities  of  the  weather. 
Hardy  and  robust,  they  need  no  camp  equi 
page,  and  they  march  with  celerity.  The  com 
mon  people  have  acute  understandings ;  and 
there  are  those  in  the  higher  stations,  who  are 
acquainted  with  the  arts  and  sciences,  and 
have  a  comprehensive  view  of  things  equally 
with  those  who  act  against  them.  In  short, 
the  American  armies  meet  the  war  where  they 
be  constantly  recruited  and  subsisted ;  com 
forted  by  the  aid  of  their  neighbors,  and  by 
reflection  upon  the  justice  of  their  cause ;  and 


342 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


animated  by  seeing,  that  they  are  arrayed  in 
the  defence  of  all  that  is,  or  can  be,  dear  to 
them. 

From  such  a  people  everything  is  to  be 
hoped  for,  nothing  is  to  be  doubted  of.  Such 
a  people,  though  young  in  the  practice  of  war, 
ever  were  superior  to  veteran  troops.  To 
prove  this,  shall  I  direct  your  attention  to  Eu 
rope,  Asia  and  Africa,  in  their  histories  to 
point  out  to  you  numberless  instances  of  this 
sort  ?  No,  gentlemen,  America  now  attracts 
the  eyes  of  the  world  :  she  deserves  our  whole 
attention — let  us  not  search  abroad,  and  in 
remote  or  modern  times,  for  instances  of  such 
a  kind  as  we  can  find  at  home  and  in  our  day. 
Need  I  mention  that  such  a  people,  young  in 
the  art  of  war,  beat  veteran  troops  at  Lexing 
ton,  slaughtered  them  at  Bunker's  hill ;  and 
drove  ihem  out  of  Boston  !  or  remind  you  of 
Sullivan's  Island,  where,  in  an  unfinished 
wooden  fort,  on  a  flat  coast,  such  men,  during 
eleven  hours,  and  at  the  distance  of  five  hun 
dred  yards,  stood  the  whole  and  unintermitted 
fire  of  a  British  squadron  of  two  ships  of  the 
line,  five  frigates  and  a  bomb  ;  and,  with  fifteen 
pieces  of  cannon,  caused  the  enemy  to  burn 
one  of  their  largest  frigates,  and  to  fly  with  the 
rest  of  the  squadron,  in  a  shattered  condition, 
from  before  our  capital  ! 

Such  a  contrasted  state  of  the  powers  of 
America  and  of  Britain  is,  I  apprehend,  a  just 
representation  of  their  abilities  with  regard  to 
the  present  war ;  and  if  America  behaves 
worthy  of  herself,  I  see  no  cause  to  fear  the 
enemy.  However,  in  such  a  conflict,  we  ought 
to  expect  difficulties,  dangers  and  defeats. 
"What,  shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of 
God,  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil  ?  "  Job's 
perseverance  in  his  duty  under  every  calamity, 
at  length  raised  him  to  the  height  of  human 
felicity  ;  and,  if  we  are  firm,  even  our  defeats 
will  operate  to  our  benefit.  Let  us  remember, 
that  it  was  to  the  danger  in  which  the  Roman 
state  was  reared,  that  she  owed  her  illustrious 
men  and  imperial  fortune.  The  Roman  dig 
nity  was  never  so  majestic  ;  her  glory  never  so 
resplendent  ;  her  fortitude  and  exertions  never 
so  conspicuous  and  nervous,  as  when  Hanni 
bal,  in  the  successive  battles  of  Trebia,  Trasy- 
menus  and  Cannae,  having  almost  extirpated 
their  whole  military  force,  the  very  state  was 
on  the  brink  of  dissolution — the  Roman  de 
served,  and  they  acquired,  victory  ! 

And  now,  gentlemen  of  the  grand  jury,  hav 
ing  in  this  manner  considered  the  nature  of 
the  American  revolution  upon  circumstances 
of  fact,  and  principles  of  law,  I  am  to  mark  the 
conduct  which  you  ought  to  pursue,  and  which 


will  enable  you  to  aid  the  establishment  of  our 
infant  empire.  But,  that  I  may  naturally  in 
troduce  this  subject,  I  shall  first  state  and  ex 
plain  to  you,  the  principal  articles  of  the  enquiry 
which  you  are  sworn  to  make  on  the  part  of 
the  state,  and  for  the  body  of  this  district ;  and 
these  articles  I  shall  arrange  under  two  heads. 
The  one  relating  to  crimes  and  misdemeanors, 
immediately  injurious  to  individuals — the  other 
relating  to  such  as  are  injurious  to  the  state. 

Those  criminal  injuries  that  affect  individuals 
respect  either  their  persons,  habitations,  or 
property.  Of  these  injuries  the  most  import 
ant  are  such  as  affect  the  person ;  and  of  such, 
the  act  depriving  the  person  of  life  is  the  most 
enormous. 

In  the  contemplation  of  law,  every  taking  of 
life  is  a  homicide ;  and  according  to  the  par 
ticular  circumstances  of  each  case,  this  homi 
cide  is  purely  voluntary,  including  the  cases  of 
felony,  self-murder,  murder  respecting  an 
other,  and  manslaughter:  Or  the  homicide  is 
purely  involuntary,  as  per-infortunium,  misad 
venture  :  Or  of  a  mixed  kind,  ex  necessitate  ; 
as  se  defendendo  inducing  a  forfeiture  ;  or  being 
under  the  requisition  or  permission  of  law  and 
not  inducing  any  :  And  thus  homicide  is  either 
justifiable,  excusable  or  felonious. 

It  is  justifiable  in  all  cases  ex  necessitate  ;  as 
when  life  is  taken  by  the  legal  execution  of  a 
criminal ;  or  for  the  advancement  of  justice  ; 
or  for  the  prevention  of  some  atrocious  crime. 

It  is  excusable  in  cases  per  infortunium, 
misadventure ;  as  when  life  is  taken  by  the 
doing  a  lawful  act  without  any  evil  intention : 
So  in  cases  se  defendendo ;  as  a  man  being 
attacked  without  any  provocation  on  his  part, 
and  having  bona  fide  retreated  as  far  as  he 
safely  could,  when  for  self-preservation  he  kills 
the  aggressor.  And  although  this  last  arises 
ex  necessitate,  and  it  would  therefore  seem  to  be 
rather  justifiable  than  excusable,  yet  the  law 
entitles  it,  necessitate  culpabilis,  and  thereby 
distinguishes  it  from  the  other.  For  the  law 
so  highly  respects  the  life  of  a  man,  that  it 
always  intends  some  misbehavior  in  the  person 
who  takes  it  away  without  an  express  legal 
command  or  permission. 

But  homicide  is  felonious  in  all  cases  of  man 
slaughter,  murder,  and  self-murder.  In  cases 
of  manslaughter,  as  killing  another  without 
any  degree  of  malice,  and  this  killing  may  be 
either  voluntary  by  a  sudden  act  of  revenge 
on  a  sudden  provocation  and  heat,  or  it  may 
be,  yet  not  strictly  so,  involuntary,  being  in  the 
commission  of  some  unlawful  act  under  the 
degree  of  felony ;  for  this  killing  being  the 
consequence  of  the  unlawful  act  voluntarily 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


343 


entered  upon,  the  law,  because  of  the  previous 
intent,  will  transfer  this  from  the  original  to 
the  consequential  object. 

In  cases  of  murder  ;  as  killing  another  person, 
ex  malitia  prcecogntiata  :  And  here  it  is  neces 
sary  that  I  particularly  explain  what  the  law 
considers  as  malice  prepense.  Malice  prepense 
then,  is  an  inclination  of  the  mind,  not  so 
properly  bearing  ill-will  to  the  person  killed, 
the  commonly  received  notion,  as  containing 
any  evil  design,  the  dictate  of  a  wicked  and 
malignant  heart. — The  discovery  of  this  secret 
inclination  of  the  mind  must  arise,  because  it 
cannot  any  otherwise,  only  from  the  external 
effects  of  it  ;  and  by  such  evidence,  the  malig 
nity  of  the  mind  is  held  either  express  in  part 
or  implied  in  law. — Thus,  malice  prepense  is 
held  to  express  in  fact,  when  there  is  evidence 
of  a  lying  in  wait ;  or  of  menacings  antece 
dent,  grudges,  or  deliberate  compassings  to  do 
some  bodily  harm.  Even  upon  a  sudden  pro 
vocation,  the  one  beating  or  treating  another 
in  an  excessive  and  cruel  manner,  so  that  he 
dies,  though  he  did  not  intend  his  death,  the 
slayer  displays  an  express  evil  design,  the  genu 
ine  sense  of  malice.  This  is  evidence  of  a  bad 
heart ;  and  the  act  is  equivalent  to  a  deliberate 
act  of  slaughter.  So  any  wilful  action,  likely 
in  its  nature  to  kill,  without  its  being  aimed  at 
any  person  in  particular :  For  this  shews  an 
enmity  to  all  mankind.  So  if  two  or  more 
come  to  any  felony,  or  any  unlawful  act,  the 
probable  consequence  of  which  might  be 
bloodshed,  and  one  of  them  kills  a  man,  it  is 
murder  in  them  all,  because  of  the  unlawful 
act,  the  malitia  prcecognitata  or  evil  intended. 
But  malice  prepense  is  held  to  be  implied  in 
law,  when  one  kills  an  officer  of  justice  in  the 
execution  of  his  office,  or  any  person  assisting 
him,  though  not  specially  called.  Or  when 
without  sufficient  provocation,  and  no  affront 
by  words  or  gestures  only  is  a  sufficient  provo 
cation,  a  man  suddenly  kills  another.  Or 
when,  upon  a  chiding  between  husband  and 
wife,  the  husband  strikes  the  wife  with  a  pestle 
or  other  dangerous  weapon,  and  she  presently 
dies.  These  and  similar  instances,  are  evi 
dences  of  a  malice  prepense  on  the  part  of  the 
slayer ;  and  he  shall  be  held  guilty  of  murder. 
In  cases  of  self-murder,  there  must  be  a  volun 
tary  and  deliberate  putting  an  end  to  one's 
existence  ;  or  doing  some  unlawful  malicious 
act,  the  consequence  of  which  is  his  own  death. 
In  a  word,  all  homicide  is  presumed  to  be 
malicious,  until  the  contrary  is  made  to  appear 
'n  evidence. 

There  is  a  regular  gradation  of  importance 
in  the  component  parts  of  the  universal  sys 


tem  ;  and,  therefore  there  must  be  a  scale 
marking  the  degrees  of  injury.  We  have  ex 
amined  the  highest  injury  that  can  be  com 
mitted  or  perpetrated  upon  the  person  of  an 
individual — let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to 
such  injuries  against  the  person,  as  are  of  an 
inferior  nature. 

Of  these  the  first  in  degree  is  mayhem,  which 
is  the  cutting  out,  with  malice  prepense,  or 
disabling  the  tongue,  putting  out  an  eye,  slit 
ting  the  nose,  cutting  off  a  nose  or  lip,  or  de 
priving  another  of  the  use  of  such  of  his  members 
as  may  render  him  the  less  able  to  defend  him 
self,  or  annoy  his  adversary.  The  next  is  rape. 
Then  the  infamous  crime  against  nature. 
These  are  felonies.  But  there  are  yet  other 
injuries  against  the  person  which,  being  of  a 
less  flagrant  degree,  are,  by  the  tenderness  of 
the  law,  described  under  the  gentler  terms  of 
misdemeanors.  Such  are  assaults,  batteries, 
wounding,  false  imprisonment,  and  kidnapping. 
Here,  in  a  manner,  terminates  the  scale  of  in 
juries  against  the  person.  We  will  now  state 
such  as  may  be  perpetrated  against  his  man 
sion,  or  habitation. 

By  the  universal  consent  of  all  ages,  the 
dwelling  house  of  man,  was  and  is  endowed 
with  peculiar  immunities  and  valuable  privi 
leges.  Among  the  ancients,  if  even  an  enemy 
reached  the  fire-place  of  the  house,  he  was 
sure  of  protection.  Thus  we  find  Coriolanus 
at  the  fire-place  of  Tullus  Aufidius,  chief  of 
the  Volscian  nation,  discovering  himself  to  Au 
fidius,  his  public  and  private  enemy,  and  sup 
plicating  and  receiving  his  protection  against 
Rome  from  whence  he  was  banished.  And. 
on  this  subject  of  a  dwelling,  Cicero,  the  great 
Roman  lawyer,  orator  and  statesman,  thus  pa 
thetically  expresses  himself:  "What  is  more 
inviolable,  what  better  defended  by  religion 
than  the  house  of  a  citizen  ?  Here  are  his  al 
tars,  here  his  fire  hearths  are  contained — this 
place  of  refuge  is  so  sacred  to  all  men,  that  to 
be  dragged  from  thence  is  unlawful."  In  like 
manner  we  find,  that  at  Athens  the  habitation 
was  particularly  protected  by  the  law  :  Burglary 
was  there  punished  with  death,  although  theft 
was  not.  And  our  law  hath  so  special  a  re 
gard  to  a  man's  dwelling  house,  that  it  terms 
it  his  castle,  and  will  not  suffer  it  to  be  vio 
lated  with  impunity.  The  law  ranges  the  in 
juries  against  it  under  two  heads — arson,  and 
hamesecken  or  housebreaking.  And,  this  last 
it  divides  into  legal  or  proper  burglary,  which 
is  nocturnal  house-breaking,  and  house-break 
ing  by  day. 

Arson  is  an  injury  that  tends  by  fire  to  anni 
hilate  the  habitation  of  another  person,  or  other 


344 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


house,  that  being  within  the  curtilage  or  home- 
stall,  may  reasonably  be  esteemed  a  parcel  of  it, 
though  not  contiguous.  So  a  barn  in  the  field, 
with  hay  or  corn  in  it.  But  this  injury  by  fire, 
must  be  done  with  a  malicious  intent,  otherwise 
it  is  only  trespass. 

Burglary,  is  a  breaking  and  entering  in  the 
night  time,  the  mansion  house  of  another,  with 
intent  to  commit  some  felony  therein,  whether 
the  felonious  intent  be  executed  or  not :  And 
all  such  houses  are  the  objects  of  burglary,  and 
of  housebreaking,  as  are  described  in  the  case 
of  arson. 

But,  to  violate  this  place  of  protection  in  the 
day,  by  robbing  therein,  and  putting  any 
dweller  in  fear,  although  there  be  no  actual 
breach  of  the  house  ;  or  by  breaking  and  rob 
bing  in  the  house,  a  dweller  being  therein,  and 
not  put  in  fear ;  or  by  robbing  and  breaking 
the  house,  actually  taking  something,  none 
being  in  the  house ;  or  by  feloniously  taking 
away  something  to  the  value  3S/.  currency,  or 
upwards,  no  person  being  in  the  house  ;  or  by 
breaking  the  house  with  intent  to  commit  a 
felony,  any  person  being  in  the  house  and  put 
in  fear,  though  nothing  be  actually  taken — any 
such  violation  is  called  house-breaking — a  crime 
not  of  so  atrocious  a  nature  as  burglary.  For, 
in  the  contemplation  of  our  law,  as  well  as  of 
all  others,  violency  perpetrated  in  the  night, 
are  of  a  more  malignant  tendency  than  similar 
ones  by  day :  Because,  attacks  in  the  night 
occasion  a  greater  degree  of  terror ;  and  be 
cause,  they  are  in  a  season  by  nature  appropri 
ated  to  the  necessary  rest  and  refreshment  of 
the  human  body,  which  is  then,  by  sleep  dis 
armed  of  all  attention  to  its  defence. 

With  respect  to  injuries  against  a  man's 
personal  property,  they  are  to  be  considered 
under  three  heads.  Larceny,  malicious  mis 
chief,  forgery.  And  larceny,  the  first  of  these, 
is  either  simple  or  mixed. 

Simple  larceny,  or  common  theft,  is  a  felo 
nious  and  fraudulent  taking  and  carrying  away 
the  mere  personal  goods  of  another — here  no 
violence  or  fear  is  implied.  If  goods  so  taken 
are  above  the  value  of  seven  shillings  currency, 
the  offence  is  termed  grand  larceny ;  But  if 
they  are  not  exceeding  that  value,  the  act  is 
petit  larceny.  Mixt  larceny  has  in  it  all  the 
ingredients  of  simple  larceny,  but  it  is  aggra 
vated  by  a  taking  from  the  house  or  person  ; 
and  this  taking  is  yet  aggravated  if  it  is  under 
the  impression  of  violence  or  fear.  Such  a 
taking  in  the  house,  with  or  without  violence 
or  fear,  may  or  may  not  fall  within  the  crimes 
of  burglary  or  house-breaking,  according  to  the 
circumstances.  And  such  a  taking  from  the 


person,  without,  or  with  violence  or  fear,  will 
be  but  simple  larceny  in  the  first  case ;  in  the 
other,  it  is  a  robbery,  and  the  value  is  of  no 
consideration. 

Malicious  mischief  is  a  species  of  injury  that 
bears  a  near  relation  to  the  crime  of  arson.  A 
dwelling  is  the  object  of  arson  ;  but  other 
property  is  the  subject  for  malicious  mischief 
to  operate  upon  ;  and  indeed  this  spirit  of 
wanton  cruelty  has  a  wide  field  of  action. 
This  horrible  spirit  displays  itself  by  burning  or 
destroying  the  property  of  another,  as  a  stack 
of  rice,  corn  or  other  grain  ;  or  any  tar  kiln, 
barrels  of  pitch,  turpentine,  rosin  or  other 
growth,  product  or  manufacture  of  this  state : 
or  killing  or  destroying  any  horses,  sheep  or 
other  cattle. 

At  length  the  crime  of  forgery,  concludes 
the  calender  of  public  offences  against  the 
property  of  an  individual ;  I  need  only  define 
the  crime  :  It  is  a  fraudulent  making  or  alter 
ation  of  a  writing  to  the  prejudice  of  another 
person. 

Having,  in  this  manner  marked  out  to  you 
the  distinguishing  features  of  the  principal 
crimes  and  injuries  against  the  person,  habita 
tion  and  property  of  an  individual,  I  now  de 
sire  your  attention,  and  I  shall  not  long  detain 
it  while  I  delineate  those  against  the  state ; 
objects  which  ought  most  carefully  to  be  ob 
served  wherever  they  appear.  I  have  pur 
posely  thus  reserved  this  subject,  as  well  be 
cause  it  is  of  the  most  important  nature,  and 
virtually  includes  the  other,  as  that  by  being 
the  last  described,  you  may  be  the  more  likely 
to  retain  the  impression  of  it.  Every  outrage 
and  violence  against  the  person,  habitation  or 
property  of  an  individual,  is  a  crime,  a  misde 
meanor,  or  a  contempt,  and  therefore  an  injury 
against  the  state,  bound  by  original  compact 
to  protect  the  individual  in  his  rights.  For  no 
man,  conceiving  himself  injured,  has  any  au 
thority,  or  shadow  of  it,  to  redress  himself ; 
because  the  state  has  established  courts  which 
are  vindices  znjuriarum.  Hence,  every  crimi 
nal  injury  against  the  individual  must  ulti 
mately  wound  the  state ;  and  be  included  in 
the  offences  against  the  body  politic,  which 
must  be  more  important  in  their  nature  than 
those  relating  to  the  individual,  because  they 
are  more  extensive,  and  of  a  higher  degree  of 
criminality.  It  behoves  you  therefore  to  watch 
for  the  public  safety  ;  for  this  is  to  be  attentive 
to  your  private  security. 

It  is  not  by  any  means  necessary  that  I  trace 
these  crimes,  as  they  are  branched  by  the  law. 
The  present  public  service  requires  your  im 
mediate  particular  attention  to  offences  done 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


345 


against  only  four  acts  of  assembly — the  patrol 
and  negro  laws — the  law  against  counterfeit 
ing  the  certificates  issued  by  the  late  houses  of 
assembly,  or  the  currency  issued  by  the  con 
gress  of  the  continent  or  of  this  country — 
and  the  law  to  prevent  sedition,  and  to  punish 
insurgents  and  disturbers  of  the  public  peace. 

The  two  first  laws  are  calculated  to  keep 
our  domestics  in  a  proper  behavior.  The  two 
last  were  expressly  formed  as  two  pillars  to 
support  our  new  constitution ;  and  therefore, 
these  last  are  your  most  important  objects. — I 
shall  fully  explain  them. 

The  act  against  counterfeiting  extends  to  all 
persons  who  counterfeit,  raze  or  alter,  or  utter, 
or  offer  in  payment,  knowing  the  same  to  be 
counterfeited,  razed  or  altered,  any  certificate 
or  bill  of  credit,  under  the  authority  of  the  late 
commons  house  of  assembly,  or  the  congresses 
of  this  country,  or  of  the  continent. 

The  law  to  prevent  sedition  guards  against 
those  actions  as,  in  such  a  crisis  as  this,  might 
reasonably  be  expected  to  operate  against  our 
present  honorable  and  happy  establishment. 
And  the  variety  and  importance  of  those 
actions,  make  it  necessary  for  me  to  particu 
larize  them  to  you. 

This  salutary  act  touches  all  persons  taking 
up  arms  against  the  authority  of  the  present 
government ;  or  who  by  violence,  words,  deeds 
or  writing,  cause  or  attempt  to  cause,  induce, 
or  persuade  any  other  person  to  do  so.  In 
like  manner,  all  persons  who  give  intelligence 
to,  or  hold  correspondence  with,  or  aid  or  abet 
any  land  or  naval  force  sent  by  Great  Britain, 
or  any  other  force  or  body  of  men  within  this 
state  with  hostile  intent  against  it.  So  those 
who  compel,  induce,  persuade  or  attempt  to 
do  so,  any  white  person,  Indian,  free  negro,  or 
slave,  to  join  any  force  under  authority  derived 
from  Great  Britain.  And  so  all  persons  who 
collect,  or  procure  them  to  be  assembled,  with 
intent  in  a  riotous  and  seditious  manner,  to 
disturb  the  public  peace  and  tranquility ;  and 
by  words,  or  otherwise,  create  and  raise  trai 
torous  seditions  or  discontents,  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  against  the  public  authority. 

Thus  having  stated  to  you  such  criminal  in 
juries  against  an  individual,  or  the  state,  as 
may  be  most  likely  to  come  within  your  notice, 
it  is  a  natural  consequence,  that  I  describe  the 
person  by  law  held  capable  of  committing  such 
injuries. 

In  the  first  place,  the  party  must  be  of  sound 
memory  at  the  time  of  committing  the  offence, 
and  it  is  the  leading  principle  in  every  case, 
li  the  party  is  under  seven  years  of  age,  no 
evidence  can  possibly  be  admitted  to  criminate  ; 


because,  the  law  holds,  that  the  party  cannot 
discern  between  good  and  evil.  But  if  the  ac 
cused  is  above  seven  and  under  fourteen,  he  is 
liable  to  be  criminated,  if  at  the  time  of  his 
committing  the  injury,  his  understanding  was 
so  ripe  as  to  occasion  him  to  shew  a  conscious 
ness  of  guilt,  the  rule  being  malttia  supplet 
<ztatcm.  And  if  the  party  is  of  the  age  of  four 
teen,  which  is  the  age  of  discretion,  the  law 
prima  facie  considers  him  capable  of  commit 
ting  offences  as  a  person  of  full  age.  Also  a 
lunatic  for  crimes  perpetrated  in  a  lucid  in 
terval.  Also  a  man  for  crimes  done  in  a  state 
of  drunkenness  voluntarily  contracted  ;  and  so 
far  is  this  artificial  insanity  from  excusing,  that 
it  tends  to  aggravate  the  offence. 

All  those  particulars  relating  to  the  person, 
habitation  and  property  of  an  individual ;  those 
respecting  the  safety,  peace  and  tranquility  of 
state  ;  and  these  describing  the  perpetrator  of 
criminal  injuries,  are  so  many  proper  heads  for 
your  diligent  enquiry  :  And  such  offenders  and 
offences  being  within  your  knowledge,  you 
must  make  due  presentment  of  them.  You 
are  to  hear  evidence  only  on  the  part  of  an  in 
formation  to  you  of  an  offence  :  for  an  indict 
ment  by  you  is  only  in  the  nature  of  a  solemn 
and  public  accusation,  which  is  afterwards  to 
be  tried  and  determined  by  others  :  You  are 
only  to  examine,  whether  there  be  sufficient 
cause  to  call  upon  the  party  to  answer. 
Twelve  of  you,  at  least  must  agree  in  opinion, 
that  the  accused  ought  to  undergo  a  public 
trial — so  twelve  other  jurors  are  to  declare  him 
innocent  or  guilty. — Happy  institutions  !  where 
by  no  man  can  be  declared  a  criminal,  but  by 
the  concurring  voices  of  at  least  four  and 
twenty  men,  collected  in  the  vicinage  by  blind 
chance,  upon  their  oaths  to  do  justice  ;  and 
against  whom,  even  the  party  himself  has  no 
exception  ! 

Thus,  gentlemen  of  the  grand  jury,  with  the 
best  intentions  for  the  public  service,  however 
executed,  having  declared  to  you,  that  you  are 
not  bound  under,  but  freed  from  the  dominion 
of  the  British  crown,  I  thought  myself  neces 
sarily  obliged,  and  I  have  endeavored  to  de 
monstrate  to  you,  that  the  rise  and  fall  of  em 
pires  are  natural  events — that  the  independence 
of  America  was  not,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  late  civil  war,  or  even  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  last  year,  the  aim  of  the  Americans — that 
their  subjection  to  the  British  crown,  being  re 
leased  by  the  action  of  British  oppression,  the 
stroke  of  the  British  sword,  and  the  tenor  of  a 
British  act  of  parliament,  their  natural  rise  to 
empire  was  conducted  by  the  hand  of  God  ! — 
that  the  same  strong  hand,  by  proceedings 


346 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


equally  unexpected,  wonderful  and  rapid  as  in 
our  case,  conducted  the  English  revolution  of 
1688 — that  the  revolutions  in  England  and 
Scotland  at  that  period,  and  in  America  now, 
giving  a  new  epocha  to  the  history  of  the 
world,  were  founded  in  the  same  immediate 
cause ;  a  failure  of  protection — that  those  re 
volutions  concurred  in  one  grand  evidence  of 
the  feelings  of  nature  on  such  a  subject — that 
ever)'  species  of  mal-administration  in  a  king 
is  to  be  traced  to  a  failure  of  protection,  which 
is  the  only  instrument  working  his  abdication 
— that  the  object  for  which  we  contend,  is  just 
in  its  nature  and  of  inestimable  value — that 
the  American  revolution  may  be  supported 
with  the  fairest  prospect  of  success  by  arms — 
and  that  it  may  be  powerfully  aided  by  a  grand 

jury- 
Gentlemen,  I  do  most  cordially  congratulate 
you,  placed  as  you  are  in  a  station,  honorable 
to  yourselves,  and  beneficial  to  your  country. 
Guardians  of  the  innocent,  you  are  appointed 
to  send  the  robber,  the  murderer,  the  incendiary 
and  the  traitor  to  trial.  Your  diligence  in 
inquiring  for  such  offenders,  is  the  source  of 
your  own  honor,  and  a  means  of  your  country's 
safety,  and  although  no  such  offenders  be 
found,  your  laudable  search  will  yet  tend  to 
curb  a  propensity  to  robbery,  murder,  sedition 
and  treason.  See,  gentlemen,  what  great  ad 
vantages  may  result  from  your  vigilant  and 
patriotic  conduct !  Your  ears  ought  to  be  shut 
to  the  petitions  of  friendship,  and  to  the  calls 
of  consanguinity — but  they  ought  to  be  ex 
panded  to  receive  the  complaints  of  your 
injured  country,  and  the  demands  of  impartial 
justice.  Brutus  inflicted  upon  his  sons  the 
ultimum  supplicium  for  conspiring  to  re-estab 
lish  the  regal  government  in  Rome.  And,  if 
a  similar  occasion  should  arise  in  America, 
which  God  forbid,  I  trust  a  Brutus  will  not  be 
wanting  !  Let  those,  if  there  are  any  such,  who 
treacherously  or  pusillanimously  hanker  after  a 
return  of  regal  government,  remember  such 
things  and  tremble.  Let  us  ever  remember, 
rejoice  and  teach  our  children,  that  the  Ameri 
can  empire  is  composed  of  states  that  are,  and 
of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent ; 
"  that  they  are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the 
British  crown  ;  and  that  all  political  connection 
between  them  and  the  state  of  Great  Britain, 

IS  AND  OUGHT  TO  BE  TOTALLY  DISSOLVED. 


THE    PRESENTMENTS  OF  THE  JURY, 

At  a  court  of  GENERAL  SESSIONS  OF  THE 
PEACE,  OVER  AND  TERMINER,  ASSIZES  AND 
GENERAL  GAOL  DELIVERY,  begun  to  be  held 
at  Charleston,  for  the  district  of  Charleston, 
on  Tuesday,  October  I  yh,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
seventy-six. 

Presentments  of  the  grand  jury  for  the  said 
district. 

I.  It  is  with  most  cordial  satisfaction   we 
embrace  this  opportunity  of  offering  our  con 
gratulations  on  the  late  declaration  of  the  con 
tinental  congress,  constituting  the  united  colo 
nies  of  North   America  independent    states ; 
an  event,  however  once  dreaded  as  repugnant 
to  those  hopes  of  peace  and  friendship  with  the 
British  state,  which  was  then  ardently  enter 
tained,  yet  which  every  American  must  now 
most  joyfully  embrace,  as  the  only  happy  means 
of  salvation  and  security,  and  the  surest  pre 
vention  to  the  treacherous  and  cruel  designs 
of  a  wicked  and  detestable  enemy. 

II.  As  the  kind  and   beneficent  hand  of  a 
wise  and  bounteous  Providence  has  so  ordered 
and   disposed    of  human     events     that,   from 
calamities  which  were  dreaded  as   the   most 
miserable  and  destructive  to  America,  benefits, 
the  most  advantageous,  honorable  and    desir 
able  have   arisen  to   her,  which  now  gives  a 
very    joyful    prospect    to    liberty    and    hap 
piness — we  think  our  grateful  sense  of  such 
peculiar  care  and  protection  cannot  be  mani 
fested  in  a  way  more  acceptable  and  proper 
than  in  a  strict  regard  to  the  duties  which  man 
kind  owe  to  their  God. 

III.  We  present  the  growing  evil  of  many- 
churches  established  by  law  falling  to  decay, 
and  some  remaining  without  ministers  to  per 
form  divine  service,  in  divers  parishes  in  this 
district,  by  which  means  the  spirit  of  religion 
will  decline,  and  become    prejudicial   to    the 
manners  of  the  peoele. 

IV.  We  present  and  recommend  a  proper 
militia  law  to  be  made,  in  such  manner  as  to 
compel  impartially  and  equally  all  degrees  of 
persons  liable  to  do  the  duty  therein  required, 
so  as  to  enable  the  good  people  of  this  state 
(who  are  now  become  principally  the  guardi 
ans  thereof)  to  repel  any  domestic  or  foreign 
enemy  as  far  as  possible. 

V.  We  present  and   recommend,  that  care 
may  always  be  had,  that  none  but  gentlemen 
of  weight  and  influence,  and  good  example  be 
prevailed  on  to  qualify  and  act  in  the  commis- 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


347 


sion  of  peace,  by  whose  influence  licentiousness, 
sedition  and  profligacy  may  be  suppressed,  and 
good  order  maintained. 

VI.  We  present  and  recommend,  that  some 
office  may  be  created  in  this  district,  whereby 
executions   and   sales   by  the  sheriff  may  be 
recorded,  so  that,  on  the  death  or  removal  of 
the  sheriff,  recourse  may  be  had  to  such  rec 
ords  by  those  concerned. 

VII.  We  present  and  recommend,  that  Jews 
and   others   may  be  restrained  from  allowing 
their  negroes  to  sell  goods  in  shops,  as  such  a 
practice  may  induce  other  negroes  to  steal  and 
barter  with  them. 

VIII.  We   present  the   ill  practice  of  Jews 
opening  their  shops  and  selling  of  goods  on 
Sunday,  to  the  profanation  of  the  Lord's  Day. 

IX.  We  present  the  barrack  master  Philip 
Will,  for  seizing  of  firewood  on  the  wharves, 
under  pretence  of  the  public,  when  he  applies 
the  same  to  his  own  use,  to  the  distressing  of 
the  inhabitants.     By  information   of  Mr.  Pat 
rick  Hinds,  one  of  the  grand  jurors. 

X.  We  present  the  want  of  more  constables 
in  this  district,  we  being  informed  that  there 
are  only  four  in  this  town. 

XI.  We  return  our  thanks  to  his  honor,  the 
chief  justice,  for  his  excellent  charge  delivered 
at  the  opening  of  the  sessions,  and  desire  that 
the  charge  and  these  presentments  be  forthwith 
printed  and  published. 


Joseph  Glover,  foreman, 
Benjamin  Baker, 
Benjamin  Dart, 

John  Jullerton, 
Christopher  Fitzsimons, 

William  Hopton, 

William  Hale, 
Patrick  Hinds, 
Charles  Johnston, 
Andrew  Lord, 
John  Miles, 

William  Russel, 
Stephen  Townsend, 


[L.  S.] 
[L.  S.] 
[L.  S.] 
[L.  S.] 
[L.  S.] 
[L.  S.] 
[L.  S.] 
[L.  S.] 
[L.  S.] 
[L.  S.] 
[L.  S.] 
[L.  S.] 
[L.  S.] 


JUDGE  DRAYTON. 
At  a  court  of  GENERAL  SESSIONS  OF  THE 

PEACE,  OVER  AND  TERMINER,  ASSIZE  AND 
GENERAL  GAOL  DELIVERY,  begun  and 
holden  at  Charleston,  for  the  district  of 
Charleston,  the  2\st  of  October,  1777, 
before  the  honorable  WILLIAM  HENRY 
DRAYTON,  esq.  chief  justice,  and  his  asso 
ciates,  justices  of  the  said  court. 


ORDERED,  That  the  political  part  of  his  honor, 
the  chief  justice's  charge  to  the  grand  jury, 
together  with  their  presentments  be  forth 
with  printed  and  published. 

By  the  court, 
JOHN  COLCOCK,  C.  C.  S. 

THE  POLITICAL  PART  OF  THE  CHARGE. 

Gentlemen  of  the  grand  jury. — Being  but 
just  returned  from  the  house  of  God,  we  are, 
I  trust,  sanctified  to  enter  upon  the  most  im 
portant  civil  duties,  and  possessed  of  the  favor 
of  Heaven,  to  aid  us  in  our -endeavors  faith 
fully  to  discharge  our  respective  functions. 
At  present,  it  is  your  part  attentively  to  listen  to 
me — it  is  mine  to  discourse  of  those  points  im 
mediately  relative  to  your  duty  in  this  court, 
and  of  such  things  as  may  enable  you,  when  you 
shall  return  into  your  vicinage,  in  a  more  en 
larged  manner  to  support  the  laws  and  free 
dom  of  your  country.  The  occasion  of  our 
meeting  demands  the  first — the  present  crisis 
of  public  affairs  requires  the  last,  and  I  flatter 
myself  your  time  will  neither  be  disagreeably 
nor  unprofitably  occupied.  Let  me  therefore 
begin  with  laying  before  you  some  considera 
tions  aimed  to  support  the  freedom  of  your 
country;  such  are  ever  uppermost  in  my 
thoughts. 

Do  you  seriously  think  of  the  great  work  in 
which  you,  in  conjunction  with  the  rest  of 
America,  are  engaged  ?  You  ought  to  do  so 
without  ceasing,  and  to  act  with  a  correspond 
ing  vigor.  For,  beyond  all  comparison,  the 
work  is  the  most  stupendous,  august,  and  ben 
eficial  of  any  extant  in  history.  It  is  to  estab 
lish  an  asylum  against  despotism  :  of  an  entire 
world  to  form  an  empire,  composed  of  states 
linked  together  by  consanguinity,  professing 
the  same  religion,  using  the  same  language 
and  customs,  and  venerating  the  same  princi 
ples  of  liberty.  A  compounded  political 
cement,  which,  in  the  formation  of  the  grand 
empires  upon  record,  no  political  architects 
but  ourselves  ever  possessed — a  cement  pre 
pared  to  our  hand  by  the  Great  Constructor  of 
the  universe  ;  and  for  the  best  of  purposes. 

Formed  to  enjoy,  "  among  the  powers  of  the 
earth,  the  separate  and  equal  station  to  which 
the  laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitle 
us,"  by  an  unexpected  and  unprovoked  declara 
tion  of  the  king  and  parliament  of  Britain,  that 
the  inhabitants  of  America,  having  no  property 
nor  right,  were  by  them  to  be  bound  in  all 
cases  whatsoever — by  their  sending  a  military 
force  to  compel  us  to  submit  to  that  declara 
tion — by  their  actual  seizure  of  our  property — 
by  their  lighting  conflagrations  in  our  land — 


348 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


perpetrating  rape  and  massacre  upon  our  peo 
ple,  and  finally  releasing  us  from  our  allegiance, 
by  announcing  to  us,  on  the  twenty-first  day  of 
December,  1775,  that  we  were  by  themselves 
placed  out  of  their  protection, — America  has 
been  compelled  to  step  into  that  station  which, 
I  trust,  we  are  willing,  and  which,  I  am  con 
vinced,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  we  are  able 
to  maintain. — My  dear  countrymen,  turn  your 
attention  to  the  transactions  of  the  last  twelve 
months,  and  be  convinced,  that  our  cause  is 
the  peculiar  care  of  Heaven. 

Human  policy  at  best  is  but  short-sighted ; 
nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  the  original 
formation  of  the  continental  army  was  upon  an 
erroneous  principle.  The  people  of  America 
are  a  people  of  property  ;  almost  every  man  is 
a  freeholder.  Their  supreme  rulers  thought 
such  men,  living  at  ease  in  their  farms,  would 
not  become  soldiers  under  long  enlistments ; 
nor,  as  all  that  was  then  aimed  at  was  a  redress 
of  grievances,  did  they  think  there  would  be 
occasion  for  their  military  services,  but  for  a 
few  months.  Hence  the  continental  army 
was  formed  upon  short  enlistments — a  policy 
that  unexpectedly  dragged  America  back  to 
the  door  of  slavery.  As  the  times  of  enlist 
ments  expired  the  last  year,  the  American 
army  decreased  in  power,  till  it  possessed 
scarce  any  thing  but  its  appellation.  And 
Washington,  a  name  which  needs  no  title  to 
adorn  it,  a  freeman  above  all  praise,  having 
evacuated  Long  Island  and  New  York,  to  a  far 
superior  force,  having  repeatedly  baffled  the 
enemy  at  the  White  Plains,  who,  quitting  that 
scene  of  action,  suddenly  took  fort  Washing 
ton  (Nov.  1 6)  and  bending  their  course  to  Phil 
adelphia,  he,  with  but  a  handful  of  men,  boldly 
threw  himself  in  their  front,  and  opposed  their 
progress. — With  a  chosen  body  of  veterans, 
who  had  no  near  prospect  of  discharge,  it  is  a 
difficult  operation  to  make  an  orderly,  leisurely 
and  effectual  retreat  before  a  superior  enemy  ; 
but  with  Washington's  little  army,  not  exceed 
ing  four  thousand  men,  raw  troops,  who  had 
but  a  few  weeks  to  serve,  to  make  such  a 
retreat,  for  eighty  miles,  and  through  a  popu 
lous  country,  without  being  joined  by  a  single 
neighbor,  a  most  discouraging  circumstance, 
nothing  in  the  whole  science  of  war  could  be 
more  difficult ;  yet  it  was  most  completely  per 
formed.  Washington  caused  the  Delaw.are  to 
bound  the  enemy's  advance.  He  summoned 
general  Lee  with  the  corps  under  his  command 
to  join  him.  That  veteran,  disobeying  his 
repeated  orders,  for  which  I  presume  rigid  in 
quisition  is  yet  to  be  made,  loitering  when  he 
should  have  bounded  forward — he  allowed 


himself  to  be  surprised  and  made  a  prisoner, 
(Dec.  13,)  at  a  distance  from  his  troops. 
Washington,  in  the  abyss  of  distress,  seemed 
to  be  abandoned  by  his  officer  next  in  com 
mand — by  the  Americans  themselves,  who 
seemed  appalled  at  the  rapid  progress  of  the 
enemy.  Rape  and  massacre,  ruin  and  devas 
tation  indiscriminately  overwhelmed  whigs  and 
tories,  and  marked  the  advance  of  the  British 
forces.  The  enemy  being  but  a  day's  march 
from  Philadelphia,  the  quakers  of  that  city,  by 
a  public  instrument,  dated  the  2oth  of  Decem 
ber,  declared  their  attachment  to  the  English 
domination — a  general  defection  was  feared — 
the  congress  removed  to  Baltimore — American 
liberty  evidently  appeared  as  in  the  last  con 
vulsive  agony  ! 

Washington  was  now  at  the  head  but  of 
about  2,500  men;  their  time  of  service  was  to 
expire  in  a  few  days,  nor  was  there  any  prospect 
that  they  could  be  induced  to  stay  longer. 
This,  such  as  it  was,  appeared  the  only  force 
that  could  be  opposed  to  the  British,  which 
seemed  to  halt  only  to  give  time  to  the  Ameri 
can  vigor  to  dissolve  of  itself,  and  display  us  to 
the  world  as  an  inconstant  people,  noisy,  void 
of  public  virtue  and  even  shame.  But,  it  was 
in  this  extremity  of  affairs,  when  no  human 
resource  appeared  in  their  favor,  that  the 
Almighty  chose  to  manifest  his  powers  to 
shew  the  Americans  that  he  had  not  forsaken 
them  ;  and  to  convince  the  states  that  it  was 
by  him  alone  they  were  to  be  maintained 
in  their  independence,  if  they  deserved  to  pos 
sess  it. 

Like  Henry  the  fourth,  of  France,  one  of  the 
greatest  men  who  ever  lived,  Washington,  lay 
ing  aside  the  generalissimo,  assumed  the  par 
tisan.  He  had  but  a  choice  of  difficulties. 
He  was  even  in  a  more  desperate  situation  than 
that  in  which  the  king  of  Prussia  was  before 
the  battle  of  Torgau  ;  when  there  was  no  step 
which  rashness  dictated,  but  prudence  advised 
him  to  attempt.  The  enemy  were  now  in  full 
possession  of  the  Jerseys.  A  principal  body  of 
them  were  posted  at  Trenton  on  the  Delaware  : 
Washington  occupied  the  opposite  banks. 
His  army,  our  only  apparent  hope,  now  some 
what  short  of  2,500  men,  was  to  be  disbanded 
in  a  very  few  days  :  he  resolved  to  lead  it  to 
battle  before  that  fatal  period ;  and  at  least 
afford  it  an  opportunity  of  separating  with 
honor.  He  prepared  to  attack  the  enemy  at 
the  dawn  of  day,  on  the  26th  of  December. 
The  weather  was  severe.  The  ice  in  the  river 
prevented  the  passage  of  a  part  even  of  his 
small  force.  But  with  those  (1,500  men)  that 
he  transported  across  the  river  through  a  vio- 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


349 


lent  storm  of  snow  and  hail,  he  marched  against 
the  enemy.  The  unavoidable  difficulties  in  pass 
ing  the  river,  delayed  his  arrival  at  their  ad 
vanced  posts  till  eight  in  the  morning.  The 
conflict  was  short.  About  thirty  of  the  British 
troops  were  killed  ;  600  fled,  909  officers  and 
privates  surrendered  themselves  prisoners,  with 
six  pieces  of  brass  artillery  and  four  pair  of 
colors. 

This  brilliaat  success  was  obtained  at  a  very 
small  price — only  two  officers,  and  one  or  two 
privates  wounded.  In  a  word,  the  victory  in 
effect  re-established  the  American  affairs.  The 
consent  of  the  victors  to  continue  six  weeks 
longer  under  their  leader — and  the  elevation  of 
the  spirits  of  the  people  were  its  immediate 
consequences— most  important  acquisitions  at 
that  crisis.  The  enemy,  roused  from  their 
inactivity,  and  with  a  view  of  allowing  Wash 
ington  as  little  time  as  possible  to  reap  other 
advantages,  they  in  a  hurry  collected  in  force, 
and  marched  against  him.  He  was  posted  at 
Trenton.  On  the  second  of  January  the  front 
appeared  in  the  afternoon — they  halted  with 
design  to  make  an  attack  in  the  morning  ;  and 
in  the  mean  time,  a  cannonade  was  begun  and 
continued  by  both  parties  till  dark.  Sanpick 
creek,  which  runs  through  Trenton,  parted  the 
two  armies.  Our  forces  occupied  the  south 
bank,  and  at  night  fires  were  lighted  on  both 
sides.  At  twelve,  Washington  having  renewed 
his  fires,  and  leaving  guards  on  the  passages 
over  the  creek,  and  about  500  men  to  amuse 
the  enemy,  with  the  remainder  of  his  army, 
about  one  in  the  morning,  he  marched  to 
Princetown  to  cut  off  a  reinforcement  that  was 
advancing.  He  arrived  at  his  destination  by 
sunrise,  and  dislodged  them  :  they  left  upwards 
of  loo  men  dead  on  the  spot,  and  near  300 
more  as  prisoners  to  the  victors. 

It  was  by  such  a  decisive  conduct  that  the 
king  of  Prussia  avoided  being  overwhelmed  by 
a  combined  attack  upon  his  camp  at  Lignitz,  on 
the  morning  of  the  I5th  of  August,  1760,  by 
three  armies,  led  by  Daun,  Loudohn  and 
Czernichew,  who  were  advancing  against  him 
from  different  quarters.  In  the  night  the  king 
marched,  and  in  the  morning,  by  the  time  Daun 
arrived  at  his  empty  camp,  he  had  defeated 
Loudohn  in  his  advance.  So  the  Roman  con 
sul,  C.  Claudius  Nero,  dreading  the  junction  of 
Hannibal  and  his  brother  Asdrubal,  who  was 
in  full  march  to  him  with  a  powerful  reinforce 
ment,  left  his  camp  before  Hannibal  with  such 
an  appearance  as  to  persuade  him  he  was 
present,  and  with  the  nerves  and  sinews  of  his 
army  privately  quitting  it,  he  rapidly  marched, 
almost  the  whole  length  of  Italy,  while  Rome 


trembled  at  his  steps,  and  joining  the  other  con 
sul,  he  defeated  Asdrubal,  who,  had  he  with 
his  force  joined  his  brother,  had  made  him  in 
all  probability  an  over  match  for  the  Romans. 
Thus  equal  geniuses  prove  their  equality,  by 
wisely  adapting  their  conduct  to  their  circum 
stances. 

The  action  at  Trenton  was  as  the  making  of 
the  flood.  From  that  period  success  rolled  in 
upon  us,  with  a  spring  tide.  That  victory  gave 
us  an  army — the  affair  of  Princetown  procured 
us  a  force,  and  the  re-possession  of  all  the 
Jerseys  but  Brunswick  and  Amboy.  For  the 
enemy,  astonished  at  Washington's  vivacity, 
dreaded  the  loss  of  those  posts  in  which  they 
had  deposited  their  stores,  and  ran  back  to  hide 
themselves  behind  the  works  they  had  thrown 
up  around  them.  Washington  pursued,  and  by 
the  fifth  of  January  those  forces  which,  but  a 
few  days  before,  were  in  full  possession  of  the 
Jerseys  he  had  closely  confined  to  the  environs 
of  Brunswick  and  Amboy.  In  this  situation 
both  armies  continued  until  the  I3th  of  June 
last,  when  general  Howe  made  an  attempt  to 
proceed  to  Philadelphia  ;  but  being  baffled,  he 
suddenly  abandoned  Brunswick  (June  22)  and 
in  a  day  or  two  after  Amboy,  and  retired  to 
Staten  island. 

In  the  mean  time  general  Burgoyne  was 
advancing  from  Canada  against  Ticonderoga. 
He  appeared  before  the  place  on  the  28th  of 
June — a  day  glorious  to  this  country — and  gen. 
St.  Clair,  who  commanded  in  that  important 
post,  without  waiting  till  the  enemy  had  com 
pleted  their  works,  or  given  an  assault,  to  sustain 
which,  without  doubt,  he  had  been  sent  there, 
suddenly  abandoned  the  fortress  and  its  stores 
to  the  enemy,  (July  6th.)  The  public  have  loudly 
condemned  this  evacuation  ;  and  the  congress 
have  ordered  strict  enquiry  to  be  made  into  the 
causes  of  it. 

Gen.  Burgoyne  having  thus  easily  possessed 
himself  of  Ticonderoga,  immediately  began  to 
measure  the  distance  to  New-York.  But  being 
destitute  of  horses  for  his  dragoons,  wagons  for 
the  conveyance  of  his  baggage,  and  in  urgent 
want  of  provisions,  he  halted  near  Saratoga,  to 
give  time  for  the  operation  of  the  proclamation 
he  had  issued  (June  23)  to  assure  the  inhabi 
tants  of  security,  and  to  induce  them  to  con 
tinue  at  home  with  their  effects.  But  regard 
less  of  public  engagements  (August  gth)  he 
suddenly  detached  lieutenant  col.  Baum,  with 
1,500  men  and  private  instructions  to  strip  the 
people  of  their  horses,  wagons  and  provisions  ; 
and  give  "  stretch  "  to  his  Indians  to  scalp  those 
whom  he  had  exhorted  to  "  remain  quietly  at 
their  houses." 


350 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


Things  now  wore  a  dreadful  aspect  in  that 
part  of  America :  but  general  Stark  soon 
changed  the  countenance  of  affairs.  With  a 
body  of  2000  men,  principally  militia,  he  at 
tacked  (August  1 6th)  lieutenant  col.  Baum  at 
Bennington,  stormed  his  works,  killed  about 
200  of  his  men,  took  656  prisoners,  together 
with  four  brass  field  pieces  and  a  considerable 
quantity  of  baggage  ;  losing  only  about  30  men 
killed  and  50  wounded.  This  successful  attack 
at  once  rescued  the  country  from  massacre  and 
ruin  ;  and  deprived  general  Burgoyne  of  those 
supplies  that  alone  could  enable  him  to  ad 
vance  ;  nor  was  it  less  important  in  respect  to 
the  time  at  which  it  was  made.  For  at  this 
juncture,  fort  Stanwixwas  hard  pressed  by  gen. 
St.  Ledger  who,  having  advanced  from  lake 
Ontario,  had  laid  siege  to  it  on  the  second  of 
August.  Gen.  Arnold  had  been  preparing  to 
march  to  its  relief,  and  he  had  now  full  liberty 
to  continue  his  route.  His  near  approach  com 
pelled  the  enemy  with  precipitation  to  raise  the 
siege,  (Aug.  22)  leaving  their  tents,  and  a  large 
part  of  their  ammunition,  stores,  provision  and 
baggage,  nor  did  he  lose  any  time  in  setting 
out  in  pursuit  of  them. 

Such  unexpected  strokes  utterly  disconcerted 
general  Burgoyne.  Our  militia  began  to  as 
semble  in  considerable  numbers.  He  now 
anxiously  cast  his  eye  behind  to  Ticonderoga  ; 
and  wished  to  trace  back  his  steps.  But  while 
gen.  Gates  was  advancing  against  bis  front,  at 
Still-water,  with  a  superior  force,  the  fruit  of 
Bennington  and  Stanwix,  a  part  of  the  Amer 
ican  troops  had  occupied  the  posts  in  his  rear, 
and  were  penetrating  to  Ticonderoga.  In  their 
advance  they  took  200  batteaux  and  293  pris 
oners  ;  and  having  seized  the  old  French  lines 
near  that  fortress,  on  the  i8th  September  they 
summoned  the  place  to  surrender.  Later 
advices  which,  though  not  indisputable,  yet  well 
authenticated,  say,  gen.  Burgoyne  is  totally 
defeated  and  taken  prisoner,  and  that  Ticon 
deroga  with  all  its  stores  is  in  our  possession. 
Indeed,  from  the  events  we  already  know,  we 
have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  Ameri 
can  arms  are  decisively  triumphant  in  that 
quarter. 

As  to  general  Howe,  at  the  head  of  the 
grand  British  army,  even  when  the  campaign 
was  far  advanced,  he  had  not  done  any  thing  in 
aid  of  his  master's  promise,  in  June  last, 
to  his  parliament,  that  his  forces  would  "  effec 
tually  crush  "  America  in  the  course  of  "the 
present  campaign."  Driven  from  the  Jerseys, 
and  having  embarked  his  troops  on  the  23d  of 
July,  he  put  to  sea  from  Sandy-Hook  with  226 
sail ;  and  having  entered  the  Chesapeake,  he 


landed  his  army  (about  12,000  men)  the  3Oth 
of  August,  on  Turkey-point,  at  the  head  of 
the  bay.  Skirmishing  with  the  American  light 
troops  he  pushed  on  to  Brandy-wine  creek, 
behind  which  Washington  was  posted  to  ob 
struct  his  passage.  By  a  double  onset  on  the 
nth  of  September,  at  Chad's  ford  and  Jones' 
six  miles  above,  where,  because  of  uncertain 
and  contradictory  intelligence,  Washington  had 
not  made  a  disposition  adequate  to  the  force 
with  which  the  enemy  attacked,  they  crossed, 
first  at  Jones'  and  then  at  Chad's.  The  engage 
ment  was  long  and  obstinate.  The  highest 
account  does  not  make  our  whole  loss  exceed 
1000  men  and  9  field  pieces;  the  lowest  statement 
of  the  enemy's  is  not  so  low  as  1,000  killed — a 
slaughter  from  which  we  may  form  some  idea 
of  the  proportion  of  their  wounded.  Not  hav 
ing  made  good  the  defence  of  the  Brandy- 
wine  the  American  army  fell  back  six  and 
twenty  miles  to  the  Schuylkill :  nor  did  gen. 
Howe  derive  any  advantage  from  the  posses 
sion  of  the  field  of  battle.  This  is  the  4Oth  day 
since  the  engagement,  and  we  have  heard  from 
Philadelphia,  in  less  than  half  the  time,  circum 
stances  furnishing  reasonable  ground  to  con 
clude,  that  for  at  least  three  weeks  after  his 
victory,  gen.  Howe  made  no  impression  upon 
the  army  of  the  United  States ;  and  that  he 
purchased  his  passage  of  the  Brandy-wine  at 
no  small  price.  He  carried  Bunker's  hill,  but 
he  lost  Boston.  I  trust  he  has  passed  the 
Brandy-wine  but  to  sacrifice  his  army,  as  it 
were  in  presence  of  our  illustrious  congress,  as 
an  atonement  for  his  ravages  and  conflagation 
in  America. 

Having  thus  taken  a  general  and  concise 
view  of  the  progress  of  the  war  in  the  north, 
let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  our  situation  at 
home.  In  respect  of  our  government,  it  is 
affectionately  obeyed.  With  regard  to  cannon, 
arms  and  ammunition,  we  are  in  a  truly  respect 
able  condition.  As  to  trade,  we  are  the  grand 
emporium  for  the  continent.  Oh  !  that  I  could 
but  give  as  good  an  account  of  the  public 
vigor  of  the  people.  Alas  !  it  seems  to  have 
been  exported  in  the  same  bottoms  with  the 
growth  of  their  lands.  What  !  are  we  sensi 
ble  that  we  are  yet  at  war  with  Great  Britain  ? 
We  proceed  as  if  we  had  totally  vanquished 
the  enemy.  Are  we  aware,  that  to  continue 
such  a  conduct  is  to  allure  them  to  act  in  this 
state,  that  tragedy  they  performed  the  last  win 
ter  in  the  Jerseys  ?  Do  we  intend  to  acquire  an 
experimental  knowledge  of  the  horrors  of  war  ? 
Do  we  desire  to  be  driven  from  this  beautiful 
town — to  be  dispossessed  of  this  valuable  seat 
of  trade — to  see  ourselves  flying  we  know  not 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


351 


whither — our  heirs  uselessly  sacrificed  in  our 
sight,  and  their  bodies  mangled  with  repeated 
stabs   of  bayonets  ?     Tell   me,   do  you  mean 
that  your  ears  shall  be  pierced  with  the  una 
vailing  shrieks  of  your  wives,  and  the  agoniz 
ing  screams  of  your  daughters  under  the  brutal 
violence   of    British    or    Brunswick    ruffians  ? 
Rouse,  ROUSE  yourselves  into  an  activity  capa 
ble  of  securing  you  against  these  horrors.     In 
every  quarter  the   enemy  are   vanquished   or 
baffled.     They  are  at  a  stand  ;  cease,  my  be 
loved  countrymen,  cease,  by  your  languor  in  the 
public   defence,  and   your  ardor  after  private 
gain,  to   invite  them   to  turn  their  steps  this 
way  and  seize  your  country  as  a  rich  and  easy 
prey.     The  states  of  America  are  attacked  by 
Britain.     They   ought   to  consider  themselves 
as  an  army  drawn  up  to  receive  the  shock  of 
assault,  and  from  the  nature  of  their  ground, 
occupying  thirteen  towns  and  villages  in  the 
extent  of  their  line.     Common  prudence  dic 
tates  that  the  several  corps,  in  their  respective 
stations,    during     the     whole    time    they  are 
in   battalia,    should   use   the   utmost  vigilance 
and  diligence,   in    being  on  their  guard,  and 
in  adding  strength  to  strength  for  their  secu 
rity.     We  are  in  the  right  wing  of  the  Ameri 
can   line,   and  at   a  distance   from   the  main 
body — are  we  doing  our  duty  ?     No  !  we  have 
in  a  manner  laid  up  our  arms — nay,  even  prizes 
are  prepared  for  the  horse-race  !  we  can  spare 
no  laborers   to  the  public,  because  we  are  em 
ploying  them  to  collect  on  all  sides  articles  for 
private  emolument.     We  amuse  ourselves  with 
enquiries  into  the  conduct  of  those  who  per 
mitted   the   loss   of  Ticonderoga,    nor  do  we 
appear  to  have  an  idea  that  others  will,  in  their 
turn,  scrutinize  our  conduct  at  this  juncture — 
a  crisis  when  we  know  that  the  enemy  have 
collected  their  force,  and  are  actually  advanced 
against  the  main  battle  of  America  ;  where,  if 
they  shall  find  they  can  make  no  impression, 
and   we  have  not  a  flattering   prospect,  they 
will  find  their   efforts  abortive,  it  is  but  rea 
sonable  to  imagine  they  will  recoil  upon  our 
post.     They  will  sail  faster  against,  than  aid 
can  be  marched  to  us.     Their  arrival  will  be 
sudden — shall  they  find  us  shamefully  occupied 
in   the   amusements   and  business   of   peace? 
Why  has  the  Almighty  endowed  us  with  a  rec 
ollection  of  events,  but  that  we  may  be  enabled 
to  prepare    against  dangers,  by   avoiding  the 
errors  and  follies,  the  negligence  and  supine- 
ness,  by  which  others  have  been  ruined.     If  a 
sense   of    our   duty    to   our    country,    or    of 
safety  to  posterity,  is  too  weak  to  rouse  us  into 
action  ;  if  the  noble  passions  of  the  mind  have 
not  force  to  elevate  us  to  glory — the  meaner 


ones,  perhaps,  may  drive  us  into  a  state  of  se 
curity.     The  miser,  amidst   all   his  anxiety  to 
add   to  his   heap,  is  yet  careful  to  provide  a 
strong  box  for  its  safety.     Shall  we  neglect  even 
such  an  example  of  prudence?    Pride  raised 
Cassius's  dagger  against  Cassar,  and  procured 
him  the  glorious  title  of  the  last  of  the  Romans. 
We  were  the  first  in  America,  who  publicly 
pronounced  lord  North's  famous  conciliatory 
motion,  inadmissible — we  raised  the  first  regu 
lar  forces  upon  the  continent,  and  for  a  term 
of  three  years — we  first  declared  the  causes  of 
taking  up  arms — we  originated  the  councils  of 
safety — we  were  among  the  first,  who  led  the 
way  to  independence,  by  establishing  a  constitu 
tion   of  government — we   were  the  first  who 
made  a  law  authorizing  the  capture  of  British 
vessels    without    distinction — we    alone    have 
defeated     a     British     fleet — we     alone     have 
victoriously  pierced  through   and    reduced   a 
powerful  nation  of  Indians,  who,  urged  by  Bri 
tain,   had   attacked   the   United    States.     But 
such  brilliant  proceedings,   unless   supported 
with   propriety,    will   cover    us   with    infamy. 
They  will  appear  as  the  productions  of  faction, 
folly  and  temerity  :  not  of  patriotism,  wisdom 
and  valor.     What   a  contrast !    how  humilia 
ting   the  one — how  glorious  the  other !     Will 
not  pride  spur  us  on  to  add  to  the  catalogue  ? 
Will  you  not   strive  to  rival  the  vigor  of  the 
North?     Do  we  admire  the   great  names  of 
antiquity  ?     Do  we  wish  for  an  opportunity  to 
be  equally  celebrated  by  posterity  ? — Than  the 
present,   there  never  was  a  more  inviting  or 
certain  opportunity  of  acquiring  an  immortal 
name.     A    world   to    be    converted   into    an 
empire,   is  the   work  now    at   hand — a  work 
whereon  the  names   of  the  workmen  will  be 
engraved  in  indelible  characters.     Shall  we  not 
exert  ourselves  to  be  ranked  in  this  most  illus 
trious  list  ?     Nor  is  it  so  difficult  a  thing  to 
acquire  place  in  it,  as  may  be  imagined :  it  is 
in   every   man's  power   to  exert  himself  with 
vigor  and   constancy.     My   dear  countrymen, 
trifle  not  with  an  opportunity  unexampled,  and 
not  to  be  recalled — it  is  passing  with  rapidity. 
Let  us  put  our  hands  to  our  breasts,  and  exam 
ine  what  we  have  done  in  forwarding  this  im 
perial  structure.     How  many  must  say,  I  have 
youth — strength — activity — an    abundant    for 
tune,    learning — sense,     or     some     of    these 
blessings  ;  but — I  have  shewed  my  attachment 
to   America  only   by   a   momentary  vigor,  to 
mark  my   inconstancy — scrutinizing  the   con 
duct  of  others— good   wishes,  and  enquiring 
the  news  of  the  day.     Such  men  must  be  sensi 
ble  of  a  disgraceful  inferiority,  when  they  hear 
those  American  names,  which  the  trumpet  ot 


352 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


fame  now  sounds  through  the  world  ;  a  blast, 
that  will  reach  the  ears  of  the  latest  pos 
terity. 

Surely  such  men  may  have  a  desire  to  be  re 
lieved  from  so  oppressive  a  sensation :  the 
remedy  is  within  their  own  power  ;  and  if  they 
will  use  it,  while  it  throws  off  their  disgrace,  it 
will  operate  for  the  benefit  of  their  country. 
Let  them  enquire  of  the  president,  what  service 
they  can  render  the  state.  To  a  rich  planter, 
he  would  say,  if  you  will  send  20,  30,  or  40 
laborers  to  the  public  works,  and  for  whom  you 
shall  be  paid,  you  will  do  an  essential  service 
in  a  critical  time.  To  another,,  if  you  will  dili 
gently  overlook  and  push  on  the  construction 
of  such  a  battery,  or  line,  you  will  merit  the 
thanks  of  your  fellow-citizens.  To  a  third,  if 
instead  of  hunting  you  will  ride  about  your 
neighborhood,  or  a  little  beyond,  and  endeavor 
to  instruct  those  who  are  ignorant  of  the  im 
portance  of  the  public  contest — reclaim  the 
deluded,  animate  the  timid — rouse  the  languid 
— and  raise  a  spirit  of  emulation  who  shall 
exert  himself  most  in  the  cause  of  freedom  and 
America  :  you  will  deserve  the  applause  of  the 
continent.  How  many  opportunities  are  there, 
for  a  man  to  distinguish  himself;  and  to  be 
beneficial  to  his  country  ! 

Nor  ought  those  who  have  labored  much  in 
the  public  defence,  to  sit  down  at  ease,  if  they 
can  perform  other  services.  The  enemy  are 
repulsed  in  their  attacks — they  are  at  a  stand 
— they  seem  stunned.  Let  us  now  collect  our 
whole  strength — one  effort  more  and  they 
must  be  crushed.  We  are  warned  to  expect 
the  enemy ;  and  it  is  probable,  the  back 
country  militia  may  be  called  to  do  duty 
in  this  town,  during  the  ensuing  winter.  I 
wish  to  extend  some  aid  to  such  of  their  fami 
lies,  as  may  be  most  distressed  by  their  ab 
sence  from  home ;  and  I  do  therefore  declare, 
that  I  appropriate  my  last  year's  salary  for  that 
service.  I  am  endeavoring  to  raise  a  spirit  of 
emulation  among  my  countrymen — the  ungen 
erous  will  attribute  this  appropriation  to  other 
motives — I  know  the  world  too  well  to  doubt 
it.  But,  let  such  follow  their  inclinations — I 
rely  upon  the  integrity  of  my  conduct.  I 
ought  to  endeavor  to  discharge  my  duty  to 
the  public  ;  nor  is  it  a  consideration  with  me, 
that  my  conduct  in  the  prosecution  of  my  duty, 
may  expose  me  to  a  reproach  of  vanity  or  in 
gratitude  ,  a  want  of  sympathy  for  those  in 
distress  or  natural  affection ;  I  am  always 
satisfied,  when  I  know  that  I  do  not  deserve 
such  censures.  I  feel  for  those,  who  feel 
disagreeable  effects  from  my  conduct :  but, 
among  the  many  things  I  regret,  I  cannot  but 


thus  publicly  lament,  that  not  the  least  atten 
tion  is  paid  to  two  important  resolutions  of  our 
congress  in  June,  1775.  One,  that  all  absen 
tees  holding  estates  in  this  country,  except  the 
sick,  and  those  above  sixty,  and  under  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  ought  forthwith  to  return — 
the  other,  that  no  person  holding  property  in 
this  country  ought  to  withdraw  themselves 
from  its  service,  without  giving  good  and  suffi 
cient  reasons  for  so  doing.  The  gentle  voice  of 
legislative  recommendation  is  not  regarded — 
must  the  legislature,  in  order  to  be  heard,  raise 
its  voice  to  the  tone  of  forfeiture  ?  Our  coun 
try  stands  in  need  of  the  advice,  the  counte 
nance,  the  personal  support  of  all  those  who 
have  property  in  it.  Nor  is  it  just  or  reasona 
ble,  that  any  should  enjoy  ease  and  safety  by 
continuing  at  a  distance,  while  the  people  here 
have  put  their  all  at  hazard.  If  we  fail,  they 
continue  secure  in  life  and  estate  ;  if  we  suc 
ceed,  they,  without  toil  or  danger,  reap  every 
benefit  we  shall  procure.  I  know  some  of 
those,  who  are  absent,  contrary  to  the  recom 
mendation  of  their  country,  nor  am  I  so  un 
generous  as  to  attribute  their  absence  to  a 
disgraceful  policy.  But,  even  they  must  be  so 
ingenuous  as  to  admit  that  those  who  do  not 
know  them,  have  room  to  cast  this  reproach 
upon  them,  and  to  be  dissatisfied  at  their 
conduct. 

It  is  necessary  that  I  speak  with  boldness 
and  plainness.  In  a  time  like  this,  that  lan 
guage  should  be  as  the  thunder — not  as  the 
music  of  the  spheres — and  that  I  discourse  to 
grand  jurors  of  other  things,  besides  their 
mere  duties  in  a  court  of  justice.  Hence,  upon 
other  occasions  have  I  reasoned  upon  the  pro 
priety  of  our  revolution  in.  March,  1776 — upon 
the  legal  necessity  of  the  American  independ 
ence — and  now,  upon  the  situation  of  affairs. 
I  do  most  earnestly  recommend,  that  you  urge 
these  topics,  when  you  blend  yourselves  again 
among  your  neighbors.  In  every  station  that 
I  have  had  the  honor  to  fill,  I  have  counselled 
the  most  decisive  measures ;  nor  have  I  been 
sparing  of  my  personal  assistance  in  their  exe 
cution  !  The  public  service  requires  an  un 
wearied  application,  unabating  vigor,  and  a 
readiness  to  make  the  greatest  sacrifices.  I 
firmly  trust,  that  we  shall  act  as  men ;  and 
that  posterity  will  have  no  just  cause  to  re 
proach  our  conduct. 


SOUTH    CAROLINA. 


353 


THE   PRESENTMENTS   OF   THE  JURY. 
At  a  court  of  GENERAL  SESSIONS  OF  THE 

PEACF,  OVER  AND  TERMINER,  ASSIZE  AND 
GENERAL  GAOL  DELIVERY,  begun  and  hol- 
den  at  Char  lesion,  for  the  district  of  Charles 
ton,  the  list  October,  1777,  before  the  hon 
orable  William  Henry  Dray  ton,  esq.,  chief 
justice,  and  his  associates,  justices  of  the 
said  court. 

Presentments  of  the  grand  jury  for  the  said 
district. 

I.  We  the  grand  jurors  of  said  district,  think 
it  our  duty  to  present  as  a  great   grievance, 
that  most  of  the  magistrates  in  the  commis 
sion  of  the  peace  for  Charleston  refuse  to  act, 
by  means  whereof  many  criminals,  particularly 
slaves,  escape  punishment,  to  the  great  encour 
agement  of  crimes  and  offences:  And  we  are 
of  opinion,  that  this  remissness  in  the  magis 
trate,  is  owing  to  the  law  disallowing  any  fees 
for  the  most  salutary  services  to  the  public. 

II.  We  present  as  a  grievance,  the  number 
of  voluntary  absentees  from  this  state  now  in 
Europe,  men  of  large   possession^  that  they 
are  not  particularly  ordered  to  return,  and  join 
their  countrymen,  in  the   present  contest   for 
liberty  and  independence. 

III.  We  present,  by  the  information  of  Mr. 
Benjamin  Edings,  that  the  public  road   lead 
ing  from  Slann's  island  to  Edisto  island,  has 
never    been   finished,    (for  want   of    commis 
sioners)  and  is  now  in  such  bad  order,  that  it 
is  very  difficult  for  the  inhabitants  to  pass  over, 
and  which  may  be  very  detrimental  in  case  of 
any  invasion   or  other  emergency,  and    hope 
that  due  attention  may  be  had  in  remedying 
this  evil. 

IV.  We  return  our  thanks  to  his  honor  the 
chief  justice,    for  his   excellent  and    patriotic 
charge  delivered  at  the  opening  of  this  ses 
sions,  and   beg  the   same,  with   our  present 
ments,  may  be  forthwith  printed  and  published. 

Edward  Light-wood,  foreman,  [L.  S.] 

Philip  Tidyman,  [L.  S.] 

John  Webb,  [L.  s.] 

John  Creighton,  [L.  S  ] 

Henry  Samwayes,  [L.  S.] 

John  Lyon,  [L.  S.] 

Samuel  Legare,  [L.  S.] 

Josiah  Bonneau,  [L.  S.] 

Samuel  Dunlap,  [L.  S.] 

John  Rivers,  [L.  S.] 

Robert  Murrell,jun.  [L.  S.] 

James  Witter,  jun.  [L.  S.] 

William  Royall,  [L.  S.] 

Benjatnin  Edings,  [L.  S.] 
23 


ADDRESS 

TO  THEIR  EXCELLENCIES  RICHARD  VlS- 
COUNT  HOWE,  ADMIRAL,  AND  WILLIAM 
HOWE,  ESQ.,  GENERAL,  OF  HIS  BRITANNIC 
MAJESTY'S  FORCES  IN  AMERICA. 

CHARLESTON,  S.  C-,  October  33,  1776. 

MY  LORD  AND  SIR — Your  declaration  at  New 
York  has  reached  this  place.  It  has  occasioned 
surprise  and  concern.  The  known  honor  and 
abilities  of  your  excellencies,  and  your  declara 
tion,  appear  perfect  contrasts.  The  latter  is  an 
unnatural  production.  Hurt,  as  I  am  to  see 
your  names  so  prostituted,  I  cannot  restrain 
myself  from  making  a  few  remarks  to  your 
excellencies  upon  a  subject  which,  by  endan 
gering  your  reputation,  distresses  every  gen 
erous  mind.  I  shall  first  state  your  declara 
tion. 


"BY  RICHARD  VISCOUNT  HOWE,  of  the  king 
dom  of  Ireland,  and  WILLIAM  HOWE,  Esq. 
general  of  his  majesty's  forces  in  America, 
the  king's  COMMISSIONERS  for  restoring 
peace  to  his  majesty  s  colonies  and  planta 
tions  in  North  America,  etc.  etc. 

DECLARATION. 

"  Although  the  congress,  whom  the  mis 
guided  Americans  surfer  to  direct  the  opposi 
tion  to  a  re-establishment  of  the  constitutional 
government  of  these  provinces  have  disa 
vowed  every  purpose  of  reconciliation  not  con 
sonant  with  their  extravagant  and  inadmissible 
claim  of  independence,  the  king's  commission 
ers  think  fit  to  declare  that  they  are  equally 
desirous  to  confer  with  his  majesty's  well 
affected  subjects  upon  the  means  of  restoring 
the  public  tranquility,  and  establishing  a  per 
manent  union  with  every  colony  as  a  part  of 
the  British  empire.  The  king  being  most  gra 
ciously  pleased  to  direct  a  revision  of  such  of 
his  royal  instructions  to  his  governors  as  may 
be  construed  to  lay  an  improper  restraint  on 
the  freedom  of  legislation  in  any  of  his  colo 
nies,  and  to  concur  in  the  revisal  of  all  acts  by 
which  his  majesty's  subjects  there  may  think 
themselves  aggrieved,  it  is  recommended  to  the 
inhabitants  at  large,  to  reflect  seriously  upon 
their  present  condition  and  expectations,  and 
judge  for  themselves,  whether  it  be  more 
consistent  with  their  honor  and  happiness  to 
offer  up  their  lives  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  unjust 
and  precarious  cause  in  which  they  are  engaged, 
or  return  to  their  allegiance,  accept  the  bless 
ings  of  peace,  and  to  be  secured  in  a  free  en- 


354 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


joyment  of  their  liberties  and  properties  upon 
true  principles  of  the  constitution. 
"  Given  at  New  York,  I9th  September,  1776. 
"  HOWE, 
"  W.  HOWE. 
"  By  command  of  their  excellencies, 

STRAGHEY." 

And  now,  not  to  detain  your  excellencies  by 
making  observations  upon  lord  Howe's  not 
assuming  his  military  title,  displaying  the  na 
ture  of  his  supreme  hostile  command  in  Amer 
ica,  by  which  unusual  and  designed  omission, 
the  ignorant,  seeing  his  name  contrasted  with 
that  of  a  general  clothed  in  all  his  terrors,  may 
be  entrapped  to  believe  that  his  lordship  is  to 
be  considered  in  a  more  amiable  point  of  view, 
a  mere  commissioner  only  for  restoring  peace, 
without  any  military  command  to  intimidate 
and  coerce.  Not  to  wound  your  delicacy,  by 
admiring  the  wisdom  of  your  appealing  from 
the  congress  to  people  confessed  by  you  to  be 
directed  by  that  honorable  assembly :  My 
remarks  shall  be  confined  to  the  more  material 
parts  of  your  declaration,  which  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  are  in  every  respect  unworthy  your  good 
sense  and  high  characters. 

Your  excellencies  "  think  fit  to  declare,"  that 
you  are  desirous  "  of  restoring  the  public  tran- 
quility."  But  is  the  end  your  excellencies  aim 
at  our  honor  and  advantage  ?  Is  it  to  give  a 
free  scope  to  our  natural  growth  ?  Is  it  to 
confirm  to  us  our  rights  by  the  law  of  nature  ? 
No  ! — It  is  to  cover  us  with  infamy.  It  is  to 
chill  the  sap,  and  check  the  luxuriance  of  our 
imperial  plant.  It  is  to  deprive  us  of  our 
natural  equality  with  the  rest  of  mankind,  by 
"establishing"  every  state  "as  a  part  of  the 
British  empire."  In  short  your  excellencies 
invite  men  of  common  sense  to  exchange  an 
independent  station  for  a  servile  and  dangerous 
dependence  !  But,  when  we  recollect  that  the 
king  of  Great  Britain  has,  from  the  throne,  de 
clared  his  "  firm  and  steadfast  resolutions  to 
withstand  every  attempt  to  weaken  or  impair 
the  supreme  authority  of  that  legislature  over 
all  the  dominions  of  his  crown  :  "  that  his  hire 
lings  in  parliament  and  tools  in  office,  abhorred 
by  the  English  nation,  have  echoed  the  senti 
ment  ;  and  that  America,  for  ten  years  has  ex 
perienced  that  king's  total  want  of  candor, 
humanity,  and  justice — it  is,  I  confess,  a  matter 
of  wonder,  that  your  excellencies  can  submit 
to  appear  so  lost  to  decency  as  to  hold  out  sub 
jection  as  the  only  condition  of  peace :  and 
that  you  could  condescend  to  sully  your  per 
sonal  honor,  by  inviting  us  to  trust  a  govern 
ment  in  which  you  are  conscious  we  cannot  in 


the  nature  of  things  place  any  confidence — a 
government  that  you  are  sensible  has  been, 
now  is,  and  ever  must  be  jealous  of  our  pros 
perity  and  natural  growth — a  government  that 
you  know  is  absolutely  abandoned  to  corrup 
tion  !  Take  it  not  amiss,  if  I  hint  to  your  ex 
cellencies,  that  your  very  appearing  in  support 
of  such  a  proposal,  furnishes  cause  to  doubt 
even  of  your  integrity ;  and  to  reject  your 
allurements,  lest  they  decoy  us  into  slavery. 

The  declaration  says,  "the  king  is  most 
graciously  pleased  to  direct  a  revision  of  such 
of  his  royal  instructions  to  his  governors,"  etc. 
"  and  to  concur  in  the  revisal  of  all  acts  by 
which  his  majesty's  subjects  may  think  them 
selves  aggrieved."  But  what  of  all  this.  Your 
excellencies  have  not  told  the  people,  who 
"  think  themselves  aggrieved,"  that  they  are 
to  be  a  party  in  the  revision.  You  have  not 
even  told  them  who  are  to  be  revisers.  If  you 
had,  it  would  be  nothing  to  the  purpose  ;  for 
you  have  not,  and  cannot  tell  them  and  engage 
that  even  any  of  the  instructions  and  acts,  be 
ing  revised,  shall  be  revoked,  and  repealed  ; 
particularly  those  by  which  people  "  may  think 
themselves' aggrieved."  But,  if  such  are  not 
to  be  repealed,  why  have  you  mentioned  "  think 
themselves  aggrieved  ?  "  If  they  are  intended 
to  be  repealed,  why  did  not  your  excellencies 
come  to  the  point  at  once  and  say  so  ? — It  is 
your  excellencies  are  by  your  superiors  precipi 
tated  into  a  dilemma.  You  have  not  been  ac 
customed  to  dirty  jobs,  and  plain  dealing  does 
not  accord  with  your  instructions ;  otherwise, 
in  the  latter  case,  I  think  you  are  men  of  too 
much  sense  and  honor  to  have  overlooked  or 
suppressed  so  material  a  point  of  information. 
However,  you  say  instructions  and  acts  are  to 
be  revised  :  We  see  that  you  have  laid  an  am 
buscade  for  our  liberties ;  the  clause  is  care 
fully  constructed  without  the  least  allusion  to 
the  revisors,  or  to  the  words  redress,  revoke, 
repeal.  In  short,  it  appears  to  be  drawn  up 
entirely  on  the  plan  of  a  declaration  by  king 
James  the  Second  after  his  abdication,  as  con 
fidentially  explained  by  James*  secretary  of 
state,  the  earl  of  Melford  to  lord  Dundee,  in 
Scotland.  For  Melford  writes  to  Dundee 
"  that  notwithstanding  of  what  was  promised 
in  the  declaration,  indemnity  and  indulgence, 
yet  he  had  couched  things  so  that  the  king 
would  break  them  when  he  pleased ;  nor  would 
he  think  himself  obliged  to  stand  to  them." 
And  your  excellencies  have  "  couched  things 
so,"  that  more  words  upon  this  subject  are 
unnecessary. 

"  It  is  recommended  to  the  inhabitants  at 
large,  to  reflect  seriously  upon  their  present 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


355 


condition."  Is  it  possible  your  excellencies 
can  be  serious,  and  mean  any  thing  by  this  re 
commendation  ?  Can  you  be  ignorant,  that 
ever  since  the  birth  of  the  stamp  act,  the  in 
habitants  at  large  have  been  reflecting  upon 
their  deplorable  condition  ?  Can  you  have  an 
idea  that,  after  such  a  length  of  time,  during 
which  they  have  been  continually  kept  to  their 
reflections,  by  the  declaratory  law,  the  tea-act, 
the  Boston  port-bill,  and  those  then  passed  to 
annihilate  the  charter  of  Massachusetts-Bay, 
the  Quebec  bill  to  establish  popery,  the  fishery- 
bill  to  coerce  by  famine,  the  British  commence 
ment  of  the  late  civil  war,  and  the  act  of  parlia 
ment  in  December  last,  declaring  the  inhabi 
tants  rebels — I  sayaftersuch  a  series  of  causes 
for  reflection,  and  that  your  excellencies,  now 
find  us  in  arms  against  you,  determined  on  in 
dependence  or  death,  can  you  possibly  enter 
tain  an  idea  that  we  have  not  reflected  seri 
ously  ?  On  the  contrary  you  know,  that  we  are 
prepared  to  offer  up  our  lives  in  evidence  of  our 
serious  reflections  !  In  addressing  a  world 
you  ought  to  have  some  attention  to  the  pro 
priety  of  your  recommendations,  if  only  from  a 
regard  to  your  own  reputation. 

You  are  pleased  to  term  our  cause  "  unjust." 
In  this  there  is  nothing  so  surprising,  as  your 
being  lured  to  give  such  a  sentiment  under 
your  hands — signing  your  own  disgrace  with 
posterity.  You  know,  that  the  virtuous  char 
acters  throughout  Europe,  on  this  point  differ 
with  your  excellencies  ;  and  I  most  respectfully 
submit,  whether  there  is  not  some  little  degree 
of  presumption  in  your  signing  an  opinion,  in 
contradiction  to  the  opinion  of  thousands,  who, 
without  derogating  from  your  excellencies,  are 
at  least  as  well  able  to  judge  upon  the  point  as 
you  are  ? 

But  you  add,  that  our  cause  is  "  precarious." 
Allow  me  to  make  a  proper  return  to  your 
excellencies  by  informing  you,  that  all  the  af 
fairs  of  men  are  precarious,  and  that  war  is 
particularly  so.  However,  if  your  excellencies 
meant  to  insinuate  that  our  cause  is  precarious 
from  an  inability  in  us  to  maintain  it,  I  beg 
leave  to  ask  general  Howe  what  progress  his 
arms  made  during  his  command  at  Boston : 
And  what  shining  victories,  and  important  con 
quests  you  have  achieved  since  your  junc-tion 
at  Staten  Island  ?  The  eulogium, 
-quo  fulmina  belli 


Scipiadas- 


cannot  yet  be  applied  to  your  excellencies. 
General  Howe's  repulse  from  the  lines  on 
Long  Island,  and  his  victory  over  the  advanced 
guard  of  3000  men,  reflect  no  great  degree  of 
glor}  on  the  corps  of  at  least  12,000  that  he 


commanded.  Nor  can  you  boast  much  of  the 
action  on  New- York  island  on  the  1 5th  of  Sep 
tember,  when  a  few  more  than  800  Americans, 
attacking  three  companies  of  light  troops  sup 
ported  by  two  regiments,  the  one  Scotch,  the 
other  Hessian,  drove  them  from  hill  to  hill  back 
to  your  lines,  and  carried  off  three  pieces  of 
brass  cannon  as  trophies  of  their  victory.  And 
when  general  Washington,  on  the  second  of 
October,  caused  a  large  detachment  to  draw 
up  to  Harlaem  plains  to  cover  the  inhabitants 
between  the  two  armies,  while  they  carried  off 
their  effects,  the  march  and  continuance  of  the 
British  troops  in  order  of  battle,  within  long 
shot,  without  firing  a  gun  to  interrupt  the  ser 
vice,  is  at  least  some  slight  degree  of  evidence 
that  they  respect  and  stand  in  awe  of  the 
American  arms.  In  short,  without  being  unrea 
sonable,  I  think  I  may  be  allowed  to  say,  that 
these  particulars  do  not  show,  that  our  cause  is 
so  precarious  as  your  excellencies  would  in 
sinuate  it  to  be  ;  and  to  recommend  that  your 
excellencies  "  reflect  seriously  upon  your  pres 
ent  condition, "and  abandon  "  the  unjust  cause 
in  which  you  are  engaged  "  while  you  yet  may 
preserve  your  reputation  from  the  reproaches 
of  posterity. 

Your  excellencies  call  upon  the  inhabitants 
at  large  "  to  return  to  their  allegiance."  It  is 
as  if  you  had  commanded  a  body  of  troops  to 
advance  to  the  assault,  before  you  had  put  them 
in  order  of  battle.  I  tell  your  excellencies,  that 
protection  must  precede  allegiance  ;  for  the  lat 
ter  is  founded  on  the  benefit  of  the  former. 
That  the  operations  of  the  forces  by  sea  and 
land  under  your  orders,  demonstrate  that  your 
king  is  not  our  protector.  And,  that  the  alle 
giance  of  America  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain 
is  now  utterly  out  of  the  question. 

But  you  attempt  to  allure  the  inhabitants  by 
telling  them  they  may  "  be  secured  in  a  free 
enjoyment  of  their  liberties  and  properties,  upon 
the  true  principles  of  the  constitution."  Will 
your  excellencies  tell  us  where  those  principles 
are  to  be  found  ?  You  must  say  they  are  not 
to  be  found  in  the  present  British  government. 
Do  we  not  know  that  the  majority  of  the  two 
houses  of  parliament  are  absolutely  under  the 
king  of  Great  Britain's  direction  ? — They  make 
and  repeal  laws  ;  they  agree  with  or  reject  mo 
tions  ;  they  vote  money  even  without  limitation 
of  sum  at  the  pleasure  of  that  king's  minister, 
in  whose  pay  they  actually  are  ;  and  your  ex 
cellencies  as  men  of  honor  dare  not  deny  these 
things.  Will  you  then  say  that,  where  there  is 
such  a  dependence,  the  true  principles  of  the 
constitution  operate  ?  The  history  of  the  present 
reign,  all  Europe,  would  witness  against  you. 


356 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


Those  principles  have  been  long  despised  by 
the  rulers,  and  lost  to  the  people — otherwise, 
even  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  reign, 
we  should  not  have  seen  the  dismission  of  the 
virtuous  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  Legge, 
because  he  would  not  quit  his  seat  in  parlia 
ment  at  the  instigation  of  the  last  prince  of 
Wales  ;  nor  the  massacre  in  St.  George's  fields 
and  the  royal  thanks  to  the  assassins  ;  nor  the 
repeated  and  unredressed  complaints  to  the 
throne  ;  nor  the  unheard  of  profusion  of  the 
public  treasure,  far  exceeding  the  extravagance 
of  a  Caligula  or  a  Nero ;  nor  the  present  ruin 
ous  situation  of  Great  Britain  ;  nor  the  present 
war  in  America,  for  the  worst  of  purposes  kin 
dled  by  your  king.  Can  your  excellencies  be 
so  wanting  to  yourselves,  as,  at  this  time  of 
day,  on  the  part  of  your  master,  seriously  to  talk 
to  us  of  a  security  upon  the  true  principles  of 
the  constitution.  Did  it  never  strike  you  that 
the  Americans  would  expect  to  see  such  prin 
ciples  operating  in  England,  before  they  could 
be  duped  into  a  belief  that  America  could  pos 
sibly  feel  their  effects  from  the  dark  recess  of 
the  royal  palace  i5  The  lord  mayor  of  London 
has  openly  charged  lord  North,  and  the  lords 
of  the  admiralty,  with  licensing  ships  to  trade 
to  all  parts  of  America,  in  direct  disregard, 
contempt,  and  defiance  of  an  act  of  parliament 
to  the  contrary,  passed  so  late  as  December 
last.  And  yet  your  excellencies  do  not  scruple 
to  talk  to  us  of  a  security  upon  the  true  princi 
ples  of  the  constitution ! — Let  the  fountain  be 
sweet,  and  then  its  stream  may  be  salutary. 

Your  excellencies  say  "the  king  is  most  gra 
ciously  pleased  to  direct  a  revision  "  of  instruc 
tions  and  acts.  If  you  really  mean  to  con 
ciliate,  why  will  you  insult  the  inhabitants  at 
large.  It  was  "  the  king's  "  bounden  duty  to 
have  directed,  not  only  a  revision,  but  an 
amendment  to  his  instructions  ;  and  to  have 
recommended  a  repeal  of  the  acts  when  the 
people  first  complained  of  them.  But  he, 
having  been  criminally  deaf  to  the  cries  of 
the  injured,  to  terrify  them  into  silence,  having 
burnt  their  towns — restrained  their  trade — 
seized  and  confiscated  their  vessels — driven 
them  into  enormous  expenses — sheathed  his 
sword  in  their  bowels — and  adorned  the  heads 
of  their  aged  women  and  children  with  a  cinc 
ture  made  by  the  scalping-knife  of  his  ally,  the 
Indian  savage — you  now  tell  these  injured  peo 
ple,  that  "  the  king  is  graciously  pleased  to  di 
rect  a  revision  ?  " — His  very  mercies  are  insults  ! 

And  so  your  excellencies,  besides  your  mili 
tary  commands  as  admiral  and  general,  are 
also  "  commissioners  for  restoring  the  peace." 
Is  there  not  some  error  in  this  title  ?  Ought 


we  not  instead  of  "  peace  "  to  read  tyranny  ? 
You  seem  armed  at  all  points  for  this  purpose ; 
and  your  very  language  detects  the  latent 
design.  But  you  are  commissioners,  and  for 
the  important  purpose  of"  restoring  peace,"  you 
are  honored  with  a  power — "  to  confer."  And 
you  have  condescended  to  be  mere  machines 
through  which,  as  through  speaking  trumpets, 
words  are  to  be  sounded  from  America  to  Bri 
tain  !  How  much  lower  is  it  possible  for  your 
excellencies  to  degrade  yourselves  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world  !  By  this  it  is  most  evident,  the  British 
king  has  not  one  generous  thought  respecting 
America.  Nor  does  he  mean  to  grant  terms  upon 
the  true  principles  of  the  constitution .  For,  if  to 
grant  such  terms  was  bona  fide  the  intention  of 
your  master,  without  doubt  YOU  would  have 
been  vested  with  competent  powers.  But  he 
plainly  means  to  grant  nothing  he  can  possibly 
avoid  ;  and  therefore  he  would  have  the  matter 
of  negotiation  drawn  into  length  under  his  own 
eye.  Can  we  place  any  confidence  in  such  a 
prince  ?  His  aim  is  to  divide,  not  to  redress 
and  your  excellencies,  declaration  is  but  a  con 
tinuation  of  lord  North's  conciliatory  plan. 

Thus,  while  we  remember  that  lord  North 
declared,  on  the  2oth  of  February,  1775,  that 
his  famous  conciliatory  plan  was  rather  calcu 
lated  to  break  a  link  in  the  American  chain  of 
union,  than  to  give  satisfaction  to  the  people  : 
and  that  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  taxing 
every  part  of  the  British  dominions  must  by  no 
means  be  given  up  ;  that  lord  Mansfield,  on  the 
third  reading  of  the  bill  declaring  war  against 
the  united  colonies,  affirmed  that  he  did  not 
consider  who  was  originally  in  the  wrong,  they 
were  now  to  consider  only  where  they  were, 
and  the  justice  ot  the  cause  must  now  give  way 
to  their  present  situation  :  when  we  consider 
the  king  of  Great  Britain's  speech  to  the  parlia 
ment  on  the  last  of  November,  and  the  com 
mons'  address  and  his  answer  on  the  7th  of 
December,  1774 — the  commons' address  of  the 
9th  of  February,  1775,  and  the  royal  answer: 
and  the  speech  from  the  throne  at  the  last 
opening  of  the  parliament,  October  the  26th, 
1775 — all  declaring  an  unalterable  purpose  to 
maintain  the  supreme  authority  of  that  legisla 
ture  over  all  the  dominions  of  the  crown — 
in  other  words,  their  unalterable  purpose,  to 
bind  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever  :  when  we  see 
your  hostile  array  and  operations,  in  conse 
quence  of  those  declarations :  I  say,  when  we 
consider  these  things,  we  can  be  at  no  loss  to 
form  a  just  idea  of  the  intentions  of  your  king  ; 
or  to  conceive  what  your  excellencies  mean,  by 
"  the  true  principles  of  the  constitution."  Nor 
are  we  to  be  caught  by  any  allurements  your 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


357 


excellencies  may  throw  out — you  confess,  and 
we  know  that  you  as  commissioners,  have  not 
any  power  to  negotiate  and  determine  anything. 

But,  unanswerable  as  the  reasons  are  against 
America  returning  to  a  subjection  under  the 
British  crown,  now  in  fact  become  despotic — 
and  America,  after  unheard  of  injuries,  infinite 
toil,  hazard  and  expense,  her  inhabitants  called 
cowards  by  your  master's  servants,  civil  and 
military,  having  declared  herself  independent- 
did  not  your  excellencies  feel  a  little  for  our 
honor,  when  you  at  the  head  of  your  armies, 
held  out  to  us,  subjection  and  peace  !  Did  not 
you  feel  the  dignity  of  your  characters  affected 
when  you,  under  the  guise  of  a  security  upon 
the  true  principles  of  the  constitution,  recom 
mend  to  "  the  inhabitants  at  large  "  to  rescind 
their  decree,  and  by  their  own  mouths  declare 
themselves  the  most  contemptible  people  in 
history,  which  gives  no  example  of  such  base 
ness — render  their  name  a  term  of  reproach 
among  all  nations — and  forbid  each  other  from 
placing  any,  the  least  degree  of  confidence  in, 
and  all  foreign  states  from  paying  the  least 
degree  of  credit  to  their  most  solemn  declara 
tions  !  In  short,  to  submit  to  a  government 
abandoned  to  corruption,  lost  to  a  sense  of 
justice ;  and  already  but  a  step  behind  abso 
lute  despotism — a  government  that  has  long 
been  and  ever  must  be  jealous  of  our  rise,  and 
studious  to  depress  our  natural  growth  !  Did 
not  your  excellencies  blush  and  shrink  within 
yourselves,  when  you  asked  men,  who  had 
been  almost  ruined  by  your  gracious  master, 
to  abandon  the  honorable  and  natural  station 
of  independence,  and  stoop  to  kiss  his  hand, 
now  daily  bathed  in,  and  which  ever  must  con 
tinue  stained  by  the  blood  of  a  friend  !  a  bro 
ther  !  a  son  !  a  father  ! 

That  your  excellencies  may  "  reflect  seri 
ously  "  upon  "the  unjust  cause  in  which  you 
are  engaged  :  "  and  that  the  name  of  Howe 
may  be  enrolled  with  the  names  of  Marlbor- 
ough  and  Effingham,  are  the  wishes  of, 

A  CAROLINIAN.* 

Charleston,  October  22d,  1776. 


JUDGE   DRAYTON'S   SPEECH. 

The  speech  of  the  hon.  William  Henry  Dray- 
ton,  esq.  chief  justice  of  South  Carolina,  de 
livered  on  the  twentieth  January,  1778,  in 
the  general  assembly — resolved  into  the  com 
mittee  of  the  whole  upon  the  articles  of  the  con 
federation  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

Mr.  Chairman — A  plan  of  a  confederation 
*  Judge  Drayton."    EDITOR. 


of  the  United  States  of  America,  is  at  length 
by  congress,  given  to  the  continent :  A  subject 
of  as  high  importance  as  can  be  presented  to 
their  attention.  Upon  the  wise  formation  of 
this,  their  independence,  glory  and  happiness 
ultimately  depend.  The  plan  is  delivered 
abroad  for  private  and  public  information  :  It 
is  sent  to  us  for  consideration.  Sir,  my  mind 
labors  under  the  load  that  is  thus  thrown  upon 
it. — Millions  are  to  experience  the  effects  of  the 
judgment  of  those  few,  whom  the  laws  permit 
to  think  and  to  act  for  them  in  this  grand  busi 
ness.  Millions — posterity  innumerable,  will 
bless  or  curse  our  conduct ! — Their  happiness 
or  misery  depend  upon  us — their  fate  is  now 
in  our  hands  !  I  almost  tremble,  while  I  assist 
in  holding  the  important  balance  ! — But  sir, 
the  great  Disposer  of  all  things,  has  placed  us 
in  this  important  period,  pregnant  with  vast 
events.  He  has  called  us  forth  to  legislate  for 
the  new  world  ;  and  to  endeavor  to  bind  the 
various  people  of  it  in  durable  bands  of  friend 
ship  and  union.  We  must  obey :  and  I  trust 
we  shall  obey,  with  courage  and  integrity. 
Actuated  by  these  principles,  I  am  incapable 
of  receding  from  my  duty.  And  conscious  that 
I  am  bound  to  consider  the  subject  of  a  confed 
eration  of  the  United  States,  upon  the  broad 
basis  of  equality,  I  shall  endeavor  to  discharge 
this  obligation,  first,  by  viewing  the  plan  before 
us,  with  liberality,  and  with  that  decency  and 
respect,  due  to  the  high  authority  from  which 
it  is  derived  ;  and  then,  by  taking  the  liberty  of 
throwing  out  my  ideas  of  such  terms,  as  in  my 
opinion  are  desirable,  attainable,  and  likely  to 
form  a  beneficial  confederation. 

The  best  writers  upon  government,  agree  in 
this  as  a  political  truth  ;  that  where  the  liberties 
of  the  people  are  to  be  preserved,  the  legislative 
and  executive  should  ever  be  separate  and  dis 
tinct  ;  and  that  the  first  should  consist  of  parts 
mutually  forming  a  check  upon  each  other. 
The  consuls,  senate  and  people,  constituted 
such  a  government  in  Rome.  The  kings,  lords 
and  commons,  erected  such  a  government  in 
Britain.  The  first,  one  of  the  best  of  antiquity — 
the  last,  the  most  perfect  system,  the  wit  of 
man  ever  devised :  But  both,  as  it  is  the  case 
with  all  things  temporal,  lost  their  capability 
of  action,  and  changed  their  very  nature. 

We  are  about  to  establish  a  confederated 
government  which  I  religiously  hope  will  last 
for  ages.  And,  I  must  be  pardoned  when  I 
say,  that  this  government  does  not  appear 
likely  to  be  formed  upon  those  principles, 
which  the  wisest  men  have  deemed,  and 
which  long  and  invariable  experience  prove, 
to  be  the  most  secure  defences  to  liberty.  The 


358 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


congress  seem  to  have  lost  sight  of  this  wise 
mode  of  government.  At  least  it  is  certain, 
that  they  have  rejected  it.  I  lament  their 
decision :  I  have  apprehension  for  the  conse 
quences.  Into  their  own  hands,  they  appear 
inclined  to  assume  almost  all  the  important 
powers  of  government.  The  second  article 
speaks  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  respective 
states,  but  by  the  time  we  arrive  at  the  last, 
scarce  the  shadow  of  sovereignty  remains  to 
any.  "  No  two  or  more  states  shall  enter  into 
any  treaty,"  but  by  consent  of  congress — "  nor 
shall  any  body  of  forces  be  kept  up  by  any 
state,  in  time  of  peace,  except  such  number 
only,"  as  congress  shall  deem  requisite — "  no 
vessels  of  war,  shall  be  kept  up  in  time  of 
peace  by  any  state,  except  such  number  only," 
as  congress  shall  deem  necessary — "  nor  shall 
any  state  grant  commissions  to  any  ships  or 
vessels  of  war,  except  it  be  after  a  declaration 
of  war  by,"  Congress — and,  these  are  great 
and  humiliating  restrictions  upon  their  sov 
ereignty.  It  is  of  necessity,  that  the  sover 
eignty  of  the  states  should  be  restricted — but  I 
would  do  this  with  a  gentle  hand.  Cannot  a 
good  confederation  be  had,  without  these  hu 
miliating  restrictions  ?  I  think  it  may.  How 
ever,  independent  of  the  settlement  of  this 
point ;  the  two  last  restrictions  require  another 
observation.  From  the  first  of  them  it  ought 
to  be  presumed,  that  upon  a  vacancy  in  any  of 
the  vessels  of  war,  kept  up  by  any  state  in  the 
time  of  peace  by  the  permission  of  congress, 
the  state  to  which  they  belong  shall  in  time  of 
peace,  be  at  liberty  to  issue  a  new  commis 
sion.  But  if  this  is  to  be  presumed,  the  senti 
ment  ought  to  have  been  precisely  expressed  ; 
for  it  is  obvious,  a  doubt  upon  this  matter,  may 
arise  from  the  restriction,  that  no  state  shall 
grant  commissions  to  any  ships  or  vessels  of 
war,  except  it  be  after  a  declaration  of  war. 
These  clauses,  if  we  give  due  efficacy  to  the 
signification  of  words,  really  clash — at  least 
displaying  an  ambiguity,  they  require  a  rule  of 
construction,  that  must  destroy  the  peremptori- 
ness  of  words.  A  rule  which  ought  not  to  be 
admitted  into  an  instrument  of  this  kind  ;  for 
it  should  be  maturely  considered  ;  and  it  may 
be  precisely  worded,  without  the  formality  of  a 
statute  law. 

There  seems  to  be  a  dangerous  inaccuracy  in 
that  part  of  the  sixth  article,  prohibiting  the 
states  respectively  from  entering  into  any  con 
ference  with  any  king,  prince  or  state.  I  pre 
sume  this  ought  to  be  understood,  to  respect  a 
foreign  state  only :  But  it  maybe  insisted  upon, 
that  the  prohibition  includes  even  the  United 
States.  And  why  should  not  two  or  more  of 


these  have  any  conference  ?    I  would  have  the 
doubt  absolutely  destroyed. 

The  third  section  of  the  article  now  under 
my  observation,  declares,  that  "  no  state  shall 
lay  any  imposts  or  duties,  which  may  interfere 
with  any  stipulations  in  treaties,  entered  into 
by  congress  with  any  king,  prince  or  state,  in 
pursuance  of  any  treaties  already  proposed  by 
congress  to  the  courts  of  France  and  Spain :  " 
And  I  must  contrast  this  with  the  provision  in 
the  ninth  article,  "  that  no  treaty  of  commerce 
shall  be  made  whereby  the  legislative  power 
of  the  respective  states  shall  be  restrained  from 
imposing  such  imposts  and  duties  on  foreigners, 
as  their  own  people  are  subject  to,  or  from 
prohibiting  the  exportation  or  importation  of 
any  species  of  goods  or  commodities  whatso 
ever." — I  am  of  opinion,  we  are  to  understand 
from  the  first  of  these  clauses,  that  no  state 
shall  lay  any  imposts  or  duties,  which  may 
interfere  with  the  present  foreign  stipulations 
of  congress,  in  treaties  already  proposed  ;  and 
that  such  stipulations,  free  of  such  interference, 
may  be  concluded  by  treaty :  But  this  latter 
meaning  is  not  expressed.  Indeed  a  great 
doubt  arises,  whether  this  be  the  true  intent  of 
that  clause,  when  we  consider  the  subsequent 
proviso,  worded  in  these  most  peremptory 
terms,  that  "  no  treaty  of  commerce  shall  be 
made  whereby  the  legislative  power  of  the 
respective  states  shall  be  restrained  from  im 
posing  such  imposts  and  duties  on  foreigners, 
as  their  own  people  are  subject  to,  or  from 
prohibiting  the  exportation  or  importation  of 
any  species  of  goods  or  commodities  whatso 
ever."  I  know,  that  the  rule  of  construction 
in  law,  is  capable  of  warranting  the  meaning 
I  have  extended  to  the  first  clause,  and  of  giv 
ing  efficacy  to  both  :  But  then  it  must  destroy 
the  positive  terms  in  the  second,  qualifying  by 
giving  them  an  operation  only  respecting  trea 
ties  of  commerce,  which  shall  be  made  exclu 
sive  and  independent  of  the  foreign  stipulations 
of  congress  in  treaties  already  proposed.  And 
unless  this  rule  takes  place,  the  first  clause  is 
absolutely  in  effect  repealed,  by  that  which  is 
subsequent.  We  experimentally  know,  that 
men  will  not  always  admit  that  to  be  reason, 
which  really  is  so ;  and  that  where  there  is  a 
doubt,  they  will  obstinately  contend  for,  and 
persist  in  opposite  constructions.  Those  two 
clauses  will  undoubtedly  admit  of  contention  ; 
and  the  least  consequence  that  can  arise,  will 
be,  either  that  the  first  clause  must  be  consid 
ered  as  repealed,  or  the  natural  import  of  the 
positive  terms  in  the  last  must  be  destroyed, 
and  qualified.  And  independent  of  these  dis 
agreeable  alternatives,  the  last  clause  appears 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


359 


to  be  an  intolerable  clog  to  foreign  negotiation 
— I  could  wish  here  to  finish  particularizing 
matter  of  doubt :  but  it  is  necessary  to  select 
one  instance  more,  and  then  I  will  shew  the 
main  tendency  of  these  objections. 

In  the  fourth  section  of  the  ninth  article, 
congress  is  vested  with  the  power  of  "  regula 
ting  the  trade  and  managing  all  affairs  with 
the  Indians,  not  members  of  any  of  the  states, 
provided  that  the  legislative  right  of  any  state 
within  its  own  limits,  be  not  infringed  or  vio 
lated."  I  much  approve  the  grant,  but  I  con 
fess  I  do  not  understand  the  grant  and  proviso 
combined.  For  I  cannot  conceive,  in  what 
manner  the  legislative  right  of  a  state  within 
its  own  limits,  can  be  infringed,  by  an  act  of 
congress  relative  to  Indians  not  members  of 
any  state  :  and  therefore  not  within  the  limits 
of  any  so  as  to  be  subject  to  the  operation  of 
its  legislative  right. 

It  is  of  no  moment  with  me,  whether  the 
doubts  I  have  raised,  are  deemed  obvious  and 
important,  or  rather  refined  and  of  little  conse 
quence.  Grant,  and  it  must  be  admitted,  that 
they  have  the  appearance  of  doubts — I  ask  no 
more.  The  honor  and  interest  of  America 
require,  that  their  grand  act  of  confederation, 
should  be  a  noble  monument,  free,  as  far  as 
human  wisdom  can  enable  it  to  be  from  defect 
and  flaw :  Every  thing  unnecessary  should  be 
critically  removed — every  appearance  of  doubt 
should  be  carefully  eradicated  out  of  it.  It  is 
not  to  be  thought,  but  that  the  present  congress 
clearly  understand  the  confederation.  But 
other  congresses  will  look  for  the  spirit  of  the 
law.  This  "  will  then  be  the  result  of  their 
good  or  bad  logic  ;  and  this  will  depend  on 
their  good  or  bad  digestion  ;  on  the  violence  of 
their  passions ;  on  the  rank  and  condition  of 
the  parties,  or  on  their  connections  with  con 
gress  ;  and  on  all  those  little  circumstances, 
which  change  the  appearance  of  objects  in  the 
fluctuating  mind  of  man."  Thus  thought  the 
illustrious  marquis  Beccaria,  of  Milan,  a  sub 
lime  philosopher,  reasoning  on  the  interpreta 
tion  of  laws. — I  must  be  permitted  to  continue 
his  ideas,  yet  a  little  further  upon  this  subject 
— they  are  so  exactly  in  point.  He  says,  "  there 
is  nothing  more  dangerous  than  the  common 
axiom  :  The  spirit  of  the  laws  is  to  be  consid 
ered.  To  adopt  it,  is  to  give  way  to  the  torrent 
of  opinions."  "  When  the  code  of  laws  is  once 
fixed,  it  should  be  observed  in  the  literal 
sense."  "When  the  rule  of  right  which  ought 
to  direct  the  actions  of  the  philosopher,  as 
well  as  the  ignorant,  is  a  matter  of  controversy, 
not  of  fact,  the  people  are  slaves  to  the  magis 
trates." — Is  it  not  the  intention  of  the  confed 


eration,  that  the  people  shall  be  free  ? — Let  it 
then  be  adapted  to  the  meanest  capacity — let 
the  rule  of  right  be  not  matter  of  controversy, 
but  of  fact — let  the  confederation  be  understood 
according  to  that  strict  rule  by  which  we  un 
derstand  penal  laws.  The  confederation  is  of 
at  least  as  much  importance  to  America,  as 
penal  laws  are  in  a  small  society — safety  to 
the  people  is  the  object  of  both.  In  a  word, 
the  spirit  of  laws,  lays  down  this  maxim,  that 
"  in  republics,  the  very  nature  of  the  constitu 
tion  requires  the  judges  to  follow  the  letter  of 
the  law." 

The  fourth  article  declares,  "  that  the  free 
inhabitants  of  each  of  these  states,  paupers, 
vagabonds  and  fugitives  from  justice  excepted, 
shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges  and  immuni 
ties  of  free  citizens  in  the  several  states  :  "  A 
position,  in  my  opinion,  absolutely  inadmissible. 
Would  the  people  of  Massachusetts  have  the 
free  negroes  of  Carolina  eligible  to  their  gen 
eral  court  ?  Can  it  be  intended,  that  the  free 
inhabitants  of  one  state  shall  have  power  to  go 
into  another,  there  to  vote  for  representatives 
in  the  legislature  ? — And  yet  these  things  are 
clearly  included  in  that  clause.  I  think  there 
ought  to  be  no  doubt,  but  that  the  free  inhabi 
tants  should  be  white,  and  that  such  of  one 
state,  should  be  entitled  to  the  privileges  and 
immunities  in  another,  only  by  the  same  means 
through  which  the  free  white  inhabitants  of 
that  state  are  by  law  entitled — This  article  also 
provides  for  the  "  removal  of  property  imported 
into  any  state  ; "  but  the  removal  of  property 
acquired  in  it,  into  that  "  of  which  the  owner  is 
an  inhabitant,"  is  neglected.  Has  not  the 
owner  an  equal  right  to  enjoy  at  home,  the  last 
kind  of  property  as  the  first  ?  The  provision  in 
behalf  of  the  congress,  or  a  state,  is  manifestly 
in  contradistinction  to  that  in  favor  of  a  private 
owner. 

The  fifth  article  directs,  that  delegates  shall 
be  annually  appointed  to  meet  in  congress,  on 
the  first  Monday  in  November  ;  and  this  is  a 
matter  requiring  particular  attention.  Our  cli 
mate  instructs  us,  that  the  general  assembly 
should  make  their  long  and  important  session 
in  winter ;  and  but  a  short  one  in  summer 
rather  to  finish  than  begin  even  common  busi 
ness.  Indeed  this  is  assented  to  by  the  mem 
bers,  and  of  course  but  few,  and  those  too,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Charleston,  attend  the  summei 
sitting,  which  cannot  even  with  prudence  be 
had  between  the  months  of  July  and  Novem 
ber.  When  then,  sir,  are  the  delegates  to  be 
elected  for  the  November  congress  ?  Are  they 
to  be  chosen  in  the  summer  session  ;  and  in  a 
very  thin  house  of  course  ?  Congress  cannot 


360 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


intend  this — our  country  cannot  admit  of  it ; 
because  such  delegates,  a  representation  of  the 
highest  nature,  should  ever  be  chosen  in  a  full 
house,  as  the  most  obvious  sign  that  they  are  the 
real  delegates  of  the  people.  Nor  can  it  be  ex 
pected  they  should  be  chosen  in  January,  the  time 
which  the  climate  and  local  circumstances  point 
out,  as  the  most  proper  for  beginning  our  long 
and  important  session.  For  this  would  be 
reducing  us  to  the  necessity  of  appointing 
delegates,  almost  twelve  months  before  they 
were  to  serve — a  measure  neither  necessary, 
nor  to  be  admitted,  if  we  can  avoid  it.  Those 
months  comprehend  an  inclement  summer  and 
autumn  ;  and  death  or  sickness  may  destroy 
the  intended  representation  :  In  which  case  the 
state  may  not,  by  the  united  voice  of  the  peo 
ple,  be  represented  in  congress  from  the  begin 
ning  of  November  to  the  middle  of  February — 
an  event,  that  might  be  of  fatal  consequences. 
I  shall  therefore  be  very  glad  to  see,  either  the 
month  of  February,  March  or  April  substituted 
instead  of  November.  These  reasons  will  also 
support  me,  in  objecting  to  that  part  of  the  same 
article,  relative  to  the  recall  of  delegates,  with 
in  their  year.  A  thin  house  may  cast  an  un 
merited  censure  upon  a  worthy  delegate.  I  do 
not  wish  to  see  such  a  power  existing.  Not 
that  I  expect  if  there  was  such,  that  it  would 
be  abused,  but  we  ought,  as  far  as  we  can,  to 
guard  against  the  possible  abuse  of  power. 
And,  in  addition  to  these  principal  objections 
against  the  fifth  article,  I  must  add,  that  I 
think  it  is  utterly  impolitic,  to  exclude  a  mem 
ber  of  congress  from  being  nominated  to  a 
commission  under  the  United  States :  The 
clause  upon  this  subject  is  rather  dark.  Many 
a  delegate,  may  be  able  to  render  much  more 
important  service  to  the  confederacy,  in  such  a 
station,  than  in  congress — the  occasion  of  such 
service  may  be  pressing — as  fit  a  person  out  of 
congress  may  not  then  be  known — a  member 
of  congress  may  be  most  capable  of  the  station 
because  possessed  of  the  secrets  of  congress — 
and  shall  the  service  of  such  a  man  be  lost  to 
the  confederacy,  merely  because  he  is  a  mem 
ber  of  congress  ?  The  answer  is  obvious,  I  think 
— No,  but  let  his  acceptance  of  the  commission 
vacate  his  seat  and  render  him  incapable  of  a 
re-election  during  the  time  he  holds  it. 

I  have  already  said,  the  sovereignty  of  the 
states  should  be  restricted  with  a  gentle  hand  : 
I  now  add  it  ought  to  be  restricted,  only  in 
cases  of  absolute  necessity. — What  absolute 
necessity  is  there,  that  congress  should  have  the 
power  of  causing  the  value  of  all  granted  land, 
to  be  "  estimated  according  to  such  mode,  as 
they  shall  from  time  to  time  direct?"  Congress 


should  have  no  power,  but  what  is  clearly  de 
fined  in  the  nature  of  its  operation. — But  I  am 
absolutely  against  the  position,  that  the  public 
aids  shall  be  raised  by  the  several  states,  in 
proportion  to  the  value  of  their  granted  lands, 
buildings  and  improvements.  At  the  first  blush 
of  this  proposition,  nothing  seems  more  equita 
ble.  But  viewing  the  subject  with  more  atten 
tion,  I  think  I  see,  that  it  is  unequal,  injurious 
and  impolitic.  It  is  unequal,  because  it  seems 
to  be  in  vain  to  expect,  that  such  lands,  etc. 
will  be  equally  assessed  in  their  true  value. 
To  have  any  chance  of  doing  this,  the  assessors 
must  actually  know  every  acre  ;  and  the  multi 
tude  of  them  must  have  an  equal  judgment : 
But  can  either  be  even  hoped  for  ?  Do  we  not 
positively  know,  that  this  mode  of  assessment 
does  not  answer  the  end — an  equal  and  just 
assessment  of  the  value?  The  assessors  in 
Charleston,  are  men  of  knowledge,  diligence 
and  integrity,  and  is  it  not  notorious,  that  the 
landed  property  in  Charleston,  although  mi 
nutely  known,  and  within  a  small  circle,  is  un 
equally  valued.  Shall  we,  with  our  reason  in 
full  vigor,  wish  to  extend  to  an  immense  circle, 
a  principle  that  we  are  sensible  fails  us  even  in 
a  small  one  ?  Is  there  any  certain  criterion  of 
value  ?  Does  not  value  altogether  depend  on 
opinion,  imagination,  caprice  ?  Hence  it  is, 
that  we  see  the  ideas  of  men  upon  this  matter, 
infinitely  wide.  How  then  can  it  be  expected, 
that  a  general  assessment  will  ascertain,  the 
true  value  ?  More  or  less  than  this,  ought 
not  to  be  rated  :  In  the  first  case,  the  state 
would  be  injured — in  the  last,  the  other  states 
would  be  defrauded ;  and  that  course  should 
be  taken,  which  seems  most  likely  to  avoid 
this  Scylla  and  Charybdis.  All  movements  in 
politics,  as  in  mechanics,  are  difficult  and  haz 
ardous  in  proportion  to  their  complexedness. 
Now,  in  order  to  raise  the  general  aid,  a  com 
plex  motion  of  government  is  necessary.  First 
to  assess  the  value  of  the  land — then  to  ascer 
tain  the  sum  to  arise  from  it — and  then,  to  raise 
the  sum,  by  a  variety  of  taxes,  according  to  the 
discretion  of  the  legislature.  Is  such  a  compli 
cated  motion  to  raise  the  aid  desirable,  especially 
when  it  cannot  possibly  be  done  with  equality 
to  the  several  states  ;  and  also  when  another 
principle  is  at  hand,  perfectly  simple  in  its 
nature,  just  and  equal  in  its  operation,  and  is 
the  allowed  criterion  to  ascertain  the  proportion 
that  is  desired  ?  I  have  been  given  to  under 
stand,  that  a  capitation  throughout  the  United 
States,  was  in  contemplation  of  congress  ;  and 
I  have  ever  understood  from  the  most  approved 
writers  upon  this  subject,  that  the  true  riches 
and  strength  of  a  state  were  to  be  rated  in  pro- 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


361 


portion  to  the  number  of  people  sustained  in  it. 
I  would  then  have  this  the  criterion  of  the 
public  aid  from  each  state.  It  is,  in  my  humble 
opinion,  in  every  respect  preferable  to  the 
other.  The  criterion  may  be  ascertained,  and 
the  tax  raised  by  one  act  of  government.  Such 
a  criterion  and  mode  of  taxation,  has  long  been 
in  use  in  some  parts  of  this  continent ;  and  it 
is  best,  under  a  new  government,  to  continue 
customs  in  use  u»der  the  old,  as  long  as  they 
are  salutary  and  practicable — this  is  the  north 
point  in  my  political  compass.  If  we  can 
attach  the  people,  by  exempting  them  from  old 
impositions,  such  as  quit  rents  in  particular,  it 
is  the  soundest  policy  to  do  so ;  for  this  in 
terests  them  in  support  of  the  new  establish 
ment  :  But  we  cannot  be  too  cautious  in  trying 
projects  of  a  contrary  nature.  I  said,  the  capi 
tation  criterion  of  proportion,  was  in  every  re 
spect  preferable  to  the  land  assessment :  I 
now  add,  that  it  will  be  an  important  check 
upon  the  numeration  of  the  white  inhabitants 
to  be  taken  in  order  to  rate  the  military  quota 
of  each  state  ;  and  this  is  a  very  material  reason 
in  support  of  the  capitation  criterion — we  can 
not  well  have  too  many  proofs,  to  establish  the 
true  number  of  white  inhabitants. 

The  mode  of  trial  of  disputes  between  any 
two  or  more  states  seems  full  of  delay,  and 
therefore  it  ought  to  be  amended.  The  fifth 
article  provides,  that  the  representation  of  each 
state,  shall  not  be  less  than  two  delegates  ; 
But  the  mode  of  trial  specifies,  that  in  a  cer 
tain  case,  "  congress  shall  name  three  persons 
out  of  each  of  the  United  States,  from  whom 
the  judges  shall  be  selected.  Now  a  state 
may  be  represented  by  only  two  delegates,  and 
then,  the  trial  cannot  be  had,  and  considering 
the  expense  of  paying  delegates — the  incon 
venience  of  their  attendance  upon  congress  at 
a  distance  from  their  private  affairs,  and  from 
constant  experience,  a  bare  representation  is 
oftener  to  be  expected,  than  a  supernumerary 
one.  If  it  is  meant,  the  three  shall  be  taken 
from  the  people  at  large,  which  I  will  not 
imagine  to  be  the  case,  a  court  may  be  picked  ; 
and  therefore,  that  plan  ought  not  to  be  heard 
of — In  this  case,  I  would  prefer  judges  during 
good  behavior,  eminent  for  their  knowledge  in 
the  law  of  nations  ;  and  who  should  be  obliged 
to  assign  at  large,  the  reasons  upon  which 
they  ground  their  decrees. 

The  congress  would  be  vested  with  the  sole 
and  exclusive  right  and  power  of  regulating 
the  alloy  and  value  of  coin  struck  by  the  au 
thority  of  the  respective  states  ;  and  of  fixing 
the  standard  of  weights  and  measures  through 
out  the  United  States  :  But  I  see  no  necessity 


for  such  delegation.  To  regulate  the  alloy 
and  value  of  coin  is  one  of  the  most  distin 
guished  prerogatives  of  sovereignty,  nor  can 
any  of  the  United  States  part  with  it  without 
exposing  itself  to  be  drained  of  specie.  Did 
we  not  a  few  years  ago,  increase  the  value  of 
dollars  and  half  Johanneses,  in  order  to  retain 
those  coins  ;  and  shall  we  now  part  with  the 
very  ability  of  retaining  coin  among  us  ?  The 
balance  of  trade  may  be  against  us,  then  re 
mittances  will  be  made  in  coin,  and  our  pro 
duce  will  be  left  upon  our  hands.  It  is  our 
business  to  endeavor  to  reverse  the  case,  and  I 
hope  we  shall,  by  refusing  to  vest  the  congress 
with  a  power  that  we  have  hitherto  been  able 
to  exercise  ourselves  with  advantage  in  a  time 
of  necessity. — Nor  do  I  see  any  reason  for  our 
resigning  the  power  of  fixing  the  standard  of 
our  weights  and  measures.  .The  states  are 
very  competent  to  this  business.  Let  the 
weights  and  measures  be  ever  so  variable  in 
the  several  states,  the  price  of  commodities 
will  ever  be  adequate  to  the  variation  in  the 
respective  markets. 

Congress  desire  to  be  invested  with  the  "  ap 
pointing  all  officers  in  the  land  forces,  except 
ing  regimental  officers."  And  far  from  seeing 
any  absolute  necessity  for  their  having  such  a 
power,  I  can  see  no  degree  of  common  pro 
priety  to  warrant  the  claim.  The  several  states 
are  to  raise  the  regiments  composing  the  land 
forces.  Deputy  staff  officers  in  particular  are 
absolutely  necessary  to  each  of  the  quotas  ; 
and  they  rank  with  regimental  officers.  I 
cannot  see  the  shadow  of  a  good  reason,  why 
the  states  should  not  have  the  appointment  of 
all  officers  necessary  to  complete  their  respec 
tive  quotas.  Their  honor,  interest  and  safety 
are  immediately  and  primarily  affected,  by  the 
proper  formation  and  regulation  of  their  quo 
tas.  Their  respective  spheres  of  action,  being 
within  a  very  small  circle,  in  comparison  of 
that,  in  which  the  congress  preside  ;  they  must 
of  consequence  be  enabled  to  view  objects  at  a 
nearer  distance — to  penetrate  into  the  charac 
ters  and  abilities  of  candidates,  and  to  make  a 
proper  choice  with  more  accuracy  and  preci 
sion,  than  congress  can  be  supposed  to  do. 
They  will  have  enough  upon  their  hands,  in 
actuating  the  great  machine  of  government. 
Their  attention  necessarily  engaged  in  general 
and  important  affairs,  ought  not  to  be  per 
mitted  to  be  drawn  off,  by  those  inferior 
objects  which  can  more  minutely  and  there 
fore  better  be  examined  by  the  respective 
states.  This  ought  to  be  a  fundamental  max 
im  in  the  confederated  policy.  There  is  justice 
in  it ;  and  I  will  be  bold  to  say,  it  arises  from 


362 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


principles  of  true  wisdom.  It  will  display  a 
confidence  on  the  part  of  congress  in  the  sev 
eral  states  ;  and  this  must  be  the  grand  basis 
of  their  independency  and  freedom.  We  do 
not  mean,  unnecessarily  to  delegate  any  part 
of  our  sovereignty  :  We  are  willing  to  sacri 
fice  only  such  parts  of  it,  as  are  necessary  to 
be  sacrificed  for  the  general  safety.  In  short, 
we  enter  into  this  confederacy,  on  the  same 
principle  only,  that  men  enter  into  society. 

But  independent  of  this  position,  as  a  matter 
of  right,  I  will  consider  the  claim  upon  the 
footing  of  common  prudence  and  experience. 
Whenever  congress  sit,  there  will  be  a  number 
of  persons,  especially  from  the  nearer  states, 
soliciting  offices ;  They  will  form  acquaint 
ances  with  the  members  ;  and  we  know  the 
common  effect  of  such  connections.  In  con 
sequence,  congress  may  appoint  even  an  un 
exceptionable  person,  as  to  his  character  and 
capacity,  to  a  post  in  a  state  in  which  he  has 
no  connections,  and  of  which  he  is  not  a  mem 
ber  :  This  may  occasion  an  envy  against  the 
officer,  even  to  the  detriment  of  the  public 
service ;  and  a  displeasure  against  congress, 
for  having  made,  as  it  may  be  deemed,  an  ap 
pointment  injurious  to  those  individuals  of  that 
state,  who  were  in  every  respect  capable  of  the 
office,  and  whom  the  public  would  wish  to  see 
in  it.  Or  congress  may  be  induced  to  appoint 
a  member  of  the  state,  but  such  a  one  as  the 
people  never  would  have  chosen,  because  they 
know  him  to  be  unequal  to  the  trust.  To  say 
such  things  ought  not  to  be  supposed,  is  to  say 
but  little  :  Every  page  in  history — the  known 
disposition  of  the  human  heart  inform  us,  that 
nothing  is  more  likely  to  happen.  I  am  there 
fore  clearly  against  the  clause — all  officers  ex 
cepting  regimental  officers.  And  indeed  I  am 
of  opinion,  that  of  as  many  brigades  as  the 
quota  of  any  state  may  consist,  so  many  bri 
gadiers  general  should  that  state  nominate ; 
the  eldest  of  whom  should  command  the 
whole,  while  in  the  state,  and  not  therein 
actually  assisted  by  the  major  part  of  another 
quota,  commanded  by  a  superior  officer.  Let 
congress  appoint  a  generalissimo  and  major  gen 
erals — these  are  proper  to  command  two  or  more 
quotas  when  in  conjunction  :  And  the  states 
being  divided  into  departments,  a  proper  num 
ber  of  major-generals  may  command  in  them. 

In  a  confederacy  of  states,  for  the  purpose 
of  general  security  of  arms,  I  cannot  but  con 
ceive  that  there  ought  of  prudence  and  neces 
sity,  to  be  a  clause,  at  least  obliging  the  parties 
to  furnish  their  respective  quotas,  beyond  the 
possibility  of  a  neglect  or  evasion  with  impunity. 
But,  I  see  no  such  clause  in  the  confederation 


before  us — the  main  pillar  of  security  therefore 
is  not  in  it.  It  is  true,  there  is  a  long  clause 
respecting  quotas.  But,  it  is  only  directory. 
And  how  many  such  laws  are  there,  which  are 
regarded  as  nugatory,  merely  for  the  want  of  a 
penal  clause  ?  Have  we  not  had  sufficient  ex 
perience,  of  the  inefficacy  of  that  clause  relating 
to  quotas  ?  Before  it  was  inserted  in  the  plan 
of  confederation,  did  not  congress  act  upon  the 
very  principles  contained  in  it?  The  present 
quotas  of  the  respective  states  were  arranged 
upon  a  computation  of  their  respective  abilities. 
The  numbers  were  sufficient,  with  the  favor  of 
Heaven,  nay  abundantly  sufficient  almost  with 
out  effusion  of  blood,  to  captivate  all  the  British 
forces  in  America.  But,  when  they  ought  to 
have  crushed  the  ungenerous  foe,  they  were 
not  even  raised  in  the  most  populous  states. 
These  principles,  even  in  the  hour  of  the  most 
pressing  necessity,  have  been  neglected  with 
impunity,  at  our  hands,  to  the  imminent  hazard 
of  the  liberties  of  America.  Are  we  not  to  be 
instructed,  even  by  a  bloody  experience  ?  Shall 
we  not  receive  light,  even  from  the  conflagra 
tions  spread  over  our  land  ?  Oh  !  why  has  our 
beneficent  Creator  endowed  us  with  recollec 
tion  ! — Mr.  Chairman,  pardon  me ;  I  am  hurt — 
pierced  to  the  quick,  at  an  omission  of  the 
most  fatal  nature.  It  is  a  symptom  filling  me 
with  torturing  apprehensions. 

Upon  such  principles  was  the  allied  army  to 
be  formed,  under  the  great  duke  of  Marlbor- 
ough.  The  quotas  were  specified,  I  may  say 
even  in  a  more  positive  manner.  Yet  the 
emperor  and  Holland  were  yearly  more  and 
more  deficient.  The  war  was  of  necessity  to 
proceed  ;  and  as  the  other  allies  failed  in  their 
quotas,  so  England  was  obliged  to  increase 
her  exertions  •  and  to  such  a  degree  was  the 
one  and  the  other,  that  at  length  England  al 
most  entirely  supported  the  war,  while  the  em 
peror  had  but  little  more  than  a  single  regiment 
at  his  own  expense,  that  could  be  said  properly 
to  act  against  the  common  enemy.  Mankind 
are  not  more  honest  in  their  principles,  or  faith 
ful  to  their  engagements  than  they  then  were 
nor  will  they  be  so.  Honor,  duty  and  our  most 
essential  interests,  have  loudly  and  in  vain 
called  upon  the  Americans  to  complete  their 
quotas.  They  are  as  strongly  bound  by  the 
principles  upon  which  the  quota  clause  is 
formed  as  they  can  possibly  be,  if  that  clause 
without  aid,  become  a  part  of  the  confederation. 
Shall  we  shut  our  eyes,  and  absolutely  trust 
our  liberties  and  safety  to  a  clause,  that  as  it 
stands,  we  experimentally  know  will  fail  us  in 
the  hour  of  necessity?  While  I  retain  my 
proper  senses,  I  cannot. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


363 


Nor  are  these  my  only  objections  against 
that  clause  in  its  present  state.  There  is  a  de 
gree  of  injustice  in  its  tendency.  I  do  not 
mean  that  it  was  designed.  By  there  not  being 
any  thing  compelling  in  it,  it  has  a  tendency  to 
expose  an  unequal  proportion  of  the  strength 
of  some  states,  to  the  hazards  of  war  in  defence 
of  the  confederation.  And  the  first  principles 
of  justice  direct,  that  this  danger  should  be 
provided  against  as  far  as  may  be.  We  well 
know,  that  man  is  so  selfish  and  ungenerous 
a  being,  that  he  will,  when  he  can,  throw  his 
load  upon  the  shoulder  of  his  neighbor.  Men 
form  states — these  act  upon  the  same  princi 
ple  ;  and  accordingly  we  find,  that  the  emperor 
and  Holland  unjustly  placed  a  load  upon  Eng 
land,  that  almost  crushed  her.  It  is  against 
such  an  evasion  of  duty,  and  such  a  forced 
assumption  of  burden,  that  I  wish  to  provide — 
and  they  ought  to  be  guarded  against  by  every 
possible  means.  Let  it  not  be  said,  the  con 
federated  treasury  is  to  pay  the  whole  expense 
incurred — that  is  not  the  point.  But  if  it  was, 
is  there  the  least  security  that  there  shall  be 
money  in  that  treasury  ? — My  aim  is  to  pro 
tect  the  states  from  a  more  fatal  injury — to 
preserve  them  from  the  necessity  of  sacrificing 
an  unreasonable  proportion  of  the  flower  of 
their  people.  An  ardor  for  the  public  weal, 
may  involve  generous  states,  in  the  utmost  dis 
tress  ;  and  throw  them  a  century  or  two  behind 
those  ungenerous  ones  they  saved.  Nor  can 
the  confederation  make  them  amends  for  that 
loss,  which,  of  all  that  can  happen  is  the  great 
est.  Valerius  Maximus  said,  severity  is  the 
sure  preserver  and  avenger  of  liberty. 

Sir,  when  I  consider  the  extent  of  territory 
possessed  by  the  thirteen  states — the  value  of 
that  territory  ;  and  that  the  three  most  southern, 
must  daily  and  rapidly  increase  in  population, 
riches  and  importance.  When  I  reflect,  that 
from  the  nature  of  the  climate,  soil  and  pro 
duce  of  the  several  states,  a  northern  and 
southern  interest  in  many  particulars  naturally 
and  unavoidably  arise  ;  I  cannot  but  be  dis 
pleased  with  the  prospect,  that  the  most  im 
portant  transactions  in  congress,  may  be  done 
contrary  to  the  united  opposition  of  Virginia,  the 
two  Carolinas  and  Georgia :  States  possessing 
more  than  one  half  of  the  whole  territory  of 
the  confederacy ;  and  forming,  as  I  may  say,  the 
body  of  the  southern  interest.  If  things  of  such 
transcendent  weight,  may  be  done  notwith 
standing  such  an  opposition  ;  the  honor,  interest 
and  sovereignty  of  the  south,  are  in  effect  de 
livered  up  to  the  care  of  the  north.  Do  we 
intend  to  make  such  a  surrender  ?  I  hope  not, 
there  is  no  occasion  for  it.  Nor  would  I  have 


it  understood,  that  I  fear  the  north  would  abuse 
the  confidence  of  the  south  :  But  common 
prudence,  sir,  admonishes  me,  that  confidence 
should  not  wantonly  be  placed  any  where — it  is 
but  the  other  day,  that  we  thought  our  liber 
ties  secure  in  the  care  of  Britain.  I  am  assist 
ing  to  form  the  confederation  of  the  United 
States :  It  is  my  duty  to  speak,  and  to  speak 
plainly :  I  engage  in  this  great  work  with  a 
determined  purpose,  to  endeavor,  as  far  as  my 
slender  abilities  enable  me,  to  render  it  equal, 
just  and  binding.  I  presume,  that  all  my 
coadjutors  in  the  several  states,  in  and  out  of 
congress,  act  upon  this  sentiment;  nor  can 
I  admit  a  contrary  idea.  When  all  mean  fair, 
equitable  terms  are  not  difficult  to  be  adjusted. 
I  therefore  hope,  I  shall  not  be  thought  unrea 
sonable,  because  I  object  to  the  nine  voices  in 
congress  ;  and  wish  that  eleven  may  be  substi 
tuted,  to  enable  that  body  to  transact  their 
most  important  business.  The  states  general 
of  Holland  must  be  unanimous  :  Their  govern 
ment  is  accounted  a  wise  one  ;  and  although  it 
causes  their  proceedings  to  be  slow,  yet,  it 
secures  the  freedom  and  interest  of  its  respec 
tive  states.  Is  not  this  our  great  aim  ? 

For  the  present,  I  here,  sir,  limit  my  partic 
ular  objection  to  the  plan  under  consideration  : 
I  have  made  these  with  the  highest  reluctance. 
In  a  word,  I  cannot  admit  of  any  confederation 
that  gives  congress  any  power,  that  can  with 
propriety,  be  exercised  by  several  states — or  any 
power,  but  what  is  clearly  defined  beyond  a 
doubt.  Nor  can  I  think  of  entering  into  any 
engagements,  which  are  not  as  equal  as  may 
be,  between  the  states — engagements  of  a  com 
pelling  nature,  and  the  whole  to  be  understood 
according  to  the  letter  only.  Without  these 
five  leading  principles,  a  confederation  is  not  a 
desirable  object  in  my  opinion. 

Thus,  Mr.  Chairman,  have  I  complied  with 
the  first  division  of  my  subject — to  perform  the 
second  is  a  much  more  arduous  task  :  But 
before  I  proceed  I  must  crave  the  kind  indul 
gence  of  your  honor,  and  the  house ;  I  fear  I 
have  too  long  intruded  upon  your  attention. 

It  is  with  the  greatest  diffidence,  sir,  that  I 
presume  to  throw  out  my  ideas  of  such  terms 
as  in  my  opinion  are  desirable,  attainable  and 
likely  to  form  a  beneficial  confederation.  In 
doing  this,  I  flatter  myself,  it  will  not  be  under 
stood,  that  I  am  so  weak  as  to  think  them  un 
exceptionable.  Indeed  I  declare,  that  sketch  I 
shall  draw,  will  not  be  such  an  one,  as  I  would 
prefer,  and  think  the  most  perfect.  From  the 
complexion  of  the  present  plan,  and  the  labor 
and  time  spent  upon  it,  I  fear,  that  which  I 
would  wish,  cannot  be  attained  :  And  hence, 


364 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


I  mean  to  conform  my  ideas  to  the  scheme  laid 
down  by  congress  ;  with  design  respectfully  and 
zealously  to  endeavor  to  render  as  little  liable  to 
objection  as  I  can,  the  scheme  likely  to  take 
effect.  I  shall  therefore  sketch  the  plan  of  a 
confederation  in  the  following  order.  The  appel 
lation  of  the  country  in  which  the  confederacy 
is  formed — a  confederated  union,  and  its  objects 
declared — the  style  of  the  confederacy — the  con 
stitution  of  its  legislature  and  executive — the 
powers  of  each  described  and  limited,  and  their 
respective  duties  pointed  out — the  public  faith 
plighted  for  past  engagements  of  congress — the 
engagements  of  the  several  states  to  each  other, 
and  declaration  of  their  rights,  a  declaration  of 
the  capability  of  admission  into  the  confederacy 
— the  penalty  of  violating  the  articles  of  confed 
eration — the  obligatory  nature  of  the  confedera 
tion  ;  and  in  what  manner  only  it  is  capable  of 
alteration — the  rule  by  which  the  confederation 
shall  be  understood. 

AMERICA. 

THE  CONFEDERATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

A  confederated  union  and  its  objects  declared. 

Art.  i.  A  confederation  between  the  inde 
pendent,  free  and  sovereign  states  of  New 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode  Island 
and  Providence  Plantations,  Connecticut,  New- 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware, 
Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  is  hereby  solemnly  made, 
uniting  them  together  under  one  general  su 
perintending  government,  for  their  common 
defence  and  security,  against  all  designs  and 
leagues  that  may  be  detrimental  to  their  inter 
ests  ;  and  against  all  force  and  attacks  offered 
to  or  made  upon  them  or  any  of  them. 

The  style  of  the  confederacy  declared. 
Art.  2.  The  style  of  the  confederacy  shall 
be,  the  United  States  of  America. 

The  legislative  and  executive  constituted. 
Art.  3.  The  legislative  for  the  confederacy 
shall  be  in  a  congress  composed  of  delegates 
from  each  of  the  United  States — the  congress 
shall  be  styled,  The  congress  of  America, 
and  one  of  the  delegates  shall,  by  the  others, 
be  elected  to  preside  in  it.  The  delegates 
shall  be  annually  nominated  by  their  respective 
legislatures,  to  meet  in  the  congress  of  America, 
on  the  fifteenth  day  of  March  in  every  year. 
Each  state  shall  be  represented  in  congress  by 
not  less  than  three,  nor  more  than  seven  dele 
gates  and  shall  have  one  vote  in  congress, 


where  all  questions  shall  be  determined  by  a 
majority  of  votes,  except  such  as  shall  be  here 
inafter  mentioned.  Any  state  neglecting  to 
have  a  representation  in  congress,  shall  never 
theless  be  bound  by  the  act  of  congress,  as  if 
its  representation  was  present.  Each  state 
shall  maintain  its  own  delegates.  No  delegate 
shall  be  a  member  of  congress  for  more  than 
three  years,  in  any  term  of  six  years.  Nor 
shall  any  member  of  congress  be  capable  of 
holding  any  office  under  the  United  States  of 
America,  for  which  he,  or  any  other  for  his 
benefit,  receives  any  salary  or  emolument  of 
any  kind ;  for  his  acceptance  of  any  such  office 
shall  vacate  his  seat  in  congress ;  nor  shall  he 
be  re-elected  as  a  member  while  he  holds  such 
office.  Freedom  of  debate  and  speech  shall 
be  allowed  in  congress,  nor  shall  any  thing 
done  in  congress  be  impeached  or  questioned 
out  of  it.  The  delegates  shall  be  protected  in 
their  persons  from  arrests  and  imprisonments, 
except  for  treason,  felony  or  breach  of  the 
peace.  The  executive  for  the  confederacy 
shall  be  in  the  congress,  and  during  its  recess 
in  a  committee  of  their  body,  which  shall  be 
styled,  The  committee  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  This  committee  shall  consist  of  one 
delegate  from  each  state,  the  president  of  the 
congress  being  one,  and  he  shall  preside  in  it — 
all  questions  therein  shall  be  determined  by  a 
majority  of  votes,  and  their  acts  shall  be  bind 
ing  upon  the  United  States,  notwithstanding 
the  absence  of  any  member  of  it. 

The  powers  of  the  congress  and  the  committee 
of  the  United  States  of  America  described 
and  limited,  and  their  respective  duties 
pointed  out. 

Art.  4.  The  congress  shall  have  power  to 
appoint  one  of  their  number  to  preside  in  it — 
to  make  rules  for  regulating  their  proceedings 
— to  declare  what  shall  be  deemed  treason 
against  the  United  States  of  America,  and  in 
what  manner  such  treason  shall  be  punished — 
the  congress  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  de 
claring  war  and  peace — sending  ambassadors, 
to,  and  receiving  them  from,  foreign  princes 
and  states — entering  into  and  concluding  trea 
ties  and  alliances  with  foreign  powers — ascer 
taining  the  military  land  quota  of  each  state  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  white  inhabitants 
therein  respectively — building,  purchasing  and 
equipping  a  naval  force,  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States  of  America — rating  and  causing 
taxes  to  be  levied,  throughout  the  United  States, 
for  the  service  of  the  confederacy — appointing 
a  generalissimo  and  commander  in  chief  of  the 
land  forces,  major  generals,  principal  staff  offi- 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


365 


sers,  and  the  war-office,  styled  The  war  office  of 
America — nominating    an   admiralissimo    and 
commander  in  chief  of  the  naval  forces,  all  sub 
ordinate  officers  in  the  naval  force  in  the  service 
of  the  United  States,  and  an  admiralty-office, 
styled  The  admiralty-office  of  America — estab 
lishing  a   treasury  office,  styled  The   treasury 
office  of  America — supplying  and  filling  up  all 
vacancies  in  the  said  military  and  naval  estab 
lishments  ;  and  in  the  said  war,  admiralty  and 
treasury  offices — making  rules  for  the  govern 
ment  of  the  said  military  quotas,  naval  force, 
war,  admiralty  and  treasury  offices — directing, 
ordering   and   commanding  the    said  military 
quotas,   naval  force,  generalissimo,  major  gen 
erals,  principal  staff  officer,  admiralissimo,  sub 
ordinate  officers,  war,  naval  and  treasury  offices, 
in  all  their  operations  and  proreedings — emit 
ting  and  borrowing  money  upon  the  credit  of  the 
United  States,  from  time  to  time,  not  exceeding 
the  sum  ascertained  as  necessary  to  be  raised 
for  the  service  of  the  confederacy  ;  transmitting 
to  the  several  states,  half  yearly,  an  account  of 
the  sums  of  money  so  emitted  and  borrowed — 
applying  the  said  sums  ol  money  ascertained  to 
be    raised,   and    allowed   to   be   emitted     and 
borrowed,   for  defraying  the    public   expense 
— collecting    military    stores    and    provisions, 
and     issuing    them    for    the    service    of   the 
United  States — granting  letters  of  marque  and 
reprisal — declaring     what    captures    on    land 
and  on  water  shall  be  legal  ;  and  in  what  man 
ner    such     captures,    by  the   land   and   naval 
forces   in   the   service  of    the    United    States, 
shall  be  divided  and  appropriated — appointing 
courts  in  the  several  United  States  for  trial  of 
piracies  committed  on  the  high  seas,  and  for 
deciding  finally  appeals  in  all  cases  of  capture 
arising  in  such  states  respectively — appointing 
all  such  civil  officers  as  may  be  necessary  for 
transacting  and  managing  the  general  affairs 
of  the  United  States  ;  ascertaining  their  duties, 
and,   except  judicial    officers,  directing    their 
proceedings — regulating  the  alloy  and  value  of 
coin   struck   by    their  authority — establishing 
and   regulating    post   offices    throughout    the 
United  States ;  exacting  such  postage  as  may 
be  necessary  to  defray  the  expense  of  the  said 
offices,   or  any   part   thereof — regulating    the 
affairs  and  trade  of  the  Indians,  not  members 
of  any   state — being    the   dernier    resort,   on 
appeal  in  all  cases  of  dispute,  between  any  two 
or  more  of  the  United  States,  and  this  power 
shall  be   exercised    in  the    following    manner, 
that  is  to  say — whenever  the  legislative  or  exe 
cutive    authority,  or    lawful    agent,  thereunto 
legally   required,   of  any  state  in  controversy 
with  another  or  others,  shall  present  a  petition 


to  the  congress,  stating  the  matter  in  question, 
and  praying  for  a  hearing,  notice  thereof  shall, 
within  ten  days,  be  given,  by  order  of  congress, 
to  the  legislative  or  executive  authority  of  the 
other  state  or  states  in  controversy,  assigning 
a  day,  not  sooner  than  six  months,  nor  later 
than  nine  months,  to  the  parties  to  appear 
before  them,  by  their  lawful  agents  :  who  shall 
in  their  presence,  on  the  day  assigned,  be  by 
them  directed  to  appoint,  by  joint  consent 
within  ten  days  thereafter,  seven  judges  to  con 
stitute  a  court  for  hearing  and  finally  determin 
ing  the  matter  in  question,  according  to  the 
law  of  nations  :  who  shall  sit,  if  it  be  necessary, 
from  day  to  day,  not  exceeding  ten  days,  Sun 
day  excepted,  and  give  their  final  decree  by  a 
majority  of  voices,  with  the  reasons  at  large 
upon  which  they  found  it ;  which  decree  and 
reasons  shall  be  by  them  returned  to  the  con 
gress,  aiid  by  them  be  deposited  among  their 
acts,  for  the  security  of  the  parties  concerned  ; 
the  congress  causing  the  decree  to  be  peremp 
torily  executed  without  loss  of  time.  But,  if  the 
said  lawful  agents  shall  not,  within  the  said 
ten  days,  agree  in  a  nomination  of  the  seven 
judges,  congress  shall,  within  three  days, 
name  three  delegates  of  the  representation  of 
each  of  the  United  States,  (provided  the  presi 
dent  of  the  congress  shall  not  be  one,  and 
that  if  such  a  nomination  of  three  delegates 
cannot  otherwise  be  made,  that  congress  shall 
have  power,  of  their  body,  to  elect  a  person  to 
represent  the  state  in  his  room)  and  from  the 
list  of  such  persons,  each  party  in  controversy 
shall  alternately  strike  out  one,  the  petitioners 
beginning,  until  the  number  shall  be  reduced  to 
thirteen  ;  and  from  that  number  not  less  than 
seven,  nor  more  than  nine,  as  congress  shall 
direct,  shall,  in  presence  of  the  congress,  and 
the  said  lawful  agents,  be  drawn  out  by  lot,  by 
the  secretary  of  the  congress,  and  the  persons 
whose  names  shall  be  so  drawn,  or  any  five  of 
them,  shall  be  judges  to  hear  and  finally  deter 
mine  the  controversy  in  the  manner,  and  the 
proceedings  thereupon  shall  be  the  same  as 
specified  relative  to  the  court  chosen  by  the 
said  lawful  agents.  And  if  either  party  shall 
neglect  to  attend  at  the  day  appointed,  or  being 
present,  shall  refuse  to  strike,  the  congress 
shall  proceed  to  nominate  three  persons  of  the 
representation  of  each  of  the  United  States,  in 
manner  already  specified  and  provided,  and 
the  secretary  of  the  congress  shall  strike 
in  behalf  of  such  party  absent  or  refusing 
— the  judges  shall  be  drawn — their  powers 
and  duties  shall  be  the  same,  as  shall  be 
the  proceedings  of  congress,  as  are  speci 
fied  relative  to  the  court  formed  by  the  joint 


366 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


choice  of  the  lawful  agents.  And  in  any  court 
so  provisionally  directed  to  be  constituted,  if 
either  of  the  parties  shall  refuse  to  submit  to  the 
authority  of  the  court,  or  shall  not  appear  therein 
to  support  or  defend  their  cause,  the  court  shall, 
notwithstanding,  proceed  to  hear  and  to  pro 
nounce  its  decree,  which  shall  be  attended  with 
the  same  effects,  as  are  above  specified,  relative 
to  the  court  chosen  by  joint  consent.  Every 
judge,  before  he  sits  in  judgment  in  any  such 
case,  shall  take  an  oath,  to  be  administered  by 
any  one  of  the  judges  of  the  supreme  or  super 
ior  court  of  the  state,  in  which  the  cause  shall 
be  tried,  "  well  and  truly  to  hear  and  determine 
the  present  matter  in  question  between 
and  according  to  the  best  of  his 

judgment,  without  favor,  affection,  fee  or  hope 
of  reward  ; "  the  blanks  being  supplied  with 
the  description  of  the  parties.  And  all  con 
troversies  concerning  the  private  right  of  soil, 
claimed  under  the  different  grants,  of  two  or 
more  of  the  United  States,  whose  jurisdictions, 
as  they  may  respect  such  soil,  and  the  states 
which  passed  such  grants,  the  grants  of  either 
of  them  being  at  the  same  time  claimed  to  have 
originated  antecedent  to  such  settlement  of 
jurisdiction,  shall  be  proceeded  in,  as  nearly  as 
may  be,  agreeable  to  the  trial  specified  to  be 
had  in  controversies  between  any  two  or  more 
of  the  United  States.  The  congress  shall 
further  have  the  power  of  adjourning  to  any 
time,  not  exceeding  six  months,  and  to  any 
place  within  the  United  States  of  America — 
appointing  the  committee  of  the  United  States 
of  America — vesting  them  with  such  of  their 
powers  according  to  their  authority  and  discre 
tion  ;  examining  into  their  journals  and  proceed 
ings.  But  the  congress  shall  not  declare  what 
shall  be  treason  against  the  United  States,  nor 
the  punishment  of  it,  but  by  the  voice  of  each 
of  the  United  States  in  congress — nor  shall  the 
congress  engage  in  war — nor  enter  into  or  con 
clude  any  treaty  or  alliance — nor  ascertain  the 
military  land  quota  of  the  states — nor  build, 
furnish  or  equip  a  naval  force — nor  rate 
or  cause  a  general  tax  to  be  levied — nor  ap 
point  a  generalissimo—  nor  nominate  an  admir- 
alissimo — nor  emit  or  borrow  money — nor 
grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  in  time  of 
peace,  except  by  the  consent  of  eleven  votes  in 
the  congress — nor  shall  the  congress  vest  any 
of  these  powers  in  the  committee  of  the  United 
States — nor  shall  any  person  officiate  as  presi 
dent  of  the  congress,  longer  than  one  year  in 
any  term  of  three  years — nor  shall  the  con 
gress  exercise  any  power,  but  what  is  hereby 
expressly  delegated  to  them.  The  congress, 
and  the  committee  of  the  United  States,  shall 


respectively  publish  the  journal  of  their  pro 
ceedings  monthly,  except  such  parts  thereof 
relating  to  treaties,  alliances  and  military  oper 
ations,  as  they  respectively  shall  think  require 
secrecy  ;  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  several 
delegates  in  the  congress,  and  in  the  committee 
of  the  United  States,  shall  be  entered  on  their 
respective  journals,  when  desired  by  any  dele 
gate  present,  who  at  his  request,  shall  be  fur 
nished  with  a  transcript  of  the  said  journals 
respectively,  except  such  parts  as  are  above 
excepted,  to  lay  before  the  legislature  of  the 
several  states.  The  committee  of  the  United 
States  shall  at  all  times  lay  their  journals  and 
proceedings  before  the  congress,  when  by 
them  required.  And  with  the  powers  herein 
delegated  to  the  congress,  and  that  may  by 
them  be  delegated  to  the  committee  of  the  Uni 
ted  States  of  America,  they  and  each  of  them 
shall  endeavor,  that  the  confederacy  receive  no 
detriment. 

The  public  faith  pledged  for  past  engagements 
of  congress. 

Art.  5.  All  bills  of  credit  emitted,  monies 
borrowed,  and  debts  contracted  by  the  con 
gress  of  the  United  States,  or  under  their  au 
thority,  before  this  confederation,  shall  be 
deemed  and  considered  as  a  charge  against  the 
United  States  of  America ;  for  full  payment  and 
satisfaction  whereof,  the  said  United  States  and 
the  public  faith  are  hereby  solemnly  pledged. 

The  engagement  of  the  several  states  to  each 
other,  and  declaration  of  their  rights. 

Art.  6.  There  shall  be  a  mutual  friendship 
and  intercourse  among  the  people  of  the  several 
states  in  this  union — the  free  white  inhabitants 
of  each  of  these  states,  (those  who  refuse  to 
take  up  arms  in  defence  of  the  confederacy, 
paupers,  vagabonds  and  fugitives  from  justice 
excepted)  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges  and 
immunities  of  free  citizens  in  the  several  states, 
according  to  the  laws  of  such  state  respec 
tively,  for  the  government  of  their  own  free 
white  inhabitants — having  uninterrupted  in 
gress  and  regress,  together  with  their  property, 
to  and  from  any  other  of  the  United  States  ; 
subject  nevertheless  to  the  duties,  impositions 
and  restrictions,  as  the  inhabitants  thereof 
respectively  ;  provided,  that  such  restrictions 
shall  not  extend  to  defeat  the  articles  of  this 
confederation,  or  any  part  thereof.  Provided 
also,  that  no  duty,  imposition  or  restriction 
shall  be  laid  by  any  state,  on  the  property  of 
the  United  States,  or  of  the  government,  in 
either  of  them,  except  in  cases  of  embargo. 

If  any  person  charged  with,  or  guilty  of  trea- 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


367 


son,  felony  or  other  high  misdemeanors  in  any 
of  the  respective  states,  shall  flee  from  justice, 
and  be  found  in  any  of  the  states,  upon  the 
demand  of  the  executive  power  in  the  state 
from  which  he  fled,  he  shall  be  delivered  up, 
and  removed  to  the  state  having  jurisdiction 
of  the  offence,  that  state  defraying  the  expense 
of  the  removal.  And  full  faith  and  credit  shall 
be  given  throughout  the  United  States  to  the 
acts,  records,  and  judicial  proceedings  of  the 
courts  and  magistrates  in  each. 

No  state  shall  lay  or  allow  to  continue  any 
prohibition,  impost  or  duty,  which  may  inter 
fere  with  any  treaty,  which  shall  be  made  by 
the  congress  with  any  foreign  power — no  state 
shall  engage  in  any  war,  without  the  consent 
of  the  congress,  unless  such  state  be  actually 
invaded  by  an  enemy ;  or  shall  have  received 
certain  intelligence  of  such  hostile  design, 
formed  by  some  nation  of  Indians,  and  the 
danger  is  so  imminent  as  not  to  admit  of  a  delay 
— no  state  shall  grant  letters  of  marque  and 
reprisal,  but  after  a  declaration  of  war  by  the 
congress  ;  and  then  only  against  the  power 
against  whom  the  war  has  been  so  declared, 
except  such  state  be  infested  by  piracies,  in 
which  case  vessels  of  war  may  be  fitted  out  by 
that  state  for  the  occasion  only — no  state  shall 
enter  into  any  conference,  agreement,  treaty 
or  alliance  with  any  king,  prince  or  foreign 
states — nor  shall  any  person,  holding  any  office 
under  the  United  States,  or  under  any  of  them, 
accept  of  any  present,  emolument,  office  or  title, 
from  any  king  or  foreign  state,  without  being 
thereby  absolutely  rendered  forever  incapable 
of  any  public  trust,  under  the  United  States, 
or  any  of  them — nor  shall  any  of  these  states 
grant  any  title  of  nobility :  But  precedence  and 
rank  shall  be  thus  established  :  The  president 
of  the  congress  of  America — the  supreme  civil 
officer  of  a  state  while  in  it — the  generalissimo 
and  admiralissimo,  and  they  according  to  seni 
ority — the  regular  forces  by  land  and  sea,  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States — the  regular  forces 
by  land  and  sea,  in  the  service  of  a  particular 
state,  ranking  with  such  forces  in  the  service 
of  any  other  state — the  militia  of  a  state,  rank 
ing  with  the  militia  of  any  other — officers  of 
equal  degree,  shall  command  according  to  the 
rank  hereby  laid  down  for  their  respective 
corps :  and  officers  of  the  same  corps  being 
of  equal  degree,  shall  command  by  seniority 
of  commission. 

The  military  land  quota  of  each  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
white  inhabitants  in  each — the  legislature  in 
the  several  states  shall,  from  time  to  time, 
cause  all  the  white  inhabitants  therein,  to  be 


numbered  as  nearly  as  may  be — the  persons 
appointed  to  number  them,  shall  be  sworn  to 
make  the  most  diligent  and  accurate  enquiry  that 
they  can,  and  to  return  to  the  executive  power 
in  the  state,  the  true  number  they  shall  so  find — 
they  shall  be  paid  for  their  trouble,  and  punished 
for  their  neglect,  if  any  there  shall  be — the  ex 
ecutive  authority  in  each  state,  having  received 
such  a  return,  shall  without  loss  of  time  send 
it,  or  an  exact  copy  of  it,  to  the  congress — such 
a  return  to  the  congress  shall  be  made  before 
the  first  day  of  January  next,  and  in  every 
seventh  year  thereafter — the  several  states 
shall,  in  due  time,  embody  the  several  mili 
tary  quotas  required  by  the  congress,  and  shall 
raise,  clothe,  arm  and  maintain  them,  at  the 
general  expense,  rated  by  the  congress — the 
several  states  shall  appoint  all  the  regimental 
and  deputy  staff  officers  incidental  to  their 
quotas ;  and  into  as  many  brigades  as  the 
congress  shall  brigade  their  respective  quotas, 
so  many  brigadier-generals,  shall  such  respec 
tive  state  nominate,  the  whole  to  be  commis 
sioned  by  the  congress — all  vacancies  in  a 
quota  shall  be  supplied  by  its  state — the  execu 
tive  power  in  each  state,  except  that  in  which 
the  congress  be  sitting,  shall,  under  the  au 
thority  and  control  of  the  congress,  direct  the 
land  forces,  ships  and  vessels  of  war,  and  all 
officers  incidental  thereto,  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  within  such  state — the  propor 
tionate  pecuniary  quotas  of  the  several  states 
shall  be  regulated  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  inhabitants  in  each  state  respectively — when 
ever  such  pecuniary  quotas  for  the  service  of 
the  United  States  shall  be  required  by  con 
gress,  they  shall  state  the  capitation  rate — each 
state  shall  then  appoint  persons  to  number  its 
whole  inhabitants,  according  to  the  mode 
stated  to  ascertain  the  number  of  white  in 
habitants  in  each  state,  such  persons  being 
also  caused  to  specify  the  number  of  white, 
mustizo,  mulatto  and  negro  inhabitants  respec 
tively — such  a  numeration  being  duly  returned, 
the  legislature  in  each  state  shall  levy  the  sum 
of  money  to  arise  therefrom,  in  such  mode  as 
they  shall  deem  expedient  ;  and  a  true  copy  of 
the  said  return  shall,  without  loss  of  time,  be 
sent  to  congress— the  several  states  shall  duly 
pay  their  pecuniar}'  quotas  into  the  treasury 
office  of  America,  by  the  time  mentioned  by 
the  congress  for  such  payment,  unless  to  the 
contrary  directed  for  the  good  of  the  public 
service ;  in  which  case,  such  state  so  directed 
shall,  within  twelve  months,  duly  account  with 
the  said  treasury-office  for  the  pecuniary  quota, 
or  part  thereof  so  directed  to  be  retained — 
each  state  shall,  within  five  years,  establish  a 


368 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


foundation  for  a  naval  seminary,  making  suita 
ble  provision  for  the  constant  maintenance, 
education  and  fitting  for  sea,  five  youths  for 
every  thousand  white  inhabitants  within  such 
state  ;  Every  such  youth  shall  be  admitted 
upon  such  establishment,  at  ten  years  of  age  : 
At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  shall  be  bound  an 
apprentice  in  the  sea  service  for  seven  years, 
completely  furnished  with  necessary  clothes 
and  bedding.  At  the  expiration  of  that  term, 
he  shall  be  liable  for  a  term  of  seven  years,  in 
time  of  war,  to  do  duty,  or  to  find  a  seaman  to 
do  duty  in  his  room,  on  board  the  naval  force 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  or  in  that 
of  the  state  in  which  he  was  so  educated  : 
And  he  or  his  substitute,  as  the  case  may  be, 
shall  for  such  service  be  free  from  every  tax ; 
and  losing  the  use  of  a  limb  in  the  public 
service,  shall  be  maintained  ever  after  at  the 
expense  of  the  United  States,  or  of  that  state 
in  whose  particular  service  he  was  so  maimed. 
Each  state  shall  make  suitable  laws  for  render 
ing  this  naval  establishment  a  public  benefit — 
all  general  officers,  flag  officers  and  commo 
dores,  shall  be  created  by  election  only,  nor 
shall  the  principle  of  seniority  give  any  title  to 
such  promotion — no  state  shall  exercise  any 
power  hereby  delegated  to  the  congress  :  But 
it  is  declared,  the  several  states  do  possess  and 
enjoy  all  those  natural  rights  and  powers  of 
sovereignty,  not  by  this  act  delegated  :  And  it 
is  also  declared,  that  whenever  the  congress 
shall  cease  to  observe  these  articles  of  confed 
eration,  the  several  states  shall  be  at  liberty  to 
declare  themselves  absolved  from  all  obedience 
to -that  government.* 

A   declaration  of  the  capability  of  admission 
into  the  confederacy. 

Art.  7.  Canada,  acceding  to  this  confedera 
tion,  and  joining  in  the  measures  of  the  United 
States,  shall  be  admitted  into,  and  entitled  to 
all  the  advantages  of  this  union  ;  and  shall  be 
equally,  with  any  other  of  the  United  States, 
solemnly  bound  to  a  strict  observance  of  and 
obedience  to  these  articles :  as  shall  be  also, 
any  other  colony  which  shall  be  admitted  into 
this  confederacy.  The  eleven  votes  in  congress 
shall  be  increased  in  proportion  as  the  confed 
eracy  is  extended  :  But,  except  Canada,  no 
other  colony  shall  be  admitted  into  the  con 
federacy  without  the  assent  of  eleven  or  more 
votes,  as  the  case  may  require,  by  the  confed 
eration  being  extended. 

*  For  whenever  a  question  arises  between  the  society 
at  large  and  any  magistrate  vested  with  powers  originally 
delegated  by  that  society,  it  must  be  decided  by  the  voice 
of  that  society  itself ;  there  is  not  upon  earth  any  other 
tribunal  to  resort  to. — i  Blackstone,  212. 


The  penalty  of -violating  the  articles  of  con 
federation. 

Art.  8.  For  the  better  assurance  of  the 
benefits  expected  from  this  confederation,  vol 
untarily  entered  into  by  the  several  states  ;  to 
guard,  as  far  as  may  be,  against  the  negligence 
and  weakness  of  men;  and  to  stimulate  the 
several  states  to  a  due,  regular  and  punctual 
obedience  to  this  confederation,  and  perform 
ance  of  their  several  duties  herein  expressed,  it 
is  declared,  that  if  any  state  shall  fail  in  causing 
its  military  quota  to  be  duly  embodied  :  or  fail 
in  causing  its  pecuniary  quota  or  proportion  of 
the  general  tax  throughout  the  United  States 
to  be  duly  levied  and  paid,  in  either  of  such 
cases  the  state,  so  making  default,  shall,  within 
twelve  months  thereafter,  pay  into  the  treasury 
office  of  America  for  the  use  of  the  United 
States,  in  the  first  case,  double  'the  sum  of 
money  necessary  to  its  military  quota,  at  the 
time  it  should  have  been  embodied ;  in  the 
second  case,  double  the  sum  of  money  its  pecu 
niary  quota  or  proportion  of  the  general  tax 
would  have  amounted  to,  if  due  payment  had 
been  made,  and  which  shall  be  estimated  from 
its  last  return  of  inhabitants  :  And  in  default 
of  the  due  payment  of  either  of  such  penalties, 
or  in  case  any  of  the  United  States  shall  in  any 
other  respect  violate  any  of  the  articles  of  this 
confederation,  the  congress  shall,  within  one 
year  thereafter,  declare  such  state  under  the 
ban  of  the  confederacy,  and  by  the  utmost 
vigor  of  arms  shall  forthwith  proceed  against 
such  state,  until  it  shall  have  paid  due  obedi 
ence,  upon  which  the  ban  shall  be  taken  off 
and  the  state  shall  be  restored  to  the  benefits 
of  this  confederacy. 

A  declaration  of  the  obligatory  nature  of  the 
confederation,  and  in  what  manner  it  is 
capable  of  any  alteration. 

Art.  9.  The  articles  of  this  confederation 
shall  be  strictly  binding  upon,  and  inviolably 
observed  by  the  parties  interested  therein  :  Nor 
shall  any  alteration  be  made  in  them,  or  any  of 
them,  unless  such  alteration  shall  be  agreed  to 
in  the  congress,  and  allowed  by  the  legislature 
of  every  state  in  the  confederacy. 

The  rules  by  which  the  confederation  shall  be 
understood. 

Art.  10.  To  avoid,  as  far  as  may  be,  the 
dangers  that  may  arise  from  an  erroneous  con 
struction  of  the  articles  of  this  confederation, 
and  to  prevent  a  contrariety  of  opinion  upon 
them,  they  shall  be  understood  according  to 
the  expression  and  not  otherwise.  And  all 
acts  of  the  congress  and  of  the  committee  of 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


369 


the  United  States,  shall  be  taken  only  in  the 
same  manner. 

In  solemn  confirmation  and  testimony  where 
of,  we,  the  delegates  for  the  states  of  New 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts-Bay,  Rhode-Island 
and  Providence  Plantations,  Connecticut,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware, 
Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  in  congress  of  the 
United  States,  being  duly  anthorized  thereunto 
by  acts  of  the  legislature  of  our  respective 
states,  for  them  and  on  their  behalf,  do  hereun 
to  sign  our  names  and  affix  our  seals  at  arms. 
Done  at  in  the  state  of 

this  day  of  in  the  year  of 

our  Lord  and  in  the  year 

of  the  sovereignty  of  America. 

You  must  have  observed,  Mr.  Chairman,  that 
my  ideas  have  been  collected  but  to  one  point 
— an  endeavor  to  render  the  plan  before  us  as 
little  liable  to  objection  as  I  can — I  have  not 
presumed  to  touch  its  general  scheme.  I  wish 
to  have  the  opening  of  a  congress  altered  from 
November  to  February,  March  or  April,  for  the 
reasons  I  have  assigned  :  I  have  chosen 
March,  a  month  particularly  distinguishing  the 
laudable  exertions  of  this  state  ;  a  month,  re 
markable  for  great  events  respecting  the  liber 
ties  of  America  ;  a  month,  including  the  date 
of  the  declension  of  Great  Britain  ;  a  month, 
that  ever  will  be  famous  for  the  patriotic  execu 
tion  of  a  Roman  tyrant — but  I  am  not  obstinate 
in  this  choice.  I  should  most  readily  admit 
the  famous  igth  of  April — the  commencement 
of  the  civil  war :  Or  the  4th  of  July,  the  illus 
trious  epocha  of  the  sovereignty  of  America  ! 
A  day  that  ought  to  be  held  in  everlasting  re 
membrance — a  day  that  naturally  points  out 
the  time  for  the  annual  meeting  of  the  congress 
of  America,  to  watch  for  the  permanency  of  its 
independence. 

I  have  increased  the  least  representation  in 
congress,  in  order  to  procure  a  more  numerous 
representation  of  the  states,  and  to  give  effi 
cacy  to  the  mode  of  trial  of  disputes  between 
the  states  :  for  a  numerous  representation  is  a 
guard  against  corruption  :  and  nothing  should 
be  left  at  hazard  that  can  be  avoided —  it  seems 
requisite  to  declare,  that  a  state  shall  be  bound 
by  the  act  of  the  congress,  or  the  committee  of 
the  United  States,  although  its  representation 
shall  not  be  present :  for  this  will  have  a  ten 
dency  to  urge  the  state  to  preserve  their  rep 
resentation.  I  think  it  is  utterly  impolitic  to 
exclude  a  member  of  congress  from  being  nom 
inated  to  an  office,  under  the  United  States  ; 
for  many  a  man,  may  be  capable  of  performing 
24  ' 


much  more  important  service  in  such  a  station 
than  in  congress.     But    I    have  already  given 
my  opinion   fully  on   that  subject.     It  seems 
necessary  to  the  dispatch  of  business,  that  the 
president  of  congress  should  also  be  the  presi 
dent  of  the  committee  of  the  United  States:  For 
this  body  is  to  proceed  in  the  business  begun 
by  the  other — congress  ought  to  have  the  power 
of  declaring  treason.     For  the  power  is  a  great 
means  of  guarding  against   internal  machina 
tions  :  and   it   naturally  appertains    to  such  a 
body — An   admiralissimo  is  necessary  ;  for  the 
navy   should   be  of  right   put  upon   an   equal 
footing  with  the  army,  in  point  of  rank  :  Amer 
ica  must  be  a  great   naval   power ;  and  every 
encouragement  should  be  given  that  she  should 
be  soon  so. — I  have   mentioned  a  war  and  ad 
miralty-office.     For  such  establishments  do  not 
seem   to  be  regularly  comprehended    in   the 
clause,  "  other  committees  and  civil  officers  ;" 
the  copulative  creating  an  idea  of  civil  commit 
tees — The  restriction  upon  the  congress  nomi 
nation  to  military  offices,  is  grounded  upon  the 
reasons  I  have   assigned  upon   that   head — It 
does  not  seem  any  way  expedient  that  congress 
should  have  a  power  of  emitting  or  borrowing 
more  money  than  the   sum  they  rate  as  neces 
sary  to  be  raised.     And,  therefore,  they  ought 
to  be  limited  in  that  point — courts  for  the  trial 
of  piracies,  and  receiving  appeals  in  cases  of 
capture,  should  be  erected  in  each  state.     Be 
cause   people  should   not   be  obliged   to   seek 
justice  at  a  distance,  when  they  can  with  pro 
priety  be  allowed  to  procure  it  at  home.     This 
is   a   fundamental   principle   of  natural   right, 
sanctioned   by  common  law  and  usage — The 
law  by  which  the  right  between  states  in  con 
troversy  is  to  be  determined,  ought  to  be  speci 
fied  ;  and  the  rule  of  right  not  left  to  the  caprice 
of  judges — we  cannot  but  remember  the  high 
authority  which  says,  "  Misera  servitus  est,  ubi 
jus  est,  vagum  aut  lucognittim."  *     The  eleven 
votes  seem  absolutely  necessary,  and  perfectly 
equitable.     Can   it   possibly  be   thought    rea 
sonable,  that  the  southern  interest  should  be 
judged  of  and   determined  upon,   without  the 
consent  of,  at  least,  half  the  states  principally 
forming  that  interest  ? — it  appears  evident  that 
the  free  white  inhabitants  only  of  each  of  the 
states,  should  be  entitled  to  the  privileges  and 
immunities  of  free   citizens  in  the  others  ;  and 
that  according  to  the  law  respecting  free  white 
inhabitants  in    such    states    respectively —the 
commercial  negotiations-  of  congress,  must  ever 
be  dilatory  in  their  progress,  and  their  views 
often  unattainable,  while  exposed  to  a  power, 

*Woful  is  that  subjection  where  the  law  is  uncertain 
or  unknown. — 4  Fust.  346. 


370 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


in  any  of  the  United  States,  to  lay  duties  and 
impositions  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  negotia 
tions  manifestly  to  the  general  advantage. 
Such  a  power  therefore  should  not  exist — The 
greatest  obstacles  should  be  laid  in  the  way  of 
public  officers  receiving  any  douceur  from  a 
foreign  prince — It  seems  absolutely  necessary, 
that  precedence  and  rank  should  be  established  ; 
for  without  it  jealousies  and  confusions  may 
arise — The  numeration  of  the  white  inhabitants 
ought  to  be  frequently  made,  and  with  the  ut 
most  accuracy.  This  being  the  best  means  of 
enabling  the  congress  to  wield  the  strength  of 
America  with  equal  justice  to  the  several  states, 
and  with  vigor  in  defence  of  the  confederacy. 
And  the  mode  in  which  this  numeration  shall 
be  made,  and  the  general  tax  shall  be  raised, 
ought  to  be  specified.  These  things  are  capa 
ble  of  being  regulated  in  an  easy,  plain,  equita 
ble  and  punctual  manner — The  unanimous  vote 
is  highly  expedient  in  the  case  of  treason.  For 
this  is  a  matter  of  the  most  serious  importance 
— The  eleven  voices  should  be  increased  as 
the  confederacy  is  enlarged.  For  neither  the 
northern  nor  southern  interest  should  be  af 
fected,  but  by  the  consent  of  at  least  half  the 
states  in  such  interests  respectively — The  penal 
article  justifies  itself — as  does  that  upon  the 
construction  of  the  confederation,  and  of  the 
acts  of  congress  and  of  the  committee  of  the 
United  States. 

In  addition,  sir,  to  this  concise  state  of  my 
reasons  for  some  of  the  principal  alterations 
I  have  made,  I  must  beg  leave  to  be  more  par 
ticular  in  my  arguments  in  support  of  others, 
which  I  have  much  at  heart  and  wish  to  make ; 
because  I  have  not  had  an  opportunity  of  intro 
ducing  them  with  propriety.  I  will  endeavor 
to  be  as  short  as  the  importance  of  the  subject 
^will  admit. 

I  have  excluded  those  from  the  privileges  of 
free  white  inhabitants  in  the  several  states  who 
refuse  to  take  up  arms  in  defence  of  the  con 
federacy — a  measure  in  my  opinion  perfectly 
just.  It  is  said,  example  before  precept.  Let 
the  Quakers  take  shelter  under  any  text  in 
scripture  they  please — the  best  they  can  find,  is 
but  a  farfetched  implication  in  their  favor.  How 
ever,  had  their  precept  been  in  more  positive 
terms,  I  think  I  have  an  example  at  hand  cap 
able  of  driving  them  from  such  a  cover.  We 
read  that  "  Jesus  went  into  the  temple  of  God, 
and  cast  out  all  them  that  sold  and  bought  in  the 
temple,  and  overthrew  the  tables  of  the  money 
changers."  Here  we  see  the  arm  of  the  flesh 
raised  up,  and  a  degree  of  hostile  violence  exer 
cised,  sufficient  to  the  end  in  view :  And  shall 
it  be  said  violence  is  not  justifiable  ?  Did  not 


God  command  Moses  to  number  "  all  that  were 
able  to  go  forth  in  war  in  Israel  ?  "  Did  not 
Moses,  by  the  Divine  order,  send  12,000  men  to 
cut  off  the  Midianites  :  And,  although  "  they 
slew  all  the  males,"  were  they  not  reprehended 
for  having  "  saved  all  the  women  alive  ?  "  Did 
not  the  Almighty  command  the  children  of 
Israel  that,  when  they  had  passed  into  Canaan, 
"  then  they  should  drive  out  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land  from  before  them  ? "  Did  not 
Moses  direct  that,  when  the  people  were 
"  come  nigh  unto  the  battle,"  the  priests  should 
encourage  them,  declaring  that  the  Lord  their 
God  was  with  them  "  to  fight  for  them  against 
their  enemies  ?  "  And  yet  the  Quakers  have 
sagaciously  found  out  a  few  words  which,  by 
implication,  they  contend*  restrain  from  doing 
now,  what  God  then  commanded  as  just.  The 
grand  principles  of  moral  rectitude  are  eternal. 
Dare  the  Quakers  contend  that  the  myriads, 
who  have  drawn  the  sword  since  the  Christian 
aera  are  damned  for  having  done  so  ?  And 
unless  they  maintain  this  position,  they  seem 
to  have  no  reasonable  excuse  for  their  creed 
and  conduct.  They  seem  to  have  forgot  that  it 
is  written,  "  how  hardly  shall  they  that  have 
riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."  Are  there 
any  people  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  more 
diligent  after  riches  than  Quakers  ?  We  in  this 
time  of  calamity,  know  it  to  our  cost.  Without 
doubt  there  are  many  valuable  men  of  that 
sect :  Men  of  that  persuasion  are  very  good 
citizens  in  time  of  peace  ;  but  it  is  their  princi 
ple  in  time  of  war  that  I  condemn.  Is  there  a 
Quaker  who  will  not  bring  his  action  for  tres 
pass  ?  Is  not  this  an  opposition  to  force.  Here 
they  forget  their  principle  of  meekness  and 
non  resistance.  The  great  lord  Lyttleton,  in 
his  dialogues  of  the  dead,  tells  us,  "  it  is  blas 
phemy  to  say  that  any  folly  could  come  from 
the  fountain  of  wisdom.  Whatever  is  incon 
sistent  with  the  great  laws  of  nature,  and  with 
the  necessary  state  of  human  society,  cannot 
be  inspired  by  the  divinity.  Self-defence  is  as 
necessary  to  nations  as  men.  And  shall  par 
ticulars  have  a  right  which  nations  have  not  ? 
True  religion  is  the  perfection  of  reason. 
Fanaticism  is  the  disgrace,  the  destruction  of 
reason."  Than  all  this  nothing  can  be  more 
just,  certain  and  evident.  Can  those  men  rea 
sonably  claim  an  equal  participation  in  civil 
rights  who,  under  any  pretence  whatsoever, 
will  not  assist  in  defending  them  ?  Shall  there 
be  a  people  maintained  in  the  possession  of 
their  riches  by  the  labor  and  blood  of  other 

*  Notwithstanding  the  precept,  "  he  that  hath  no  sword 
let  him  sell  his  garment  and  buy  one  " 

St.  Lu&e,  xxii.  a6. 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


371 


men  ?  Are  not  the  Quakers,  some  few  excepted 
the  most  inveterate  enemies  to  the  independ 
ence  of  America  ?  Have  they  not  openly  taken 
part  with  those  in  arms  against  us  ?  I  con 
sider  them  not  only  as  a  dead  weight  upon  our 
hand,  but  as  a  dangerous  body  in  our  bosom  ;  I 
would  therefore  gladly  be  rid  of  them.  I  al 
most  wish  to  "  drive  out  all  such  inhabitants  of 
the  land  from  before  us."  The  Canaanites  knew 
not  God.  But  the  Quakers  say  they  know  him 
and  yet,  according  to  the  idea  of  lord  Lyttleton, 
would  have  gross  folly  and  injustice  to  proceed 
from  the  fountain  of  wisdom  and  equity.  I 
entertain  these  sentiments  with  a  conscience 
perfectly  at  ease  on  this  point.  If  such  treat 
ment  shall  be  termed  persecution,  the  con 
scientious  Quakers  can  never  take  it  amiss, 
when  they  recollect  that  it  is  said,  "blessed  are 
they  who  are  persecuted  for  Christ's  sake."  I 
do  not  consider  this  as  such  a  persecution  :  But 
if  they  should,  can  they  be  displeased  at  being 
placed  in  a  situation  to  be  blessed  ?  And  I 
would  lay  it  down  as  a  truth,  that  whoever  of 
that  sect  should  be  offended  at  such  treatment 
would  deserve  to  be  expelled  our  society,  as 
the  buyers,  sellers  and  money  changers  were 
cast  out  of  the  temple.  I  am  not  afraid  of  any 
resentment,  when  it  is  my  duty  to  act  in  behalf 
of  the  rights  and  interests  of  America :  I  trust 
I  fully  demonstrated  this  resolution  when,  on 
the  25th  of  April,  1776,  I  had  the  honor,  in  the 
supreme  seat  of  justice,  to  make  the  first  public 
declaration  in  America,  that  my  countrymen 
owed  no  allegiance  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain. 
I  would  have  it  a  point  settled  in  the  con 
federation,  that  all  general  officers  shall  be 
elected — eradicating  the  idea  of  promotion  to 
that  rank  by  seniority.  The  idea  is  monarchi 
cal — I  do  not  recollect  that  it  was  admitted  in 
the  ancient  and  wise  republics.  The  great 
Hannibal,  when  very  young,  commanded  the 
Carthagenian  army  in  Spain  over  the  heads  of 
much  older  officers — and  the  first  Africanus 
thought  it  no  diminution  of  his  honor  to  serve 
under  his  brother  Asiaticus.  These  are  illus 
trious  instances  of  wise  policy  and  honorable 
moderation — it  is  needless  to  give  others  to  the 
same  point.  But,  at  present,  officers  expect  to 
rise  by  seniority  to  a  general  command  ;  and 
although  it  is  declared  that  a  generalissimo 
shall  be  elected,  yet  there  is  but  too  much  rea 
son  to  apprehend,  as  this  is  only  a  positive 
exception  to  the  idea  of  seniority,  and  therefore 
scarce  sufficient  to  eradicate  the  idea  of  pro 
motion  according  to  seniority,  that  the  next  in 
rank  will  always  expect  the  election,  and  will 
be  but  too  apt  to  consider  himself  as  ill  treated, 
if  passed  by.  Men,  now  a  days,  are  fond  of 


being  the  only  judges  of  their  own  importance 
and  merit — they  generally  overrate  both. 
They  seem  to  have  forgot  that  a  knowledge  of 
one's-self  is  the  greatest  and  most  difficult 
that  can  be  acquired  ;  and  that  it  scarcely  ever 
was  obtained  with  any  degree  of  precision. 
Men  are  not  called  into  public  stations  for  their 
own  honor  or  advantage — but  merely  for  the 
public  benefit.  The  public  are  therefore  the 
only  proper  judges  who  shall  serve  them,  and 
in  what  posts  particular  men  shall  be  placed  : 
And  besides  they  have  a  natural  right  to  the 
service  of  every  man  in  the  community.  It 
was,  I  think,  a  Spartan  maxim,  that  a  man  was 
not  born  for  himself,  but  for  his  country : 
Were  we  but  actuated  by  this  just  and  noble 
idea,  we  might  be  serenely  calm  and  perfectly 
safe  amidst  all  the  venial  exertions  of  Britain 
— nay,  of  the  rest  of  the  world  combined  against 
us  !  It  is  upon  this  principle  the  aborigines  of 
America  act.  They  rise  to  authority  and  com 
mand  by  merit  alone :  And  shall  Americans 
extirpate  a  glorious  plant,  the  natural  product  of 
their  country?  Shall  the  uncultivated  and  rude 
Indians,  think  more  justly  and  act  with  more 
dignity  than  we,  with  our  improved  understand 
ings  and  boasted  civilization  ?  This  very  ques 
tion  alone  should,  I  think,  recal  us  to  the  proper 
line  of  action,'  and  force  us  to  abandon  notions 
which  at  once  disgrace  our  country,  and  ex 
pose  it  to  ruin.  A  colonel  of  small  abilities 
can  do  but  little  harm,  in  comparison  of  a  weak 
general  at  the  head  of  a  division  of  the  army, 
leading  on  the  principal  attack,  or  covering  a 
precipitate  retreat. — Marshal  Saxe,  and  we 
need  no  better  authority,  says,  "  he  has  seen 
very  good  colonels  become  very  bad  generals." 
Can  we  then  expect  to  see  bad  colonels  become 
able  generals  !  But  it  is  a  point  admitted  by 
congress,  that  election  is  the  best  means  of 
procuring  an  able  commander  in  chief.  And 
why  should  not  this  principle  equally  hold  with 
respect  to  general  officers  ?  Can  the  generalis 
simo  be  so  well  enabled  to  defend  the  confed 
eracy,  as  by  being  furnished  with  those  men 
who  are  most  capable  of  executing  his  designs  ? 
It  was  upon  this  principle  the  invincible  Roman 
armies  were  formed.  That  government  was 
republic — ours  is  the  same :  I  would  most 
eagerly  adopt  a  principle,  sanctioned  as  it  is 
by  the  happy  experience  of  ages.  Montesquieu 
expressly  says,  "  the  people  are  very  capable  of 
electing  generals."  Of  right  they  ought  to  be 
permitted  to  exercise  all  those  powers  which 
they  are  capable  of  exercising  with  propriety. 

According  to  the  plan  before  us,  the  quotas 
of  the  respective  states,  which  I  would  term 
the  American  forces,  are  to  be  directed  in 


372 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


their  operations  by  congress. — If  it  is  meant, 
as  I  suppose  it  is,  that  there  shall  be  a  body  of 
troops  in  a  state,  entirely  independent  of  the 
command  of  the  civil  power,  I  shall,  with  the 
utmost  reluctance,  yield  my  assent  to  the  pro 
position  ;  which,  to  me,  appears  dishonorable  to 
the  sovereignty  of  the  state,  dangerous  to  its 
welfare,  and  inconsistent  with  the  superiority  of 
the  civil  power.  I  well  remember  the  feelings 
of  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
when  governor  Barnard  told  them  he  had  no 
authority  to  order  the  king's  ships  to  quit  the 
harbor  of  Boston.  If  he,  who  was  but  a  repre 
sentative,  ought,  as  the  supreme  civil  officer, 
to  have  a  power  directing  the  military  within 
his  government  a  fortiori,  the  several  states 
should  possess  that  power — they  are  sovereign 
states.  I  do  not  desire  that  they  should  abso 
lutely  direct  such  troops :  But  the  executive  in 
each  state  may,  for  this  purpose,  be  at  least 
the  representative  of  congress.  If  the  people 
are  to  be  ruined  by  a  blunder,  it  will  be  more 
natural  that  they  should  be  ruined  by  the  mis 
take  of  their  confidential  men,  than  by  that  of 
an  officer,  perhaps  a  stranger.  We  have  seen 
a  day,  when  the  salvation  of  this  capital,  under 
God,  depended,  in  a  manner,  upon  the  autho 
rity  of  the  civil  power  over  the  troops  in  garri 
son  :  I  cannot  but  wish  for  a  continuance  of 
that  command  which  once  has  saved  us ;  and 
which  is,  as  it  were,  inseparable  from  the  civil 
power. — I  cannot  bear  the  idea  of  surrender 
ing  it  so  totally  as  the  congress  seem  to  require. 
The  establishment  of  a  basis  for  the  Ameri 
can  naval  force  is  an  object  of  the  first  impor 
tance  ,  and  it  ought  not  to  be  omitted  in  the 
articles  of  confederation.  Congress  have  en 
deavored  to  establish  a  land  force ;  but  this, 
which  is  of  superior  consequence,  has  been 
passed  over  almost  in  silence.  For  the  first, 
they  have  provided  even  in  detail ;  but  for  the 
other  only  in  five  words — "  to  build  and  equip 
a  navy  " — never  was  so  important  a  subject 
more  expeditiously  dispatched.  The  Roman 
decree,  "  Dant  operam  consules,  ne  quid  detri- 
menti  capiat  respublica"  was  a  singular  model 
of  concise  energy :  But  it  must  now  cease  to 
be  so.  However,  I  should  have  been  better 
pleased  had  there  been  a  clause  added  to  our 
maritime  provision  for  manning  the  navy : 
This  is  the  grand  point — Britain  finds  it  to  be 
so.  She  can  equip  ships  with  ease  from  her 
yards  :  But  the  great  difficulty  is  to  man  them. 
It  is  not  with  the  phalanx  that  Greece  kept  the 
great  king  at  arm's  length — it  was  not  with  the 
legions  that  Rome  acquired  Sicily  and  con 
quered  Carthage — it  was  not  with  her  battal 
ions  that  Britain  awed  Europe  :  But  Salamis, 


Ecnoma,  and  La  Hogue,  were  naval  actions 
that  decided  the  superiority  of  nations.  If 
America  is  to  be  secure  at  home  and  respected 
abroad,  it  must  be  by  a  naval  force.  Shall  we 
then,  scarce  bestow  a  thought  upon  this  palla 
dium  of  our  safety  ?  Nature  and  experience  in 
struct  us,  that  a  maritime  strength  is  the  best 
defence  to  an  insular  situation.  Is  not  the  sit 
uation  of  the  United  States  insular  with  respect 
to  the  powers  of  the  old  world  :  the  quarter 
from  which,  alone,  we  are  to  apprehend  dan 
ger?  Have  not  the  maritime  states  the  great 
est  influence  upon  the  affairs  of  the  universe  ? 
Do  not  the  powers  of  Europe  strain  their 
nerves  to  render  themselves  formidable  at  sea? 
This,  then,  is  the  theatre,  as  I  may  say,  on 
which  America  must  appear,  if  she  intends  to 
appear  any  where,  w.ith  dignity  and  importance. 
Can  the  proper  means  of  her  doing  so,  be  bet 
ter  provided  for,  than  in  the  confederation  of 
her  United  States  ?  This  act  ought  to  contain 
all  the  great  lines  of  her  general  polity ;  other 
wise  it  must  be  imperfect.  The  nursery  of 
her  naval  power  cannot  be  better  established, 
than  by  having  it  made  uniform  in  all  the 
states.  What  advantage  does  not  Britain 
expect  from  her  marine  society  ?  What  op 
pression  does  not  her  people  suffer  from  the 
practice  of  pressing,  to  man  the  royal  fleets  ? 
An  absolute  outrage  upon  civil  liberty,  and  yet 
often  inadequate  to  the  end.  The  plan  I  have 
hinted  seems  calculated  to  avoid  these  evils. 
The  proportion  of  five  in  a  thousand  is  small — 
the  allurements  are  considerable  and  not  ex 
pensive — the  service  is  but  short.  And  yet, 
only  estimating  the  white  inhabitants  at  two 
millions,  after  the  first  sixteen  years,  ten 
thousand  seamen  will  annually  be  created,  to 
give  security  and  importance  to  America  ;  and 
in  other  seven  years,  in  all  probability  we 
should  have  more  than  double  the  number  of 
seamen,  whose  bounden  duty  it  would  be  to 
man  our  fleets,  that  Britain  in  her  most  formi 
dable  hour  ever  collected,  even  with  the  aid  of 
press  gangs.  The  object  seems  easy  to  be 
obtained — the  view  is  magnificently  great — • 
surely  it  is  worthy  of  being  seriously  contem 
plated. 

The  due  settlement  of  the  importance  of  the 
several  states  respecting  each  other,  is  a  mat 
ter  of  capital  moment.  In  congress  each  state, 
ought  of  natural  right,  to  have  a  weight  in  pro 
portion  to  its  importance.  Can  any  state  be 
justly  entitled  to  a  greater  degree  of  weight  ? 
Can  any  state  honestly  desire  to  figure  in 
plumes  at  another's  expense?— What  is  un 
derstood  by  representation  ?  Is  it  not  a  sign 
of  the  reality?  Ought  such  a  representation 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


373 


to  be  greater  than  the  reality  ?  Is  it  not  upon 
this  principle,  however  abused,  that  the  Eng 
lish  parliament  was  formed  ?  Has  nol*  this 
principle  been  adopted  in  all  the  houses  of 
assembly  that  ever  sat  upon  this  continent? 
Why  are  we  now  to  deem  that  unjust,  which 
till  now,  we  universally  acknowledged  as  a 
certain  and  beneficial  truth  ?  What  is  called 
the  rotten  part  of  the  English  constitution — is 
it  not  an  unequal,  and  therefore  an  unjust  re 
presentation  of  its  territory  and  wealth  ?  Has 
hot  lord  Chatham  been  censured  for  not  hav 
ing,  during  his  all-powerful  administration,  at 
tempted  to  cut  off  that  rotten  member  from 
the  body  politic — an  amputation  which  was 
thought  could  scarce  fail  of  being  performed 
when  undertaken  by  the  hand  of  so  great  a 
man  ?  Can  ingenuity  itself  find  an  important 
distinction  between  the  two  cases  ?  In  both, 
the  great  states  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
great  counties,  cities  and  boroughs  on  the 
other,  have  less  weight ;  and  the  small  states, 
counties,  cities  and  boroughs,  have  more  than 
they  ought — such  is  the  point  in  question. 
And  shall  we  designedly  contract  a  fatal  dis 
ease  which  we  know  has  long  been  consuming 
the  vital  vigor  of  the  English  constitution,  and 
is  but  too  likely  to  destroy  it  ?  Shall  our  wise 
men  persist  in  endeavoring  to  create  that  which 
it  would  have  been,  illustrious  as  he  is,  lord 
Chatham's  greatest  glory  to  have  endeavored 
to  destroy  ? — I  am  hurt  by  the  idea — the  con 
trast  fills  me  with  pain  and  anxiety — however, 
I  do  not  despair  of  relief.  There  is  a  resolu 
tion  of  the  first  congress  that  was  held  after 
the  British  blockade  of  Boston,  from  which  I 
have  great  expectation.  It  was  the  first  re 
solve  passed  by  that  venerable  body  ;  and  it  is 
couched  in  these  terms :  "  Resolved,  that,  in 
the  determining  questions  in  this  congress 
each  colony  or  province  shall  have  one  vote — 
the  congress  not  being  possessed  of,  or  at  pre 
sent  able  to  procure  proper  materials  for  as 
certaining  the  importance  of  each  colony." 
Hence,  it  is  evident,  what  was  their  idea  of  a 
just  representation ;  and  I  hope  it  will  yet  be 
adopted.  The  Lycian  republic  was  a  confed 
eration  of  three  and  twenty  towns  :  The  great 
ones  had  three  voices — the  middling  two — and 
the  small,  one :  contributing  to  the  public 
expense  in  proportion  to  their  representation. 
We  are  to  contribute  according  to  our  abilities, 
and  why  should  we  not  have  a  weight  in  pro 
portion  to  our  importance  ? — If  each  state 
must  have  the  same  weight,  let  each  contri 
bute  the  same  sum.  We  are  infant  states,  but 
•we  have  the  wisdom  of  ages  before  our  eyes. 
Let  us  not  despise  what  is  invaluable.  It  is 


the  best  chart  by  which  we  can  steer  along  the 
difficult  coast  of  government,  and  venture  to 
run  our  ship  of  state  into  safe  port.  By  this 
we  may  probably  find  an  haven,  that  will  in 
vite  the  people  of  all  nations  to  take  shelter  in 
it  against  the  furious  storms  of  tyranny.  But, 
without  it,  we  shall  be  but  too  likely  to  be  ship 
wrecked.  Let  us  therefore  adopt  uniform  and 
experienced  principles  throughout  our  voyage  : 
Let  us  not  trust  to  principles  which  clash  and 
cannot  form  a  perfect  system.  In  the  present 
case,  either  contribute  to  the  public  aid,  ac 
cording  to  ability,  and  have  a  corresponding 
weight — or.  have  equal  weight,  and  contribute 
the  same  sum  :  Either  is  a  perfect  system  : 
But  the  first  part  of  each  must  ever  continue 
irreconcilable  to  justice,  and  the  known  rule 
of  right.  The  sage  Montesquieu,  having  ma 
turely  considered  the  nature  of  a  confederated 
government,  particularly  the  Empire  and  Hol 
land,  says,  "were  I  to  give  a  model  of  an  ex 
cellent  confederate  republic,  I  would  pitch 
upon  that  of  Lycia."  Can  we  do  better,  sir, 
than  adopt  the  governing  principle  in  the  most 
perfect  model  of  a  confederacy  ? 

I  now  beg  leave  to  apply  this  principle  to  the 
rate  for  the  public  aid,  established  by  congress 
on  the  22d  of  November  last. 

New  Hampshire  .  .            .    200,000 

Massachusetts  Bay  .             .          820,000 
Rhode  Island  and  Providence 

Plantations   .  .           .      100,000 

Connecticut      .  .            .          600,000 

New  York    .  .            .   200,000 

New  Jersey      .  .            .          270,000 

Pennsylvania        .  .            .    620,000 

Delaware        .  .            .            60,000 

Maryland              .  .             .    520,000 

Virginia          .  .            .           890,000 

North  Carolina    .  .            .     250,000 

South  Carolina  .            .          500,000 
Georgia    ....      60,000 

5,000,000 

These  states  I  would  class  in  three  divisions. 
The  small  ones  should  be  those  not,  by  a  com 
plete  proportion,  exceeding  four  proportions  of 
the  smallest.  This  class  would,  for  the  present 
contain  Georgia,  North  Carolina,  Delaware, 
New  Jersey,  New  York,  Rhode  Island  and  New 
Hampshire.  The  middling  should  be  those 
states,  by  a  complete  proportion,  exceeding 
four,  and  not  in  the  same  manner  exceeding 
ten  proportions  :  This  class  would  comprehend 
South  Carolina,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania  and 
Connecticut.  The  great  states  should  be  as 
certained  by  their  exceeding  eleven  proportions 


374 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


of  the  smallest :  This  third  class  would  include 
Virginia  and  Massachusetts-Bay.  The  first 
class  should  have  three  delegates  to  each  state 
— the  second,  six — the  third,  nine — making  a 
congress  of  sixty-nine  delegates,  who  should 
by  a  majority  determine  all  questions  except 
those  contained  in  the  restrictions,  which  should 
be  determined  by  the  voices  of  the  states.  The 
representation  of  each  state  be  increased  or 
lessened  in  proportion  to  the  aid  actually  paid  ; 
and  this  ought  to  be  the  barometer  of  import 
ance,  stimulating  each  state  to  its  utmost  con 
tribution. 

These  sentiments  upon  the  subject  of  a  con 
federacy,  sir,  are  the  result  of  a  few  days'  re 
flection,  amidst  a  variety  of  business,  public 
and  private  :  It  is,  indeed,  not  long  since  the 
plan  from  the  congress  has  been  received.  I 
am  fully  sensible,  that  my  ideas,  now  thrown 
out,  will  admit  of  important  amendments,  and 
therefore  I  do  not  presume  to  offer  them  for 
consideration.  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  drop 
them  only  because  it  was  my  duty  to  do  so ; 
and  I  think,  if  the  states  shall  be  allowed  to 
vote  according  to  their  importance,  the  sketch 
I  have  drawn  might  form  a  beneficial  confede 
ration.  I  observe  the  plan  before  us  contains 
thirteen  articles  :  I  can  have  no  objection  to  a 
number  allusive  to  the  confederacy  proposed. 
My  sketch  contains  ten  articles.  Nor  can  I 
suppose  that  number  will  be  a  matter  of  diffi 
culty.  In  collecting  the  materials,  I  arranged 
them  under  sixteen  articles  ;  but  in  condensing 
the  subject,  it  accidentally  was  comprised  in  ten, 
although  I  strove  to  reach  the  confederated 
number.  However,  the  accident  instantly  made 
me  recollect,  that  the  divine  law  to  man  was 
in  ten  articles — and  that  the  Roman  law  was 
originally  written  on  ten  tables.  I  confess,  sir, 
I  was  not  displeased — I  am  sure  the  pious  men 
of  antiquity  would  have  considered  the  acci 
dental  ten  articles  of  confederation,  as  an  omen 
of  the  beneficial  nature  of  their  contents.  I 
may  add,  the  number  thirteen  may,  and  we  all 
hope  will,  cease  to  be  allusive  to  the  existing 
confederacy :  But  the  number  ten  will  ever 
allude  to  the  eternal  monuments  of  Divine 
justice,  and  human  wisdom.  Excuse,  sir,  this 
excursion  to  Sinai  and  Rome,  I  will  return  to 
my  proper  subject ;  nor  will  I  detain  your  at 
tention  but  a  moment. 

I  have  now,  Mr.  Chairman,  with  profound 
humility,  given  my  thoughts  upon  the  con 
federation  of  the  United  States.  Thoughts 
intent  upon  promoting  and  securing  the  inter 
ests  of  my  native  country — thoughts  equally 
solicitous  for  the  grandeur  of  America. — In  de 
livering  them,  I  trust  I  have,  on  that  point,  fully 


discharged  my  duty  to  my  constituents — to  the 
state — to  the  continent — to  posterity.  I  have 
no  intention  to  derogate  from  the  dignity  or  the 
merit  of  congress  :  I  have  zealously  supported 
the  one,  and  I  shall  ever  be  ready,  gratefully  to 
pay  any  tribute  of  applause  to  the  other.  It  is 
my  undoubted  privilege  as  a  freeman  to  speak 
plainly — it  is  my  bounden  duty  to  do  so — nor 
can  our  supreme  rulers,  constituted  only  for 
the  purpose  of  preserving  to  us  our  civil  rights, 
be  displeased  at  such  a  conduct.  The  occasion 
is  of  the  first  importance.  I  meant  to  speak  in 
terms  of  respect :  if  any  thing  of  a  contrary  na 
ture  escapes  me,  I  am  sorry  and  beg  pardon 
for  it — it  is  not  my  intention  to  offend  any  in 
dividual,  especially  the  supreme  authority.  But, 
sir,  I  scarce  think  the  moment  is  at  hand,  for 
the  ratification  of  a  confederacy.  Rather  than 
adopt  the  articles  before  us,  I  would  yet  a  little 
longer  trust  to  the  ties  that  now  bind  America 
in  union.  The  American  confederacy  should 
be  the  effect  of  wisdom,  not  of  fear,  an  act  of 
deliberation,  not  of  hurry.  It  should  be  a  noble 
monument  attracting  the  respect  of  the  world 
and  capable  of  drawing  forth  the  admiration 
and  gratitude  of  our  posterity. — Upon  the 
whole,  sir,  this  is  scarce  a  time  to  deliberate, 
but  it  is  certainly  a  time  to  act — it  is  my  great 
aim,  that  America  shall  be  independent — free 
— illustrious  and  happy  ! 

I  cannot  now,  sir,  sit  down  without  express 
ing  to  the  committee,  the  concern  I  feel  for 
having  taken  up  so  much  of  their  time  as  I 
have.  I  am  sensible  long  discourses  are  often 
heard. with  impatience.  But  the  stupendous 
importance  of  this  subject,  and  my  zeal  in  en 
deavoring  to  discharge  my  duty,  will  I  hope 
plead  in  my  favor.  I  beg  leave  to  return  my 
most  respectful  thanks,  for  the  attention  and 
patience  with  which  I  have  been  heard. 


DR.   RAMSAY'S   ORATION. 

AN  ORATION  ON  THE  ADVANTAGES  OF 
AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE,  SPOKEN  BE 
FORE  A  PUBLIC  ASSEMBLY  OF  THE  IN 
HABITANTS  OF  CHARLESTON,  IN  SOUTH 
CAROLINA,  ON  JULY  4TH,  1778. 

BY   DAVID  RAMSAY,  M.  B. 

Magnus  ab  integro  seculorum  nascitur  ordo. 
Jam  redit  et  Virgo,  redeunt  Saturnia  regna : 
Jam  nova  progenies,  coslo  dimittitur  alto. 

Huic  ego  nee  metas  rerum,  nee  tempora  pono  : 
Imperium  sine  fine  dedi.  Virgil. 

To  the   honorable   CHRISTOPHER    GADS- 
DEN,  esq.,  lieutenant  governor  of  the  state 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


375 


of  South  Carolina  ;  who,  fearless  of  danger, 
undaunted  by  opposition,  uninfluenced  by  the 
hope  of  reward,  in  the  worst  of  times,  has 
stood  among  the  foremost,  an  early,  active, 
zealous,  disinterested  champion,  in  the  cause 
of  American  liberty  and  independence — the 
following  oration,  originally  drawn  up  at 
his  request,  is  respectfully  inscribed  by  his 
humble  servant  the  author. 

Friends  and  fellow-citizens — Impressed 
with  the  deepest  sense  of  my  insufficiency,  I 
rise  to  address  you  with  peculiar  diffidence. 
When  I  consider  the  knowledge  and  eloquence 
necessary  to  display  the  glorious  prospects 
which  independence  opens  to  this  continent,  I 
am  stung  with  a  degree  of  self-reproach  for 
undertaking  the  important  task.  But  your 
known  attachment  to  the  cause  of  America  en 
courages  me  to  hope,  that  you  will  receive  with 
indulgence,  a  well  intended  exertion  to  promote 
her  welfare  ;  and  emboldens  me  to  cast  myself 
on  that  candor,  which  looks  with  kindness  on 
the  feeblest  efforts  of  an  honest  mind. 

We  are  now  celebrating  the  anniversary  of 
our  emancipation  from  British  tyrrany ;  an 
event  that  will  constitute  an  illustrious  aera  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  and  which  promises 
an  extension  of  all  those  blessings  to  our 
country,  for  which  we  would  choose  to  live,  or 
dare  to  die. 

Our  present  form  of  government  is  every 
way  preferable  to  the  royal  one  we  have  lately 
renounced.  It  is  much  more  favorable  to 
purity  of  morals,  and  better  calculated  to  pro 
mote  all  our  important  interests.  Honesty, 
plain-dealing,  and  simple  manners,  were  never 
made  the  patterns  of  courtly  behavior.  Arti 
ficial  manners  always  prevail  in  kingly  govern 
ments  ;  and  royal  courts  are  reservoirs,  from 
whence  insincerity,  hypocrisy,  dissimulation, 
pride,  luxury,  and  extravagance,  deluge  and 
overwhelm  the  body  of  the  people.  On  the 
other  hand,  republics  are  favorable  to  truth, 
sincerity,  frugality,  industry,  and  simplicity  of 
manners.  Equality,  the  life  and  soul  of  com 
monwealths,  cuts  off  all  pretensions  to  prefer 
ment,  but  those  which  arise  from  extraordinary 
merit :  Whereas  in  royal  governments,  he 
that  can  best  please  his  superiors,  by  the  low 
arts  of  fawning  and  adulation,  is  most  likely  to 
obtain  favor. 

It  was  the  interest  of  Great  Britain  to  encour 
age  our  dissipation  and  extravagance,  for  the 
two- fold  purpose  of  increasing  the  sale  of 
her  manufactures,  and  of  perpetuating  our 
subordination.  In  vain  we  sought  to  check 
the  growth  of  luxury,  by  sumptuary  laws; 


every  wholesome  restraint  of  this  kind  was 
sure  to  meet  with  the  royal  negative.  While 
the  whole  force  of  example  was  employed  to 
induce  us  to  copy  the  dissipated  manners  of 
the  country  from  which  we  sprung.  If,  there 
fore,  we  had  continued  dependent,  our  frugal 
ity,  industry,  and  simplicity  of  manners,  would 
have  been  lost  in  an  imitation  of  British  extra 
vagance,  idleness,  and  false  refinements. 

How  much  more  happy  is  our  present  situa 
tion,  when  necessity,  co-operating  with  the 
love  of  our  country,  compels  us  to  adopt  both 
public  and  private  economy  ?  Many  are  now 
industriously  clothing  themselves  and  their  fam 
ilies  in  sober  home-spun,  who,  had  we  remained 
dependent,  would  have  been  spending  their 
time  in  idleness,  and  strutting  in  the  costly 
robes  of  British  gaiety. 

The  arts  and  sciences,  which  languished 
under  the  low  prospects  of  subjection,  will  now 
raise  their  drooping  heads,  and  spread  far  and 
wide,  till  they  have  reached  the  remotest  parts 
of  this  untutored  continent.  It  is  the  happi 
ness  of  our  present  constitution,  that  all  offices 
lie  open  to  men  of  merit,  of  whatever  rank  or 
condition  ;  and  that  even  the  reins  of  state 
may  be  held  by  the  son  of  the  poorest  man,  if 
possessed  of  abilities  equal  to  the  important 
station.  We  are  no  more  to  look  up  for  the 
blessings  of  government  to  hungry  courtiers, 
or  the  needy  dependents  of  British  nobility  ; 
but  must  educate  our  own  children  for  these 
exalted  purposes.  When  subjects,  we  had 
scarce  any  other  share  in  government,  but  to 
obey  the  arbitrary  mandates  of  a  British  parlia 
ment  :  But  honor,  with  her  dazzling  pomp, 
interest,  with  her  golden  lure,  and  patriotism, 
with  her  heart-felt  satisfaction,  jointly  call  upon 
us  now  to  qualify  ourselves  and  posterity  for  the 
bench,  the  army,  the  navy,  the  learned  profes 
sions,  and  all  the  departments  of  civil  govern 
ment.  The  independence  of  our  country  holds 
forth  such  generous  encouragement  to  youth,  as 
cannot  fail  of  making  many  of  them  despise  the 
syren  calls  of  luxury  and  mirth,  and  pursue  hea 
ven-born  wisdom  with  unwearied  application. 
A  few  years  will  now  produce  a  much  greater 
number  of  men  of  learning  and  abilities,  than 
we  could  have  expected  for  ages  in  our  boyish 
state  of  minority,  guided  by  the  leading  strings 
of  a  parent  country. 

How  trifling  the  objects  of  deliberation  that 
came  before  our  former  legislative  assemblies, 
compared  with  the  great  and  important  mat 
ters,  on  which  they  must  now  decide  !  They 
might  then,  with  the  leave  of  the  king,  his  gov 
ernors  and  councils,  make  laws  about  yoking 
hogs,  branding  cattle,  or  making  rice ;  but 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


they  are  now  called  upon  to  determine  on 
peace  and  war,  treaties  and  negotiations  with 
foreign  states,  and  other  subjects  interesting  to 
the  peace,  liberty,  sovereignty,  and  independ 
ence  of  a  wide  extended  empire.  No  wonder 
that  so  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  learn 
ing  ;  for  ignorance  was  better  than  knowledge, 
while  our  abject  and  humiliating  condition  so 
effectually  tended  to  crush  the  exertions  of  the 
human  mind,  and  to  extinguish  a  generous 
ardor  for  literary  pre-eminence. 

The  times  in  which  we  live,  and  the  govern 
ments  we  have  lately  adopted,  all  conspire  to 
fan  the  sparks  of  genius  in  every  breast,  and 
kindle  them  into  flame.  When,  like  children, 
we  were  under  the  guardianship  of  a  foreign 
power,  our  limited  attention  was  naturally  en 
grossed  by  agriculture,  or  directed  to  the  low 
pursuit  of  wealth.  In  this  state,  the  powers  of 
the  soul,  benumbed  with  ease  and  indolence, 
sunk  us  into  sloth  and  effeminacy.  Hardships, 
dangers,  and  proper  opportunities  give  scope  to 
active  virtues,  and  rouse  the  mind  to  such  vigor 
ous  exertions,  as  command  the  admiration  of  an 
applauding  world.  Rome,  when  she  filled  the 
earth  with  the  terror  of  her  arms,  sometimes 
called  her  generals  from  the  plough.  In  like  man 
ner,  the  great  want  of  proper  persons  to  fill  high 
stations,  has  drawn  from  obscurity  many  illus 
trious  characters,  which  will  dazzle  the  world 
with  the  splendor  of  their  names.  The  neces 
sities  of  our  country  require  the  utmost  exer 
tions  of  all  our  powers  ;  from  which  vigorous, 
united  efforts,  much  more  improvement  of  the 
human  mind  is  to  be  expected,  than  if  we  had 
remained  in  a  torpid  state  of  dependence. 

Eloquence  is  the  child  of  a  free  state.  In 
this  form  of  government,  as  public  measures 
are  determined  by  a  majority  of  votes,  argu 
ments  enforced  by  the  arts  of  persuasion,  must 
evermore  be  crowned  with  success.  The  rising 
patriot,  therefore,  who  wishes  the  happiness 
of  his  country,  will  cultivate  the  art  of  public 
speaking.  In  royal  governments,  where  the 
will  of  one  or  a  few  has  the  direction  of  public 
measures,  the  orator  may  harangue,  but  most 
probably  will  reap  prosecution  and  imprison 
ment,  as  the  fruit  of  his  labor.  Whereas,  in 
our  present  happy  system,  the  poorest  school 
boy  may  prosecute  his  studies  with  increasing 
ardor,  from  the  prospect,  that  in  a  few  years 
he  may,  by  his  improved  abilities,  direct  the 
determinations  of  public  bodies,  on  subjects  of 
the  most  stupendous  consequence. 

Thus  might  I  go  through  the  whole  circle  of 
the  arts  and  sciences,  and  shew  that  while  we 
remained  British  subjects,  cramped  and  re 
strained  by  the  limited  views  of  dependence, 


each  one  of  them  would  dwindle  and  decay, 
compared  with  the  perfection  and  glory  in 
which  they  will  bloom  and  flourish,  under  the 
enlivening  sunshine  of  freedom  and  inde 
pendence. 

I  appeal  to  the  experience  of  all,  whether 
they  do  not  feel  an  elevation  of  soul,  growing 
out  of  the  emancipation  of  their  country,  while 
they  recollect  that  they  are  no  longer  subject 
to  lawless  will,  but  possess  the  powers  of  self- 
government,  and  are  called  upon  to  bear  an 
active  part  in  supporting  and  perpetuating  the 
sovereignty  of  the  United  States ;  and  in  organ 
izing  them  in  such  a  manner,  as  will  produce 
the  greatest  portion  of  political  happiness  to 
the  present  and  future  generations.  In  this 
elevation  of  soul,  consists  true  genius  ;  which  is 
cramped  by  kingly  government,  and  can  only 
flourish  in  free  states. 

The  attention  of  thousands  is  now  called 
forth  from  their  ordinary  employments  to  sub 
jects  connected  with  the  sovereignty  and  hap 
piness  of  a  great  continent.  As  no  one  can  tell 
to  what  extent  the  human  mind  may  be  culti 
vated,  so  no  one  can  foresee  what  great  events 
may  be  brought  into  existence,  by  the  exertions 
of  so  many  minds  expanded  by  close  attention 
to  subjects  of  such  vast  importance. 

The  royal  society  was  founded  immediately 
after  the  termination  of  the  civil  wars  in  Eng 
land.  In  like  manner,  may  we  not  hope,  as 
soon  as  this  contest  is  ended,  that  the  exalted 
spirits  of  our  politicians  and  warriors  will  en 
gage  in  the  enlargement  of  public  happiness,  by 
cultivating  the  arts  of  peace,  and  promoting 
useful  knowledge,  with  an  ardor  equal  to  that 
which  first  roused  them  to  bleed  in  the  cause 
of  liberty  and  their  country  ?  Their  genius, 
sharpened  by  their  present  glorious  exertions, 
will  naturally  seek  for  a  continuance  of  suitable 
employment.  Having,  with  well  tried  swords 
and  prudent  councils,  secured  liberty  and  inde 
pendence  for  themselves  and  posterity,  their 
great  souls  will  stoop  to  nothing  less  than 
concerting  wise  schemes  of  civil  polity  and  hap 
piness — instructing  the  world  in  useful  arts — 
and  extending  the  empire  of  science.  I  foresee 
societies  formed  of  our  heroes  and  statesmen, 
released  from  their  present  cares  ;  some  of 
which  will  teach  mankind  to  plough,  sow, 
plant,  build,  and  improve  the  rough  face  of  na 
ture ;  while  others  critically  examine  the  various 
productions  of  the  animal,  vegetable  and  min 
eral  kingdoms,  and  teach  their  countrymen  to 
"  look  througfi  nature  up  to  nature's  God." 
Little  has  been  hitherto  done  towards  com 
pleting  the  natural  history  of  America,  or  for 
the  improvement  of  agriculture,  and  the  peace- 


. 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


377 


ful  arts  of  civil  life  ;  but  who  will  be  surprised 
at  this,  who  considers  that  during  the  long  past 
night  of  150  years,  our  minds  were  depressed, 
and  our  activity  benumbed  by  the  low  pros 
pects  of  subjection  ?  Future  diligence  will 
convince  the  candid  world,  that  past  inatten 
tion  was  the  effect  of  our  dependent  form  of 
government. 

Every  circumstance  concurs  to  make  it  prob 
able,  that  the  arts  and  sciences  will  be  cultiva 
ted,  extended,  and  improved,  in  independent 
America.  They  require  a  fresh  soil,  and  al 
ways  flourish  most  in  new  countries.  A  large 
volume  of  the  book  of  nature,  yet  unread,  is 
open  before  us,  and  invites  our  attentive  peru 
sal.  Many  useful  plants,  unknown  to  the  most 
industrious  botanist,  waste  their  virtues  in  our 
desert  air.  Various  parts  of  our  country,  hith 
erto  untrod  by  the  foot  of  any  chemist,  abound 
with  different  minerals.  We  stand  on  the 
shoulders  of  our  predecessors,  with  respect  to 
the  arts  that  depend  on  experiment  and  obser 
vation.  The  face  of  our  country,  intersected 
by  rivers,  or  covered  by  woods  and  swamps, 
gives  ample  scope  for  the  improvement  of  me 
chanics,  mathematics,  and  natural  philosophy. 
Our  free  governments  are  the  proper  nurseries 
of  rhetoric,  criticism,  and  the  arts  which  are 
founded  on  the  philosophy  of  the  human  mind. 
In  monarchies,  an  extreme  degree  of  politeness 
disguises  the  simplicity  of  nature,  and  "  sets 
the  looks  at  variance  with  the  thoughts  ; "  in 
republics,  mankind  appear  as  they  really  are, 
without  any  false  coloring.  In  these  govern 
ments,  therefore,  attentive  observers  have  an 
opportunity  of  knowing  all  the  avenues  to  the 
heart,  and  of  thoroughly  understanding  human 
nature.  The  great  inferiority  of  the  moderns 
to  the  ancients  in  fine  writing,  is  to  be  referred 
to  this  veil  cast  over  mankind  by  the  artificial 
refinements  of  modern  monarchies.  From  the 
operation  of  similar  causes,  it  is  hoped,  that 
the  free  governments  of  America  will  produce 
poets,  orators,  critics  and  historians,  equal  to 
the  most  celebrated  of  the  ancient  common 
wealths  of  Greece  and  Italy. 

Large  empires  are  less  favorable  to  true 
philosophy,  than  small,  independent  states. 
The  authority  of  a  great  author  is  apt,  in  the 
former  case,  to  extinguish  a  free  enquiry,  and 
to  give  currency  to  falsehood  unexamined.  The 
doctrines  of  Confucius  were  believed  all  over 
China,  and  the  philosophy  of  Descartes,  in 
France.  But  neighboring  nations,  examining 
them  without  partiality  or  prepossession,  ex 
ploded  them  both.  For  the  same  reason,  our 
separate  states,  jealous  of  the  literary  reputa 
tion  of  each  other,  and  uninfluenced  by  any 


partial  bias,  will  critically  pry  into  the  merit  of 
every  new  opinion  and  system,  and  naught  but 
truth  will  stand  the  test,  and  finally  prevail. 

In  monarchies,  favor  is  the  source  of  prefer 
ment  ;  but,  in  our  new  forms  of  government, 
no  one  can  command  the  suffrages  of  the  peo 
ple,  unless  by  his  superior  merit  and  capacity. 

The  weight  of  each  state,  in  the  continental 
scale,  will  ever  be  proportioned  to  the  abilities 
of  its  representative  in  congress:  Hence,  an 
emulation  will  take  place,  each  contending  with 
the  other,  which  shall  produce  the  most  ac 
complished  statesmen.  From  the  joint  influ 
ence  of  all  these  combined  causes,  it  may 
strongly  be  presumed,  that  literature  will  flour 
ish  in  America ;  and  that  our  independence 
will  be  an  illustrious  epoch,  remarkable  for  the 
spreading  and  improvement  of  science. 

A  zeal  for  promoting  learning,  unknown  in 
the  days  of  our  subjection,  has  already  begun 
to  overspread  these  United  States.  In  the  last 
session  of  our  assembly,  three  societies  were 
incorporated  for  the  laudable  purpose  of  erect 
ing  seminaries  of  education.  Nor  is  the  noble 
spirit  confined  to  us  alone :  Even  now,  amidst 
the  tumults  of  war,  literary  institutions  are 
forming  all  over  the  continent,  which  must 
light  up  such  a  blaze  of  knowledge,  as  cannot 
fail  to  burn,  and  catch,  and  spread,  until  it  has 
finally  illuminated,  with  the  rays  of  science,  the 
most  distant  retreats  of  ignorance  and  bar 
barity. 

Our  change  of  government  smiles  upon  our 
commerce  with  an  aspect  peculiarly  benign 
and  favorable.  In  a  few  years,  we  may  expect 
to  see  the  colors  of  France,  Spain,  Holland, 
Prussia,  Portugal,  and  those  of  every  other 
maritime  power,  waving  on  our  coasts  ;  whilst 
Americans  unfurl  the  thirteen  stripes  in  the 
remotest  harbors  of  the  world.  Our  different 
climates  and  soils  produce  a  great  variety  of 
useful  commodities.  The  sea  washes  our 
coast  along  an  extensive  tract  of  two  thousand 
miles  ;  and  no  country  abounds  in  a  greater 
plenty  of  the  materials  for  ship-building,  or 
has  a  better  prospect  of  a  respectable  navy. 
Our  stately  oaks,  the  greater  part  of  which 
would  probably  have  withered  in  their  native 
spots,  had  we  remained  subjects,  will  now  be 
converted  into  ships  of  war,  to  ride  triumphant 
on  the  ocean,  and  to  carry  American  thunder 
around  the  world.  Whole  forests  will  be 
transformed  into  vessels  of  commerce,  en 
riching  this  independent  continent  with  the 
produce  of  every  clime  and  every  soil.  The 
wealth  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  will  flow 
in  upon  America:  Our  trade  will  no  longer 
be  confined  by  the  selfish  regulations  of  an 


3/8 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


avaricious  step-dame,  but  follow  wherever 
interest  leads  the  way.  Our  great  object,  as  a 
trading  people,  should  be  to  procure  the  best 
prices  for  our  commodities,  and  foreign  articles 
at  the  most  reasonable  rates  :  But  all  this 
was  cruelly  reversed  by  acts  of  the  British 
parliament  regulating  our  trade  in  a  subservi 
ency  to  their  own  emolument ;  our  interest 
being  entirely  out  of  the  question.  It  requires 
but  a  moment's  recollection  to  convince  us, 
that  as  we  now  have  a  free  trade  with  all  the 
world,  we  shall  obtain  a  more  generous  price 
for  our  produce,  and  foreign  goods  on  easier 
terms,  than  we  ever  could,  while  we  were 
subject  to  a  British  monopoly.*  The  boasted 
act  of  navigation  was  not  intended  for  our 
advantage,  nor  for  the  advantage  of  the  whole 
empire :  but  was  a  glaring  monument  of  the 
all-grasping  nature  of  unlimited  power.  To 
enumerate  all  the  ungenerous  restrictions  im 
posed  by  the  British  government  on  American 

*  That  British  merchants  gave  us  a  low  price  for  our 
commodities,  appears  from  this  single  consideration — they 
made  money  by  exporting  them  from  England.  If  they 
found  it  profitable  to  export  tobacco,  rice,  indigo,  etc., 
from  Britain,  it  must  be  in  consequence  of  their  allowing 
the  American  colonists  less  for  those  articles,  than  they 
would  have  brought  in  European  markets.  In  this  man 
ner,  much  of  our  produce  was  sold  to  the  consumers, 
loaded  with  double  freight,  insurance,  and  commission, 
over  and  above  the  additional  expense  of  unloading  and 
reloading  in  Great  Britain.  The  industrious  American 
planter  received  no  more  for  his  produce  than  the  pittance 
the  British  merchant,  after  reserving  his  own  profit,  was 
pleased  to  allow  on  the  sale  thereof,  brought  to  market 
charged  with  this  unnecessary  expense.  The  distance 
from  America  to  those  places  of  Europe  which  consumed 
our  staples,  is  generally  less  than  to  the  British  ports. 
From  all  which  premises,  it  appears  undeniably  evident 
that  American  commodities,  carried  directly  to  the  coun 
tries  where  they  are  consumed,  will  produce  much  more 
clear  profit  to  the  planter,  than  when  they  arrived  there 
by  the  circuitous  way  of  Great  Britain. 

The  same  reasoning  holds  good  with  respect  to  many 
articles  imported  from  England,  which  were  not  of  its  own 
growth  or  manufacture ;  for  they  would  come  much 
cheaper  from  the  countries  where  they  were  made,  than 
they  ever  could,  while  we  were  obliged  to  receive  them 
through  the  hands  of  British  merchants,  loaded  with 
double  freight,  insurance,  commissions,  and  sometimes 
with  duties.  If  interest  had  not  silenced  the  voice  of 
justice,  Great  Britain,  while  she  obliged  us  to  buy  at  her 
market,  would  have  considered  herself  as  bound  to  sup 
ply  our  wants  as  cheap  as  they  could  be  supplied  else 
where  :  But  instead  of  this,  she  not  only  fixed  exorbitant 
prices  on  articles  of  her  own  production,  but  refused  us 
the  liberty  of  buying  from  foreigners  those  articles  which 
her  own  markets  did  not  afford,  and  had  also  begun  the 
fatal  policy  of  super-adding  additional  duties.  What  a 
scene  of  oppression  does  this  open  to  us  ?  A  great  part 
of  the  price  for  which  our  commodities  sold  In  Europe 
was  lodged  in  British  coffers ;  and  we  were  obliged  to 
buy  manufactures  of  her  production,  at  prices  of  her  own 
fixing,  and  were  restrained  from  buying  even  those  arti 
cles  which  she  could  not  raise,  where  they  could  be  got 
cheapest :  Besides,  as  we  durst  not  buy  from  any  others, 
they  had  it  in  their  power  to  fix  any  advance  on  the  first 
cost  that  their  avarice  prescribed,  and  our  necessities 
would  permit. 


commerce,  would  be  an  outrage  on  patience. 
Time  only  will  unfold  the  whole  of  this  mystery 
of  iniquity.  A  few  years' experience  will  show 
such  an  amazing  difference  between  the  fet 
tered  trade  of  the  British  colonies,  and  the  ex 
tensive  commerce  of  the  free,  independent 
states  of  America,  as  will  cause  us  to  stand 
amazed,  that  we  so  long  and  so  patiently  sub 
mitted  to  so  many  and  such  cruel  restrictions. 
In  one  word,  so  long  as  we  remained  depen 
dent,  the  commerce  of  this  great  continent 
would  have  been  sacrificed  to  the  interest  of  a 
selfish  European  island. 

Carolina  had  particular  reason  to  wish  for 
the  free  trade  of  independence.*  The  whole 
island  of  Great  Britain  did  not  annually  con 
sume  more  than  5000  barrels  of  her  staple 
commodity,  rice,  and  yet  it  was  an  enumerated 
article.  The  charge  on  unloading,  reloading, 
and  shifting  every  cask,  owing  to  this  enumera 
tion,  was  immense,  though  it  served  no  other 
purpose,  but  to  procure  jobs  for  British  coopers 
and  wharfingers.  So  little  regard  was  had  to 
our  interest,  while  dependent,  that  this  enu 
meration  was  obtained  by  the  instigation  of  a 
captain  Cole:  Several  vessels  coming  from 
England  before  him,  and  purchasing  rice  for 
Portugal,  prevented  the  aforesaid  captain  of  a 
loading :  he  returned,  and  in  resentment  said, 
carrying  rice  to  Portugal  was  a  prejudice  to  the 
trade  of  England  :  And  on  this  single  instance, 
so  ill  founded  and  supported,  rice  became  an 
enumerated  article.!  How  could  our  trade 
flourish,  or  our  produce  bring  its  full  value, 
while  restricted  by  a  legislature  so  regardless 
of  our  interest,  that  a  petty  captain,  to  secure 
himself  a  cargo,  could  prevent  our  staple  from 
being  sent  directly  to  a  foreign  market  ? 

Union  with  Great  Britain  confined  us  to  the 
consumption  of  her  manufactures,  and  re 
strained  us  from  supplying  our  wants  by  the 
improvement  of  those  articles  which  the  bounty 
of  Heaven  had  bestowed  on  our  country.  So 
numerous  were  the  inhabitants  of  some  pro 
vinces,  that  they  could  not  all  find  employment 
in  cultivating  the  earth ;  and  yet  a  single  hat, 
manufactured  in  one  colony,  and  exported  for 
sale  to  another,  forfeited  both  vessel  and  cargo. 
The  same  penalties  were  inflicted  for  transport- 

*  The  tobacco  colonies  were  also  great  losers  by  the 
British  monopoly  of  trade.  The  duties  on  their  staple, 
amounted  to  more  than  half  the  first  cost.  Tobacco,  ex 
ported  from  Britain,  sold  in  European  markets  for  more 
than  double  the  sum  the  American  planter  received  for 
it.  If  it  should  become  a  custom  in  the  United  States,  to 
celebrate  the  anniversary  of  independence  with  an  annual 
oration,  it  is  hoped  that  some  citizen  of  Virginia  or  Mary 
land,  will  place  the  selfish  restrictions  on  the  exportation 
of  this  valuable  commodity,  in  a  proper  light. 

t  Gee  on  Trade,  page  21. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


379 


ing  wool  from  one  to  another.  Acts  of  parlia 
ment  have  been  made  to  prohibit  the  erection 
of  slitting  mills  in  America.  Thus  did  British 
tyranny  exert  her  power,  to  make  us  a  needy 
and  dependent  people,  obliged  to  go  to  her 
market,  and  to  buy  at  her  prices  ;  and  all  this 
at  a  time  when,  by  her  exclusive  trade,  she 
fixed  her  own  prices  on  our  commodities. 

How  widely  different  is  our  present  situation  ? 
The  glorious  fourth  of  July,  MDCCLXXVI, 
repealed  all  these  cruel  restrictions,  and  holds 
forth  generous  prices,  and  public  premiums,  for 
our  encouragement  in  the  erection  of  all  kinds 
of  manufactures. 

We  are  the  first  people  in  the  world  who 
have  had  it  in  their  power  to  choose  their  own 
form  of  government.  Constitutions  were  forced 
on  all  other  nations,  by  the  will  of  their  con 
querors  ;  or,  they  were  formed  by  accident, 
caprice,  or  the  over-bearing  influence  of  pre 
vailing  parties  or  particular  persons  :  But  hap 
pily  for  us,  the  bands  of  British  government 
were  dissolved  at  a  time  when  no  rank  above 
that  of  freemen  existed  among  us,  and  when 
we  were  in  a  capacity  to  choose  for  ourselves 
among  the  various  forms  of  government,  and 
to  adopt  that  which  best  suited  our  country 
and  people.  Our  deliberations,  on  this  occa 
sion,  were  not  directed  by  the  over-grown 
authority  of  a  conquering  general,  or  the  ambi 
tion  of  an  aspiring  nobility,  but  by  the  pole- 
star  of  public  good,  inducing  us  to  prefer  those 
forms  that  would  most  effectually  secure  the 
greatest  portion  of  political  happiness  to  the 
greatest  number  of  people.  We  had  the  ex 
ample  of  all  ages  for  our  instruction,  and  many 
among  us  were  well  acquainted  with  the  causes 
of  prosperity  and  misery  in  other  governments. 

In  times  of  public  tranquility,  the  mighty 
have  been  too  apt  to  encroach  on  the  rights  of 
the  many :  But  it  is  the  great  happiness  of 
America,  that  her  independent  constitutions 
were  agreed  upon  by  common  consent,  at  a 
time  when  her  leading  men  needed  the  utmost 
support  of  the  multitude,  and  therefore  could 
have  no  other  object  in  view,  but  the  formation 
of  such  constitutions  as  would  best  suit  the 
people  at  large,  and  unite  them  most  heartily 
in  repelling  common  dangers. 

As  the  strength  of  a  people  consists  in  their 
numbers,  our  separate  states,  sensible  of 
their  weakness,  were  actually  excited  by  self- 
interest  to  form  such  free  governments,  as 
would  encourage  the  greatest  influx  of  inhabi 
tants.  In  this  manner,  an  emulation  has 
virtually  taken  place  in  all  the  thirteen  states, 
each  contending  with  the  others,  who  should 
form  the  freest  constitution.  Thus  independ 


ence  has  been  the  fruitful  parent  of  govern 
ments  formed  on  equal  principles,  more  favora 
ble  to  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  the  gov 
erned,  than  any  that  have  yet  been  recorded  in 
the  annals  of  history. 

While  we  were  dependent  on  Britain,  our 
freedom  was  out  of  the  question  ;  for  what  is  a 
free  state,  but  one  that  is  governed  by  its  own 
will  ?  What  shadow  of  liberty  then  could  we 
possess,  when  the  single  NO  of  a  king,  3000 
miles  distant,  was  sufficient  to  repeal  any  of 
our  laws,  however  useful  and  salutary ;  and 
when  we  were  to  be  bound  in  all  cases  whatso 
ever  by  men,  in  whose  election  we  had  no  vote 
who  had  an  interest  opposed  to  ours,  and  over 
whom  we  had  no  control  ?  The  wit  of  man 
could  not  possibly  devise  any  mode  that  would 
unite  the  freedom  of  America  with  Britain's 
claim  of  unlimited  supremacy.  We  were  there 
fore  reduced  to  the  alternative  of  liberty 
and  independence,  or  slavery  and  union.  We 
wisely  chose  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot,  which 
tied  old  Britain  to  the  new,  and  to  assume  our 
independent  station  among  the  empires  of  the 
world.  Britain,  had  she  honestly  intended  it, 
was  incapable  of  governing  us  for  the  great 
purposes  of  government.  Our  great  distance, 
and  other  local  circumstances,  made  it  impos 
sible  for  her  to  be  sufficiently  acquainted  with 
our  situation  and  wants  :  But,  admitting  it 
was  in  her  power,  we  had  no  reason  to  expect 
that  she  would  hold  the  reins  of  government 
for  any  other  end  but  her  own  advantage. 
Human  nature  is  too  selfish,  too  ambitious,  for 
us  to  expect,  that  one  country  will  govern 
another,  for  any  but  interested  purposes.  To 
obtain  the  salutary  ends  of  government,  we 
must  blend  the  interests  of  the  people  and  their 
rulers  ;  or  else,  the  former  will  infallibly  be 
sacrificed  to  the  latter.  Hence,  the  absurdity  of 
our  expecting  security,  liberty  and  safety,  while 
we  were  subjects  of  a  state  a  thousand  leagues 
distant. 

Connection  with  Britain  involved  us  in  all 
her  quarrels  ;  and  such  is  the  fluctuating  state 
of  her  politics,  that  we  could  not  long  expect  a 
political  calm.  In  vain  did  the  Atlantic  ocean 
interpose ;  for,  by  our  unnatural  union,  we 
were  necessarily  dragged  into  every  war  which 
her  pride  or  ambition  might  occasion.  Besides, 
as  she  considered  the  colonies  as  her  property, 
what  was  to  hinder  her  from  ceding  any  or  all 
of  them  to  the  different  European  states.  Thus, 
while  we  had  no  independent  government  of 
our  own,  we  might  have  been  the  support  of 
various  contending  powers,  and  tossed  about, 
like  a  foot-ball,  from  one  to  the  other. 

Our  independence  will  naturally  tend  to  fill  our 


PRINCIPLES   AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


country  with  inhabitants.  Where  life,  liberty, 
and  property,  are  well  secured,  and  where  land 
is  easily  and  cheaply  obtained,  the  natural  in 
crease  of  people  will  much  exceed  all  European 
calculations.  Add  to  this,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  old  world,  becoming  acquainted  with  our 
excellent  forms  of  government,  will  emigrate 
by  thousands.  In  their  native  lands,  the  hard- 
earned  fruits  of  uninterrupted  labor  are  scarcely 
equal  to  a  scanty  supply  of  their  natural  wants, 
and  this  pittance  is  held  on  a  very  precarious 
tenure  :  while  our  soil  may  be  cheaply  pur 
chased,  and  will  abundantly  repay  the  toil  of 
the  husbandman,  whose  property  no  rapacious 
landlord  dare  invade.  Happy  America  !  whose 
extent  of  territory,  westward,  is  sufficient  to  ac 
commodate  with  land  thousands  and  millions 
of  the  virtuous  peasants,  who  now  groan  be 
neath  tyranny  and  oppression  in  three  quarters 
of  the  globe.  Who  would  remain  in  Europe,  a 
dependent  on  the  will  of  an  imperious  landlord, 
when  a  few  years' industry  can  make  him  an 
independent  American  freeholder  ? 

Such  will  be  the  fruits  of  our  glorious  revolu 
tion,  that  in  a  little  time  gay  fields,  adorned 
with  the  yellow  robes  of  ripening  harvest,  will 
smile  in  the  remotest  depths  of  our  western 
frontiers,  where  impassable  forests  now  frown 
over  the  uncultivated  earth.  The  face  of  our 
interior  country  will  be  changed  from  a  barren 
wilderness  into  the  hospitable  abodes  of  peace 
and  plenty.  Cities,  too,  will  rise  majestic  to 
the  view,  on  those  very  spots  which  are  now 
howled  over  by  savage  beasts  and  more  savage 
men. 

The  population  of  this  country  has  been 
heretofore  very  rapid  ;  but  it  is  worthy  of  obser 
vation,  that  this  has  varied,  more  or  less,  in 
proportion  to  the  degrees  of  liberty  that  were 
granted  to  the  different  provinces,  by  their  re 
spective  charters.  Pennsylvania  and  New 
England,  though  inferior  in  soil,  being  blest 
originally  with  the  most  free  forms  of  govern 
ment,  have  outstripped  others  in  the  relative 
increase  of  their  inhabitants.  Hence  I  infer, 
that  as  we  are  all  now  completely  free  and  in 
dependent,  we  shall  populate  much  faster  than 
we  ever  have  done,  or  ever  would,  while  we 
were  controled  by  the  jealous  policy  of  an  in 
significant  island. 

We  possess  thousands  and  millions  of  acres, 
which  we  may  sell  out  to  new  settlers,  on  terms 
very  easy  to  them,  and  yet  sufficient  to  defray 
the  whole  expense  of  the  present  war.  When 
the  quit-rents,  formerly  paid  to  the  king,  shall 
be  appropriated  to  the  benefit  of  the  inde 
pendent  states,  they  will  fill  our  treasuries  to 
so  great  a  degree,  that  foreign  nations,  know 


ing  that  we  abound  in  the  sinews  of  war,  will 
be  afraid  to  provoke  us.  In  a  few  years,  when 
our  finances  are  properly  arranged,  the  stop 
page  of  those  sums  which  were  formerly  drained 
from  us,  to  support  the  pride  and  extravagance 
of  the  British  king,  will  be  an  ample  provision, 
without  taxes,  for  defraying  the  expense  of  our 
independent  governments. 

It  is  difficult  to  compute  the  number  of  advan 
tages  arising  from  our  present  glorious  strug 
gle  ;  harder  still,  perhaps  impossible,  precisely 
to  ascertain  their  extent.  It  has  attracted  the  at 
tention  of  all  Europe  to  the  nature  of  civil  lib 
erty,  and  the  rights  of  the  people.  Our  constitu 
tions,  pregnant  with  the  seeds  of  liberty  and 
happiness,  have  been  translated  into  a  variety 
of  languages,  and  spread  far  and  wide.  Who 
can  tell  what  great  events,  now  concealed  in  the 
womb  of  time,  may  be  brought  into  existence 
by  the  nations  of  the  old  world  emulating  our 
successful  efforts  in  the  cause  of  liberty  ?  The 
thrones  of  tyranny  and  despotism  will  totter, 
when  their  subjects  shall  learn  and  know,  by 
our  example,  that  the  happiness  of  the  people 
is  the  end  and  object  of  all  government.  The 
wondering  world  has  beheld  the  smiles  of 
Heaven  on  the  numerous  sons  of  America, 
resolving  to  die  or  be  free :  Perhaps  this  noble 
example,  like  a  wide  spreading  conflagration, 
may  catch  from  breast  to  breast,  and  extend 
from  nation  to  nation,  till  tyranny  and  oppres 
sion  are  utterly  extirpated  from  the  face  of 
the  earth.* 

The  tyrants  and  landlords  of  the  old  world, 
who  hold  a  great  part  of  their  fellow  men  in 
bondage,  because  of  their  dependence  for  land, 
will  be  obliged  to  relax  of  their  arbitrary 
treatment,  when  they  find  that  America  is  an 
asylum  for  freemen  from  all  quarters  of  the 
globe.  They  will  be  cautious  of  adding  to  the 
oppressions  of  their  poor  subjects  and  tenants, 
lest  they  should  force  them  to  abandon  their 
country,  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  sweets  of 
American  liberty.  In  this  view  of  the  matter, 
I  am  confident  that  the  cause  of  America 

*  Britain  will  eventually  lose  less  by  our  independence 
than  is  commonly  supposed.  The  king  and  ministers  may 
be  cured  of  their  hist  of  domination,  and  will  be  deprived 
of  influence  and  the  means  of  corruption.  While  she  had 
a  monopoly  of  our  trade,  it  encouraged  idleness  and  ex 
travagance  in  her  manufacturers  ;  because  they  were  sure 
of  a  market  for  their  goods,  though  dear  and  ill  made. 
But,  as  independence  will  bestow  our  commerce  on  those 
who  most  deserve  it,  this  will  be  the  means  of  introducing 
frugality  and  industry  among  her  laboring  poor.  Our 
population  will  be  so  much  the  more  rapid  for  our  free 
governments,  that,  in  my  humble  opinion,  that  part  of 
our  trade  which  will  fall  to  the  share  of  Great  Britain,  if 
she  has  the  wisdom  to  conclude  a  speedy  peace,  will  be 
more  to  her  advantage  than  a  monopoly  of  the  whole  of 
it,  if  we  had  remained  subjects. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


381 


is  the  cause  of  human  nature,  and  that  it 
will  extend  its  influence  to  thousands  who 
will  never  see  it,  and  procure  them  a  mitigation 
of  the  cruelties  and  oppressions  imposed  by 
their  arbitrary  task-masters. 

If  such  be  the  glorious  consequences  of  inde 
pendence,  who  can  be  so  lost  to  ever)'  generous 
sentiment,  as  to  wish  to  return  under  royal 
domination  ?  Who  would  not  rather  count  it 
an  honor  to  stand  among  the  foremost,  in  doing 
and  suffering  in  a  cause  so  intimately  con 
nected  with  the  happiness  of  human  nature  ? 
Away  with  all  the  peevish  complaints  of  the 
hardness  of  the  times,  and  the  weight  of  the 
taxes.  The  prize  for  which  we  contend,  would 
be  cheaply  purchased  with  double  the  expense 
of  blood,  treasure  and  difficulty,  it  will  ever 
cost  us. 

Our  independent  constitutions,  formed  on 
the  justest  principles,  promise  fair  to  give  us 
the  most  perfect  protection  to  life,  liberty  and 
property,  equally  to  the  poor  and  the  rich.  As 
at  the  conflagration  of  Corinth,  the  various 
melted  metals  running  together,  formed  a  new 
one,  called  Corinthian  brass,  which  was  supe 
rior  to  any  of  its  component  parts :  in  like 
manner,  perhaps  it  is  the  will  of  Heaven,  that 
a  new  empire  should  be  here  formed,  of  the  dif 
ferent  nations  of  the  old  world,  which  will  rise 
superior  to  all  that  have  gone  before  it,  and 
extend  human  happiness  to  its  utmost  possible 
limits.  None  can  tell  to  what  perfection  the 
arts  of  government  may  be  brought.  May  we 
not  therefore  expect  great  things  from  the 
patriots  of  this  generation,  jointly  co-operating 
to  make  the  new  born  republic  of  America  as 
complete  as  possible  ?  Is  it  not  to  be  hoped, 
that  human  nature  will  here  receive  her  most 
finished  touches  ?  That  the  arts  and  sciences 
will  be  extended  and  improved  ?  That  relig 
ion,  learning,  and  liberty,  will  be  diffused  over 
this  continent  ?  and  in  short,  that  the  Ameri 
can  editions  of  the  human  mind  will  be  more 
perfect  than  any  that  have  yet  appeared  ? 
Great  things  have  been  achieved  in  the  infancy 
of  states  ;  and  the  ardor  of  a  new  people,  rising 
to  empire  and  renown,  with  prospects  that 
tend  to  elevate  the  human  soul,  encourages 
these  flattering  expectations. 

Should  any  puny  politician  object,  that  all 
these  prospects  are  visionary,  till  we  are  cer 
tain  of  independence,  I  reply,  that  we  have 
been  in  possession  of  it  for  two  years,  and  are 
daily  more  able  to  support  it,  and  our  enemies 
less  able  to  overset  it.  When  we  first  dared  to 
contend  with  Britain,  we  were  a  loose,  dis 
jointed  people,  under  no  other  government  but 
that  of  a  well-regulated  mob.  If  in  these  cir 


cumstances,  we  were  able  to  defend  ourselves, 
what  may  we  not  expect,  when  we  can  draw 
forth  our  whole  strength  in  a  regular,  constitu 
tional  manner  ?  If  the  maiden  courage  of  our 
new  levies,  has  successfully  withstood  the  well 
trained  bands  of  our  enemies,  can  we  distrust, 
when  three  campaigns  have  made  them  equal 
in  discipline,  with  those  whom  they  are  to  con 
tend  ?  Such  is  the  situation  of  Britain  that 
were  we  only  able  to  keep  up  the  appearance 
of  an  army,  she  could  not  afford  to  protract  the 
war.  But  instead  of  this,  our  troops  are  more 
numerous,  better  disciplined,  clothed  and 
armed,  than  they  ever  were.  The  most  timid 
may  dismiss  all  their  doubts,  since  Louis  the 
XVI.  of  France,  that  illustrious  protector  of  the 
rights  of  human  nature,  with  a  magnanimity 
worthy  of  himself,  has  guaranteed  to  us  our 
independency.  If  Britain  could  not  subdue 
America,  when  she  stood  single  and  alone, 
how  abortive  must  all  her  attempts  prove, 
when  we  are  aided  by  the  power  of  the  great 
est  European  monarch  ? 

The  special  interposition  of  Providence  in 
our  behalf,  makes  it  impious  to  disbelieve  the 
final  establishment  of  our  heaven-protected  in 
dependence.  Can  any  one  seriously  review  the 
beginning,  progress,  and  present  state  of  the 
war,  and  not  see  indisputable  evidence  of  an 
over-ruling  influence  on  the  minds  of  men,  pre 
paring  the  way  for  the  accomplishment  of  this 
great  event  ? 

As  all  the  tops  of  corn,  in  a  waving  field, 
are  inclined  in  one  direction  by  a  gust  of  wind, 
in  like  manner,  the  governor  of  the  world  has 
given  one,  and  the  same  universal  bent  of  in 
clination  to  the  whole  body  of  our  people.  Is 
it  a  work  of  man  that  thirteen  states,  fre 
quently  quarreling  about  boundaries,  clashing 
in  interests,  differing  in  policy,  manners,  cus 
toms,  forms  of  government,  and  religion,  scat 
tered  over  an  extensive  continent,  under  the 
influence  of  a  variety  of  local  prejudices,  jeal 
ousies,  and  aversions,  should  all  harmoniously 
agree,  as  if  one  mighty  mind  inspired  the 
whole  ? 

Our  enemies  seemed  confident  of  the  impos 
sibility  of  our  union  ;  our  friends  doubted  it ; 
and  all  indifferent  persons,  who  judged  of 
things  present,  by  what  has  heretofore  hap 
pened,  considered  the  expectation  thereof  as 
romantic.  But  He,  who  sitteth  at  the  helm  of 
the  universe,  and  who  boweth  the  hearts  of  a 
whole  nation  as  the  heart  of  one  man,  for  the 
accomplishment  of  his  own  purposes,  has 
effected  that,  which  to  human  wisdom  and 
foresight  seemed  impossible.  A  review  of  the 
history  of  America,  from  its  first  discovery  to 


382 


PRINCIPLES   AND  ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION, 


the  present  day,  forces  upon  us  a  belief,  that 
greater  blessings  are  reserved  for  this  conti 
nent,  than  she  ever  could  have  possessed  whilst 
lying  low  at  the  foot  of  an  European  island  ? 

It  has  never  yet  been  fairly  tried  how  far  the 
equal  principles  of  republican  government 
would  secure  the  happiness  of  the  governed. 
The  ancients,  unacquainted  with  the  present 
mode  of  taking  the  sense  of  the  people  by  rep 
resentatives,  were  too  apt,  in  their  public  meet 
ings,  to  run  into  disorder  and  confusion.  The 
distinction  of  patricians  and  plebeians,  laid  the 
foundation  of  perpetual  discord  in  the  Roman 
commonwealth.  If  the  free  states  of  Greece 
had  been  under  the  control  of  a  common  su 
perintending  power,  similar  to  our  continental 
congress,*  they  could  have  peaceably  decided 
their  disputes,  and  probably  would  have  pre 
served  their  freedom  and  importance  to  the 
present  day.  Happily  for  us,  warned  by  expe 
rience,  we  have  guarded  against  all  these  evils. 
No  artificial  distinction  of  ranks  has  been  suf 
fered  to  take  place  among  us.  We  can  peace 
ably  convene  a  state  in  one  small  assembly  of 
deputies,  representing  the  whole  in  an  equal 
proportion.  All  disputes  between  the  different 
states,  and  all  continental  concerns,  are  to  be 
managed  by  a  congress  of  representatives  from 
each.  What  a  security  for  liberty,  for  union, 
for  every  species  of  political  happiness  !  Small 
states  are  weak,  and  incapable  of  defence,  large 
ones  are  unwieldy,  greatly  abridge  natural  lib 
erty,  and  their  general  laws,  from  a  variety  of 
clashing  interests,  must  frequently  bear  hard  on 
many  individuals.  But  our  confederation  will 
give  us  the  strength  and  protection  of  a  power 
equal  to  that  of  the  greatest ;  at  the  same  time 

*  Their  council  of  Amphictyones  in  some  things,  re 
sembled  our  congress  ;  but  their  powers  were  too  limited. 
This  suggests  a  hint,  that  a  consideration  of  the  United 
States,  on  principles  that  vest  the  congress  with  ample 
powers,  is  most  likely  to  perpetuate  our  republican  gov 
ernments  and  internal  tranquility.  The  union  of  indepen 
dent  commonwealths,  under  one  common  head,  is  an 
application  of  the  social  compact  to  states,  and  requires 
powers  proportionally  enlarged.  Treason  in  our  govern 
ments,  puts  on  a  new  aspect,  and  may  be  committed  by  a 
state  as  well  as  an  individual ;  and  therefore  ought  to  be 
clearly  defined,  and  carefully  guarded  against. 

To  give  permanency  to  our  confederation  on  republican 
principles,  the  following  regulations  seem  expedient. 
That  congress  should  have  a  power  to  limit  or  to  divide 
large  states,  and  to  erect  new  ones.  To  dispose  of  the 
money  arising  from  quit-rents  and  vacant  lands,  at  least 
till  all  the  expenses  of  the  war  are  sunk.  To  establish  a 
general  intercourse  between  the  states,  by  assigning  to 
each,  one  or  more  manufactories,  with  which  it  should 
furnish  the  rest ;  so  as  to  create  a  reciprocal  dependence 
of  each,  upon  the  whole  :  To  erect  a  great  continental 
university,  where  gentlemen  from  all  the  states  may  form 
an  acquaintance,  receive  the  finishing  touches  of  educa 
tion,  and  be  inspired  with  continental  liberality  of  mind, 
superior  to  local  prejudices,  and  favorable  to  a  confedera 
ted  union. 


that,  in  all  our  internal  concerns,  we  have  tnc 
freedom  of  small  independent  commonwealths. 
We  are  in  possession  of  constitutions  that  con 
tain  in  them  the  excellencies  of  all  forms  of 
government,  free  from  the  inconveniences  of 
each ;  and  in  one  word,  we  bid  fair  to  be  the 
happiest  and  freest  people  in  the  world  for  ages 
yet  to  come. 

When  I  anticipate  in  imagination  the  future 
glory  of  my  country,  and  the  illustrious  figure 
it  will  soon  make  on  the  theatre  of  the  world, 
my  heart  distends  with  generous  pride  for 
being  an  American.  What  a  substratum  for 
empire  !  compared  with  which,  the  foundation 
of  the  Macedonian,  the  Roman,  and  the  British, 
sink  into  insignificance.  Some  of  our  large 
states  have  territory  superior  to  the  island  of 
Great  Britain ;  while  the  whole,  together,  are 
little  inferior  to  Europe  itself.  Our  independ 
ence  will  people  this  extent  of  country  with 
freemen,  and  will  stimulate  the  innumerable 
inhabitants  thereof,  by  every  motive,  to  perfect 
the  acts  of  government,  and  to  extend  human 
happiness. 

I  congratulate  you  on  your  glorious  prospects. 
Having  for  three  long  years  weathered  the 
storms  of  adversity,  we  are  at  length  arrived 
in  view  of  the  calm  haven  of  peace  and  security. 
We  have  laid  the  foundations  of  a  new  empire, 
which  promises  to  enlarge  itself  to  vast  dimen 
sions,  and  to  give  happiness  to  a  great  conti 
nent.  It  is  now  our  turn  to  figure  on  the  face 
of  the  earth,  and  in  the  annals  of  the  world. 
The  arts  and  sciences  are  planted  among  us, 
and,  fostered  by  the  auspicious  influence  of 
equal  governments,  are  growing  up  to  matu 
rity  ;  while  truth  and  freedom  flourish  by  their 
sides.  Liberty,  both  civil  and  religious,  in  her 
noon-tide  blaze,  shines  forth  with  unclouded 
lustre  on  all  ranks  and  denominations  of  men. 

Ever  since  the  flood,  true  religion,  literature, 
arts,  empire  and  riches,  have  taken  a  slow  and 
gradual  course  from  east  to  west,  and  are  now 
about  fixing  their  long  and  favorite  abode  in 
this  new  western  world.  Our  sun  of  political 
happiness  is  already  risen,  and  hath  lifted  its 
head  over  the  mountains,  illuminating  our 
hemisphere  with  liberty,  light,  and  polished 
life.  Our  independence  will  redeem  one  quar 
ter  of  the  globe  from  tyranny  and  oppression, 
and  consecrate  it  the  chosen  seat  of  truth, 
justice,  freedom,  learning  and  religion.  We  are 
laying  the  foundation  of  happiness  for  count 
less  millions.  Generations  yet  unborn  will 
bless  us  for  the  blood-bought  inheritance,  we 
are  about  to  bequeath  them.  Oh  happy  times  ! 
Oh  glorious  days !  Oh  kind,  and  indulgent, 
bountiful  Providence,  that  we  live  in  this  highly 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


383 


favored  period,  and  have  the  honor  of  helping 
forward  these  great  events,  and  of  suffering  in 
a  cause  of  such  infinite  importance  ! 


AN   ORATION 

DELIVERED  BY  THE  LATE  DR.  LADD, 

Before  his  excellency  the  governor  of  South 
Carolina,  and  a  number  of  other  gentlemen, 
on  Monday,  the  fourth  of  July,  1785,  the 
celebration  of  American  independence  —  at 
Charleston,  South  Carolina. 

"  Tell  ye  your  children  of  it,  and  let  your  children  tell 
their  children,  and  their  children  another  generation." 

A  prophet  divinely  inspired,  and  deeply  im 
pressed,  with  the  importance  of  an  event  which 
had  just  taken  place,  breaks  into  this  exclama 
tion — an  exclamation  happily  adapted  to  the 
present  occasion  ;  tending  to  perpetuate  the 
remembrance  of  an  event  which  is  written 
upon  the  heart  of  every  true  American — every 
friend  to  his  country. 

When  we  consider  this  as  the  natal  anniver 
sary  of  our  infant  empire,  we  shall  ever  be  led 
to  call  into  grateful  recollection  the  fathers  of 
our  independence :  those  to  whom  (under 
God)  we  are  indebted  for  our  political  existence 
and  salvation.  A  short  eulogium  upon  them, 
their  merits,  and  their  honors,  will  be  the  sub 
ject  of  the  present  discourse ;  for  what  more 
happy  subject  can  be  chosen  on  this  day,  than 
the  great  authors  of  our  liberty  ?  they  !  who 
"digged  it  out  with  their  swords  !  " — who,  in 
the  grim  face  of  death,  amidst  perils  innumer 
able,  gave  the  purchase  of  their  blood — who 
built  it  upon  their  tombs,  and  whose  spirits, 
bending  from  the  sky,  point  with  pleasure  to 
its  foundation.  But  where  am  I  ?  Fairy 
scenes  open  around  me,  and  I  seem  to  press 
the  ground  of  enchantment.  Behold  yon  vast 
structure,  which  towers  to  the  very  heavens  ! 
Is  it  not  cemented  with  blood,  and  built  upon 
the  slaughtered  carcass  of  many  a  gallant 
soldier  ?  on  its  broad  front,  AMERICAN  INDE 
PENDENCE  shines  conspicuous,  in  characters 
of  crimson  ! — surrounding  nature  appears  ani 
mated  !  the  very  tombs  accost  the  traveller, 
and  seemingly  repeat — 

"  How  beautiful  is  death  when  earn'd  by  virtue  ! 
Who  would  not  sleep  with  those  ?  what  pity  is  it 
That  we  can  die  but  once  to  save  our  country !  " 

Add.  Cato. 

The  eventful  history  of  our  great  revolution, 
is  pregnant  with  many  a  source  of  sublime 
astonishment !  Succeeding  ages  shall  turn 


the  historic  page,  and  catch  inspiration  from 
the  era  of  1776;  they  shall  bow  to  the  rising 
glory  of  America  ;  and  Rome,  once  mistress  of 
the  world,  shall  fade  on  their  remembrance. 

The  commencement  of  our  struggles,  their 
progress,  and  their  periods,  will  furnish  a  use 
ful  lesson  to  posterity — they  will  teach  them 
that  men — desperate  for  freedom — united  in 
virtue — and  assisted  by  the  God  of  armies,  can 
never  be  subdued.  The  youthful  warrior — the 
rising  politician,  will  tremble  at  the  retrospect, 
and  turn  pale  at  the  amazing  story.  America 
— the  infant  America,  all  defenceless  as  she  is, 
is  invaded  by  a  most  powerful  nation  :  her 
plains  covered  by  disciplined  armies,  her  har 
bors  crowded  with  hostile  fleets.  Destitute  of 
arms  ;  destitute  of  ammunition ;  with  no  dis 
cipline  but  their  virtue,  and  no  general  but 
their  God,  behold  our  brave  countrymen  aris 
ing  to  resistance — see  the  first  encroachments 
of  hostility  withstood  at  Lexington  ;  and  O 
Britain  !  write  that  page  of  thy  history  in  crim 
son,  and  margin  it  with  black,  for  thy  troops 
fled ! — routed  with  stones,  with  clubs,  and 
every  ignominious  weapon — they  fled  from  our 
women  ;  they  were  defeated  by  our  children. 

At  this  very  time,  a  member  of  the  British 
parliament  could  assert  in  open  day,  that  a 
single  regiment  of  disciplined  troops,  would 
march  through  America,  and  crush  the  rebels 
to  subjection.  The  experiment  was  tried  ;  it 
was  reiterated,  and  the  success  was  every  way 
worthy  of  the  rash  attempt.  Such  has  the  in 
consistency  been  of  theory  and  practice,  relative 
to  American  subjugation. 

But  were  freemen — were  Americans  to  be 
intimidated  by  the  military  parade  of  hostile 
regiments  ?  Answer,  ye  Britons !  for  by  a 
bloody  experience,  have  ye  been  taught  the  re 
verse  ;  by  a  bloody  experience  were  ye  taught 
never  to  oppose  men  desperate  for  their  coun 
try  ;  and  by  that  bloody  experience  will  your 
children,  and  your  children's  children  acquire 
instruction.  They  will  learn  wisdom  from  the 
history  of  defenceless  Americans,  who  when 
threatened  with  the  loss  of  their  liberties,  (lib 
erties  !  which  were  coeval  with  their  existence, 
and  dearer  than  their  lives)  arose  in  resistance, 
and  were  nerved  by  desperation  !  what  was  the 
consequence?  the  invaders  were  repulsed,  their 
armies  captured,  their  strong  works  demolished, 
and  their  fleets  driven  back.  Behold  the  terri 
ble  flag,  that  glory  of  Great  Britain,  drooping 
all  tarnished  from  the  mast,  bewails  its  sullied 
honors. 

This,  my  countrymen,  by  assistance  super 
human,  have  we  at  length  accomplished — I  say 
superhuman  assistance,  for  one  of  us  has 


384 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


"  chased  a  thousand,  and  put  ten  thousand  to 
flight.  The  Lord  of  hosts  was  on  our  side,  the 
God  of  the  armies  of  Israel ; "  and  at  every 
blow  we  were  ready  to  exclaim  with  glorious 
exultation,  "  The  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of 
Washington." 

Yet  how  did  even  America  despair,  when 
the  protecting  hand  of  her  great  leader  was 
one  moment  withheld !  Witness  our  veteran 
army  retreating  through  the  Jerseys  ;  an  almost 
total  withering  to  our  hopes,  while  America 
trembled  with  expectation — trembled  !  though 
shielded  and  protected  by  the  King  of  kings, 
and  her  beloved  Washington. 

But  brilliant,  rapid,  and  successive  have  our 
conquests  been :  while  the  gloomy  "  times 
that  try  men's  souls,"  were  few,  and  of  short 
duration.  America,  born  to  be  independent, 
gathered  strength  amidst  surrounding  difficul 
ties.  She  rose,  like  Antaeus,  vigorous  from 
every  fall.  Her  resentment  was  accompanied 
by  the  winged  bolt  of  destruction.  It  flashed, 
like  lightning  from  heaven,  against  her  ene 
mies,  and  blasted  as  it  smote.  Opposition  like 
this,  what  mortals  could  withstand  ?  for  it  is 
written  in  the  volumes  of  eternity,  that  even 
Britain,  that  hardy,  that  gallant  nation,  was 
unequal  to  the  conflict. 

Yet,  while  we  justly  admire  the  valor  and 
success  of  our  veteran  armies,  let  us  shed  one 
tear  to  the  memory  of  those  "  unfortunately 
brave,"  who  were  martyrs  in  common  cause; 
and,  while  we  celebrate  their  actions — while 
we  glory  in  their  virtues — let  us  deplore  the 
catastrophe,  and  lament  their  misfortunes. 

What  catastrophe  ?  what  misfortunes  ?  Par 
don  me,  my  respected  auditors.  Let  your 
indulgent  bosoms  plead  in  my  favor  ;  and  re 
member,  that  the  timid  perturbation  of  a  young 
orator,  before  so  august  an  assembly,  must 
lead  him  into  frequent  improprieties.  I  said 
we  should  lament  their  misfortunes.  I  beg 
leave  to  correct  that  too  hasty  expression  ;  for 
surely  it  is  no  misfortune  to  the  brave  man,  that 
he  has  died  for  his  country.  Quite  the  reverse  ; 
it  is  the  highest  acme  of  military  ambition,  and 
plays  around  the  soldier's  character  with  a 
sun-beam  of  never  ending  glory. 

"  The  gallant  man  though  slain  in  fight  he  be, 
Yet  leaves  his  country  safe,  his  nation  free  ; 
Entails  a  debt  on  all  the  grateful  state  ; 
His  own  brave  friends  shall  glory  in  his  fate, 
His  wife  live  honor'd,  all  his  race  succeed  ; 
And  late  posterity  enjoy  the  deed." 

Pope's  Homer. 

The  fall  of  the  brave  man  is  by  no  means 


the  death  of  the  vulgar :  it  is  the  birth-day  of 
his  glory,  and  opens  to  a  blessed  immortality. 
There  the  hoary  warrior  who  has  learned  the 
rudiments  of  his  profession  under  Washington 
or  Wolfe,  Montcalm  or  the  great  Montgomery, 
shall  then  commence  his  soldiership  ;  then,  en 
listed  in  the  armies  of  Michael,  that  archangelic 
chieftain,  he  shall  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord  : 
nor  shall  his  earthly  fame  be  unremembered, 
but,  when  the  historic  leaf  shall  shiver  in  the 
blaze — when  all  human  work,  the  great  Iliad 
itself,  receive  their  finish  from  the  fire,  the 
soldier's  memory  must  survive,  for  it  is  regis 
tered  in  heaven. 

Yes  !  ye  shall  live  in  fame,  ye  shades  of 
Warren,  of  Mercer,  of  Laurens,  and  the  brave 
Montgomery  !  and  when  in  remotest  ages,  pos 
terity  shall  call  forth  every  distinguishing  char 
acteristic  of  human  excellence,  the  genius  of 
your  country  shall  bend  his  drooping  head,  and 
one  tear,  one  grateful  tear  be  shed  to  your  re 
membrance.  Then  the  young  warrior,  emulous 
of  your  fates  and  your  fame,  shall  in  specula 
tion.*  It  contradicts  our  habits  and  opinions 
in  every  other  transaction  of  life.  Do  we  feel 
his  burning  soul — and  while  he  unsheaths  the 
patriotic  blade,  he  shall  exclaim  with  tran 
sport — 

"  How  beautiful  is  death  when  earn'd  by  virtue." 

But  peace  to  your  manes,  ye  dear  departed 
brethren  !  ye  have  trodden  the  path  of  honor 
before  us ;  and  obtained  the  crown  of  glory. 
Brethren,  it  is  all  your  own,  for  bravely  did  ye 
obtain  it.  May  the  green  sod  lie  light  on  your 
breasts,  and  sweet  your  slumbers  be  in  the 
dark  house  appointed  for  all  living. 

"  So  sleep  the  brave  who  sink  to  rest, 
With  all  their  country's  wishes  blest  ; 
When  spring,  with  dewy  fingers  cold 
Returns  to  deck  their  hallow'd  mould 
She  there  shall  dress  a  sweeter  sod 
Than  fancy's  feet  have  ever  trod. 
By  fairy  hands  their  knell  is  rung  ; 
By  forms  unseen  their  dirge  is  sung  ; 
There  honor  comes,  a  prilgrim  grey, 
To  bless  the  turf  that  wraps  their  clay, 
And  freedom  shall  a  while  repair, 
To  dwell  a  weeping  hermit  there." — Collins. 

But  we  turn  to  take  a  view  of  those  worthy 
authors  of  our  independence,  who  have  sur 
vived  the  contest. — A  living  patriot  !  Where  is 
the  bosom  that  does  not  vibrate  with  pleasure 
at  the  sound  ?  The  dead  can  only  receive  the 
tribute  of  remembrance ;  and  long  shall  they 
possess  it ;  but  the  living  are  entitled  to  our 
warmest  thanks,  our  united  benedictions. — 
Here  words  must  fail ;  for  who  can  duly  praise 

*  An  omission  in  original  print- 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


385 


the  living  patriots  of  America?  Alas  !  barely 
to  recount  their  names,  their  merits,  and  their 
honors,  would  exhaust  the  powers  of  language  ; 
to  do  them  justice  is  above  all  Ciceronian 
rhetoric,  and  calls  for  the  eloquence  of  angels. 

You,  and  you,  with  a  very  respectable  part 
of  my  audience,  have  fronted  danger  in  the 
bloody  field. — With  a  truly  masonic  fortitude 
have  we  assisted  in  the  structure  of  our  inde 
pendence  ;  and  ye  will  tell  the  story  to  your 
children  and  your  children  shall  tell  their  child 
ren,  and  their  children  another  generation.  Thus 
shall  your  honors  succeed  with  undiminished 
lustre  to  posterity ;  and  future  writers  shall 
praise  the  brave  man,  and  crown  their  eulogium 
with — "  his  father  was  an  American." 

Allow  me,  my  auditors,  one  claim  on  your 
attention  to  the  beloved  name  of  Washington  : 
for  how,  upon  a  celebration  like  this,  can  the 
name  of  Washington  be  distant  ?  he  whose 
unbiassed  virtue,  firm  patriotism,  unequalled 
abilities,  and  steady  perseverance,  are  written 
upon  the  hearts  of  his  brethren. — Though 
retired  from  the  theatre  of  action,  in  the  full 
splendor  of  meridian  glories,  he  can  never  be 
lost  to  his  country — we  see  him  in  our  liberties, 
and  shall  forever  see  him,  while  that  opus  mag 
num,  the  independence  of  America,  remains  in 
existence. 

Where  are  those  who  admire  the  unexampled 
patriot,  and  "  in  whose  ears  the  name  of  a 
soldier  sounds  like  the  name  of  a  friend  ? " 
O  that  upon  this  day  ye  would  join  your  friendly 
Voices  with  mine,  to  eternize  the  name  of 
Washington  ! — The  august  veteran  of  Prussia 
has  himself  led  the  way,  and  left  it  upon  ever 
lasting  record,  that  "  Frederic  was  the  oldest 
general  in  Europe,  when  Washington  was  the 
greatest  general  upon  earth." 

But  I  proceed  to  pay  that  attention  due  to  the 
memory  of  another  distinguished  character : 
For  to  what  is  America  more  indebted  than  to 
the  gallant  exertions  of  her  beloved  Greene  ?  in 
whose  amiable  character  the  great  soldier  and 
the  good  citizen  are  so  conspicuously  blended 
— Long  shall  this  country  in  particular  retain 
his  memory — long  as  the  palmetto,  that  emble 
matic  tree,  shall  flourish  in  Carolina. 

"  To  thee,  O  Greene,  each  muse  her  tribute  pays, 
Great  chieftain  crown'd  with  never  fading  bays  ; 
Thy  worth,  thy  country,  ever  grateful,  owns, 
Her  first  of  warriors  and  her  best  of  sons." 

***** 
But  see  the  long  list !  upon  which  the  names 
of  Gates,  Lincoln,  the  brave  Stark,  and  the 
gallant  Wayne  are  conspicuously  lettered  ! 
Men  whose  names  shall  descend  to  posterity 
with  co-eternal  honor  ;  among  them  shall  the 

25 


brave  Sullivan  be.  often  mentioned ;  and  the 
name  of  St.  Clair  though  sullied  by  malign 
censure,  will  shine  untarnished  there ;  and 
there  shall  the  venerable  name  of  Putnam  be 
found,  that  hoary  chieftain,  who, 

"  The  fame  of  battle  spread, 
When  fourscore  years  had  blanch'd  his  laurel'd  head.' 

But  there  is  no  end  of  this  !  the  list  of  deserv 
ing  characters  is  swelling  to  my  view,  and  I 
shall  grow  hoarse  in  repeating  it ;  I  will  there 
fore  quit  the  attempt,  and  hasten  to  conclude  : 

"  For  should  I  strive  to  mention  ev'ry  name, 
With  which  my  country  swells  the  list  of  fame, 
Amidst  the  labor  of  the  arduous  tale. 
My  time,  my  periods,  and  my  voice  would  fail." 

Previous  to  my  quitting  this  subject,  permit 
me,  gentlemen  of  South  Carolina,  to  observe, 
that  the  very  man  who  fills  the  seat  of  your 
government  for  the  present  year,  must  long 
remain  high  in  his  country's  honors — honors, 
which  he  has  most  bravely  acquired. — The 
gallant  defence  of  Fort  Moultrie  will  decorate 
the  page  of  many  a  future  history,  and  give  at 
once  immortal  fame  to  the  hero  and  historian. 

And  now,  my  most  respected  auditors,  hav 
ing  in  some  measure  paid  our  debt  of  acknowl 
edgment  to  the  visible  authors  of  our  independ 
ence,  let  us  lay  our  hands  upon  our  hearts  in 
humble  adoration  of  that  monarch,  who  (in  the 
place  of  George  the  third)  was  this  day  chosen 
to  reign  over  us :  let  us  venerate  the  great 
generalissimo  of  our  armies,  from  whom  all 
triumphs  flow  :  and  be  it  our  glory,  that  not 
George  the  Third,  but  Jehovah  the  first,  and 
the  last,  is  king  of  America — He  who  dwelleth 
in  the  clouds,  and  whose  palace  is  the  heaven 
of  heavens  : — For  independent  as  we  are  with  re 
spect  to  the  political  systems  of  this  world,  we 
are  still  a  province  of  the  great  kingdom,  and 
fellow  subjects  with  the  inhabitants  of  heaven. 


PATRIOTIC  CHARGE 

OF  JUDGE  PENDLETON,  TO  THE  GRAND 
JURORS  OF  GEORGETOWN,  CHERAWS,  AND 
CAMDEN  DISTRICTS,  1787,  UPON  THE  CON 
DITION  OF  SOCIETY. 

Gentlemen  of  the  grand  jury — Is  this  fatal 
passion  for  sudden  riches,  so  generally  pre 
valent  among  us,  to  extinguish  every  sentiment 
of  political  and  moral  duty?  Is  it  to  be  ex 
pected,  that  one  assembly  after  another  will  be 
on  the  side  of  the  debtor  ?  No,  gentlemen : 
the  period  is  not  far  distant,  when  the  laws  of 
the  state  must  be  voluntarily  obeyed,  or  ex 
ecuted  by  force.  No  society  ever  long  en- 


386 


PRINCIPLES    AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


dured  the  miseries  of  anarchy,  disorder,  and 
licentiousness.  The  most  vile  despotism  will 
be  embraced  in  preference  to  it.  The  nations, 
from  which  we  derive  our  origin,  afford  innu 
merable  examples  of  this.  I  will,  however, 
mention  but  one.  When  the  parliament  of 
England  had  dethroned  and  beheaded  that 
faithless  tyrant,  Charles  the  first — subdued  all 
their  enemies  at  home  and  abrpad — and 
changed  their  monarchy  into  a  republic — one 
would  have  supposed,  that  an  assemblage  of  as 
great  talents  as  ever  adorned  human  nature, 
which  so  highly  distinguished  the  patriots  of 
that  time,  could  not  fail  of  forming  a  wise  and 
just  government,  and  of  transmitting  it  to  their 
posterity.  But  the  event  shewed  that  the  dis 
orderly  temper  of  the  people,  occasioned  by 
the  civil  war,  would  not  bear  the  strong  curb 
of  legal  authority.  Expedient  after  expedient 
was  tried :  and  government  assumed  many 
different  shapes  to  humor  their  passions  and 
prejudices,  and  lead  them  to  a  willing  obedi 
ence  ;  but  all  to  no  purpose.  The  public  dis 
orders  daily  increased.  Every  little  club  of 
politicians  were  for  making  laws  for  the  whole 
nation.  The  fair  form  of  equal  and  legal 
liberty  became  defaced  by  a  thousand  fanciful 
and  impracticable  whimsies,  until  the  general 
distress  became  insupportable.  What  fol 
lowed  ?  The  very  people,  who,  a  few  years 
before  had  dazzled  the  world  with  the  splendor 
of  their  actions,  invited  back,  and  enthroned 
the  son  of  that  king,  whom  they  had  formerly 
put  to  death  ;  gave  him  carte  blanche  to  do  as 
he  pleased ;  and  seemed  to  have  forgotten, 
that  they  had  ever  lost  a  drop  of  blood,  or  spent 
a  shilling,  in  defence  of  their  liberty. 

Gentlemen,  let  us  not  lose  sight  of  this  awful 
precedent.  To  acquire  freedom  is  nothing,  in 
comparison  to  a  wise  and  profitable  use  of  it. 
Nothing  can  be  more  certain,  than  that  Great 
Britain  would  eagerly  seize  any  opportunity  to 
compass  our  destruction.  She  would,  to-mor 
row,  pour  her  fleets  and  armies  into  this  coun 
try,  particularly  the  southern  states,  if  the  great 
powers  of  Europe  could  be  so  allied  and  con 
nected,  as  to  secure  her  from  a  hostile  confed 
eracy.  The  history  of  those  nations  every  where 
shews  us,  what  trivial  causes  occasion  the  most 
important  changes  in  their  political  systems. 
Surely,  then,  it  is  wise  to  be  on  our  guard,  and 
in  the  first  place  to  secure  a  free  and  just,  but, 
at  the  same  time,  a  strong  government  at  home. 
Without  this,  the  citizens  are  insecure  in  their 
persons  and  estates :  that  insecurity  produces 
murmuring  and  discontent :  and  that  discon 
tent  will  ever  produce  a  disposition  favorable 
for  trying  new  changes.  In  such  a  state,  to  be 


attacked  by  a  formidable  enemy,  without  sol 
diers  or  military  stores,  and  without  authority 
to  compel  even  our  own  citizens  to  obey  the 
laws,  we  must  fall  a  prey  to  any  foreign  power, 
who  may  think  it  worth  the  cost  to  subju 
gate  us. 

I  have  heard,  gentlemen  of  the  grand  jury, 
great  complaints  against  the  illiberal  and  mo 
nopolizing  spirit  of  the  British  government,  on 
the  subject  of  commerce  with  America — her 
numerous  duties  on  American  produce — and 
her  refusal  to  enter  into  treaties  for  mutual 
benefits  in  trade.  It  must  surely  be  highly 
ridiculous  to  abuse  one  nation  for  profiting  by 
the  follies  of  another.  Do  we  expect  that 
Great  Britain,  as  a  trading  nation,  will  not 
exert  every  nerve  to  hold  fast  the  commercial 
advantages,  which  our  avidity  for  her  negroes 
and  manufactures  hath  given  her?  Is  it  not 
the  steady  policy  of  every  nation  in  Europe,  to 
promote  and  extend  their  own  commerce  by 
every  possible  means,  let  it  be  at  the  expense 
of  whomsoever  it  will  ?  Yes,  gentlemen  :  and 
let  us  act  with  such  caution  and  punctuality,  as 
to  make  it  her  interest  to  solicit,  and  we  shall 
soon  find  her  courting,  with  douceurs,  those 
commercial  compacts,  which  she  now  so  con 
temptuously  declines.  At  the  close  of  the  war, 
indeed,  she  stood  trembling  with  apprehension, 
lest  our  two  allies,  France  and  Holland,  should 
monopolize  our  trade.  A  treaty,  pressed  at 
that  moment,  and  properly  urged — the  sine 
qua  non  of  all  future  amity  and  intercourse, 
would,  in  all  probability,  have  produced  an 
inlet  of  American  built  vessels  into  her  islands, 
and  an  exemption  from  many  other  injurious 
restraints.  But  the  favorable  moment  slipt 
through  our  hands  unimproved,  and  (I  fear) 
never  to  return.  The  only  possible  way  left  us 
to  recover  it,  is,  to  live  within  our  income  ;  to 
secure  a  balance  of  trade  in  our  favor  ;  and  to 
urge  the  federal  government  to  such  general 
regulations,  as  shall  secure  us  from  the  infa 
mous  vassalage  into  which  we  are  hurrying. 
If  three  or  four  thousand  pounds  sterling 
worth  of  merchandise,  (annually)  which  sum 
will  include  a  great  many  luxuries,  be  suffi 
cient  for  all  our  rational  wants,  when  our 
exports  greatly  exceed  that  sum,  and  are  annu 
ally  increasing — is  it  not  obvious  to  the  mean 
est  capacity,  that  a  large  balance  must  yearly 
return  to  us  in  gold  and  silver  ?  which,  in  spite 
of  all  the  paper-money  casuists  in  the  world,  is 
the  only  wholesome  political  blood  that  can 
give  union,  health,  and  vigor  to  the  body  politic. 

If  we  do  not  curtail  our  expenses,  and 
export  more  than  we  import,  a  general  bank 
ruptcy  must  be  the  inevitable  consequence. 


SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


387 


Many  people  call  for  large  emissions  of  pa 
per-money.  For  what  ? — To  shift  the  burdens, 
which  they  have  incurred  by  their  avarice  and 
folly,  from  themselves  to  their  better,  and 
more  deserving,  creditors,  whose  property  they 
choose  to  hold  fast.  Can  anything  be  more 
fraudulent  or  astonishing?  No,  gentlemen  : 
paper  medium  and  sheriffs'  sale  bills,  are  only 
temporary  expedients,  a  repetition  of  which,  in 
a  very  short  time,  would  be  insupportable. 
They  were  intended,  at  a  singular  crisis,  to 
open  a  retreat  even  to  the  foolish  and  ex 
travagant,  as  well  as  the  unfortunate  debtor, 
by  affording  an  opportunity  to  retrieve,  but  not 
to  give  impunity  to  the  one,  or  a  release  to 
the  other.  The  honest  and  industrious  man 
will  seize  the  opportunity  to  lay  up  against  the 
day  of  account  and  payment,  while  nothing 
will  correct  or  reclaim  the  indolent  and  fraudu 
lent  knave.  But,  as  I  said,  the  period  is  at 
hand,  when  the  punctual  payment  of  taxes  and 
debts  must  take  place  voluntarily  :  or  the  unin 
terrupted  recovery  of  them,  in  the  courts  of 
justice,  be  enforced.  Palliatives  are  exhausted. 
We  must  either  relinquish  government,  resign 
our  independence,  and  embrace  a  military 
master — or  execute  our  laws  by  force  of  arms, 
if  no  alternative  is  left  us.  But,  before  we  are 
compelled  to  resort  to  this  disgraceful  and 
painful  ultimatum,  let  us  all  exert  ourselves, 
and  support  each  other,  as  free  citizens,  ac 
knowledging  no  master  but  the  laws,  which  we 
ourselves  have  made  for  our  common  good — 
obeying  those  laws,  and  enforcing  them,  when 
and  where  we  can.  Let  no  man  say,  this  or 
that  is  not  my  business.  Whatever  materially 
affects  the  honor  and  interest  of  the  state,  is 
every  man's  business ;  because  he  must,  in 
common  with  all  others,  share  the  good  or  evil 
brought  upon  his  country.  The  man  who  re 
fuses  or  evades  the  payment  of  taxes  imposed 
by  his  immediate  representative,  or  excites  or 
co-operates  in  the  resistance  of  lawful  autho 
rity,  is  the  parricide  of  his  country,  as  well  as 
the  voluntary  assassin  of  his  own  interest; 
since  it  is  impossible  he  can  be  tranquil  or  hap 
py,  or  enjoy  his  property  in  peace  and  security, 
while  his  country  is  convulsed  and  distracted. 

As  grand  jurors,  gentlemen,  the  laws  have 
selected  you,  as  their  principal  auxiliary  and 
most  responsible  guardians.  On  you,  then,  it 
is  peculiarly  incumbent  to  interest  yourselves 
in  the  conduct  of  all  around  you.  You  have 
the  greatest  property  to  lose  ;  end  your  exam 
ple,  therefore,  must  be  of  the  greatest  weight. 
Investigate  the  police  of  your  district:  and, 
wherever  any  person  has  accepted  a  public 


trust,  and  neglects  or  abuses  it,  drag  him  forth, 
let  his  office,  fortune,  or  character  be  what  it 
may.  If  keepers  of  ferries,  highways,  or  bridges, 
do  not  discharge  their  duty — if  the  officers  of 
justice  violate  the  trust  reposed  in  them — you 
are  bound,  in  duty  to  your  country,  to  your 
selves  and  to  your  children,  as  well  as  by  the 
solemn  oath  you  have  just  taken,  to  name  them 
in  your  presentments,  together  with  the  names 
of  such  witnesses  as  can  prove  the  charge. 
Even  in  your  private  capacity,  as  citizens,  to 
inform  against  and  prosecute  all  such  offenders, 
is  highly  meritorious.  The  malevolence  which 
may,  for  a  time,  be  directed  against  an  honest, 
spirited  and  patriotic  citizen,  is  like  the  harm 
less  hissing  of  serpents,  that  cannot  bite.  He 
will  soon  triumph  over  their  impotent  clamor, 
and  obtain  the  esteem  and  support  of  all 
good  men. 

I  have  been  actuated  in  the  plain  and  pointed 
observations  you  have  just  heard,  by  an  ardent 
zeal  for  the  honor  and  prosperity  of  my  coun 
try.  This  is  not  a  time  to  lessen  or  extenuate 
the  terror,  which  the  present-  dangerous  crisis 
must  inspire.  To  know  our  danger,  to  face  it 
like  men,  and  to  triumph  over  it  by  constancy 
and  courage,  is  a  character  this  country  once 
justly  acquired.  Is  it  to  be  sacrificed  in  the 
hour  of  peace,  with  every  incentive  to  preserve 
it  ?  I  repeat  again,  that,  without  a  change  of 
conduct,  and  an  union  of  all  the  good  men  in 
the  state,  we  are  an  undone  people :  the  gov 
ernment  will  soon  tumble  about  our  heads,  and 
become  a  prey  to  the  first  bold  ruffian,  who 
shall  associate  a  few  desperate  adventurers, 
and  seize  upon  it. 

I  confess  the  subject  very  deeply  affects  me. 
I  shall,  therefore  pursue  it  no  farther.  I  do 
not,  however,  despair  of  the  republic.  There 
are  honest  and  independent  men  among  us, 
to  retrieve  every  thing,  whatever  may  be  op 
posed  by  the  vicious  and  unprincipled,  if  they 
will  but  step  forth,  and  act  with  union  and 
vigor.  If  they  will  not,  the  miseries  resulting 
to  their  country  from  the  utter  destruction  of  all 
public  and  private  credit,  a  bankrupt  treasury, 
and  the  triumph  of  all  manner  of  fraud,  rapine, 
and  licentiousness,  together  with  the  scorn  and 
derision  of  our  enemies,  if  we  should  have  any 
left,  be  on  their  heads  ! 


GENERAL   MARION. 

INTERESTING  SKETCHES  RELATING  TO  HIS 
SERVICES. 

A  biography  of  this  revolutionary  hero,  it  ap 
pears,  by  an  article  in   the   Southern  Patriot, 


388 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


has  been  written  by  Judge  James,  of  South 
Carolina  ;  and  the  following  extract  has  been 
given  in  that  paper  as  a  specimen  of  the  work 
about  to  be  published  : 

"  To  people  of  good  principles,  particularly 
the  religious,  at  this  period  (1780  and  1781), 
was  truly  distressing.  Those  fit  for  military 
service,  including  men  of  sixty  years  of  age  and 
boys  of  fourteen,  few  of  whom  dared  to  stay  at 
home,  were  engaged  in  active  warfare,  and 
had  their  minds  in  constant  occupation,  which, 
in  whatever  situation  man  may  be  placed, 
brings  with  it  a  certain  degree  of  satisfaction, 
if  not  content.  But  to  the  superannuated 
and  the  female  sex,  no  such  satisfaction  was 
afforded.  Most  of  those  had  relatives  to  whom 
they  were  bound  by  the  most  tender  and  sa 
cred  ties,  who  were  exposed  to  constant  danger, 
and  for  whose  fate  they  were  unceasingly  anx 
ious.  As  a  comfort  in  this  situation,  they  might 
employ  themselves  in  household  affairs,  or  re 
sort  to  private  devotion ;  but  those  refined 
pleasures,  which  arise  from  social  intercourse, 
were  wanting  ;  and  particularly  that  faint  pic 
ture  of  heaven,  the  consolation  which  is  derived 
from  meeting  one's  friends  in  public  worship, 
was  wholly  denied  them.  Most  of  the  churches 
in  towns  and  in  the  country  were  burnt  or 
made  depots  for  the  military  stores  of  the 
enemy — some,  in  fact,  were  converted  into 
stables  ;  and  of  the  remainder,  all  in  the  coun 
try  were  closed.  In  a  war  of  such  atrocity 
there  was  no  safety,  where  members,  however 
peaceful,  were  collected  ;  we  have  seen  that 
the  British  tories  *  violated  the  sanctity  of  pri 
vate  dwellings  by  their  murders,  and  how 
could  it  be  expected  they  would  be  awed  by 
the  holiness  of  a  church  ?  In  a  camp  where 
was  no  permanency,  and  but  little  rest,  there 
was  no  place  for  chaplains — and  at  home  there 
was  no  security,  even  for  the  pastors  of  the 
church  ;  consequently  they  were  compelled  to 
go  into  exile.  Had  they  gone  out  of  their  own 
families  to  administer  comfort,  it  would  have 
been  said  they  were  stirring  up  sedition  ;  and, 
like  some  bigots  of  old,  they  would  have  made 
themselves  voluntary  martyrs.  They  took  the 
wiser  course  of  retiring  with  their  families  from 
the.  murderous  rasre  of  the  times." 


*  The  British,  under  Tarleton,  had  already,  (in  May, 
1780),  cut  to  pieces  Mr.  Samuel  Wyley,  in  his  own  house, 
at  Camden,  whom  they  mistook  for  his  brother,  John 
Wyley,  who  was  sheriff  of  the  district;  and  the  tories, 
under  Harrison,  had  murdered  in  their  dwellings,  the  two 
Mr.  Bradleys,  Mr.  Roberts,  and  others,  in  that  part  of 
Salem  which  lies  on  Lynch's  creek.  Lord  Cornwallis 
soon  made  Harrison  a  colonel. 


"  Near  the  close  of  the  year  1780,  there  took 
place  a  skirmish  between  a  small  patrol  of 
whigs,  under  Captain  Melton,  and  a  large  party 
of  tories,  under  major  Ganey,  near  White's 
Bridge  two  miles  from  Georgetown  ;  a  few  shots 
were  exchanged,  and  Melton  was  obliged  to  re 
treat.  But,  in  this  short  affair,  Gabriel  Marion, 
nephew  to  the  general,  was  first  taken  prisoner, 
and  when  his  name  was  announced,  inhumanly- 
shot.  The  instrument  of  death  was  placed  so 
near  that  it  burnt  his  linen  at  the  breast.  He 
was  a  young  gentleman,  who  had  received  a 
good  education — of  whom  high  expectations 
were  formed,  and  who  was  much  beloved  in 
the  brigade.  The  general  had  no  children, 
and  he  mourned  over  this  youth,  as  would  a 
father  over  an  only  child,  and  all  his  men  con 
doled  with  him,  but  he  soon  publicly  expressed 
this  consolation  for  himself  that  his  nephew 
was  a  virtuous  young  man — that  he  died  in  de 
fence  of  his  country,  and  that  he  would  mourn 
over  him  no  more. 

"  At  that  same  place  a  worthy  man,  Mr.  Swai- 
neau,  was  killed.  Ere  this  he  had  been  a 
schoolmaster,  but,  finding  there  was  no  em 
ployment  for  men  of  his  peaceful  profession 
now,  he  boldly  shouldered  the  musket  and 
died  a  soldier.  But  so  prone  are  mankind  to 
pass  over  the  merits  of  this  useful  class  of  citi 
zens,  that,  had  he  not  fallen  by  the  side  of  a 
Marion,  perhaps  his  memory  would  have  been 
forgotten.  About  the  same  time  Mr.  Bently, 
another  schoolmaster,  was  killed  in  action. 
The  suspension  of  all  public  education,  which 
led  to  the  fate  of  such  men,  and  the  fact  stated 
above,  that  all  public  worship  was  now  at  an 
end,  most  forcibly  shewed  the  calamitous  state 
of  the  country  during  this  eventful  period." 

"  Men  at  this  time,  and  their  generals  too, 
had  nothing  but  water  to  drink — they  com 
monly  wore  homespun  clothes,  which  lacked 
warmth — they  slept  in  damp  places,  according 
to  their  means,  either  with  or  without  a  blan 
ket  ;  he  was  well  off  who  had  one  to  himself 
the  one  half  of  the  general's  had  been  burnt — 
they  were  content  to  feed  upon  sweet  potatoes, 
either  with  or  without  beef;  there  being  neither 
mills  nor  leisure  to  grind  corn — but  all  sighed 
for  salt — for  salt  !  that  article  of  the  first  neces 
sity  to  the  human  race.  Little  do  the  luxurious 
of  the  present  day  know  of  the  pressure  of 
such  a  want.  Salt,  when  brought  from  the 
sea-shore  off  Waccanaw,  where  it  was  coarsely 
manufactured,  brought  at  that  time  ten  silver 
dollars,  each  more  than  ten  at  present ;  thus 
bay  salt,  one  half  brine,  sold  for  at  least  one 
hundred  dollars  value  of  this  day.  As  soon  as 


SOUTH  CAROLINA, 


389 


General  Marion  could  collect  a  sufficient  quan 
tity  of  this  desirable  article,  he  distributed  it 
out  from  Snow's  Island,  on  Pedee,  in  quantities 
not  exceeding  a  bushel,  to  each  Whig  family, 
and  thus  endeared  himself  the  more  to  his  fol 
lowers." 


MARION'S  ESCAPE  FROM  THE  BRITISH 
DRAGOONS. 

General  Marion  was  a  native  of  South  Caro 
lina,  and  the  immediate  theatre  of  his  exploits 
was  a  large  section  of  maritime  district  of  that 
state.  The  peculiar  hardihood  of  his  constitu 
tion,  and  his  being  adapted  to  a  warm  climate, 
and  low  marshy  country,  qualified  him  to 
endure  hardships  and  submit  to  exposure, 
which,  in  that  sickly  region,  few  other  men 
would  have  been  competent  to  sustain.  With 
the  small  force  he  was  enabled  to  embody,  he 
was  continually  annoying  the  enemy,  cautious 
never  to  risk  an  engagement,  till  he  could 
make  victory  certain.  General  Marion's  per 
son  was  uncommonly  light,  and  he  rode,  when 
in  service,  one  of  the  fleetest  and  most  pow 
erful  chargers,  the  South  could  produce  : — 
when  in  fair  pursuit  nothing  could  escape,  and 
when  retreating  nothing  could  overtake  him. 
Being  once  nearly  surrounded  by  a  party  of 
British  dragoons,  he  was  compelled,  for  safety, 
to  pass  into  a  cornfield,  by  leaping  the  fence — 
this  field,  marked  with  considerable  descent  of 
surface,  had  been  in  part  a  marsh ;  Marion 
entered  in  at  the  upper  side,  the  dragoons  in 
chase,  leaped  the  fence  also,  and  were  but  a 
short  distance  behind  him.  So  completely  was 
he  now  in  their  power,  that  his  only  mode  of 
escape  was  to  pass  over  the  fence  at  the  lower 
side.  To  drain  the  field  of  its  superfluous 
water,  a  trench  had  been  cut  around  this  part 
of  the  field,  four  feet  wide,  and  of  the  same 
depth  ;  of  the  mud  and  clay  removed  in  cutting 
it,  a  bank  had  been  formed  on  its  inner  side, 
and  on  the  top  of  this  was  erected  the  fence, 
the  elevation  amounting  to  nearly  eight  feet 
perpendicular  height — a  ditch  four  feet  in  width 
running  parallel  with  it  on  the  outer  side,  a  foot 
or  more  intervening,  between  the  fence  and 
ditch. 

The  dragoons,  acquainted  with  the  nature  and 
extent  of  this  obstacle,  and  considering  it  impos 
sible  for  their  enemy  to  pass  it,  pushed  towards 
him  with  loud  shouts  of  exultation  and  insult,  and 
summoning  him  to  surrender  or  perish  by  the 
sword  ;  regardless  of  their  rudeness  and  empty 
clamor,  and  inflexibly  determined  not  to  be 
come  their  prisoner,  Marion  spurred  his  horse 
to  the  charge.  The  noble  animal,  as  if  conscious 


that  his  master's  life  was  in  danger,  and  that 
on  his  exertions  depended  his  safety,  ap 
proached  the  barrier  in  his  finest  style,  and 
with  a  bound  that  was  almost  supernatural, 
cleared  the  fence  and  ditch  completely,  and 
recovered  himself  without  loss  of  time  on  the 
opposite  side — Marion  instantly  wheeled  about 
and  saw  his  pursuers  unable  to  pass  the  ditch, 
discharged  his  pistol  at  them  without  effect, 
and  then  wheeling  his  horse,  and  bidding  them 
good  morning,  departed.  The  dragoons, 
astonished  at  what  they  had  witnessed,  and 
scarcely  believing  their  foe  to  be  mortal,  gave 
up  the  chase. 


MR.   HUNTER, 

OF  DARLINGTON  DISTRICT,  SOUTH  CAR 
OLINA.  INTERESTING  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS 
ESCAPE  FROM  THE  TORIES. 

The  following  fact,  though  altogether 
worthy  of  being  remembered,  has  never,  I' 
believe,  been  reported  by  the  pen  of  any 
historian. 

Lest  it  should  be  thought  a  mere  fabrication 
to  occupy  a  vacant  column  in  the  newspaper,  I 
think  it  not  unimportant  to  state,  that  the  sub 
ject  of  this  memoir,  Mr.  Hunter,  is  well  known 
in  Darlington  district,  South  Carolina ;  and 
the  following  narrative,  which  I  had  from  him 
self,  is  familiar  to  his  friends  and  acquaintances. 

Hunter,  though  a  youth  of  perhaps  eighteen 
years  old,  was  very  active  in  defence  of  his 
country's  rights  during  the  revolutionary  war. 
It  was  the  fate  of  this  tyro  in  arms  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  major  Fanning,  whose  deeds  as  a 
cruel  partisan  leader  in  the  service  of  Great 
Britain,  are  written  in  North  and  South  Caro 
lina,  in  characters  of  blood.  Hunter,  whose 
active  services  had  roused  the  ire  of  the  major, 
was  told  upon  the  spot  to  prepare  for  his  fate, 
which  was  nothing  less  than  death,  for  which 
awful  event  a  few  minutes  only  were  allowed 
him  to  prepare.  A  band  of  tories,  thirsting 
for  the  blood  of  a  patriot,  instantly  formed  a 
circle  round  the  boy,  leaving  him  no  reasonable 
chance  for  escape. 

At  this  moment  thought  followed  thought 
in  quick  succession.  His  home,  his  friends, 
his  country,  and  the  circumstances  under 
which  he  was  about  to  be  torn  from  them  all, 
together  with  the  reflection  that  he  must 
quickly  realize  a  state  of  untried  being, 
crowded  upon  his  mind,  and  called  up  feelings 
not  to  be  described. 

For  the  first  time  he  bent  his  knees  to  the 


39° 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


power  which  wields  the  destinies  of  man,  and 
no  sooner  had  he  breathed  a  wish  to  the 
throne  of  mercy,  than  he  felt  a  strong  persua 
sion  that  deliverance  was  possible.  This  im 
portant  point  settled  in  his  mind,  he  cast  his 
eyes  round  in  search  of  the  means  to  be  em 
ployed.  At  the  distance  of  a  few  paces  from 
the  encircling  band  stood  a  beautiful  filly,  fur 
nished  with  the  major's  riding  establishment, 
complete.  This  animal,  late  the  idol  of  sports 
men  in  Virginia,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
the  present  owner,  and  was  highly  prized  as 
affording  the  means  of  escape  from  impending 
danger. 

"  Cannot  I,"  thought  Hunter,  "  spring  from 


my  knees,  gain  the  saddle,  and  under  the  favor 
of  that  power  which  has  so  fully  assured  my 
heart,  escape  this  threatening  death  ?  "  Having 
resolved,  if  he  must  perish  to  perish  in  the  at 
tempt,  he  darted  like  lightning  through  his  ene 
mies,  and  seizing  the  bridle,  which  was  held  by 
a  servant  boy,  as  he  vaulted  into  the  saddle,  he 
put  the  major's  courser  to  the  speed,  and  went 
off  with  his  booty,  to  the  no  small  disappoint 
ment  and  mortification  of  the  astonished  be 
holders.  After  gazing  awhile  in  stupid  amaze 
ment,  the  redoubtable  Fanning  recollected  that 
his  soldiers  had  guns,  but  it  was  too  late ;  and 
the  order  to  "shoot  at  the  rebel"  was  obeyed 
without  effect. 


GEORGIA. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    LETTERS 

WRITTEN  BY  SIR  JAMES  WRIGHT,  GOVERNOR 
AND  CAPTAIN  GENERAL  OF  GEORGIA. 

[The  reviser  of  this  work  is  indebted  through  the  cour 
tesy  of  the  Governor  of  Georgia,  to  the  Hon.  H.  R-  Jack 
son,  President  of  the  Historical  Society  of  that  State,  for 
the  following  interesting  extracts  (furnished  March  yth, 
1876)  from  the  correspondence  of  Sir  James  Wright, 
(then  colonial  Governor)  with  the  Home  government, 
relating  to  the  Revolutionary  movement  in  the  colonies."] 


"  SAVANNAH  IN  GEORGIA,  THE  24-™  OF  August,  1774. 
I  conceive  that  the  licentious  spirit  in  Ameri 
ca  has  received  such  countenance  and  encour 
agement  from  many  persons'  speeches,  and 
declarations  at  the  time  of  the  Stamp  Act,  and 
ever  since,  in  Great  Britain,  and  has  now  gone 
to  so  great  a  length,  and  is  at  such  a  height, 
that  neither  coercive  nor  lenient  measures  will 
settle  matters,  and  restore  any  tolerable  degree 
of  cordiality  and  harmony  with  the  Mother 
country  ;  and  in  short  things  and  circumstances 
in  America  have  increased  so  fast,  and  at  this 
time  so  amazingly  exceed  what  at  the  first  set 
tling  and  planting  the  colonies  could  probably 
have  been  supposed  or  expected,  and  America 
is  now  become,  or  indisputably  ere  long  will  be, 
such  a  vast,  powerful,  and  opulent  country  or 
dominion,  that  I  humbly  conceive,  in  order 
to  restore  and  establish  real  and  substantial 
harmony,  affection  and  confidence,  and  that 
Great  Britain  may  receive  that  benefit  and 
advantage  which  she  has  a  right  to  expect 


from  the  colonies,  it  may  be  found  advisable  to 
settle  the  line  with  respect  to  taxation,  etc.,  by 
some  new  mode  or  constitution  ;  and  without 
which  my  real  and  candid  opinion  is,  that  how 
ever  matters  may  be  got  over  at  present,  and 
whatever  appearance  there  may  be  of  amity 
and  union,  the  flame  will  only  be  smothered  for 
a  time  and  break  out  again  at  some  future  day 
with  more  violence.  But  be  these  things  as 
they  may,  I  doubt  not  but  your  Lordship  will 
judge  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  they  are 
brought  to  a  point  and  clearly  settled  and  es 
tablished  somehow  or  other,  and  not  suffered 
to  remain  as  they  are.  Nothing  but  jealousies, 
rancor  and  ill-blood  :  law  and  no  law,  gov 
ernment  and  no  government,  dependence  and 
independence,  if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expres 
sions,  and  everything  unhinged  and  running 
into  confusion,  so  that  in  short  a  man  hardly 
knows  what  to  do  or  how  to  act ;  and  it's  a 
most  disagreeable  state  to  one  who  wishes  to 
support  law,  government  and  good  order,  and  to 
discharge  his  duty  with  honor  and  integrity." 


"  7.0th  June,  1775  .  .  .  By  the  enclosed  paper 
your  lordship  will  see  the  extraordinary  resolves 
by  the  people  in  Charlotte-town,  Mecklen 
burg  county,  and  I  should  not  be  surprised 
if  the  same  should  be  done  every  where 
else."* 

*  This  extract  confirms  the  genuineness  of  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  declared  by  the  people  of  Mecklen 
burg  county,  North  Carolina.  May  aoth,  1775.  See  p.  313. 


GEORGIA. 


391 


ADDRESS 

FROM  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS,  REQUESTING 
THAT  A  DAY  MAY  BE  APPOINTED  FOR 
FASTING  AND  PRAYER  BY  THE  GOVERNOR. 

GEORGIA,  July  8,  1775. 

To  his  excellency,  sir  James  Wright,  Bart, 
captain-general,  governor,  and  commander-in- 
chief  in  and  over  his  majesty's  said  province, 
chancellor  and  ordinary  of  the  same. 
May  it  please  your  excellency — 

The  Provincial  congress,  deeply  concerned  at 
the  present  alarming  state  of  affairs  and  dis 
tresses  of  America,  humbly  request  that  your 
excellency  would  appoint  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer,  to  be  observed  throughout  this  province. 
That  a  happy  reconciliation  may  soon  take  place 
between  America  and  the  parent  state,  and 
that  under  the  auspicious  reign  of  his  majesty 
and  his  descendants,  both  countries  may  re 
main  united,  virtuous,  free  and  happy  until 
time  shall  be  no  more. 

By  order  of  the  congress, 
ARCH.  BULLOCK,  President" 

Dated  in  provincial  congress  ) 
the  7th  day  of  July,  1775."  \ 


ANSWER  OF  GOVERNOR  WRIGHT. 

SAVANNAH,  July  9,  1775. 

GENTLEMEN, — I  have  taken  the  opinion  of 
his  majesty's  council  relative  to  the  request 
made  by  the  gentlemen,  who  have  assembled 
together  by  the  name  of  a  Provincial  congress, 
and  must  premise  that  I  cannot  consider  that 
meeting  as  constitutional.  But  as  the  request 
is  expressed  in  such  loyal  and  dutiful  terms, 
and  the  ends  proposed  being  such  as  every 
good  man  must  most  ardently  wish  for,  I 
will  certainly  appoint  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer,  to  be  observed  throughout  this  province. 

JA.  WRIGHT. 

To  Stephen  Drayton  junior,  and  the  other 
gentlemen  who  waited  on  the  governor." 


GOVERNOR  JAMES  WRIGHT 

RELATING  TO  THE  ACTION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 
IN  SYMPATHY  WITH  THE  REVOLUTION. 

"  \^th  October,  1775.  .  .  I  wrote  your  lord 
ship  before  in  what  manner  the  command  of  the 
militia  was  wrested  from  me ;  they  have  not 
yet  attempted  to  obstruct  the  court  of  Chan 
cery,  but  except  that  I  have  scarce  any  power 
left,  but  proving  wills  and  granting  letters 
of  administration." 


"  3^ 'January,  1776  .  .  .  They  say  that  now 
they  have  gone  so  far,  that  neither  fortune  or 
lives  are  to  be  regarded,  and  that  they  will  go 
every  length.  But  still  if  we  had  proper  sup 
port  and  assistance,  I  think  numbers  would 
join  the  king's  standard  ;  but  no  troops,  no 
money,  no  orders  or  instructions,  and  a  wild 
multitude  gathering  fast,  what  can  any  man  do 
in  such  a  situation?  No  arms,  no  ammuni 
tion,  not  so  much  as  a  ship  of  war  of  any  kind, 
and  the  neighboring  Province  at  the  same  time 
threatening  vengeance  against  the  friends  of 
government,  and  to  send  1000  men  to  assist 
the  liberty  people  if  they  want  assistance,  all 
these  things  my  Lord  are  really  too  much.  They 
have  also  publicly  declared  that  every  man 
shall  sign  the  association  or  leave  the  Province  ; 
that  is,  private  persons,  but  that  no  King's 
officer  shall  be  suffered  to  go :  they  will  take 
care  to  prevent  any  of  them  from  stirring. 
Surely  my  Lord,  His  Majesty's  officers  and  du 
tiful  and  loyal  subjects  will  not  be  suffered  to 
remain  under  such  cruel  tyranny  and  oppression. 

"  loth  March,  1776  .  .  .  Your  Lordship 
will  judge  of  the  cruel  state  and  situation  we 
are  reduced  to  ;  the  rebels  encouraged  and  ex 
ulting  ;  their  numbers  in  and  about  town  in 
creased,  according  to  the  best  information  I 
can  get,  to  about  800  men  in  arms  ;  about  200 
of  their  regiment  or  battalion  already  enlisted 
and  daily  increasing ;  a  considerable  part  of  my 
property  seized  upon,  and  the  negroes  employed 
in  throwing  up  and  making  military  works  in 
and  about  the  town  ;  the  King's  officers  and 
friends  to  government,  some  seized  upon  and 
kept  prisoners,  and  others  hiding  and  obliged 
to  desert  their  families  and  property  to  save 
their  lives  and  liberties,  and  some  threatened 
to  be  shot  whenever  met  with  :  which  distresses 
my  Lord  I  humbly  conceive  would  not  have 
happened,  had  no  King's  ships  or  troops  come 
here,  until  there  was  sufficient  to  reduce  the 
rebels  at  once," 


SPEECH 

OF   GOVERNOR   ARCHIBALD  BULLOCK  TO 
THE  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS  OF  GEORGIA. 

SAVANNAH  (GEORGIA)  June  20,  1776. 

Our  provincial  congress  met  here  on  the  6th 
inst.,  when  his  excellency  Archibald  Bullock, 
esq.  president  and  commander  in  chief  of  the 
province  of  Georgia,  delivered  the  following 
speech : 

Mr.  Speaker,  and  gentlemen  of  the  congress 
— The  state  of  the  province  at  your  last  meet- 


393 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


ing  made  it  absolutely  necessary  to  adopt  some 
temporary  regulations  for  the  preservation  of 
the  public  peace  and  safety  ;  and  your  appoint 
ment  of  me  to  carry  these  things  into  execution, 
at  a  time  so  practical  and  important  to  the  wel 
fare  of  this  country,  requires  an  exertion  of  the 
greatest  prudence  and  abilities. 

At  a  time,  when  our  rights  and  privileges 
are  invaded,  when  the  fundamental  principles  of 
the  constitution  are  subverted,  and  those  men 
whose  duty  should  teach  them  to  protect  and 
defend  us,  are  become  our  betrayers  and  mur 
derers  ;  it  calls  aloud  on  every  virtuous  member 
of  the  community  to  stand  forth,  and  stem  the 
prevailing  torrent  of  corruption  and  lawless 
power. 

The  many  and  frequent  instances  of  your 
attachment  towards  me,  and  an  ardent  desire 
to  promote  the  welfare  of  my  country,  have 
induced  me  to  accept  of  this  weighty  and  im 
portant  trust ;  for  your  interest  only  I  desire  to 
act ;  and  relying  on  your  aid  and  assistance  in 
every  difficulty,  I  shall  always  most  confidently 
expect  it. 

Some  venial  disaffected  men  may  endeavor 
to  persuade  the  people  to  submit  to  the  man 
dates  of  despotism  ;  but  surely  every  freeman 
would  consider  the  nature,  and  inspect  the 
designs  and  execution  of  that  government, 
under  which  he  may  be  called  to  live.  The 
people  of  this  province,  in  opposing  the  designs 
of  a  cruel  and  corrupt  ministry,  have  surmounted 
what  appeared  insuperable  difficulties  ;  and  not 
withstanding  the  artifice  and  address  that  for  a 
long  time  were  employed  to  divert  their  atten 
tion  from  the  common  cause,  they,  at  length  by 
imperceptible  degrees,  succeeded,  and  declared 
their  resolutions  to  assert  their  liberties  and  to 
maintain  them,  at  all  events,  in  concurrence 
with  the  other  associated  colonies. — For  my 
part,  I  most  candidly  declare  that,  from  the 
origin  of  these  unhappy  disputes,  I  heartily 
approved  of  the  conduct  of  the  Americans.  My 
approbation  was  not  the  result  of  prejudice  or 
partiality,  but  proceeded  from  a  firm  persuasion 
of  their  having  acted  agreeable  to  constitutional 
principles,  and  the  dictates  of  an  upright  disin 
terested  conscience. 

We  must  all  acknowledge  our  great  obliga 
tions  to  our  ancestors,  for  the  invaluable  liberties 
we  enjoy  ;  it  is  our  indispensable  duty  to  trans 
mit  them  inviolate  to  posterity ;  and  to  be  neg 
ligent,  in  an  affair  of  such  moment,  would  be 
an  indelible  stain  of  infamy  on  the  present  aera. 
Animated  with  this  principle,  I  shall  think  my 
self  amply  rewarded,  if  I  can  be  so  fortunate  as 
to  render  any  service  to  the  cause  of  freedom 
and  posterity. 


Mr.  Speaker  and  gentlemen  of  the  congress — 
Being  sensible  that  colony  matters  of  great 
importance  will  claim  your  attention  at  this 
meeting,  I  will  not  take  up  too  much  of  your 
time  from  the  public  business.  Some  further 
regulations  respecting  the  courts  of  justice,  the 
state  of  the  continental  battalions,  and  the 
better  ordering  of  the  militia  of  this  province, 
will  necessarily  be  the  subject  of  your  disquisi 
tions. 

You  must  be  convinced  of  the  many  difficul 
ties  we  labor  under,  arising  from  the  number 
that  still  remain  among  us,  under  the  shelter  of 
an  affected  neutrality.  The  arguments  alleged 
for  their  conduct,  appear  too  weak  to  merit  a 
refutation.  This  is  no  time  to  talk  of  modera 
tion  ;  in  the  present  instance  it  ceases  to  be  a 
virtue.  An  appeal,  an  awful  appeal,  is  made  to 
Heaven,  and  thousands  of  lives  are  in  jeopardy 
every  hour.  Our  northern  brethren  point  to 
their  wounds,  and  call  for  our  most  vigorous 
exertions  ;  and  God  forbid  that  so  noble  a  con 
test  should  end  in  an  infamous  conclusion. 
You  will  not,  therefore,  be  biassed  by  any  sug 
gestions  from  these  enemies  of  American  lib 
erty,  or  regard  any  censure  they  may  bestow 
on  the  forwardness  and  zeal  of  this  infant 
colony. — You  must  evidently  perceive  the 
necessity  of  making  some  further  laws  respect 
ing  these  non-associates ;  and  though  there 
may  be  some  who  appear  at  present  forward  to 
sign  the  association,  yet  it  becomes  us  to  keep 
a  watchful  eye  on  the  motive  and  conduct  of 
these  men,  lest  the  public  good  should  be  en 
dangered  through  this  perfidy  and  pretended 
friendship. 

By  the  resolves  of  the  general  congress,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  united  colonies  are  permitted 
to  trade  to  any  part  of  the  world,  except  the 
dominions  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain  and  in 
consequence  of  which,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
fix  on  some  mode  of  proceedings,  for  the  clear 
ance  of  vessels  and  other  matters  relative  there 
to  ;  and  perhaps  you  may  think  it  further  re 
quisite,  to  appoint  proper  officers  to  despatch 
this  business,  that  the  adventures  in  trade  may 
meet  with  as  little  obstruction  as  possible.  And 
I  would  at  the  same  time  recommend  to  yout 
consideration,  the  exorbitant  prices  of  goods, 
and  other  necessaries  of  life,  in  the  town  of 
Savannah,  and  every  part  of  the  province.  This 
certainly  requires  some  immediate  regulations, 
as  the  poor  must  be  greatly  distressed  by  such 
alarming  and  unheard  of  extortions. 

With  respect  to  Indian  affairs,  I  hoped  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  assuring  you,  from  the 
state  of  the  proceedings  of  the  commissioners, 
that  they  were  in  every  respect  friendly  and 


GEORGIA. 


393 


warmly  attached  to  our  interest,  and  that  there 
was  the  greatest  reason  to  expect  a  continu 
ance  of  the  same  friendly  disposition  ;  But  I 
have  received  some  accounts  rather  unfavor 
able.  As  this  is  of  the  highest  consequence  to 
the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  colony,  I  would 
here  suggest,  whether  it  would  not  be  neces 
sary  to  enter  into  some  resolves,  in  order  to 
prevent  any  future  misunderstanding  between 
them  and  our  back  settlers  ;  and  to  this  I  think 
I  may  add,  that  the  putting  the  province  in  the 
best  posture  of  defence,  would  be  an  object 
very  requisite  at  this  juncture. 

The  continental  congress  have  always  been 
solicitous  to  promote  the  increase  and  im 
provement  of  useful  knowledge,  and  with  the 
highest  satisfaction  contemplating  the  rapid 
progress  of  the  arts  and  sciences  in  America, 
have  thought  proper  to  recommend  the  en 
couraging  the  manufactory  of  salt-petre,  sul 
phur,  and  gunpowder. — The  process  is  extremely 
easy,  and  I  should  be  very  glad  to  see  any  of 
the  good  people  of  this  province  exerting 
themselves  in  the  manufacture  of  these  useful 
and  necessary  articles.  If  they  once  consider 
it  is  for  the  public  good,  they  will  need  no  other 
inducement. 

Mr.  Speaker,  and  gentlemen  of  the  congress 
— Remember  in  all  your  deliberations  you  are 
engaged  in  a  most  arduous  undertaking.  Gen 
erations  yet  unborn  may  owe  their  freedom  and 
happiness  to  your  determination,  and  may 
bestow  blessings  or  execrations  on  your  memory, 
in  such  manner  as  you  discharge  the  trust 
reposed  in  you  by  your  constituents.  Thoughts 
like  these  will  influence  you  to  throw  aside 
every  prejudice,  and  to  exert  your  utmost  efforts 
to  preserve  unanimity,  firmness  and  impar 
tiality  in  all  your  proceedings. 

ARCHIBALD  BULLOCK. 


SERGEANT  JASPER. 

The  following  biographical  sketch  of  sergeant 
JASPER,  whose  name  has  been  given  to  one  of 
the  counties  of  Georgia,  in  commemoration  of 
his  gallant  deeds  and  signal  services  during  the 
revolutionary  war,  is  extracted  from  the  second 
volume  of  M'Call's  history  of  Georgia. 

"  The  conduct  of  sergeant  Jasper,  meets  par 
ticular  notice  in  the  history  of  Georgia,  and  his 
name  is  entitled  to  a  page  in  the  history  of 
fame,  while  many  others,  high  in  rank,  might 
justly  be  forgotten.  He  was  a  man  of  strong 
mind,  but  as  it  had  not  been  cultivated  by  edu 
cation,  he  modestly  declined  the  acceptance  of 


a  commission,  which  was  offered  to  him.  At 
the  commencement  of  the  war,  he  enlisted  in 
the  second  South  Carolina  regiment  of  infantry, 
commanded  by  colonel  Moultrie.  He  distin 
guished  himself  in  a  particular  manner,  at  the 
attack  which  was  made  upon  fort  Moultrie,  on 
Sullivan's  Island,  on  the  28th  of  June,  1776. 
In  the  warmest  part  of  that  contest,  the  flag 
staff  was  severed  by  a  cannon  ball,  and  the  flag 
fell  to  the  bottom  of  the  ditch  on  the  outside  of 
the  works.  This  accident  was  considered  by 
the  anxious  inhabitants  in  Charleston,  as  put 
ting  an  end  to  the  contest  by  striking  the 
American  flag  to  the  enemy.  The  moment 
Jasper  made  the  discovery  that  the  flag  had 
fallen,  he  jumped  from  one  of  the  embrasures, 
and  mounted  the  colors,  which  he  tied  to  a 
sponge-staff,  and  re-planted  them  on  the  para 
pet,  where  he  supported  them  until  another 
flag-staff  was  procured.  The  subsequent  ac 
tivity  and  enterprise  of  this  patriot,  induced 
colonel  Moultrie  to  give  him  a  sort  of  roving 
commission,  to  go  and  come  at  pleasure,  con 
fident  that  he  was  always  usefully  employed. 
He  was  privileged  to  select  such  men  from  the 
regiment  as  he  should  choose  to  accompany 
him  in  his  enterprises.  His  parties  consisted 
generally  of  five  or  six,  and  he  often  returned 
with  prisoners  before  Moultrie  was  apprised  of 
his  absence.  Jasper  was  distinguished  for  his 
humane  treatment,  when  an  enemy  fell  into  his 
power.  His  ambition  appears  to  have  been 
limited  to  the  characteristics  of  bravery,  hu 
manity  and  usefulness  to  the  cause  in  which  he 
was  engaged.  When  it  was  in  his  power  to 
kill,  but  not  to  capture,  it  was  his  practice  to 
permit  a  single  prisoner  to  escape.  By  his  cun 
ning  and  enterprise,  he  often  succeeded  in  the 
capture  of  those  who  were  lying  in  ambush  for 
him.  He  entered  the  British  lines,  and  re 
mained  several  days  in  Savannah,  in  disguise, 
and  after  informing  himself  of  their  strength 
and  intentions,  returned  to  the  American  camp 
with  useful  information  to  his  commanding 
officer.  In  one  of  these  excursions,  an  instance 
of  bravery  and  humanity  is  recorded  by  the  bi 
ographer  of  general  Marion,  which  would  stag 
ger  credulity,  if  it  was  not  well  attested. — 
While  he  was  examining  the  British  camp  at 
Ebenezer,  all  the  sympathy  of  his  heart  was 
awakened  by  the  distresses  of  a  Mrs.  Jones, 
whose  husband,  an  American  by  birth,  had 
taken  the  king's  protection,  and  been  confined 
in  irons  for  deserting  the  royal  cause,  after  he 
had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance.  Her  well 
founded  belief  was,  that  nothing  short  of  the 
life  of  her  husband  would  atone  for  the  offence 
with  which  he  was  charged.  Anticipating  the 


394 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


awful  scene  of  a  beloved  husband  expiring  upon 
the  gibbet,  had  excited  inexpressible  emotions 
of  grief  and  distraction. 

"Jasper  secretly  consulted  with  his  com 
panion  sergeant  Newton,  whose  feelings  for  the 
distressed  female  and  her  child  were  equally 
excited  with  his  own,  upon  the  practicability 
of  releasing  Jones  from  his  impending  fate. 
Though  they  were  unable  to  suggest  a  plan  of 
operation,  they  were  determined  to  watch  for 
the  most  favorable  opportunity  and  make  the 
effort.  The  departure  of  Jones,  and  several 
others  (all  in  irons,)  to  Savannah,  for  trial,  un 
der  a  guard,  consisting  of  a  sergeant,  corporal, 
and  eight  men,  was  ordered  upon  the  succeed 
ing  morning.  Within  two  miles  of  Savannah, 
about  thirty  yards  from  the  main  road,  is  a 
spring  of  fine  water,  surrounded  by  a  deep  and 
thick  underwood,  where  travellers  often  halt  to 
refresh  themselves  with  a  cool  draught  from 
this  pure  fountain.  Jasper  and  his  companion 
considered  this  spot  the  most  favorable  for  their 
enterprise.  They  accordingly  passed  the  guard 
and  concealed  themselves  near  the  spring. 
When  the  enemy  came  up  they  halted,  and 
only  two  of  the  guard  remained  with  the  pris 
oners,  while  the  others  leaned  their  guns  against 
trees  in  a  careless  manner  and  went  to  the 
spring.  Jasper  and  Newton  sprang  from  their 
place  of  concealment,  seized  two  of  the  mus 
kets,  and  shot  the  sentinels.  The  possession 
of  all  the  arms  placed  their  enemy  in  their 
power,  and  compelled  them  to  surrender.  The 
irons  were  taken  off,  and  arms  put  in  the  hands 
of  those  who  had  been  prisoners,  and  the  whole 
party  arrived  at  Purysburgh  the  next  morning 
and  joined  the  American  camp.  There  are  but 
few  instances  upon  record,  where  personal 
exertions,  even  for  self-preservation  from  cer 
tain  prospects  of  death,  would  have  induced 


resort  to  an  act  so  desperate  of  execution ; 
how  much  more  laudable  was  this,  where  the 
spring  to  action  was  roused  by  the  lamenta 
tions  of  a  female  unknown  to  the  adven 
turers. 

"  Subsequent  to  the  gallant  defence  at  Sulli 
van's  Island,  colonel  Moultrie's  regiment  was 
presented  with  a  stand  of  colors  by  Mrs.  Elliot, 
which  she  had  richly  embroidered  with  her  own 
hands,  and  as  a  reward  for  Jasper's  particular 
merits,  governor  Rutledge  presented  him  with 
a  very  handsome  sword.  During  the  assault 
against  Savannah,  two  officers  had  been  killed 
and  one  wounded  endeavoring  to  plant  these 
colors  upon  the  enemy's  parapet  of  the  Spring 
hill  redoubt.  Just  before  the  retreat  was  or 
dered,  Jasper  endeavored  to  replace  them  upon 
the  works,  and  while  he  was  in  the  act,  received 
a  mortal  wound  and  fell  into  the  ditch. — When 
a  retreat  was  ordered  he  recollected  the  hon 
orable  conditions  upon  which  the  donor  pre 
sented  the  colors  to  his  regiment,  and  among 
the  last  acts  of  his  life,  succeeded  in  bringing 
them  off.  Major  Horry  called  to  see  him  soon 
after  the  retreat,  to  whom,  it  is  said,  he  made 
the  following  communication  :  '  I  have  got 
my  furlough.  That  sword  was  presented  to 
me  by  governor  Rutledge,  for  my  services  in 
the  defence  of  fort  Moultrie — give  it  to  my  fa 
ther,  and  tell  him  I  have  worn  it  with  honor. 
If  he  should  weep,  tell  him  his  son  died  in  the 
hope  of  a  better  life.  Tell  Mrs.  Elliot  that  I 
lost  my  life  in  supporting  the  colors  which  she 
presented  to  our  regiment.  If  you  should  ever 
see  Jones,  his  wife,  and  son,  tell  them  that 
Jasper  is  gone,  but  that  the  remembrance  of 
the  battle  which  he  fought  for  them  brought  a 
secret  joy  to  his  heart,  when  it  was  about  to 
stop  its  motion  forever.'  He  expired  a  few 
minutes  after  closing  this  sentence." 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS. 


395 


CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS. 


INTERESTING  PROCEEDINGS. 
FRAGMENT  OF  AN  ELOQUENT  SPEECH, 

Made  in  the  general  congress  of  America,  by 
one  of  the  delegates  in  1775— author  un 
known, 

FROM  ALMON'S  REMEMBRANCER. 
The  great  God,  sir,  who  is  the  searcher  of  all 
things  will  witness  for  me,  that  I  have  spoken 
to  you,  from  the  bottom  and  purity  of  my  heart. 
We  have  heard  that  this  is  an  arduous  consid 
eration.  And  surely,  sir,  we  have  considered 
it  earnestly.  I  may  think  of  every  gentleman 
here,  as  I  know  of  myself,  that,  for  seven  years 
past,  this  question  has  filled  the  day  with  anx 
ious  thought,  and  the  night  with  care.  The 
God  to  whom  we  appeal,  must  judge  us.  If 
the  grievances,  of  which  we  complain,  did  not 
come  upon  us  unprovoked  and  unexpected — 
when  our  hearts  were  filled  with  respectful 
affection  for  our  parent  state,  and  with  loyalty 
to  our  king — let  slavery,  the  worst  of  human 
ills,  be  our  portion.  Nothing  less  than  seven 
years  of  insulted  complaints  and  reiterated 
wrongs,  could  have  shaken  such  rooted  senti 
ments.  Unhappily  for  us,  submission  and 
slavery  are  the  same;  and  we  have  only  the 
melancholy  alternative  left — of  ruin  or  resist 
ance. 

The  last  petition  *  of  this  congress  to  'the 
king  contained  all  that  our  unhappy  situation 
could  suggest.  It  represented  our  grievances  ; 
implored  redress,  and  professed  our  readiness  to 
contribute  for  the  general  want,  to  the  utmost 
of  our  abilities,  when  constitutionally  required. 
The  apparently  gracious  reception  it  met 
with,  promised  us  a  due  consideration  of  it ; 
and  that  consideration  relief.  But,  alas  !  Sir, 
it  seems  at  that  moment  the  very  reverse  was 
intended.  For  it  now  appears,  that  in  a  very 
few  days  after  this  specious  answer  to  our 
agents,  a  circular  letter  was  privately  written 
by  the  same  secretary  of  state  to  the  governors 
of  the  colonies,  before  parliament  had  been 
consulted,  pronouncing  the  congress  illegal, 
our  grievances  pretended,  and  vainly  command 
ing  them  to  prevent  our  meeting  again.  Per 
haps,  sir,  the  ministers  of  a  great  nation, 
never  before  committed  an  act  of  such  narrow 
policy  and  treacherous  duplicity.  They  found 

*  In  1774,  presented  last  Christmas. 


parliament,  however,  prepared  to  support  every 
one  of  their  measures. 

I  forbear,  sir,  entering  into  a  detail  of  those 
acts,  which  from  their  atrociousness,  must  be 
felt  and  remembered  forever.  They  are  calcu 
lated  to  carry  fire  and  sword,  famine  and  deso 
lation,  through  these  flourishing  colonies. 
They  cry  "  havoc,  and  let  slip  the  dogs  of 
war."  The  extremes  of  rage  and  revenge, 
against  the  worst  of  enemies,  could  not  dictate 
measures  more  desperate  and  destructive. 

There  are  some  people  who  tremble  at  the 
approach  of  war.  They  fear,  that  it  must  put  an 
inevitable  stop  to  the  further  progress  of  these 
colonies  ;  and  ruin  irretrievably  those  benefits, 
which  the  industry  of  centuries  has  called  forth, 
from  this  once  savage  land.  I  may  commend 
the  anxiety  of  these  men,  without  praising 
their  judgment. 

War,  like  other  evils,  is  often  wholesome. 
The  waters  that  stagnate,  corrupt.  The  storm 
that  works  the  ocean  into  rage,  renders  it  salu 
tary. — Heaven  has  given  us  nothing  unmixed. 
The  rose  is  not  without  the  thorn.  Wa-r  calls 
forth  the  great  virtues  and  efforts,  which  would 
sleep  in  the  gentle  bosom  of  peace.  "  Paulum 
sepultcz  distat  inertia  celaia  -virtus."  It  opens 
resources  which  would  be  concealed  under  the 
inactivity  of  tranquil  times.  It  rouses  and 
enlightens.  It  produces  a  people  of  animation, 
energy,  adventure,  and  greatness.  Let  us  con 
sult  history :  Did  not  the  Grecian  republics 
prosper  amid  continental  warfare?  Their 
prosperity,  their  power,  their  splendor,  grew 
from  the  all-animating  spirit  of  war— did  not 
the  cottages  of  shepherds,  rise  into  imperial 
Rome,  the  mistress  of  the  world,  the  nurse  of 
heroes,  the  delight  of  Gods !  through  the  in 
vigorating  operation  of  unceasing  wars  ! — "Pet 
damna,  per  cades,  ab  ipso  duxit  opes  anzmum- 
queferro."  How  often  has  Flanders  been  the 
theatre  of  contending  powers,  conflicting  hosts, 
and  blood  !  Yet  what  country  is  more  flourish 
ing  and  fertile?  Trace  back  the  history  of 
our  parent  state.  Whether  you  view  her 
arraying  Angles  against  Danes  ;  Danes  against 
Saxons  ;  Saxons  against  Normans  ;  the  barons 
against  the  usurping  princes,  or  the  civil  wars 
of  the  red  and  white  roses,  or  that  between  the 
people  and  the  tyrant  Stuart — you  see  her  in  a 
state  of  almost  continual  warfare.  In  almost 
every  reign,  to  the  commencement  of  that  of 


39$ 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


Henry  the  Vllth,  her  peaceful  bosom  (in  her 
poet's  phrase)  was  gored  with  iron  war.  It 
was  in  the  peaceful  reigns  of  Henry  VII.  Henry 
VIII.  and  Charles  II.  that  she  suffered  the 
severest  extremities  of  tyranny  and  oppression. 
But  amid  her  civil  contentions,  she  flourished 
and  grew  strong ;  trained  in  them,  she  sent  her 
hardy  legions  forth,  which  planted  the  stand 
ard  of  England  upon  the  battlements  of  Paris  ; 
extending  her  commerce  and  her  dominion. 

"  Those  noble  English,  who  could  entertain 
With  half  their  forces,  the  full  power  of  France, 
And  let  another  half  stand  laughing  by, 
All  out  of  work,  and  cold  for  action." 

The  beautiful  fabric  of  her  constitutional 
liberty  was  reared  and  cemented  in  blood. 
From  this  fulness  of  her  strength  those  scions 
issued,  which  taking  deep  root  in  this  delightful 
land,  have  reared  their  heads,  and  spread  their 
branches  like  the  cedar  of  Lebanon. 

Why  fear  we  then,  to  pursue,  through  appa 
rent  evil — real  good  ?  The  war,  upon  which 
we  are  to  enter,  is  just  and  necessary."  "  Jus- 
turn  est  helium,  ubi  necessarium  ;  et  pia  arma, 
quibus  nulla,  nisi  in  armis,  relinquitur  spes" 
It  is  to  protect  these  regions,  brought  to  such 
beauty  through  the  infinite  toil  and  hazard  of 
our  fathers  and  ourselves,  from  becoming  the 
prey  of  that  more  desolating  cruel  spoiler  than 
war,  pestilence,  or  famine, — absolute  rule  and 
endless  extortion. 

Our  sufferings  have  been  great — our  endu 
rance  long.  Every  effort  of  patience,  complaint, 
and  supplication,  has  been  exhausted.  They 
seem  only  to  have  hardened  the  hearts  of  the 
ministers  who  oppress  us,  and  double  our  dis 
tresses.  Let  us  therefore  consult  only  how  we 
shall  defend  our  liberties  with  dignity  and  suc 
cess.  Our  parent  state  will  then  think  us 
worthy  of  her,  when  she  sees  that  with  her 
liberty  we  inherit  her  rigid  resolution  oT  main 
taining  it  against  all  invaders.  Let  us  give  her 
reason  to  pride  herself  in  the  relationship. 

And  thou,  great  liberty  !  inspire  our  souls. 
Make  our  lives  happy  in  thy  pure  embrace, 
Or  our  deaths  glorious  in  thy  just  defence ! 


A   DAY   OF  HUMILIATION 

AND  PRAYER,  ORDERED  BY  CONGRESS,  ON 
FRIDAY,  THE  SEVENTEENTH  DAY  OF 
MAY,  1776. 

IN  CONGRESS,  March  16,  1776. 

The  congress,  considering  the  warlike 
preparations  of  the  British  ministry  to  subvert 
our  invaluable  rights  and  privileges,  and  to 


reduce  us,  by  fire  and  sword,  by  the  savages 
of  the  wilderness  and  our  own  domestics,  to 
the  most  abject  and  ignominious  bondage ; 
desirous,  at  the  same  time,  to  have  people  of 
all  ranks  and  degrees  duly  impressed  with  a 
solemn  sense  of  God's  superintending  Provi 
dence,  and  of  their  duty  devoutly  to  rely  in  all 
their  lawful  enterprises  on  his  aid  and  direc 
tion,  do  earnestly  recommend  that  Friday,  the 
1 7th  day  of  May  next,  be  observed  by  the  said 
colonies  as  a  day  of  humiliation,  fasting  and 
prayer ;  that  we  may  with  united  hearts,  con 
fess  and  bewail  our  manifold  sins  and  trans 
gressions,  and  by  a  sincere  repentance  and 
amendment  of  life,  appease  his  righteous  dis 
pleasure,  and,  through  the  merits  and  media 
tion  of  Jesus  Christ,  obtain  his  pardon  and  for 
giveness,  humbly  imploring  his  assistance  to 
frustrate  the  cruel  purposes  of  our  unnatural 
enemies  ;  and  by  inclining  their  hearts  to  jus 
tice  and  benevolence,  prevent  the  further  effu 
sion  of  kindred  blood.  But,  if  continuing  deaf 
to  the  voice  of  reason  and  humanity,  and  in 
flexibly  bent  on  desolation  and  war,  they  con 
strain  us  to  repel  their  hostile  invasions  by 
open  resistance,  that  it  may  please  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  the  God  of  armies,  to  animate  our 
officers  and  soldiers  with  invincible  fortitude, 
to  guard  and  protect  them  in  the  day  of  battle, 
and  to  crown  the  continental  arms  by  sea  and 
land,  with  victory  and  success.  Earnestly 
beseeching  him  to  bless  our  civil  rulers,  and 
the  representatives  of  the  people  in  their  several 
assemblies  and  conventions ;  to  preserve  and 
strengthen  their  union  ;  to  inspire  them  with 
an  ardent  disinterested  love  of  their  country  ; 
to  give  wisdom  and  stability  to  their  councils  ; 
and  direct  them  to  the  most  efficacious  meas 
ures  for  establishing  the  rights  of  America  on 
the  most  honorable  and  permanent  basis  ;  that 
he  would  be  graciously  pleased  to  bless  all  the 
people  in  these  colonies  with  health  and 
plenty  ;  and  grant  that  a  spirit  of  incorruptible 
patriotism,  and  of  pure  undefiled  religion,  may 
universally  prevail :  and  this  continent  be 
speedily  restored  to  the  blessings  of  peace  and 
liberty,  and  enabled  to  transmit  them  inviolate 
to  the  latest  posterity.  And  it  is  recommended 
to  Christians  of  all  denominations,  to  assemble 
for  public  worship,  and  abstain  from  servile  labor 
on  the  said  day.  By  order  of  the  congress. 
JOHN  HANCOCK,  President. 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS. 


397 


EXCITING  DEBATE  IN  CONGRESS 

UPON  THE  QUESTION  OF  SEPARATION  FROM 
ENGLAND. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  works  that  has 
ever  appeared  as  a  history  of  "  the  war  of  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  of  Amer 
ica,"  was  writen  by  Mr.    Charles  Botta,   an 
Italian,  a  translation  of  which  has  been  made 
by  Mr.  George  Alexander  Otis.    From  these 
volumes  we  extract  the  two  speeches  that  fol 
low — previous  to  the  insertion  of  which,  it  is 
necessary  to  give  the  "  notice  of  the  author  " 
in  relation  to  them.     By  way  of  preface  to 
his  work,  Mr.  Botta  says — 
"  There  will  be  found  in  the  course  of  this 
history,  several  discourses,  of  a  certain  length. 
Those  I  have  put  in  the  mouth  of  the  different 
speakers  have  really  been  pronounced  by  them, 
and  upon  those  very  occasions  which  are  treated 
of  in   the  work.     I  should,  however,  mention 
that  I  have,  sometimes,  made  a  single  orator 
say  what  has  been  said  in  substance  by  others 
of  the  same  party.     Sometimes,  also,  but  rarely 
using  the  liberty,  granted  in  all  times  to  histo 
rians,  I  have  ventured  to  add  a  small  number 
of  phrases,  which  appeared  to  me  to  coincide 
perfectly  with  the  sense  of  the  orator,  and  pro 
per  to  enforce  his  opinion  :  this  has  happened 
especially  in   the  two  discourses   pronounced 
before  congress,  for  and  against  the  independ 
ence,  by  Richard  Lee  and  John  Dickinson. 

"  It  will  not  escape  attentive  readers,  that  in 
some  of  these  discourses  are  found  predictions 
which  time  has  accomplished.  I  affirm  that 
these  remarkable  passages  belong  entirely  to 
the  authors  cited.  In  order  that  these  might 
not  resemble  those  of  the  poets,  always  made 
after  the  fact,  I  have  been  so  scrupulous  as  to 
translate  them,  word  for  word,  from  the 
original/'1 

PATRIOTIC  SPEECH  OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 
OF  VIRGINIA,  DELIVERED  JUNE  STH,  1776, 
URGING  AN  IMMEDIATE  DECLARATION  OF 
INDEPENDENCE. 

On  the  8th  of  June  [1776]  a  motion  being 
made  in  congress  to  declare  independence, 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  one  of  the  deputies  from 
Virginia,  spoke  as  follows,  and  was  heard  with 
profound  attention : 

"  I  know  not,  whether  among  all  the  civil 
discords  which  have  been  recorded  by  histori 
ans,  and  which  have  been  excited  either  by  the 
love  of  liberty  in  the  people,  or  by  the  ambition 
of  princes,  there  has  ever  been  presented  a 


deliberation  more  interesting  or  more  import 
ant  than  that  which  now  engages  our  attention, 
whether  we  consider  the  future  destiny  of  this 
free  and  virtuous  people,  or  that  of  our  enemies 
themselves,  who,  notwithstanding  their  tyranny 
and  this  cruel  war,  are  still  our  brethren,  and 
descended  from  a  common  stock ;  or  finally, 
that  of  the  other  nations  of  the  globe,  whose 
eyes  are  intent  upon  this  great  spectacle,  and 
who  anticipate  from  our  success  more  freedom 
for  themselves,  or  from  our  defeat  apprehend 
heavier  chains  and  a  severer  bondage.  For 
the  question  is  not  whether  we  shall  acquire 
an  increase  of  territorial  dominion,  or  wickedly 
wrest  from  others  their  just  possessions ;  but 
whether  we.  shall  preserve,  or  lose  forever,  that 
liberty  which  we  have  inherited  from  our  ances 
tors,  which  we  have  pursued  across  tempestuous 
seas,  and  which  we  have  defended  in  this  land 
against  barbarous  men,  ferocious  beasts,  and 
an  inclement  sky.  And  if  so  many  and  distin 
guished  praises  have  always  been  lavished 
upon  the  generous  defenders  of  Greek  and  of 
Roman  liberty,  what  will  be  said  of  us  who 
defend  a  liberty  which  is  founded  not  upon  the 
capricious  will  of  an  unstable  multitude,  but 
upon  immutable  statutes  and  tutelary  laws ; 
not  that  which  was  the  exclusive  privilege  of  a 
few  patricians,  but  that  which  is  the  property  of 
all ;  not  that  which  was  stained  by  iniquitous 
ostracisms,  or  the  horrible  decimation  of  armies, 
but  that  which  is  pure,  temperate  and  gentle, 
and  conformed  to  the  civilization  of  the  present 
age.  Why  then  do  we  longer  procrastinate, 
and  wherefore  are  these  delays  ?  Let  us  complete 
the  enterprise  already  so  well  commenced:  and 
our  union  with  England  can  no  longer  consist, 
since  with  that  liberty  and  peace  which  are  our 
chief  delight,  let  us  dissolve  these  fatalities,  and 
conquer  forever  that  good  which  we  already 
enjoy  ;  an  entire  and  absolute  independence. 

"  But  ought  I  not  to  begin  by  observing,  that 
if  we  have  reached  that  violent  extremity,  be 
yond  which  nothing  can  any  longer  exist  be 
tween  America  and  England,  but  either  such 
war  or  such  peace  as  are  made  between  foreign 
nations,  this  can  only  be  imputed  to  the  insati 
able  cupidity,  the  tyrannical  proceedings,  and 
the  outrages,  for  ten  years  reiterated,  of  the 
British  ministers.  What  have  we  not  done  to 
restore  peace,  and  to  re-establish  harmony? 
Who  has  not  heard  our  prayers,  and  who  is 
ignorant  of  our  supplications  ?  They  have 
wearied  the  universe.  England  alone  was 
deaf  to  our  complaints,  and  wanted  that  com 
passion  towards  us  which  we  have  found 
among  all  other  nations.  And  as  at  first  our 
forbearance,  and  then  our  resistance,  have 


398 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


proved  equally  insufficient,  since  our  prayers 
were  unavailing,  as  well  as  the  blood  lately 
shed  ;  we  must  go  further,  and  proclaim  our 
independence. — Nor  let  any  one  believe  that 
we  have  any  other  option  left.  The  time 
will  certainly  come  when  the  fated  separation 
must  take  place,  whether  you  will  or  no  :  for 
so  it  is  decreed  by  the  very  nature  of  things, 
the  progressive  increase  of  our  population,  the 
fertility  of  our  soil,  the  extent  of  our  territory, 
the  industry  of  our  countrymen,  and  the  immen 
sity  of  the  ocean  which  separates  the  two 
states. — And  if  this  be  true,  as  is  most  true, 
who  does  not  see  that  the  sooner  it  takes  place 
the  better;  and  that  it  would  be  not  only  im 
prudent,  but  the  height  of  folly,  not  to  seize  the 
present  occasion,  when  British  injustice  has 
filled  all  hearts  with  indignation,  inspired  all 
minds  with  courage,  united  all  opinions  in  one, 
and  put  arms  in  every  hand  ?  And  how  long 
must  we  traverse  three  thousand  miles  of  a 
stormy  sea,  to  go  and  solicit  of  arrogant  and 
insolent  men  either  councils  or  commands 
to  regulate  our  domestic  affairs  ?  Does  it  not 
become  a  great,  rich,  and  powerful  nation,  as 
we  are,  to  look  at  home,  and  not  abroad,  for 
the  government  of  its  own  concerns  ?  And 
how  can  a  ministry  of  strangers  judge,  with 
any  discernment,  of  our  interests,  when  they 
know  not,  and  when  it  little  imports  them  to 
know,  what  is  good  for  us,  and  what  is  not  ? 
The  past  injustice  of  the  British  ministers 
should  warn  us  against  the  future,  if  they 
should  ever  seize  us  again  in  their  cruel  claws. 
Since  it  has  pleased  our  barbarous  enemies  to 
place  before  us  the  alternative  of  slavery  or  of 
independence,  where  is  the  generous  minded 
man  and  the  lover  of  his  country  who  can  hesi 
tate  to  choose  ?  With  these  perfidious  men  no 
promise  is  secure,  no  pledges  sacred.  Let  us 
suppose,  which  heaven  avert,  that  we  are  con 
quered  ;  let  us  suppose  an  accommodation. 
What  assurance  have  we  of  the  British  modera 
tion  in  victory,  or  good  faith  in  treaty  ?  Is  it 
their  having  enlisted  and  let  loose  against  us 
the  ferocious  Indians,  and  the  merciless  sol 
diers  of  Germany  ?  Is  it  that  faith,  so  often 
pledged  and  so  often  violated  in  the  course  of 
the  present  contest ;  this  British  faith,  which  is 
reputed  more  false  than  Punic  ?  We  ought 
rather  to  expect,  that  when  we  shall  have  fallen 
naked  and  unarmed  into  their  hands,  they  will 
wreak  upon  us  their  fury  and  their  vengeance  ; 
they  will  load  us  with  heavier  chains,  in 
order  to  deprive  us  not  only  of  the  power, 
but  even  of  the  hope  of  again  recovering  our 
liberty.  But  I  am  willing  to  admit,  although  it  is 
a  thing  without  example,  that  the  British  gov 


ernment  will  forget  past  offences  and  perform  its 
promises  ;  can  we  imagine,  that,  after  so  long 
dissentions,  after  so  many  outrages,  so  many 
combats,  and  so  much  bloodshed,  our  recon 
ciliation  could  be  durable,  and  that  every,  day, 
in  the  midst  of  so  much  hatred  and  rancor, 
would  not  afford  some  fresh  subject  of  animos 
ity  ?  The  two  nations  are  already  separated 
in  interest  and  affections  ;  the  one  is  conscious 
of  its  ancient  strength,  the  other  has  become 
acquainted  with  its  newly  exerted  force ;  the 
one  desires  to  rule  in  an  arbitrary  manner,  the 
other  will  not  obey  even  if  allowed  its  privi 
leges.  In  such  a  state  of  things,  what  peace, 
what  concord  can  be  expected  ?  The  Ameri 
cans  may  become  faithful  friends  to  the  Eng 
lish,  but  subjects,  never.  And  even  though 
union  could  be  restored  without  rancor,  it  could 
not  without  danger. — The  wealth  and  power 
of  Great  Britain  should  inspire  prudent  men 
with  fears  for  the  future.  Having  reached 
such  a  height  of  grandeur  that  she  has  no  lon 
ger  anything  to  dread  from  foreign  powers,  in 
the  security  of  peace  the  spirit  of  her  people 
will  decay,  manners  will  be  corrupted,  her 
youth  will  grow  up  in  the  midst  of  vice,  and 
in  this  state  of  degeneration,  England  will  be 
come  the  prey  of  a  foreign  enemy,  or  an  ambi 
tious  citizen.  If  we  remain  united  with  her,  we 
shall  partake  of  her  corruptions  and  misfor 
tunes,  the  more  to  be  dreaded  as  they  will  be 
irreparable  ;  separated  from  her,  on  the  con 
trary,  as  we  are,  we  should  neither  have  to  fear 
the  seductions  of  peace,  nor  the  dangers  of 
war.  By  a  declaration  of  our  freedom,  the 
perils  would  not  be  increased ;  but  we  should 
add  to  the  ardor  of  our  defenders,  and  to  the 
splendor  of  victory.  Let  us  then  take  a  firm 
step  and  escape  from  this  labyrinth  ;  we  have 
assumed  the  sovereign  power,  and  dare  not 
confess  it ;  we  disobey  a  king,  and  acknowledge 
ourselves  his  subjects ;  wage  war  against  a 
people,  on  whom  we  incessantly  protest  our 
desire  to  depend.  What  is  the  consequence 
of  so  many  inconsistencies?  Hesitation  para 
lyzes  all  our  measures ;  the  way  we  ought  to 
pursue  is  not  marked  out ;  our  generals  are 
neither  respected  nor  obeyed ;  our  soldiers 
have  neither  confidence  nor  zeal ;  feeble  at 
home,  and  little  considered  abroad,  foreign 
princes  can  neither  esteem  nor  succor  so  timid 
and  wavering  a  people.  But  independence 
once  proclaimed,  and  our  object  avowed,  more 
manly  and  decided  measures  will  be  adopted, 
all  minds  will  be  fired  by  the  greatness  of  the 
enterprise,  the  civil  magistrates  will  be  inspired 
with  new  zeal,  the  generals  with  fresh  ardor, 
and  the  citizens  with  greater  constancy,  to 


CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS 


399 


attain  so  high  and  so  glorious  a  destiny.  There 
are  some  who  seem  to  dread  the  effects  of  this 
resolution.  But  will  England,  or  can  she, 
manifest  against  us  greater  vigor  and  rage  than 
she  has  already  displayed  ?  She  deems  resist 
ance  against  oppression  no  less  rebellious  than 
independence  itself.  And  where  are  those 
formidable  troops  that  are  to  subdue  the  Amer 
icans  ?  What  the  English  could  not  do,  can  it 
be  done  by  Germans  ?  Are  they  more  brave 
or  better  disciplined  ?  The  number  of  our 
enemies  is  increased  ;  but  our  own  is  not  di 
minished,  and  the  battles  we  have  sustained 
have  given  us  the  practice  of  arms  and  the 
experience  of  war.  Who  doubts  then  that  a 
declaration  of  independence  will  procure  us 
allies  ?  All  nations  are  desirous  of  procuring, 
by  commerce,  the  production  of  our  exuberant 
soil ;  they  will  visit  our  ports  hitherto  closed  by 
the  monopoly  of  insatiable  England.  They  are 
no  less  eager  to  contemplate  the  reduction  of 
her  hated  power ;  they  all  loathe  her  barbarous 
dominion ;  their  succors  evince  to  our  brave 
countrymen  the  gratitude  they  bear  them  for 
having  been  the  first  to  shake  the  foundation 
of  this  Colossus.  Foreign  princes  wait  only 
for  the  extinction  of  all  hazard  of  reconciliation 
to  throw  off  their  present  reserve.  If  this 
measure  is  useful,  it  is  no  less  becoming  our 
dignity.  America  has  arrived  at  a  degree  of 
power,  which  assigns  her  a  place  among  inde 
pendent  nations  ;  we  are  not  less  entitled  to  it 
than  the  English  themselves.  If  they  have 
wealth,  so  also  have  we ;  if  they  are  brave, 
so  are  we ;  if  they  are  more  numerous, 
our  population,  through  the  incredible  fruitful- 
ness  of  our  chaste  wives,  will  soon  equal  theirs  ; 
if  they  have  men  of  renown  as  well  in  peace  as 
in  war,  we  likewise  have  such  ;  political  revolu 
tions  usually  produce  great,  brave,  and  gener 
ous  spirits.  From  what  we  have  already 
achieved  in  these  painful  beginnings,  it  is  easy 
to  presume  what  we  shall  hereafter  accom 
plish,  for  experience  is  the  source  of  sage  coun 
cils,  and  liberty  is  the  mother  of  great  men. 
Have  you  not  seen  the  enemy  driven  from  Lex 
ington  by  thirty  thousand  citizens  armed  and 
assembled  in  one  day  ?  Already  their  most  cele 
brated  generals  have  yielded  in  Boston  to  the 
skill  of  ours;  already  their  seamen,  repulsed 
from  our  coasts,  wander  over  the  ocean,  where 
they  are  the  sport  of  tempest,  and  the  prey  of 
famine.  Let  us  hail  the  favorable  omen,  and 
fight,  not  for  the  sake  of  knowing  on  what 
terms  we  are  to  be  the  slaves  of  England,  but 
to  secure  to  ourselves  a  free  existence,  to  found 
a  just  and  independent  government.  Anima 
ted  by  liberty,  the  Greeks  repulsed  the  innum 


erable  army  of  Persians  ;  sustained  by  the  love 
of  independence,  the  Swiss  and  the  Dutch 
humbled  the  power  of  Austria  by  memorable 
defeats,  and  conquered  a  rank  among  nations. 
But  the  sun  of  America  also  shines  upon  the 
heads  of  the  brave,  the  point  of  our  weapons 
is  no  less  formidable  than  theirs  ;  here  also  the 
same  union  prevails,  the  same  contempt  of 
dangers  and  of  death  in  asserting  the  cause  of 
country. 

"  Why  then  do  we  longer  delay,  why  still 
deliberate  ?  Let  this  most  happy  day  give 
birth  to  the  American  republic.  Let  her  arise, 
not  to  devastate  and  conquer,  but  to  re-estab 
lish  the  reign  of  peace  and  of  the  laws.  The 
eyes  of  Europe  are  fixed  upon  us !  She 
demands  of  us  a  living  example  of  freedom, 
that  may  contrast,  by  the  felicity  of  the  citi 
zens,  with  the  ever  increasing  tyranny  which 
desolates  her  polluted  shores.  She  invites  us 
to  prepare  an  asylum  where  the  unhappy  may 
find  solace,  and  the  persecuted  repose.  She 
intreats  us  to  cultivate  a  propitious  soil  where 
that  generous  plant,  which  first  sprung  up  and 
grew  in  England,  but  is  now  withered  by  the 
poisonous  blasts  of  Scottish  tyranny,  may  re 
vive  and  flourish,  sheltering  under  its  salubri 
ous  and  interminable  shade  all  the  unfortunate 
of  the  human  race.  This  is  the  end  presaged 
by  so  many  omens,  by  our  first  victories,  by 
the  present  ardor  and  union,  by  the  flight  of 
Howe,  and  the  pestilence  which  broke  out 
amongst  Dunmore's  people,  by  the  very  winds 
which  baffled  the  enemy's  fleets  and  transports, 
and  that  terrible  tempest  which  ingulfed  seven 
hundred  vessels  upon  the  coast  of  Newfound 
land.  If  we  are  not  this  day  wanting  in  our 
duty  to  country,  the  names  of  the  American 
legislators  will  be  placed,  by  posterity,  at  the 
side  of  those  of  Theseus,  of  Lycurgus,  of  Rom 
ulus,  of  Numa,  of  the  three  Williams  of  Nas 
sau,  and  of  all  those  whose  memory  has  been, 
and  will  be,  forever  dear  to  virtuous  men  and 
good  citizens." 

Lee  had  scarcely  ceased  speaking,  when  no 
dubious  signs  of  approbation  were  manifested 
on  all  parts.  But  the  deputies  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Maryland  not  being  present,  and  the  con 
gress  desirous,  by  some  delay,  to  evidence  the 
maturity  of  their  deliberations,  adjourned  the 
further  consideration  of  the  subject  to  the  first 
of  July.  Meanwhile  the  patriots  labored 
strenuously  to  induce  the  two  dissenting  pro 
vinces  also  to  decide  for  independence.  They 
employed  the  most  earnest  persuasions,  to 
which  they  added  also  threats,  intimating  that 
not  only  would  the  other  colonies  exclude  them 
from  the  confederation,  but  that  they  would 


4OO 


PRINCIPLES    AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


immediately  treat  them  as  enemies.  The  pro 
vincial  assembly  of  Pennsylvania  remained  in 
flexible.  At  length,  the  inhabitants  of  Penn 
sylvania  formed  a  convention,  in  which  the 
debates  and  disputes  upon  the  question  of 
independence  were  many  and  vehement. 


SPEECH   OF   JOHN  DICKINSON   OF   PENN 
SYLVANIA,    FAVORING    A    CONDITION    OF 

UNION     WITH     ENGLAND,     DELIVERED 
JULY  i,  1776. 

JOHN  DICKINSON,  one  of  the  deputies  of 
the  province  to  the  general  congress,  a  man 
of  prompt  genius,  of  extensive  influence,  and 
one  of  the  most  zealous  partisans  of  American 
liberty,  restricted  however  to  the  condition  of 
union  with  England,  harangued,  it  is  said,  in 
the  following  manner  against  independence  : 

"  It  too  often  happens,  fellow  citizens,  that 
men,  heated  -by  the  spirit  of  party,  give  more 
importance  in  their  discourses,  to  the  surface 
and  appearance  of  objects,  than  either  to  rea 
son  or  justice  ;  thus  evincing,  that  their  aim  is 
not  to  appease  tumults,  but  to  excite  them  ; 
not  to  repress  the  passions,  but  to  inflame 
them,  not  to  compose  ferocious  discords,  but 
to  exasperate  and  imbitter  them  more  and 
more.  They  aspire  but  to  please  the  powerful, 
to  gratify  their  own  ambition,  to  flatter  the 
caprices  of  the  multitude,  in  order  to  captivate 
their  favor.  Accordingly  in  popular  commo 
tions,  the  party  of  wisdom  and  of  equity  is 
commonly  found  in  the  minority ;  and,  per 
haps,  it  would  be  safer,  in  difficult  circum 
stances,  to  consult  the  smaller  instead  of  the 
greater  number.  Upon  this  principle  I  invite 
the  attention  of  those  who  hear  me,  since  my 
opinion  may  differ  from  that  of  the  majority ; 
but  I  dare  believe  it  will  be  shared  by  all  im 
partial  and  moderate  citizens,  who  condemn 
this  tumultuous  proceeding,  this  attempt  to 
coerce  our  opinions,  and  to  drag  us,  with  so 
much  precipitation  to  the  most  serious  and  im 
portant  of  decisions.  But,  coming  to  the  sub 
ject  in  controversy,  I  affirm,  that  prudent  men 
do  not  abandon  objects  which  are  certain,  to 
go  in  pursuit  of  those  which  offer  only  uncer 
tainty.  Now,  it  is  an  established  fact,  that 
America  can  be  well  and  happily  governed  by 
the  Engnsh  iaws,  under  the  same  king  and  the 
same  parliament.  Two  hundred  years  of  hap 
piness  furnish  the  proof  of  it ;  and  we  find 
it  also  in  the  present  prosperity,  which  is 
the  result  of  these  venerable  laws  and  of  this 
ancient  union.  It  is  not  as  independent,  but  as 
subjects ;  not  as  republic,  but  as  monarchy, 


that  we  have  arrived  at  this  degree  of  power 
and  of  greatness. 

"  What  then  is  the  object  of  these  chimeras, 
hatched  in  the  days  of  discord  and  war  ? 
Shall  the  transports  of  fury  have  more  power 
over  us  than  the  experience  of  ages  ?  Shall  we 
destroy,  in  a  moment  of  anger,  the  work  ce 
mented  and  tested  by  time  ? 

"  I  know  the  name  of  liberty  is  dear  to  each 
one  of  us ;  but  have  we  not  enjoyed  liberty 
even  under  the  English  monarchy  ?  Shall  we 
this  day  renounce  that  to  go  and  seek  it  in  I 
know  not  what  form  of  republic,  which  will 
soon  change  into  a  licentious  anarchy  and 
popular  tyranny?  In  the  human  body  the 
head  only  sustains  and  governs  all  the  mem 
bers,  directing  them,  with  admirable  harmony, 
to  the  same  object,  which  is  self-preservation 
and  happiness ;  so  the  head  of  the  body  pol 
itic,  that  is  the  king,  in  concert  with  the  parlia 
ment,  can  alone  maintain  the  union  of  the 
members  of  this  empire,  lately  so  flourishing, 
and  prevent  civil  war  by  obviating  all  the  evils 
produced  by  variety  of  opinions  and  diversity 
of  interests.  And  so  firm  is  my  persuasion  of 
this,  that  I  fully  believe  the  most  cruel  war 
which  Great  Britain  could  make  upon  us, 
would  be  that  of  not  making  any ;  and  that 
the  surest  means  of  bringing  us  back  to  hei 
obedience,  would  be  that  of  employing  none. 
For  the  dread  of  the  English  arms  once  re 
moved,  provinces  would  rise  up  against  pro 
vinces,  and  cities  against  cities ;  and  we  shall 
be  seen  to  turn  against  ourselves  the  arms  we 
have  taken  up  to  combat  the  common  enemy. 

"  Insurmountable  necessity  would  then  com 
pel  us  to  resort  to  the  tutelary  authority  which 
we  should  have  rashly  abjured,  and  if  it  con 
sented  to  receive  us  again  under  its  32gis,  it 
would  be  no  longer  as  free  citizens,  but  as 
slaves.  Still  inexperienced,  and  in  our  infancy, 
what  proof  have  we  given  of  our  ability  to  walk 
without  a  guide?  none,  and,  if  we  judge  the 
future  by  the  past,  we  must  conclude  that  our 
concord  will  continue  as  long  as  the  danger, 
and  no  longer. 

"  Even  when  the  powerful  hand  of  England 
supported  us,  for  the  paltry  motives  <3f  territorial 
limits  and  distant  jurisdictions,  have  we  not 
abandoned  ourselves  to  discords,  and  some 
times  even  to  violence  ?  And  what  must  we 
not  expect,  now  that  minds  are  heated,  ambi 
tions  roused,  and  arms  in  the  hands  of  all  ? 

"  If,  therefore,  our  union  with  England  offers 
us  so  many  advantages  for  the  maintenance  of 
internal  peace,  it  is  no  less  necessary  to  pro 
cure  us,  with  foreign  powers,  that  condescen 
sion  and  respect  which  is  so  essential  to  the 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS. 


401 


prosperity  of  our  commerce,  to  the  enjoyment 
of  any  consideration,  and  to  the  accomplish 
ment  of  any  enterprise.  Hitherto,  in  our  inter 
course  with  the  different  nations  of  the  world, 
England  has  lent  us  the  support  of  her  name 
and  of  her  arms  :  we  have  presented  ourselves 
in  all  the  ports  and  in  all  the  cities  of  the  globe, 
not  as  Americans,  a  people  scarcely  heard  of, 
but  as  English  ;  under  shadow  of  this  respect 
ed  name,  every  port  was  open  to  us,  every 
way  was  smooth,  every  demand  was  heard 
with  favor.  From  the  moment  when  our 
separation  shall  take  place,  everything  will 
assume  a  contrary  direction.  The  nations  will 
accustom  themselves  to  look  upon  us  with  dis 
dain  ;  even  the  pirates  of  Africa  and  Europe 
will  fall  upon  our  vessels,  will  massacre  our 
seamen,  or  lead  them  into  a  cruel  and  perpetual 
slavery. 

"  There  is  in  the  human  species,  often  so 
inexplicable  in  their  affections,  a  manifest  pro 
pensity  to  oppress  the  feeble  as  well  as  to  flatter 
the  powerful.  Fear  always  carries  it  against 
reason,  pride  against  moderation,  and  cruelty 
against  clemency. 

"  Independence,  I  am  aware,  has  attractions 
for  all  mankind  ;  but  I  maintain,  that,  in  the 
present  quarrel,  the  friends  of  independence 
are  the  promoters  of  slavery,  and  that  those 
who  desire  to  separate  us,  would  but  render  us 
more  dependent,  if  independence  means  the 
right  of  commanding,  and  not  the  necessity  of 
obeying,  and  if  being  dependent  is  to  obey,  and 
not  command.  If,  in  rendering  ourselves  in 
dependent  of  England,  supposing,  however, 
that  we  should  be  able  to  effect  it,  we  might 
be  so,  at  the  same  time,  of  all  other  nations,  I 
should  applaud  the  project ;  but  to  change  the 
condition  of  English  subjects  for  that  of  slaves 
to  the  whole  world,  is  a  step  that  could  only  be 
counselled  by  insanity.  If  you  would  reduce 
yourselves  to  the  necessity  of  obeying,  in  all 
things,  the  mandates  of  supercilious  France, 
who  is  now  kindling  fire  under  our  feet,  declare 
yourselves  independent.  If,  to  British  liberty, 
you  prefer  the  liberty  of  Holland,  of  Venice,  of 
Genoa,  or  of  Ragusa,  declare  yourselves  inde 
pendent.  But,  if  we  would  not  change  the 
signification  of  words,  let  us  preserve  and 
carefully  maintain  this  dependence,  which  has 
been,  down  to  this  very  hour,  the  principle  and 
source  of  our  prosperity,  of  our  liberty,  of  our 
real  independence. 

"  But  here  I  am  interrupted,  and  told  that  no 
one  questions  the  advantages  which  America 
derived  at  first  from  her  conjunction  with  Eng 
land  ;  but  that  the  new  pretensions  of  the 
ministers  have  changed  all,  have  subverted  all. 
26 


If  I  should  deny,  that,  for  the  last  twelve  years, 
the  English  government  has  given  the  most 
fatal  direction  to  the  affairs  of  the  colonies,  and 
that  its  measures  towards  us  savor  of  tyranny, 
I  should  deny  not  only  what  is  the  manifest 
truth,  but  even  what  I  have  so  often  advanced 
and  supported.  But  is  there  any  doubt  that  it 
already  feels  a  secret  repentance  ?  These 
arms,  these  soldiers,  it  prepares  against  us,  are 
not  designed  to  establish  tyranny  upon  our 
shores,  but  to  vanquish  our  obstinacy,  and  to 
compel  us  to  subscribe  to  conditions  of  accom 
modation.  In  vain  is  it  asserted  that  the  min 
istry  will  employ  all  means  to  make  themselves 
quite  sure  of  us,  in  order  to  exercise  upon  us, 
with  impunity,  all  the  rigor  of  their  power ; 
for  to  pretend  to  reduce  us  to  an  absolute  im 
possibility  of  resistance,  in  cases  of  oppression, 
would  be,  on  their  part,  a  chimerical  project. 
The  distance  of  the  seat  of  government,  the 
vast  extent  of  intervening  seas,  the  continual 
increase  of  our  population,  our  warlike  spirit, 
our  experience  in  arms,  the  lakes,  the  rivers, 
the  forests,  the  defiles  which  abound  in  our 
territory,  are  our  pledges  that  England  will 
always  prefer  to  found  her  power  upon  modera 
tion  and  liberty,  rather  than  upon  rigor  and 
oppression.  An  uninterrupted  succession  of 
victories  and  of  triumphs  could  alone  constrain 
England  to  acknowledge  American  indepen 
dence  ;  which,  whether  we  can  'expect,  whoever 
knows  the  instability  of  fortune  can  easily  judge. 

"  If  we  have  combated  successfully  at  Lex 
ington  and  at  Boston,  Quebec  and  all  Canada 
have  witnessed  our  reverses.  Every  one  sees 
the  necessity  of  opposing  the  extraordinary  pre 
tensions  of  the  ministers ;  but  does  every  body 
see  also  that  of  fighting  for  independence  ? 

"  It  is  to  be  feared,  that,  by  changing  the 
object  of  the  war,  the  present  harmony  will  be 
interrupted,  that  the  ardor  of  the  people  will 
be  chilled  by  apprehensions  for  their  new  situa 
tion.  By  substituting  a  total  dismemberment 
to  the  revocation  of  the  laws  we  complain  of, 
we  should  fully  justify  the  ministers  ;  we  should 
merit  the  infamous  name  of  rebels,  and  all  the 
British  nation  would  arm,  with  an  unanimous 
impulse,  against  those  who,  from  oppressed  and 
complaining  subjects,  should  have  become  all 
at  once  irreconcilable  enemies.  The  English 
cherish  the  liberty  we  defend  ;  they  respect  the 
dignity  of  our  cause  ;  but  they  will  blame,  they 
will  detest,  our  recourse  to  independence,  and 
will  unite  with  one  consent  to  combat  us. 

"  The  propagators  of  the  new  doctrine  are 
pleased  to  assure  us,  that,  out  of  jealousy  to 
wards  England,  foreign  sovereigns  will  lavish 
their  succors  upon  us,  as  if  these  sovereigns 


4O2 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


could  sincerely  applaud  rebellion;  as  if  they 
had  not  colonies,  even  here  in  America,  in  which 
it  is  important  for  them  to  maintain  obedi 
ence  and  tranquility.  Let  us  suppose,  how 
ever,  that  jealousy,  ambition  or  vengeance, 
should  triumph  over  the  fear  of  insurrection  ;  do 
you  think  these  princes  will  not  make  you  pay 
dear  for  the  assistance  with  which  they  flatter 
you  ?  Who  has  not  learnt,  to  his  cost,  the  per 
fidy  and  the  cupidity  of  Europeans  ?  They  will 
disguise  their  avarice  under  pompous  words ; 
under  the  most  benevolent  pretexts  they  will 
despoil  us  of  our  territories,  they  will  invade 
our  fisheries  and  obstruct  our  navigation,  they 
will  attempt  our  liberty  and  our  privileges.  We 
shall  learn  too  late  what  it  costs  to  trust  to 
those  European  flatteries,  and  to  place  that  con 
fidence  in  inveterate  enemies  which  has  been 
withdrawn  from  long  tried  friends. 

"  There  are  many  persons  who,  to  gain  their 
ends,  extol  the  advantages  of  a  republic  over 
monarchy.  I  will  not  here  undertake  to  ex 
amine  which  of  these  two  forms  of  government 
merits  the  preference.  I  know,  however,  that 
the  English  nation,  after  having  tried  them 
both,  has  never  found  repose  except  in  mon 
archy.  I  know,  also,  that  in  popular  republics 
themselves,  so  necessary  is  monarchy  to  cement 
human  society,  it  has  been  requisite  to  institute 
monarchical  powers,  more  or  less  extensive, 
under  the  names  of  archons,  of  consuls,  of  doges, 
of gonfaloniers,  and  finally  of  kings.  Nor  should 
I  here  omit  an  observation,  the  truth  of  which 
appears  to  me  incontestible  ;  the  English  con 
stitution  seems  to  be  the  fruit  of  the  experience 
of  all  anterior  time  ;  in  which  monarchy  is  so 
tempered,  that  the  monarch  finds  himself 
checked  in  his  efforts  to  seize  absolute  power  ; 
and  the  authority  of  the  people  is  so  regulated, 
that  anarchy  is  not  to  be  feared.  But  for  us  it 
is  to  be  apprehended,  that  when  the  counter 
poise  of  monarchy  shall  no  longer  exist,  the 
democratic  power  may  carry  all  before  it,  and 
involve  the  whole  state  in  confusion  and  ruin. 
Then  an  ambitious  citizen  may  arise,  seize  the 
reins  of  power,  and  annihilate  liberty  forever : 
for  such  is  the  ordinary  career  of  ill-balanced 
democracies,  they  fall  into  anarchy,  and  thence 
under  despotism. 

"  Such  are  the  opinions  which  might  have 
been  offered  you  with  more  eloquence,  but 
assuredly  not  with  more  zeal  or  sincerity.  May 
heaven  grant  that  such  sinister  forebodings  be 
not  one  day  accomplished  !  May  it  not  permit 
that,  in  this  solemn  concourse  of  the  friends 
of  country,  the  impassioned  language  of  pre 
sumptuous  and  ardent  men  should  have  more 
influence  than  the  pacific  exhortations  of  good 


and  sober  citizens  ;  prudence  and  moderation 
found  and  preserve  empires,  temerity  and  pre 
sumption  occasion  their  downfall." 

The  discourse  of  Dickinson  was  heard  with 
attention ;  but  the  current  flowed  irresistibly 
strong  in  a  contrary  direction,  and  fear  acting 
upon  many  more  powerfully  even  than  their 
opinion,  the  majority  pronounced  in  favor  of 
independence.  The  deputies  of  Pennsylvania 
were  accordingly  authorized  to  return  to  con 
gress,  and  to  consent  that  the  confederate 
colonies  should  declare  themselves  free  and  in 
dependent  states. 


DISCUSSION  IN  CONGRESS 

FOR    AND  AGAINST  RETALIATION  ON   PRIS 
ONERS  OF  WAR,  1776. 

Fragment  of  a  speech  in  the  general  congress 
of  America — 1776.  {Name  of  the  speaker 
unknown.] 

Upon  a  motion  to  resolve,  '  That  all  Scotch 
prisoners  be  treated  with  the  utmost  severity, 
as  the  rancorous  abettors  of  this  inhuman  war, 
which  has  originated  in  Scotch  principles,  and 
from  Scotch  councils  : ' 

The  mover  of  this  resolution  prefaced  and 
enforced  it  by  a  review  of  public  transactions, 
both  respecting  England  and  America,  since 
the  commencement  of  the  present  reign.  He 
showed  these  had  been  a  series  of  violent 
grievances,  followed  by  ineffectual  complaints 
and  petitions  for  redress.  He  enumerated  the 
multitude  of  addresses  from  every  part  of  Scot 
land  for  the  blood  of  the  Americans.  He  sta 
ted  the  general  zeal  and  alacrity  of  that  people 
in  and  out  of  parliament,  and  in-  Great  Britain 
and  America,  for  the  destruction  and  subjuga 
tion  of  the  colonies.  He  reminded  them  of  the 
treachery  and  uncontrolable  enmity  of  the 
Scotch  against  them,  recently  experienced  in 
the  provinces  of  New  York,  Virginia,  and  the 
Carolinas  ;  where,  in  direct  violation  of  every 
principle  of  gratitude,  and  of  their  faith  ex 
pressly  pledged,  they  had  joined  the  enemy,  and 
openly  attempted  by  taking  up  arms  to  destroy 
the  liberties  of  those  who  had  generously 
guaranteed  theirs. 

To  this,  a  southern  delegate  replied,  after 
some  general  observations,  nearly  in  the  fol 
lowing  words  : 

It  is  impossible,  sir,  not  to  feel  the  justice  of 
the  honorable  mover's  zeal  and  resentment. 
The  facts  upon  which  they  are  founded,  un- 


CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS. 


403 


.happily  for  humanity,  are  not  to  be  denied.  I 
myself  stand  here  as  one  of  the  representatives 
of  the  colony,  which  has  experienced  every 
effort  of  Scotch  violence,  perfidy,  and  ingrati 
tude.  They  petitioned  to  be  protected  in  a 
neutrality  during  these  unhappy  commotions. 
They  pledged  their  faith,  in  the  most  solemn 
manner,  that  they  would  not  aid  or  inform 
those  who  might  appear  in  arms  against  us. 
Upon  these  terms,  neutrality  was  indulged  ; 
protection  was  given  them.  They  enjoyed  it 
till  our  enemies  appeared,  and  instantly  took  up 
arms  for  our  destruction.  That  Providence,  in 
whom  the  justice  of  our  cause  inspires  confi 
dence,  enabled  us  to  defeat  their  purposes. 
They  remained,  in  consequence,  at  our  mercy  ; 
yet  we  exercised  no  greater  act  of  severity,  than 
that  which  was  unavoidable,  the  obliging  them 
to  quit  a  colony,  to  which  it  was  plain  they 
were  irreclaimably  hostile. 

In  the  other  colonies,  they  have  manifested 
a  similarly  unprincipled  enmity  and  rancor 
against  the  lives  and  liberties  of  a  people,  who, 
in  a  peculiar  manner,  have  been  profitable  to 
them,  and  to  their  country.  As  they  have  thus 
distinguished  themselves  for  ingratitude  and 
hostility  to  us,  they  seem  to  merit  a  severity  of 
treatment  as  distinguished. 

But,  sir,  let  us  remember,  that  we  are  en 
gaged  in  a  general  war.  Not  a  war  with  Scot 
land,  but  with  Great  Britain.  To  general 
objects,  general  rules  are  applicable.  Such 
a  selection  for  severity,  would  savor  more  of 
the  vengeance  of  individuals,  than  of  public 
justice.  We  are  contending  in  the  noblest 
cause  that  can  enlarge  and  exalt  the  human 
heart.  Let  the  magnanimity  of  our  conduct  be 
proportioned  to  the  nobleness  of  our  pursuits. 
We  are  now  forming  a  national  character. 
Spite  of  the  misrepresentations  of  our  enemies, 
the  truth  will  at  length  prevail.  Like  the  glo 
rious  sun,  it  will  be  more  splendid  from  the 
cloud  that  has  obscured  it.  Let  us  then  take 
care  that,  when  it  does  come  forth,  it  may  be 
the  wonder  of  nations.  Let  us  mould  it ;  not 
on  the  demerits  of  our  enemies,  but  on  our 
own  dignity.  Let  generosity,  justice,  and  hu 
manity,  be  the  illustrious  characteristics  of  the 
states  of  America. 

He  ended  with  these  lines  from  Caesar's 
speech  in  Sallust : 

Item  bellis  punicis  omnibus,  cum  saspe  Car- 
thaginensis  et  in  pace,  et  per  inducias,  multa 
nefaria  facinora  fecissent,  numquam  majores 
nostri,  per  occasionem  talia  fecere  ;  magis  quid 
se  dignem  foret,  quamquid  in  illis  jure  fieri 
posset  quserebant.  Hoc  idem  providendum 
est,  patres  conscripti,  ne  plus  valeat  apud  vos, 


Publii  Lentuli  et  caeterorum  scelus,  quam  vestra 
dignitas  ;  neu  magis  iras  quam  famas  consulati' 
The  motion  was  immediately  rejected. 


RESOLUTIONS 

PASSED  BY  CONGRESS,  OCTOBER  21,  1778-, 
URGING  THE  PEOPLE  TO  RETALIATION, 
AND  COPY  AFTER  THEIR  "  ENEMIES,  THEIR 
GERMAN,  NEGRO,  AND  COPPER-COLORED 
ALLIES." 

STRONG  MEASURES   PROPOSED. 

In  congress,  Oct.  21,  1778. — "  Whereas, 
there  is  every  reason  to  expect  that  our  unnat 
ural  enemies,  despairing  of  being  ever  able  to 
subdue  and  enslave  us  by  open  force,  or  per 
suade  us  to  break  through  the  solemn  treaties, 
as  having  entered  into  with  our  great  and  good 
ally,  his  most  Christian  majesty,  and  return  to 
the  dependence  of  Great  Britain,  will,  as  the 
last  effort,  ravage,  burn,  and  destroy  every  city 
and  town  on  this  continent  they  can  come  at : 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  such 
inhabitants  of  these  states,  as  live  in  places 
exposed  to  the  ravages  of  the  enemy,  immedi 
ately  to  build  huts,  at  least  thirty  miles  distant 
from  their  present  habitations,  there  to  convey 
their  women,  children,  and  others  not  capable 
of  bearing  arms,  and  themselves  in  case  of 
necessity,  together  with  their  furniture,  .wares, 
and  merchandise  of  every  sort ;  also,  that  they 
send  off  all  their  cattle  ;  being  measures  they 
cannot  think  hardships  in  suck  times  of  public 
calamity,  when  so  many  of  their  gallant  coun 
trymen  are  daily  exposed 'in  the  hardships  of  the 
field,  fighting  in  defence  of  their  rights  and 
liberties. 

Resolved,  That,  immediately,  when  the 
enemy  begin  to  burn  or  destroy  any  town,  it  be 
recommended  to  the  good  people  of  these 
states  to  set  fire  to,  ravage,  burn,  and  destroy, 
the  houses  and  properties  of  all  tories,  and 
enemies  to  the  freedom  and  independence  of 
America,  and  secure  the  persons  of  such,  so  as 
to  prevent  them  from  assisting  the  enemy, 
always  taking  care  not  to  treat  them  or  their 
families  with  any  wanton  cruelties,  as  we  do 
not  wish,  in  this  particular,  to  copy  after  our 
enemies,  or  their  Germen,  negro,  and  copper- 
colored  allies. 

Extract  from  the  minutes. 

CHARLES  THOMSON,  Sec" 


404 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


PATRIOTIC   MANIFESTO 
OF  CONGRESS,  OCTOBER  30,  1778. 

FROM  THE  BOSTON    PATRIOT. 

It  is  good  for  us  all  to  look  back  on  "  olden 
times" — It  is  both  good  and  proper  for  the 
young  men  and  the  youth  of  the  present  day  to 
see  and  read  some  of  the  official  acts  of  their 
fathers  and  grandfathers  ;  and  thereby  to  trace 
out  and  mark  down  the  eminent  exertions,  the 
privations,  dangers  and  sufferings  to  which 
they  were  exposed  in  struggling  through  the 
arduous  contest  to  establish  the  liberty  and 
independence  of  their  country,  and  to  provide 
for  their  posterity  a  national  name — a  home,  a 
shelter  and  a  fireside.  Read  this  and  treasure 
it  for  the  time  to  come. 

By  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  of 
America — 

A  MANIFESTO. 

"  These  United  States  having  been  driven  to 
hostilities  by  the  oppressive  and  tyrannous 
measures  of  Great  Britain  ;  having  been  com 
pelled  to  commit  the  essential  rights  of  man 
to  the  decision  of  arms  ;  and  having  been,  at 
length,  forced  to  shake  off  a  yoke  which  had 
grown  too  burdensome  to  bear,  they  declared 
themselves  free  and  independent. 

Confiding  in  the  justice  of  their  cause  ;  con 
fiding  in  him  who  disposes  of  human  events, 
although  weak  and  unprovided,  they  set  the 
power  of  their  enemies  at  defiance. 

In  this  confidence  they  have  continued 
through  the  various  fortune  of  three  bloody 
campaigns,  unawed  by  the  power,  unsubdued 
by  the  barbarity  of  their  foes.  Their  virtuous 
citizens  have  borne,  without  repining,  the  los 
of  many  things  which  makes  life  desirable. 
Their  brave  troops  have  patiently  endured  the 
hardships  and  dangers  of  a  situation,  fruitful 
in  both  beyond  former  example. 

The  congress  considering  themselves  bound 
to  love  their  enemies,  as  children  of  that  being 
who  is  equally  the  father  of  all ;  and  desirous, 
since  they  could  not  prevent,  at  least  to  alle 
viate,  the  calamities  of  war,  have  studied  to 
spare  those  who  were  in  arms  against  them 
and  to  lighten  the  chains  of  captivity. 

The  conduct  of  those  serving  under  the  king 
of  Great  Britain  hath,  with  some  few  excep- 
*ions,  been  diametrically  opposite.  They  have 
laid  waste  the  open  country,  burned  the  de 
fenceless  villages,  and  butchered  the  citizens 
of  America.  Their  prisons  have  been  th 
slaughter-houses  of  her  soldiers  ;  their  ships  * 

*  Notes  by  the  transcriber — who  recollects  that  severa 


of  her  seamen,  and  the  severest  injuries  have 
jeen  aggravated  by  the  grossest  insults. 

Foiled  in  their  vain  attempt  to  subjugate  the 
unconquerable  spirit  of  freedom,  they  have 
meanly  assailed  the  representatives  of  America 
with  bribes,!  with  deceit,  and  the  servility  of 
adulation.  They  have  made  a  mock  of  human- 
ty,  by  the  wanton  destruction  of  men  ;  they 
lave  made  a  mock  of  religion,  by  impious  ap- 
?eals  to  God  whilst  in  the  violation  of  his  sacred 
commands  :  they  have  made  a  mock  even  of 
reason  itself,  by  endeavoring  to  prove  that  the 
iberty  and  happiness  of  America  could  safely 
be  intrusted  to  those  who  have  sold  their  own, 
unawed  by  the  sense  of  virtue  or  of  shame. 

Treated  with  the  contempt  which  such  con 
duct  deserved,  they  have  applied  to  individuals; 
they  have  solicited  them  to  break  the  bonds  of 
allegiance,  and  embrue  their  souls  with  the 
blackest  of  crimes  :  but,  fearing  none  could  be 
found  through  these  United  States  equal  to  the 
wickedness  of  their  purpose,  to  influence  weak 
minds  they  have  threatened  more  wide  devas 
tation. 

While  the  shadow  of  hope  remained,  that 
our  enemies  could  be  taught  by  our  example 
to  respect  those  laws  which  are  held  sacred 
among  civilized  nations,  and  to  comply  with 
the  dictates  of  a  religion,  which  they  pretend  in 
common  with  us  to  believe  and  to  revere,  they 
have  been  left  to  the  influence  of  that  religion 
and  that  example.  But  since  their  incorrigible 
dispositions  cannot  be  touched  by  kindness  and 
compassion,  it  becomes  our  duty  by  other 
means  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  humanity. 

We,  therefore,  the  congress  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  do  solemnly  declare  and 
proclaim,  that  if  our  enemies  presume  to  exe 
cute  their  threats,  or  persist  in  their  present 
career  of  barbarity,  we  will  take  such  exem 
plary  vengeance  as  shall  deter  others  from  a 
like  conduct.  We  appeal  to  that  GOD  who 
searcheth  the  hearts  of  men,  for  the  rectitude  of 
our  intentions ;  and,  in  his  holy  presence,  we 
declare,  that  as  we  are  not  moved  by  any  light 
and  hasty  suggestions  of  anger  and  revenge, 

of  his  school  mates  suffered  severely  on  board  the  "Jersey 
prison  ship  :  and  he  knows  several  persons  yet  living  in 
Boston,  who  felt  the  iron  hand  and  heart  of  unrelenting 
barbarity,  while  prisoners  on  board  "  that  poisoned  float 
ing  dungeon,"  in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  when  in  pos 
session  of  the  British. 

t  The  supposed  or  reputed  author,  [SAMUEL  ADAMS], 
of  the  above  elegantly  written  state  paper,  chose  the  high 
honor  and  exalted  feeling  of  supporting  the  liberties  and 
equal  rights  of  his  countrymen,  with  a  moderate  fortune 
to  the  low  and  grovelling  dignity  of  a  British  pensioner 
of  two  thousand  guineas  per  annum  for  life."  He  was 
in  the  cabinet  of  his  country,  what  general  Greene  was  in 
the  field  ;  "  ever  early,  ever  watchful,  and  never  weary 
of  toil  or  fatigue  until  he  saw  all  was  well." 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS. 


405 


so  through  every  possible  change  of  fortune  we 
will  adhere  to  this  our  determination. 

Done  in  Congress,  by  unanimous  consent,  the 
thirtieth  day  of  October,  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  seventy  eight. 

(Signed)         HENRY  LAURENS,  President." 


AN  ADDRESS 

Bv  CONGRESS,  TO  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  UPON  THE  CONDITION 
OF  THE  COUNTRY,  AND  URGING  UNITED 
AND  EARNEST  EFFORTS  TO  DEFEAT  THEIR 
ENEMY,  MAY  26,  1779.* 

TO   THE   INHABITANTS    OF  THE   UNITED   STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

Friends  and  countrymen — The  present  sit 
uation  of  public  affairs  demands  your  most 
serious  attention,  and  particularly  the  great 
and  increasing  depreciation  of  your  currency 
requires  the  immediate,  strenuous,  and  united 
efforts  of  all  true  friends  to  their  country,  for 
preventing  an  extension  of  the  mischiefs  that 
have  already  flowed  from  that  source. 

America,  without  arms,  ammunition,  disci 
pline,  revenue,  government,  or  ally,  almost 
totally  stript  of  commerce,  and  in  the  weakness 
of  youth,  as  it  were,  with  a  "staff  and  a  sling," 
only  dared,  "  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  of 
Hosts,"  to  engage  a  gigantic  adversary,  pre 
pared  at  all  points,  boasting  of  his  strength, 
and  of  whom  even  mighty  warriors  "  were 
greatly  afraid." 

For  defraying  the  expenses  of  this  uncommon 
war,  your  representatives  in  congress  were 
obliged  to  emit  paper  money  ;  an  expedient 
that  you  knew  to  have  been  before  generally 
and  successfully  practised  on  this  continent. 

They  were  very  sensible  of  the  inconveniences 
with  which  too  frequent  emissions  would  be 
attended,  and  endeavored  to  avoid  them.  For 
this  purpose  they  established  loan-offices  so 
early  as  in  October,  1776,  and  have,  from  that 
time  to  this,  repeatedly  and  earnestly  solicited 
you  to  lend  them  money  on  the  faith  of  United 
States.  The  sums  received  on  loan  have  nev 
ertheless  proved  inadequate  to  the  public  exi 
gencies.  Our  enemies  prosecuting  the  war  by 
sea  and  land  with  implacable  fury  and  with 
some  success,  taxation  at  home  and  borrowing 
abroad,  in  the  midst  of  difficulties  and  dangers, 
were  alike  impracticable.  Hence  the  continued 
necessity  of  new  emissions. 

But  to  this  cause  alone  we  do  not  impute 
the  evil  before  mentioned.  We  have  too  much 
reason  to  believe  it  has  been  in  part  owing  to 
the  artifices  of  men  who  have  hastened  to 


enrich  themselves  by  monopolizing  the  neces 
saries  of  life,  and  to  the  misconduct  of  inferior 
officers  employed  in  the  public  service. 

The  variety  and  importance  of  the  business 
entrusted  to  your  delegates,  and  their  constant 
attendance  in  congress,  necessarily  disables- 
them  from  investigating  disorders  of  this  kind. 
Justly  apprehensive  of  them,  they  by  their  several 
resolutions  of  the  22d  of  November,  and  2oth 
of  December,  1777,  and  of  the  3d  and  pth  of 
February,  1778,  recommended  to  the  legisla 
tive  and  executive  powers  of  these  states  a  due 
attention  to  these  interesting  affairs.  How  far 
those  recommendations  have  been  complied 
with  we  will  not  undertake  to  determine,  but 
we  hold  ourselves  bound  in  duty  to  you  to  de 
clare,  that  we  are  not  convinced  there  has  been 
as  much  diligence  used  in  detecting  and  reform 
ing  abuses  as  there  has  been  in  committing  or 
complaining  of  them. 

With  regard  to  monopolizers,  it  is  our  opin 
ion,  that  taxes,  judiciously  laid  on  such  articles 
as  become  the  objects  of  engrossers,  and  those 
frequently  collected,  would  operate  against  the 
pernicious  tendency  of  such  practices. 

As  to  inferior  officers  employed  in  the  public 
service,  we  anxiously  desire  to  call  your  most 
vigilant  attention  to  their  conduct  with  respect 
to  every  species  of  misbehavior,  whether  pro 
ceeding  from  ignorance,  negligence  or  fraud, 
and  to  the  making  of  laws  for  inflicting  exem 
plary  punishments  on  all  offenders  of  this  kind. 

We  are  sorry  to  hear  that  some  persons  are  so 
slightly  informed  of  their  own  interests,  as  to 
suppose  that  it  is  advantageous  to  them  to  sell 
the  produce  of  their  farms  at  enormous  prices, 
when  a  little  reflection  might  convince  them 
that  it  is  injurious  to  those  interests  and  the 
general  welfare.  If  they  expect  thereby  to  pur 
chase  imported  goods  cheaper,  they  will  be 
egregiously  disappointed  ;  for  the  merchants, 
who  know  they  cannot  obtain  returns  in  gold, 
silver,  or  bills  of  exchange,  but  that  their  vessels, 
if  loaded  here  at  all,  must  be  loaded  with  pro 
duce,  will  raise  the  price  of  what  they  have 
to  sell,  in  proportion  to  the  price  of  what  they 
have  to  buy,  and  consequently  the  landholder 
can  purchase  no  more  foreign  goods,  for  the 
same  quantity  of  his  produce,  than  he  could 
before. 

The  evil,  however,  does  not  stop  at  this 
point.  The  landholder,  by  acting  on  this  mis 
taken  calculation,  is  only  laboring  to  accumu 
late  an  immense  debt,  by  increasing  the  public 
expenses,  for  the  payment  of  which  his  estate 
is  engaged,  and  to  embarrass  every  measure 
adopted  for  vindicating  his  liberty,  and  securing 
his  posterity. 


406 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


As  the  harvests  of  this  year,  which,  by  the 
Divine  goodness,  promise  to  be  plentiful,  will 
soon  be  gathered,  and  some  new  measures 
relating  to  your  foreign  concerns,  with  some 
arrangements  relating  to  your  domestic,  are 
now  under  consideration,  from  which  beneficial 
effects  are  expected,  we  entertain  hopes  that 
your  affairs  will  acquire  a  much  greater  degree 
of  regularity  and  energy  than  they  have  hith 
erto  had. 

But  we  should  be  highly  criminal  if  we  did 
not  plainly  tell  you,  that  those  hopes  are  not 
founded  wholly  upon  our  own  proceedings. 
These  must  be  supported  by  your  virtue,  your 
wisdom,  and  your  diligence.  From  the  advan 
tage  of  those  seats  in  the  national  council  with 
which  you  have  honored  us,  we  have  a  pleasing 
prospect  of  many  blessings  approaching  this 
our  native  land.  It  is  your  patriotism  must 
introduce  and  fix  them  here. 

In  vain  will  it  be  for  your  delegates  to  form 
plans  of  economy ;  to  strive  to  stop  a  continua 
tion  of  emissions  by  taxation  or  loan,  if  you  do 
not  zealously  co-operate  with  them  in  promo 
ting  their  designs,  and  use  your  utmost  indus 
try  to  prevent  the  wastepf  money  in  the  expen 
diture,  which  your  respective  situations,  in  the 
several  places  where  it  is  expended,  may  enable 
you  to  do.  A  discharge  of  this  duty,  a  com 
pliance  with  recommendations  for  supplying 
money,  might  enable  congress  to  give  speedy 
assurances  to  the  public  that  no  more  emis 
sions  shall  take  place,  and  thereby  close  that 
source  of  depreciation. 

Your  governments  being  now  established, 
and  your  ability  to  contend  with  your  invaders 
ascertained,  we  have,  on  the  most  mature  de 
liberation,  judged  it  indispensably  necessary 
to  call  upon  you  for  forty-five  millions  of 
dollars,  in  addition  to  the  fifteen  millions  re 
quired  by  a  resolution  of  congress,  of  the  2d 
of  January  last,  to  be  paid  into  the  continental 
treasury  before  the  1st  day  of  January  next,  in 
the  same  proportion,  as  to  the  quotas  of  the 
several  states,  with  that  for  the  said  fifteen 
millions. 

It  appeared  proper  to  us  to  fix  the  first  day 
of  next  January  for  the  payment  of  the  whole  ; 
but,  as  it  is  probable  that  some  states,  if  not 
all,  will  raise  part  of  the  sums  by  instalments, 
or  otherwise,  before  that  time,  we  recommend 
in  the  strongest  manner  the  paying  as  much  as 
can  be  collected  as  soon  as  possible  into  the 
continental  treasury. 

Though  it  is  manifest  that  moderate  taxa 
tion,  in  times  of  peace,  will  recover  the  credit 
of  your  currency,  yet  the  encouragement  which 
your  enemies  derive  from  its  depreciation,  and 


the  present  exigencies,  demand  great  and 
speedy  exertions. 

We  are  persuaded  you  will  use  all  possible 
care  to  make  the  promotion  of  the  general 
welfare  interfere  as  little  as  may  be  with  the 
ease  and  comfort  of  individuals ;  but  though 
the  raising  these  sums  should  press  heavily  on 
some  of  your  constituents,  yet  the  obligations 
we  feel  to  your  venerable  clergy,  the  truly 
helpless  widows  and  orphans,  your  most  gal 
lant,  generous,  meritorious  officers  and  sol 
diers,  the  public  faith  and  the  common  weal, 
so  irresistibly  urge  us  to  attempt  the  apprecia 
tion  of  your  currency,  that  we  cannot  with 
hold  obedience  to  those  authoritative  sensa 
tions. 

On  this  subject  we  will  only  add,  that,  as  the 
rules  of  justice  are  most  pleasing  to  our  infi 
nitely  good  and  gracious  Creator,  and  an  ad 
herence  to  them  most  likely  to  obtain  his  fa 
vor,  so  they  will  ever  be  found  to  be  the  best 
and  safest  maxims  of  human  policy. 

To  our  constituents  we  submit  the  propriety 
and  purity  of  our  intentions,  well  knowing  they 
will  not  forget,  that  we  lay  no  burthens  upon 
them,  but  those  in  which  we  participate  with 
them — a  happy  sympathy,  that  pervades  socie 
ties  formed  on  the  basis  of  equal  liberty. 
Many  cares,  many  labors,  and  may  we  not 
add,  reproaches — are  peculiar  to  us.  These 
are  the  emoluments  of  our  unsolicited  stations  ; 
and  with  these  we  are  content,  if  you  approve 
our  conduct.  If  you  do  not,  we  shall  return  to 
our  private  condition,  with  no  other  regret  than 
that  which  will  arise  from  our  not  having 
served  you  as  acceptably  and  essentially  as 
we  wished  and  strove  to  do,  though  as  cheer 
fully  and  faithfully  as  we  could. 

Think  not  we  despair  of  the  commonwealth, 
or  endeavor  to  shrink  from  opposing  difficul 
ties.  No.  Your  cause  is  too  good,  your  ob 
jects  too  sacred,  to  be  relinquished.  We  tell 
you  truths,  because  you  are  freemen  who  can 
bear  to  hear  them,  and  may  profit  by  them ; 
and  when  they  reach  your  enemies,  we  fear 
not  the  consequences,  because  we  are  not  ig 
norant  of  their  resources  or  our  own.  Let 
your  good  sense  decide  upon  the  comparison. 
Let  even  their  prejudiced  understandings  de 
cide  upon  it,  and  you  need  not  be  apprehen 
sive  of  the  determination. 

Whatever  supposed  advantages  from  plans 
of  rapine,  projects  of  blood,  or  dreams  of  dom 
ination,  may  heretofore  have  amused  their 
inflamed  fancies,  the  conduct  of  one  monarch, 
the  friend  and  protector  of  the  rights  of  man 
kind,  has  turned  the  scale  so  much  against 
them,  that  their  visionary  schemes  vanish,  as 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS. 


407 


the  unwholesome  vapors  of  the  night  before 
the  healthful  influence  of  the  sun. 

An  alliance  has  been  formed  between  his 
most  Christian  majesty  and  these  states,  on 
the  basis  of  the  most  perfect  equality,  for  the 
direct  end  of  maintaining  effectually  their 
liberty,  sovereignty  and  independence,  ab 
solute  and  unlimited,  as  well  in  matters  of 
government  as  of  commerce.  The  conduct  of 
our  good  and  great  ally  towards  us,  in  this 
instance  and  others,  has  so  fully  manifested 
his  sincerity  and  kindness,  as  to  excite  on  our 
part  correspondent  sentiments  of  confidence 
and  affection. 

Observing  the  interests  of  his  kingdom,  to 
which  duty  and  inclination  prompted  his  atten 
tion,  to  be  connected  with  those  of  America, 
and  the  combination  of  both  clearly  to  coin 
cide  with  the  beneficent  designs  of  the  Author 
of  Nature,  who,  unquestionably,  intended  men 
to  partake  of  certain  rights  and  portions  of 
happiness,  his  majesty  perceived  the  attain 
ment  of  these  views  to  be  founded  on  the 
single  proposition  of  a  separation  between 
America  and  Great  Britain. 

The  resentment  and  confusion  of  your 
enemies,  will  point  out  to  you  the  ideas  you 
should  entertain  of  the  magnanimity  and  con 
summate  wisdom  of  his  most  Christian  majesty 
on  this  occasion. 

They  perceive,  that  selecting  this  grand  and 
just  idea  from  all  those  specious  ones  that 
might  have  confused  or  misled  inferior  judg 
ment  or  virtue,  and  satisfied  with  the  advan 
tages  which  must  result  from  that  event  alone, 
he  has  cemented  the  harmony  between  himself 
and  these  states,  not  only  by  establishing  a  re 
ciprocity  of  benefits,  but  by  eradicating  every 
cause  of  jealousy  and  suspicion.  They  also 
perceive,  with  similar  emotions,  that  the  mode 
ration  of  our  ally,  in  not  desiring  an  acquisition 
of  dominion  on  this  continent,  or  an  exclusion 
of  other  nations  from  a  share  of  its  commercial 
advantages,  so  useful  to  them,  has  given  no 
alarm  to  those  nations,  but,  in  fact,  has  in 
terested  them  in  the  accomplishment  of  his 
generous  undertaking,  to  dissolve  the  mono 
poly  thereof  by  Great  Britain,  which  has  al 
ready  contributed  to  elevate  her  to  her  present 
power  and  haughtiness,  and  threatened,  if  con 
tinued,  to  raise  both  to  a  height  insupportable 
to  the  rest  of  Europe. 

In  short,  their  own  best  informed  statesmen 
and  writers  confess,  that  your  cause  is  exceed 
ingly  favored  by  courts  and  people  in  that 
quarter  of  the  world,  while  that  of  your  adver 
saries  is  equally  reprobated ;  and  from  thence 
draw  ominous  and  well-grounded  conclusions, 


that  the  final  event  must  prove  unfortunate  to 
the  latter.  Indeed,  we  have  the  best  reason  to 
believe  that  we  shall  soon  form  other  alliances, 
and  on  principles  honorable  and  beneficial  to 
these  states. 

Infatuated  as  your  enemies  have  been  from 
the  beginning  of  this  contest,  do  you  imagine 
they  can  now  flatter  themselves  with  a  hope  of 
conquering  you,  unless  you  are  false  to  your 
selves  ? 

When  unprepared,  undisciplined,  and  unsup 
ported,  you  opposed  their  fleets  and  armies  in 
full  conjoined  force :  then,  if  at  any  time,  was 
conquest  to  be  apprehended.  Yet,  what  pro 
gress  toward  it  have  their  violent  and  incessant 
efforts  made  ?  Judge  from  their  own  conduct. 
Having  devoted  you  to  bondage,  and,  after 
vainly  wasting  their  blood  and  treasure  in  the 
dishonorable  enterprise,  they  deigned,  at  length, 
to  offer  terms  of  accommodation,  with  respect 
ful  addresses,  to  that  once  despised  body,  the 
congress,  whose  humble  supplications,  only  for 
peace,  liberty  and  safety,  they  had  contemptu 
ously  rejected,  under  pretence  of  its  being  an 
unconstitutional  assembly.  Nay  more  ;  desir 
ous  of  seducing  you  into  a  deviation  from  the 
paths  of  rectitude,  from  which  they  had  so  far 
and  so  rashly  wandered,  they  made  most  speci 
ous  offers  to  tempt  you  into  a  violation  of  your 
faith  given  to  your  illustrious  ally. — Their 
arts  were  as  unavailing  as  their  arms. — 
Foiled  again,  and  stung  with  rage,  embittered 
by  envy,  they  had  no  alternative,  but  to  re 
nounce  the  inglorious  and  ruinous  controver 
sy,  or  to  resume  their  former  modes  of  prose 
cuting  it.  They  chose  the  latter.  Again  the 
savages  are  stimulated  to  horrid  massacres  of 
women  and  children,  and  domestics  to  the 
murder  of  their  masters.  Again  our  brave 
and  unhappy  brethren  are  doomed  to  miserable 
deaths  in  jails  and  prison-ships.  To  complete 
the  sanguinary  system,  all  the  "  extremities  of 
war  "  are,  by  authority,  denounced  against  you. 

Piously  endeavor  to  derive  this  consolation 
from  their  remorseless  fury,  that  "  the  Father 
of  Mercies  "  looks  down  with  disapprobation 
on  such  audacious  defiances  of  his  holy  laws  ; 
and  be  further  comforted  with  recollecting, 
that  the  arms  assumed  by  you,  in  your  righte 
ous  cause,  have  not  been  sullied  by  any  unjusti 
fiable  severities. 

Your  enemies,  despairing  however,  as  it 
seems,  of  the  success  of  their  united  forces 
against  our  main  army,  have  divided  them,  as 
if  their  design  was  to  harass  you  by  predatory, 
desultory,  operations.  If  you  are  assiduous  in 
improving  opportunities,  Saratoga  may  not  be 
the  only  spot  on  this  continent  to  give  a  new 


408 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


denomination  to  the  baffled  troops  of  a  nation, 
impiously  priding  herself  in  notions  of  her 
omnipotence. 

Rouse  yourselves,  therefore,  that  this  cam 
paign  may  finish  the  great  work  you  have  so 
nobly  carried  on  for  several  years  past.  What 
nation  ever  engaged  in  such  a  contest  under 
such  a  complication  of  disadvantages  ;  so  soon 
surmounted  many  of  them,  and  in  so  short  a 
period  of  time  had  so  certain  a  prospect  of  a 
speedy  and  happy  conclusion  ?  We  will  ven 
ture  to  pronounce,  that  so  remarkable  an  in 
stance  exists  not  in  the  annals  of  mankind. 
We  well  remember  what  you  said  at  the  com 
mencement  of  this  war.  You  saw  the  immense 
difference  between  your  circumstances  and 
those  of  your  enemies,  and  you  knew  the 
quarrel  must  decide  on  no  less  than  your  lives, 
liberties  and  estates.  All  these  you  greatly 
put  to  every  hazard,  resolving  rather  to  die 
freemen  than  to  live  slaves ;  and  justice  will 
oblige  the  impartial  world  to  confess  you  have 
uniformly  acted  on  the  same  generous  principle. 
Consider  how  much  you  have  done,  how  com 
paratively  little  remains  to  be  done,  to  crown 
you  with  success.  Persevere,  and  you  ensure 
peace,  freedom,  safety,  glory,  sovereignty,  and 
felicity  to  yourselves,  your  children,  and  your 
children's  children. 

Encouraged  by  favors  already  received  from 
infinite  goodness,  gratefully  acknowledging 
them,  earnestly  imploring  their  continuance, 
constantly  endeavoring  to  draw  them  down  on 
your  heads  by  an  amendment  of  your  lives,  and 
a  conformity  to  the  Divine  Will,  humbly  con 
fiding  in  the  protection  so  often  and  wonder 
fully  experienced,  vigorously  employ  the  means 
placed  by  Providence  in  your  hands,  for  com 
pleting  your  labors. 

Fill  up  your  battalions — be  prepared  in  every 
part  to  repel  the  incursions  of  your  enemies — 
place  your  several  quotas  in  the  continental 
treasury — lend  money  for  public  uses — sink  the 
emissions  of  your  respective  states — provide 
effectually  for  expediting  the  conveyance  of 
supplies  for  your  armies  and  fleets,  and  for 
your  allies — prevent  the  produce  of  the  country 
from  being  monopolized — effectually  superin 
tend  the  behavior  of  public  officers, — diligently 
promote  piety,  virtue,  brotherly  love,  learning, 
frugality,  and  moderation — and  may  you  be 
approved  before  Almighty  God  worthy  of  those 
blessings  we  devoutly  wish  you  to  enjoy. 

Done  in  congress,  by  unanimous  consent, 
this  twenty-sixth  day  of  May,  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  seventy-nine. 

Attest.  JOHN  JAY,  President. 

CHARLES  THOMPSON,  Secretary. 


PROCLAMATION 

BY  CONGRESS,  OCTOBER  26,  1781,  RECOM 
MENDING  TO  THE  SEVERAL  STATES  THE 
OBSERVANCE  OF  THE  I3TH  DAY  OF  DE 
CEMBER,  1781,  AS  A  DAY  OF  THANKSGIV 
ING  AND  PRAYER. 

PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas,  it  hath  pleased  Almighty  God,  the 
father  of  mercies,  remarkably  to  assist  and 
support  the  United  States  of  America,  in  their 
important  struggle  for  liberty,  against  the  long 
continued  efforts  of  a  powerful  nation,  it  is  the 
duty  of  all  ranks  to  observe  and  thankfully  ac 
knowledge  the  interpositions  of  his  Providence 
in  their  behalf.  Through  the  whole  of  the 
contest,  from  its  first  rise  to  this  time,  the  in 
fluence  of  Divine  Providence  may  be  clearly 
perceived  in  many  signal  instances,  of  which 
we  mention  but  few. 

In  revealing  the  councils  of  our  enemies, 
when  the  discoveries  were  seasonable  and  im 
portant,  and  the  means  were  seemingly  inade 
quate  or  fortuitous  ;— in  preserving  and  even 
improving  the  union  of  the  several  states,  on 
the  breach  of  which  our  enemies  placed  their 
greatest  dependence  ; — in  increasing  the  num 
ber,  and  adding  to  the  zeal  and  attachment  of 
the  friends  of  liberty — in  granting  remarkable 
deliverances,  and  blessing  us  with  the  most 
signal  success,  when  affairs  seemed  to  have  the 
most  discouraging  appearance  ; — in  raising  up 
for  us  a  most  powerful  and  generous  ally,  in 
one  of  the  first  of  the  European  powers  ; — in 
confounding  the  councils  of  our  enemies,  and 
suffering  them  to  pursue  such  measures,  as 
have  most  directly  contributed  to  frustrate  their 
own  desires  and  expectations, — above  all,  in 
making  their  extreme  cruelty  to  the  inhabitants 
of  these  states,  when  in  their  power,  and  their 
savage  devastation  of  property,  the  very  means 
of  cementing  our  union,  and  adding  vigor  to 
every  effort  in  opposition  to  them. 

And  as  we  cannot  help  leading  the  good 
people  of  these  states  to  a  retrospect  on  the 
events  which  have  taken  place  since  the  be 
ginning  of  the  war,  so  we  recommend,  in  a 
particular  manner,  to  their  observation,  the 
goodness  of  God  in  the  year  now  drawing  to  a 
conclusion.  In  which  the  confederation  of  the 
United  States  has  been  completed — in  which 
there  have  been  so  many  instances  of  prowess, 
and  success  in  our  armies,  particularly  in  the 
southern  states,  where,  notwithstanding  the 
difficulties  with  which  they  had  to  struggle,  they 
have  recovered  the  whole  country  which  the 
enemy  had  overrun,  leaving  them  only  a  post 
or  two,  on  or  near  the  sea; — in  which  we  have 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS. 


409 


been  so  powerfully  and  effectually  assisted  by 
our  allies,  while  in  all  the  conjunct  operations 
the  most  perfect  harmony  has  subsisted  in  the 
allied  army  ; — in  which  there  has  been  so  plen 
tiful  a  harvest,  and  so  great  abundance  of  the 
fruits  of  the  earth  of  every  kind,  as  not  only 
enables  us  easily  to  supply  the  wants  of  our 
army  but  gives  comfort  and  happiness  to  the 
whole  people — and,  in  which,  after  the  success 
of  our  allies  by  sea,  a  general  of  the  first  rank, 
with  his  whole  army,  has  been  captured  by  the 
allied  forces,  under  the  direction  of  our  com 
mander  in  chief. 

It  is  therefore  recommended  to  the  several 
states  to  set  apart  the  thirteenth  day  of  De 
cember  next,  to  be  religiously  observed  as  a 
day  of  thanksgiving  and  prayer ;  that  all  the 
people  may  assemble  on  that  day,  with  grateful 
hearts,  to  celebrate  the  praises  of  our  gracious 
Benefactor ;  to  confess  our  manifold  sins  ;  to 
offer  up  our  most  fervent  supplications  to  the 
God  of  all  Grace,  that  it  may  please  him  to 
pardon  our  offences,  and  incline  our  hearts  for 
the  future  to  keep  all  his  laws  ;  to  comfort  and 
relieve  all  our  brethren  who  are  in  distress  or 
captivity  ;  to  prosper  our  husbandmen,  and  give 
success  to  all  engaged  in  lawful  commerce  ;  to 
impart  wisdom  and  integrity  to  our  counsellors, 
judgment  and  fortitude  to  our  officers  and  sol 
diers,  to  protect  and  prosper  our  illustrious  ally, 
and  favor  our  united  exertions  for  the  speedy 
establishment  of  a  safe,  honorable,  and  lasting 
peace  ;  to  bless  all  seminaries  of  learning  ;  and 
cause  the  knowledge  of  God  to  cover  the  earth, 
as  the  waters  cover  the  seas. 
Done  in  congress  this  twenty-sixth  day  of  Oc 
tober,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  eighty  one,  and  in  the 
sixth  year  of  the  independence  of  the  Uni 
ted  States  of  America. 

THOMAS  M'KEAN,  President. 
Attest,    CHARLES  THOMPSON,  Secretary. 


HISTORY 

OF  THE  ADOPTION  OF  THE  COAT  OF  ARMS 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  BY  CONGRESS. 
JUNE  26,  1782. 

Although  the  study  of  heraldry  may  not  be 
very  amusing,  yet  as  the  Eagle  with  extended 
wings  grasping  the  arms  of  War,  and  the  olive  of 
Peace,  is  constantly  presented  to  our  eyes,  it 
may  not  be  uninteresting  to  give  a  history  and 
an  explanation  of  the  arms  of  our  country. 

In  June,  1782,  when  congress  were  about  to 
form  an  armorial  device  for  a  seal  for  the  Union, 
Charles  Thompson,  esq.,  then  secretary,  with 
I 


the  honorable  Dr.  Arthur  Lee  and  E.  Boudinot, 
members  of  congress,  called  on  Mr.  William 
Barton,  and  consulted  him  on  the  occasion.  The 
great  seal,  for  which  Mr.  Barton  furnished 
these  gentlemen  with  devices,  was  adopted  by 
congress  on  the  26th  of  June,  1782.  The  de 
vice  is  as  follows : 

Arms — Paleways  of  thirteen  pieces,  argent,* 
gules,  a  chief  azure,  the  escutcheon  on  the 
breast  of  the  American  eagle,  displayed,  pro 
per,  holding  in  his  dexter  talon  an  olive  branch 
and  in  his  sinister  a  bunch  of  thirteen  arrows, 
all  proper  ;  and  in  his  beak  a  scroll,  with  the 
motto  "  E phtribus  unum.' 

The  crest — Over  the  head  of  the  eagle,  which 
appears  above  the  escutcheon,  a  glory  or  break 
ing  through  a  cloud  proper,  and  surrounding 
stars,  forming  a  constellation,  argent,  on  an 
azure  field. 

Reverse — A  pyramid  unfinished. 

In  the  zenith  an  eye  in  a  triangle,  surrounded 
with  a  glory.  Over  the  eye  these  words, 
"  Annuit  cceptts." 

Remarks  and  explanations — The  escutcheon 
is  composed  of  the  chief  and  pale,  the  two 
most  honorable  ordinaries.  The  thirteen  pieces 
pale,  represent  the  several  states  in  the  union, 
all  joined  in  one  solid  compact  entire,  support 
ing  a  chief  which  unites  the  whole,  and  repre 
sents  congress.  The  motto  alludes  to  the 
union. 

The  pales  in  the  arms  are  kept  closely  united 
by  the  chief,  and  the  chief  depends  on  that 
union,  and  the  strength  resulting  from  it,  for  its 
support,  to  denote  the  confederacy  of  the  states, 
and  the  preservation  of  the  union,  through 
congress. 

The  colors  of  the  pales  are  those  used  in 
the  flag  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
White  signifies  purity  and  innocence ;  red, 
hardiness  and  valor ;  and  blue,  the  color  of  the 
chief,  signifies  vigilance,  perseverance  and  jus 
tice.  The  olive  branch  and  arrows  denote  the 
power  of  peace  and  war,  which  is  exclusively 
vested  in  congress. 

The  crest,  or  constellation,  denotes  a  new 
state  taking  its  place  and  rank  among  other 
foreign  powers. 

The  escutcheon,  borne  on  the  breast  of  an 
American  eagle,  without  any  other  supporters, 
denotes  that  the  U.  States  ought  to  rely  on 
their  own  virtue. 

The  pyramid  on  the  reverse,  signifies  strength 

*  In  heraldry,  argent  signifies  white,  gules  red,  and  azure 
blue:  where  these  colors  cannot  be  emblazed,  they  are 
represented  on  seals,  etc.  as  follows  :  Argent,  by  a  per 
fect  blank  :  red  by  perpendicular,  and  azure  by  horizontal 
lines.  The  chief  in  our  arms,  on  the  horizontal  lines  in  th» 
upper  quarter  of  the  escutcheon,  or  eagle's  breast. 


4ic 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


and  devotion  ;  its  unfinished  state  refers  to  the 
infancy  of  the  American  government.  The  eye 
over  it,  and  the  motto,  "  Annuit  caeptis,"  "  he 


sanctions  our  endeavors,"  allude  to  the  many 
and  single  interpositions  of  Providence  in  favor 
of  the  American  cause. 


BRITISH    PARLIAMENT. 


INTERESTING  PROCEEDINGS, 

SPEECHES,  AND  DISCUSSIONS  RELATING  TO 
THE  AMERICAN  COLONIES. 


EARL  OF  CHATHAM. 

HIS  ABLE  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF 
LORDS,  "  ON  THE  DECLARATORY  BILL  OF  THE 
SOVEREIGNTY  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  OVER  THE 
AMERICAN  COLONIES." 

FROM  THE  BRISTOL  (ENG.)  GAZETTE,  MARCH   24,  1774. 

When  I  spoke  last  on  this  subject,  I  thought 
I  had  delivered  my  sentiments  so  fully,  and 
supported  them  with  such  reasons,  and  such 
authorities,  that  I  apprehended  I  should  be 
under  no  necessity  of  troubling  your  lordship 
again.  But  I  am  compelled  to  rise  up  and  beg 
your  further  indulgence  ;  I  find  that  I  have 
been  very  injuriously  treated,  have  been  con 
sidered  as  the  broacher  of  new  fangled  doc 
trines,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  this  kingdom, 
and  subversive  of  the  rights  of  parliament.  My 
lord,  this  is  a  heavy  charge,  but  more  so  when 
made  against  one  stationed  as  I  am,  in  both 
capacities,  as  P —  and  J — ,  the  defender  of  the 
law  and  the  constitution.  When  I  spoke  last, 
I  was  indeed  replied  to,  but  not  answered.  In 
the  intermediate  time  many  things  have  been 
said.  As  I  was  not  present,  I  must  now  beg 
leave  to  answer  such  as  have  come  to  my 
knowledge.  As  the  affair  is  of  the  utmost 
importance,  and  in  its  consequences  may  in 
volve  the  fate  of  kingdoms,  I  took  the  strictest 
review  of  my  arguments.  I  examined  all  my 
authorities  ;  fully  determined,  if  I  found  myself 
mistaken,  publicly  to  own  my  mistake,  and 
give  up  my  opinion.  But  my  searches  have 
more  and  more  convinced  me  that  the  British 
parliament  have  no  right  to  tax  the  Americans. 
I  shall  not  therefore  consider  the  declaratory 
bill  now  lying  on  your  table  ;  for  to  what  pur 
pose,  but  loss  of  time,  to  consider  the  particulars 
of  —  — ,  the  very  existence  of  which  is  illegal, 
absolutely  illegal,  contrary  to  the  fundamental 
laws  of  nature,  contrary  to  the  funamental 
laws  of  this  constitution  grounded  on  the  eternal 


and  immutable  laws  of  nature  ;  a  constitution  on 
whose  foundation  and  centre  is  liberty,  which 
sends  liberty  to  every  subject  that  is  or  may 
happen  to  be  within  any  part  of  its  ample  cir 
cumference.  Nor,  my  lord,  is  the  doctrine 
new ;  it  is  as  old  as  the  constitution  ;  it  grew 
up  with  it,  it  is  its  support ;  taxation  and  repre 
sentation  are  inseparably  united ;  God  hath 
joined  them,  no  British  parliament  can  separate 
them  ;  to  endeavor  to  do  it  is  to  stab  our  very 
vitals.  Nor  is  this  the  first  time  this  doctrine 
has  been  mentioned  ;  seventy  years  ago,  my 
lord,  a  pamphlet  was  published,  recommending 
the  levying  a  parliamentary  tax  on  one  of  the 
colonies  ;  this  pamphlet  was  answered  by  two 
others,  then  much  read  ;  these  totally  deny  the 
power  of  taxing  the  colonies ;  and  why  ?  be 
cause  the  colonies  had  no  representatives  in 
parliament  to  give  consent ;  no  answers,  public 
or  private,  was  given  to  these  pamphlets  ;  no 
censure  passed  upon  them ;  men  were  not 
startled  at  the  doctrine,  as  either  new  or  illegal, 
or  derogatory  to  the  rights  of  parliament.  I 
do  not  mention  these  pamphlets  by  way  of 
authority,  but  to  vindicate  myself  from  the 
imputation  of  having  first  broached  this  doc 
trine. 

My  position  is  this — I  repeat  it — I  will  main 
tain  it  to  my  last  hour — taxation  and  represen 
tation  are  inseparable  :  this  position  is  founded 
on  the  laws  of  nature ;  it  is  itself  an  eternal  law 
of  nature ;  for  whatever  is  a  man's  own,  is 
absolutely  his  own  ;  no  man  has  a  right  to  take 
it  from  him  without  his  consent,  either  expressed 
by  himself  or  representative;  whoever  attempts 
to  do  it,  attempts  an  injury ;  whoever  does  it, 
commits  a  robbery ;  he  throws  down  and 
destroys  the  distinction  between  liberty  and 
slavery.  Taxation  and  representation  are 
coeval  with,  and  essential  to,  this  constitution. 
I  wish  the  maxim  of  Machiavel  was  followed, 
that  of  examining  a  constitution,  at  certain 
periods,  according  to  its  first  principles ;  this 
would  correct  abuses  and  supply  defects.  I 
wish  the  times  would  bear  it,  and  that  men's 
minds  were  cool  enough  to  enter  upon  such  a 
task,  and  that  the  representative  authority  of 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


411 


'  this  kingdom  was  more  equally  settled.  I  am 
sure  some  histories  of  late  published,  have  done 
great  mischief;  to  endeavor  to  fix  the  sera 
when  the  house  of  commons  began  in  this 
kingdom,  is  a  most  pernicious  and  destructive 
attempt ;  to  fix  it  in  an  Edward's  or  Henry's 
reign,  is  owing  to  the  idle  dreams  of  some 
whimsical,  ill-judging  antiquarians :  But,  my 
lord,  this  is  a  point  too  important  to  be  left  to 
such  wrong-headed  people.  When  did  the 
house  of  commons  first  begin  ?  When !  my 
lord  ?  It  began  with  the  constitution,  it  grew 
up  with  the  constitution  ;  there  is  not  a  blade 
of  grass  growing  in  the  most  obscure  corner 
of  this  kingdom,  which  was  not  ever  repre 
sented  since  the  constitution  began  ;  there  is 
not  a  blade  of  grass  which,  when  taxed,  was 
not  taxed  by  the  consent  of  the  proprietor. 

There  is  a  history  written  by  one  Carte,  a 
history  that  most  people  see  through ;  and 
there  is  another  favorite  history,  much  read 
and  admired.  I  will  not  name  the  author, 
your  lordship  must  know  whom  I  mean,  and 
you  must  know  from  whence  he  pilfered  his 
notions  concerning  the  first  beginning  of  the 
house  of  commons.  My  lord,  I  challenge  any 
one  to  point  out  the  time  when  any  tax  was 
laid  upon  any  person  by  parliament,  that  per 
son  being  unrepresented  in  parliament.  The 
parliament  laid  a  tax  upon  the  palatinate  of 
Chester,  and  ordered  commissioners  to  collect 
it  there,  as  commissioners  were  ordered  to  col 
lect  it  in  other  counties  ;  but  the  palatinate 
refused  to  comply ;  they  addressed  the  king  by 
petition,  setting  forth,  that  the  English  parlia 
ment  had  no  right  to  tax  them  ;  that  they  had 
a  parliament  of  their  own ;  they  had  always 
taxed  themselves,  and  therefore  desired  the 
king  to  order  his  commissioners  not  to  proceed. 
My  lord,  the  king  received  the  petition  ;  he 
did  not  declare  them  either  seditious  or  rebel 
lious,  but  allowed  their  plea,  and  they  taxed 
themselves.  Your  lordship  may  see  both  the 
petition  and  the  king's  answer,  in  the  records 
in  the  Tower.  The  clergy  taxed  themselves  ; 
when  the  parliament  attempted  to  tax  them, 
they  stoutly  refused,  said  they  were  not  repre 
sented  there  ;  that  they  had  a  parliament  of 
their  own,  which  presented  the  clergy  ;  that 
they  would  tax  themselves ;  that  they  did  so. 
Much  stress  has  been  laid  upon  Wales,  before 
it  was  united  as  it  now  is,  as  if  the  king,  stand 
ing  in  the  place  of  the  former  princes  of  that 
country,  raised  money  by  his  own  authority  ; 
but  the  real  facts  are  otherwise :  For  I  find 
that,  long  before  Wales  was  subdued,  the 
northern  counties  of  that  principality  had 
representatives  and  a  parliament  or  assembly. 


As  to  Ireland,  my  lord,  before  that  kingdom 
had  a  parliament,  as  it  now  has,  if  your  lord 
ship  will  examine  the  old  records,  you  will  find 
that,  when  a  tax  was  to  be  laid  on  that  country, 
the  Irish  sent  over  here  representatives ;  and 
the  same  records  will  inform  your  lordship 
what  wages  those  representatives  received 
from  their  constituents.  In  short,  my  lord, 
from  the  whole  of  our  history,  from  the  earliest 
period,  you  will  find  that  taxation  and  repre 
sentation  were  always  united ;  so  true  are  the 
words  of  that  consummate  reasoner  and  politi 
cian  Mr.  Locke.  I  before  alluded  to  his  book  ; 
I  have  again  consulted  him ;  and  finding  that 
he  writes  so  applicable  to  the  subject  in  hand, 
and  so  much  in  favor  of  my  sentiments,  I  beg 
your  lordship's  leave  to  read  a  little  of  his  book. 
"  The  supreme  power  cannot  take  from  any 
man,  any  part  of  his  property  without  his  own 
consent;"  and  B.  II.  p.  136-139  and  particu 
larly  140.  Such  are  the  words  of  this  great 
man,  and  which  are  well  worth  your  lordship's 
serious  attention.  His  principles  are  drawn 
from  the  heart  of  our  constitution,  which  he 
thoroughly  understood,  and  will  last  as  long  as 
that  shall  last :  and,  to  his  immortal  honor,  I 
know  not  what,  under  Providence,  the  revolu 
tion  and  all  its  happy  effects  are  more  owing 
than  to  the  principles  of  government  laid  down 
by  Mr.  Locke.  For  these  reasons,  my  lord,  I 
can  never  give  my  assent  to  any  bill  for  taxing 
the  American  colonies,  while  they  remain  un 
represented,  for,  as  to  the  distinction  of  a  vir 
tual  representation,  it  is  so  absurd  as  not  to 
deserve  an  answer ;  I  therefore  pass  it  over 
with  contempt.  The  forefathers  of  the  Ameri 
cans  did  not  leave  their  native  country,  and 
subject  themselves  to  every  danger  and  distress, 
to  be  reduced  to  a  state  of  slavery ;  they  did 
not  give  up  their  rights  :  they  looked  for  protec 
tion,  and  not  for  chains,  from  their  mother  coun 
try  ;  by  her  they  expected  to  be  defended  in 
the  possession  of  their  property,  and  not  to  be 
deprived  of  it :  for  should  the  present  power 
continue,  there  is  nothing  which  they  can  call 
their  own :  or,  to  use  the  words  of  Mr.  Locke, 
"  what  property  have  they  in  that  which  another 
may  by  right  take  when  he  pleases  to  himself?  " 


GOVERNOR  JOHNSTON. 

HIS  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF 
COMMONS,  ON  THE  BILL  FOR  BLOCKADING 
THE  TOWN  OF  BOSTON,  MASSACHUSETTS- 
BAY,  MARCH,  1774. 

MR.  SPEAKER— I  find  so  much  difficulty 
in  pronouncing  my  sentiments  at  any  time,  that 


412 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   RESOLUTION. 


unless  the  house  is  kindly  disposed  to  hear  me 
at  this  late  hour,  I  shall  patiently  sit  down, 
because  I  am  conscious  it  will  require  their 
greatest  indulgence  to  enable  me  to  express 
myself  in  a  manner  worthy  of  their  attention. 
A  modesty,  becoming  my  situation,  prevented 
me  from  offering  my  opinion  before,  when  I 
saw  men  of  so  much  superior  ability  rising 
from  the  beginning  of  the  debate. 

It  may  appear  arrogant  in  a  member  so 
inferior  as  I  confess  myself  to  be,  to  offer 
objections  to  a  bill  so  extensive  in  its  conse 
quences  under  every  consideration,  especially 
after  it  must  have  been  so  maturely  considered, 
in  every  article,  by  men  so  distinguished  by 
their  talents  and  high  situations  in  office,  be 
sides  the  general  applause  which  has  followed 
the  bill  in  its  rapid  progress  through  this  house. 
Nevertheless  though  naturally  diffident  of  my 
opinion,  when  I  had  the  good  or  bad  fortune  (I 
don't  know  which  to  term  it)  of  prognosticating 
to  the  chairman  of  the  East-India  company, 
the  consequences  of  sending  this  tea,  on  their 
own  account,  to  America,  and  that  the  event 
has  literally  fulfilled  my  words,  as  it  is  well 
known  to  some  members  now  in  my  eye,  it 
makes  me  more  confident  in  warning  the  house 
of  what  I  apprehend  will  be  the  consequences 
of  this  bill. 

I  told  the  chairman  of  the  East-India  com 
pany,  first  in  conversation,  on  asking  my  opin 
ion,  and  afterwards  by  letter,  that  the  evidence 
might  appear  in  the  progress  of  things,  that  I 
conceived  the  East-India  company  exporting 
tea  on  their  own  account  was,  under  every 
consideration  of  their  situation  and  institution, 
wrong,  but  under  the  present  discontents  and 
disputed  matters  of  government  in  America, 
criminally  absurd,  because  they  were  present 
ing  themselves  as  the  butt  in  the  controversy, 
where  they  would  probably  come  off  with  the 
loss  of  the  whole.  The  event  has  justified  my 
prediction  ;  for  whatever  re-payment  the  com 
pany  may  obtain  from  the  town  of  Boston,  under 
those  cruel  coercive  measures  now  proposed, 
(the  effect  of  which  I  still  doubt)  yet  the  com 
pany  must  remain  great  losers,  even  if  the 
other  provinces,  equally  culpable,  are  made  to 
refund  the  loss  arising  from  their  conduct ; 
because  it  was  not  supplies  of  cash  at  a  dis 
tant  period  the  company  wanted,  but  an  imme 
diate  supply  to  answer  a  temporary  exigency, 
which  a  combination  of  the  enemies  of  the 
company  had  produced. 

I  now  venture  to  predict  to  this  house,  that 
the  effect  of  the  present  bill  must  be  produc 
tive  of  a  general  confederacy,  to  resist  the 
power  of  this  country.  It  is  irritating,  tempt 


ing,  nay,  inviting  men  to  those  deeds,  by  inef 
fectual  expedients,  the  abortions  of  an  undeci 
sive  mind,  incapable  of  comprehending  the  chain 
of  consequences  which  must  result  from  such 
a  law.  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  believe,  that 
distant  provinces  can  be  retained  in  their  duty 
by  preaching  or  enchantments  ;  I  believe  that 
FORCE  OF  POWER,  conducted  with  WISDOM, 
are  the  means  of  securing  regular  obedience 
under  every  establishment,  but  that  such  force 
should  never  be  applied  to  any  degree  of  rigor, 
unless  it  shall  carry  the  general  approbation  of 
mankind  in  the  execution.  However  much 
such  approbation  may  prevail  at  the  particular 
moment  in  this  house,  it  is  impossible  to  be 
lieve  the  sense  of  Great  Britain,  or  the  sense 
of  America,  can  go  to  the  punishing  a  particular 
town,  for  resisting  the  payment  of  the  tea-tax, 
which  is  universally  odious  throughout  Amer 
ica,  and  is  held  in  ridicule  and  contempt  by 
every  thinking  man  in  this  country.  The  ques 
tion  of  taxing  America  is  sufficiently  nice  to 
palliate  resistance,  if  the  subject  had  never  been 
litigated  in  this  country ;  but,  after  the  highest 
characters  in  the  state  had  declared  against 
the  right  of  this  country  to  impose  taxes  on 
America,  for  the  purposes  of  revenue  ;  after  the 
general  voice  of  the  senate  had  concurred  in 
repealing  the  stamp-act,  upon  that  principle ; 
after  those  men,  who  had  maintained  these 
doctrines,  had  been  promoted  by  his  majesty 
to  the  first  stations  in  the  administration  of 
civil  and  judicial  affairs,  there  is  so  much 
mitigation  to  be  pleaded  in  favor  of  the  Amer 
icans,  from  those  circumstances  (allowing  them 
in  an  error  at  present)  that  every  man  must 
feel  the  height  of  cruelty,  by  enforcing  contrary 
maxims,  with  any  degree  of  severity  at  first, 
before  due  warning  is  given. 

It  is  in  vain  to  say  that  Boston  is  more  cul 
pable  than  the  other  colonies;  sending  the 
ships  from  thence,  and  obliging  them  to  return 
to  England,  is  a  more  solemn  and  deliberate 
act  of  resistance,  than  the  outrage  committed 
by  persons  in  disguise,  in  the  night,  when  the 
ship  refused  to  depart. — That  the  blocking  up 
of  the  harbor  of  Boston,  to  prevent  the  impor 
tation  of  British  manufactures,  or  the  exporta 
tion  of  goods  which  are  to  pay  for  them,  is  a 
measure  equally  absurd  as  if  the  parliament 
here,  upon  the  resistance  which  was  made  to 
their  resolution,  by  the  riots  of  Brentford,  and 
other  disturbances  in  the  county  of  Middlesex, 
had  decreed,  by  way  of  punishment,  that  the 
freeholders  should  have  been  prohibited  from 
sowing  wheat.  For  whose  benefit  do  the  in 
habitants  of  Boston  toil  and  labor !  The 
springs  in  the  circle  of  commerce  bear  so 


BRITISH  PARLIAMENT. 


413 


nicely  on  each  other,  that  few  men  can  tell  by 
interrupting  one,  the  degree  and  extent  to 
which  the  rest  may  be  exposed.  By  exclud 
ing  the  importation  of  molasses,  and  the  ex 
portation  of  that  spirit  which  is  distilled  at 
Boston,  the  whole  Guinea  trade  will  be  af 
fected,  and  in  consequence  the  sugar  trade 
that  depends  upon  it.  In  extending  this  kind 
of  punishment  to  the  other  colonies,  every  one 
must  see  the  danger ;  and  yet,  if  it  can  be 
approved  for  one,  the  same  arguments  will 
hold  good  to  approve  or  reject  it  respecting  the 
other.  But  let  any  man  figure  to  himself  the 
consequences  to  this  country,  if  a  similar  pun 
ishment  was  applied  to  the  colony  of  Virginia  ; 
^300,000  a  year  diminution  in  revenue,  be 
sides  the  loss  of  all  the  foreign  contracts,  and 
perhaps  of  that  beneficial  trade  forever.  Not 
withstanding  the  general  approbation  which 
has  been  given  to  this  bill,  and  the  loud  ap 
plauses  which  have  been  re-echoed  to  every 
word  of  the  noble  lord  in  explaining  it,  yet  no 
man  will  be  bold  enough  to  say,  that  this  par 
tial  punishment  is  a  remedy  for  the  general 
disease,  and  yet  without  knowing  what  is  to 
follow,  no  man  can  be  vindicated  (even  suppos 
ing  the  bill  right  in  part)  for  giving  his  assent 
to  it.  Those  gentlemen  who  are  in  the  secrets 
of  the  cabinet,  and  know  how  assuredly  every 
proposition  from  them  is  adopted  by  this 
house,  may  be  excused  for  their  sanguine 
acclamations  in  favor  of  the  measure.  But  the 
general  mass,  who  must  be  equally  ignorant 
with  myself  of  what  is  to  follow,  can  have  no 
excuse  for  giving  their  assent  so  readily  for 
punishing  their  fellow  subjects  in  so  unprece 
dented  a  manner,  and  their  eager  zeal  serves 
only  to  show  how  ready  they  are  to  obey  the 
will  of  another,  without  exercising  their  own 
judgment  in  the  case.  If  the  government  of 
this  country  is  resisted  in  America,  my  opinion 
is,  instead  of  removing  the  seat  of  government 
in  the  colony,  and  forcing  the  elements  to  bend 
to  our  will,  which  is  impossible,  that  an  effec 
tual  force  should  be  carried  to  the  heart  of  the 
colony  resisting,  to  crush  rebellion  in  the  bud, 
before  a  general  confederacy  can  be  formed. 
In  the  present  case  we  abandon  the  govern 
ment,  and  drive  the  inhabitants  to  despair, 
leaving  the  multitude  a  prey  to  any  ambitious 
spirit  that  may  arise.  For  my  own  part  I  am 
convinced,  from  experience  in  the  colonies, 
that  good  government  may  be  conducted  there 
upon  rational  grounds,  as  well  as  in  this 
country ;  but  the  power  and  means  of  gov 
erning,  rewards  and  punishments,  are  taken 
from  your  supreme  executive  magistrate  in 
every  sense,  and  then  you  are  surprised  that 


all  order  and  obedience  should  cease.  The 
colonies  can  only  be  governed  by  their  assem 
blies,  as  England  by  the  house  of  commons  : 
the  patent  officers,  as  well  as  those  in  the  cus 
toms,  which  were  formerly  given,  at  the  recom 
mendation  of  the  governors,  to  men  supporting 
government,  and  residing  in  the  provinces,  are 
now  given  in  reversion,  three  or  four  lives 
deep,  to  men  living  in  this  country.  The 
command  of  the  military,  which  was  another 
great  source  of  respect  and  obedience,  is  like 
wise  taken  from  the  governor;  so  that  in 
truth  he  remains  an  insignificant  pageant  of 
state,  fit  only  to  transmit  tedious  accounts  of 
his  own  ridiculous  situation  :  or,  like  the  doctor 
of  Sorbonne,  to  debate  with  his  assembly  about 
abstract  doctrines  in  government. 

I  am  far  from  wishing  to  throw  any  blame 
upon  governor  Hutchinson,  or  to  condemn 
him,  like  the  town  of  Boston,  unheard.  The 
absence  of  the  man,  and  the  general  clamor 
against  him,  will  restrain  me  from  saying  many 
things  respecting  his  conduct,  which  appear 
reprehensible.  But  I  cannot  admit  a  passage 
in  the  speech  of  a  noble  lord  to  pass  unnoticed. 
His  lordship  alleges,  "  that  the  governor  could 
not  apply  to  the  admiral  in  the  harbor,  or  to 
the  commanding  officer  of  the  troops  in  the 
castle,  for  the  protection  of  the  custom-house 
officers,  as  well  as  the  teas  in  question,  without 
the  advice  of  his  council."  But  I  beg  leave  to 
inform  the  noble  lord,  as  I  served  in  that 
station  myself,  that  there  is  a  volume  of  instruc 
tions  to  every  governor  on  this  subject,  whereby 
he 'is  commanded,  under  the  severest  penalties, 
"  to  give  all  kind  of  protection  to  trade  and  com 
merce,  as  well  as  to  the  officers  of  his  majesty's 
customs,  by  his  own  authority,  without  the 
necessity  of  acting  through  his  council."  Nor 
can  I  conceive  a  possible  excuse  for  the  de 
struction  of  those  teas,  while  two  men  of  war 
lay  in  the  harbor,  without  the  least  application 
having  been  made  to  the  admiral  for  protection, 
during  so  long  a  transaction. 

The  first  essential  point  in  those  disputes 
which  are  now  likely  to  become  so  serious,  by 
the  weakness  of  administration  in  this  country, 
in  following  no  connected  plan,  either  of  force 
or  favor,  but  constantly  vibrating  between  the 
two,  is  to  put  ourselves  in  the  right,  and  for 
this  purpose  I  would  recommend  the  immedi 
ate  repeal  of  the  tea  duty,  which  can  be  vindi 
cated  upon  no  principles,  either  of  commerce 
or  policy.  Men  may  allege  this  would  be  giv 
ing  up  the  point.  But  if  we  have  no  better 
points  to  dispute  upon,  I  am  ready  to  yield  the 
argument.  Raising  taxes  in  America  for  the 
purposes  of  revenue,  I  maintain  to  be  unneces- 


414 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


sary  and  dangerous.  A  stamp  act,  as  a  meas 
ure  of  police,  varied  for  the  different  govern 
ments,  and  leaving  the  revenue  raised  thereby 
to  be  appropriated  by  the  respective  legisla 
tures,  I  hold  to  be  a  measure,  of  the  highest 
efficacy,  for  maintaining  a  due  obedience  to  the 
authority  of  this  country,  and  prolonging  that 
dependence  for  ages  to  come.  How  far  it  can 
be  executed  after  what  has  already  passed,  I 
am  rather  diffident ;  but  of  this  I  am  certain, 
that  in  case  Great  Britain  is  deprived  of  execut 
ing  a  measure  of  that  nature,  which,  by  per 
vading  every  transaction,  secures  the  execution 
in  itself,  she  has  lost  one  of  the  greatest  en 
gines  for  supporting  her  influence  throughout 
the  empire  without  oppression.  Some  men, 
who  are  for  simplifying  government  to  their 
own  comprehensions,  will  not  allow  they  can 
conceive  that  the  supreme  legislative  authority 
shall  not  be  paramount  in  all  things  ;  and  taxa 
tion  being  fully  comprehended  in  legislation, 
they  argue,  that  the  power  of  the  one  must 
necessarily  follow  that  of  the  other,  and  yet  we 
find  mankind  possessed  of  privileges,  which 
are  not  to  be  violated  in  the  most  arbitrary 
countries.  The  province  of  Languedoc  is  a 
striking  example  in  refutation  of  the  doctrines 
respecting  taxation,  which  are  held  by  such 
narrow  observers.  The  kingdom  of  Ireland  is 
another  instance  in  our  dominions.  There  is 
not  one  argument  which  can  apply  for  exempt 
ing  Ireland  from  taxation  by  the  parliament  of 
Great  Britain,  that  does  not  equally  protect  the 
colonies  from  the  power  of  such  partial  judges. 
Every  man  should  now  call  to  his  remembrance 
by  what  obstinate  infatuation  Philip  the  II. 
came  to  lose  the  United  Provinces.  Can  it  be 
supposed  that,  in  a  nation  so  wise  as  Spain 
was  at  that  time,  that  no  man  perceived  the 
injustice  and  futility  of  the  measure  in  dispute  ? 
But  I  can  easily  suppose,  from  the  pride  of 
authority  where  our  vanity  is  so  much  flattered, 
that* no  man  durst  venture  a  proposition  for 
receding  from  that  cruel  measure  after  it  had 
been  resisted  by  violence. 

These  are  the  general  heads  : 

The  particular  objections  to  the  bill  are, 
first,  for  continuing  the  punishment  "  until  sat 
isfaction  shall  be  made  to  the  India  company," 
without  stating  the  amount,  or  what  that  satis 
faction  shall  be.  Next,  "  until  peace  and  good 
order  shall  be  certified  to  be  restored,"  when 
it  is  impossible,  as  to  the  subject  in  dispute, 
that  such  certificate  can  never  be  granted, 
because  the  custom-house  officers  are  removed, 
and  all  trade  and  commerce  prohibited.  The 
numerous  disputes  and  litigations  which  must 
necessarily  arise  in  carrying  this  law  into  exe 


cution,  on  contract  made  by  parties  before 
they  could  be  apprised  of  it,  and  the  despatch 
of  ships  in  harbor  under  the  limited  time, 
without  any  exception  for  the  desertion  of  sea 
men,  or  wind  and  weather,  is  altogether  mel 
ancholy  to  consider  !  The  power  given  to  the 
admiral,  or  chief  commander,  to  order  the 
ships  returning  from  foreign  voyages  to  such 
stations,  as  he  shall  direct,  is  wild,  vexatious, 
indefinite.  That  of  permitting  his  majesty  to 
alter  the  value  of  all  the  property  in  the  town 
of  Boston,  upon  restoring  the  port,  by  affixing 
such  quays  and  wharves,  as  he  only  shall 
appoint,  for  landing  and  shipping  of  goods,  is 
liable  to  such  misrepresentation  and  abuse, 
that  I  expect  to  see  every  evil  follow  the  exer 
cise  of  it,  and  it  must  create  infinite  jealousies 
and  distractions  among  the  people. 


HOUSE  OF  COMMONS. 

INTERESTING  DEBATE  ON  THE  SECOND 
READING  OF  THE  BILL  FOR  REGULATING 
THE  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MASSACHU 
SETTS  BAY. 

April 26, 1774. 

Mr.  Fuller  said,  he  did  not  rise  to  make  any 
debate,  for  he  was  not  enabled  as  yet  to  form 
any  opinion  whether  the  bill  before  the  house 
was  a  proper  bill  or  not ;  as  copies  of  the  char 
ters  which  had  been  ordered  before  the  house 
were  not  yet  laid,  he  would  venture  to  say,  that 
no  man  knew  the  constitution  of  that  govern 
ment  ;  it  was  therefore  impossible  for  him  to 
say  in  what  manner  he  would  correct  or 
amend  it. 

Sir  George  Saville  said,  he  had  not  troubled 
the  house  before  on  the  occasion,  but  he  could 
not  help  observing,  that  the  measure  now  be 
fore  the  house  was  a  very  doubtful  and  dan 
gerous  one ;  doubtful  as  to  the  propriety  of 
regulation,  and  dangerous  as  to  its  consequence; 
that  charters  by  government  were  sacred 
things,  and  are  only  to  be  taken  away  by  a  due 
course  of  law,  either  as  a  punishment  for  an 
offence,  or  for  a  breach  of  the  contract,  and 
that  can  only  be  by  evidence  of  the  facts ;  nor 
could  he  conceive  that  in  either  of  those  cases 
there  could  be  any  such  thing  as  proceeding 
without  a  fair  hearing  of  BOTH  parties.  This 
measure  before  us  seems  to  be  a  most  extra 
ordinary  exertion  of  legislative  power.  Let  us 
suppose  a  lease  granted  to  a  man,  wherein  was 
a  covenant,  the  breach  of  which  would  subject 
him  to  a  forfeiture  of  his  lease — would  not  a 
court  of  justice  require  evidence  of  the  fact  ? 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


415 


Why,  then,  will  you  proceed  different  from  the 
line  which  is  always  observed  in  courts  of  jus 
tice  ?  ]  You  are  now  going  to  alter  the  charter 
because  it  is  convenient.  In  what  manner 
does  the  hotfse  mean  to  take  away  this  charter, 
when  in  fact  they  refuse  to  hear  the  parties,  or 
to  go  through  a  legal  course  of  evidence  of  the 
facts.  Chartered  rights  have,  at  all  times,  when 
attempted  to  be  altered  or  taken  away,  occa 
sioned  much  bloodshed  and  strife  ;  and  what 
ever  persons  in  this  house  have  advanced,  that 
they  do  not  proceed  upon  this  business  but 
with  trembling  hands,  I  do  also  assure  them 
that  I  have  shown  my  fears  upon  this  occasion  ; 
for  I  have  run  away  from  every  question,  except 
one,  to  which  I  gave  my  negative.  I  do  not 
like  to  be  present  at  a  business,  which  I  think 
inconsistent  with  the  dignity  and  justice  of  this 
house ;  I  tremble  when  I  am,  for  fear  of  the 
consequences  ;  and  think  it  a  little  extraordi 
nary  that  Mr.  Bollan  should  be  admitted  to  be 
heard  as  an  American  agent  in  the  house  of 
lords,  when  in  the  house  of  commons  he  was 
refused.  I  believe  it  is  true,  that  the  facts  set 
forth  in  his  petition  to  this  house,  were  different 
from  those  which  he  presented  to  the  house  of 
lords  ;  in  one  declaring  himself  an  inhabitant 
of  Boston,  in  the  other  omitting  it.  I  cannot 
conceive  it  possible  to  proceed  on  this  bill  upon 
the  small  ground  of  evidence  which  you  have 
had. 

Mr.  Welbore  Ellis.  I  must  rise,  sir,  with 
great  confidence,  when  I  differ  from  the  honor 
able  gentleman  who  spoke  last,  whose  abilities 
are  so  eminently  great;  butjl  think,  sir,  that 
chartered  rights  are  by  no  means  those  sacred 
things  which  never  can  be  altered ;  they  are 
vested  in  the  crown  as  a  prerogative,  for  the 
good  of  the  people  at  large  ;  if  the  supreme 
legislature  find  that  those  charters  so  granted, 
vare  both  unfit  and  inconvenient  for  the  public 
utility,  they  have  a  right  to  make  them  fit  and 
convenient  ;  wherever  private  property  is  con 
cerned,  the  legislature  will  not  take  it  away 
without  making  a  full  recompense  ;  but  wher 
ever  the  regulation  of  public  matter  is  the 
object,  they  have  a  right  to  correct,  control,  or 
take  it  away,  as  may  best  suit  the  public  wel 
fare.  The  crown  may  sometimes  grant  im 
proper  powers  with  regard  to  governments  that 
are  to  be  established ;  will  it  not  be  highly- 
proper  and  necessary,  that  the  legislature,  see 
ing  in  what  manner  the  crown  has  been  ill- 
advised,  should  take  into  their  consideration, 
and  alter  it  as  far  as  necessary.  It  is  the  legis 
lature's  duty  to  correct  the  errors  that  have 
been  established  in  the  infancy  of  that  constitu 
tion,  and  regulate  them  for  the  public  welfare. 


Is  a  charter,  not  consistent  with  the  public  good, 
to  be  continued  ?  The  honorable  gentleman 
says,  much  bloodshed  has  been  occasioned  by 
taking  away  or  altering  of  chartered  rights  ;  I 
grant  it ;  but  it  has  always  been  where  en 
croachments  have  been  made  by  improper  par 
ties,  and  the  attack  has  been  carried  on  by 
improper  powers.  He  also  says,  this  form  of 
government  in  America  ought  not  to  be  altered 
without  hearing  the  parties  ;  the  papers  on  your 
table,  surely,  are  sufficient  evidence  of  what 
they  have  to  say  in  their  defence — look  only 
into  the  letter,  dated  the  igth  November,  1773, 
wherein  the  governor  applied  to  the  council  for 
advice,  and  they  neglected  giving  it  to  him  ! 
and  also  wherein  a  petition  was  presented  to 
the  council  by  certain  persons  who  applied  for 
protection  to  their  property  during  these  dis 
turbances,  the  council,  without  giving  any  an 
swer,  adjourned  for  ten  days,  and  the  governor 
was  not  able  to  do  any  thing  himself  without 
their  opinion.  Look  again,  sir,  into  the  reso 
lution  which  the  council  came  to  when  they 
met  again,  stating  the  total  insufficiency  of 
their  power.  This,  surely,  sir,  is  an  evidence 
competent  to  ground  this  bill  upon.  We  have 
now  got  no  farther  than  just  to  alter  these  two 
parts,  as  stated  by  themselves.  Surely,  sir, 
that  form  of  government  which  will  not  protect 
your  property,  ought  to  be  altered  in  such  a 
manner  as  it  may  be  able  to  do  it. 

General  Conivay.  What  I  intend  to  say  will 
not  delay  the  house  long.  I  am  very  sure 
what  I  intend  to  say  will  little  deserve  the 
attention  of  the  house ;  but  the  subject  is  of 
that  importance,  that  it  requires  it.  The  con 
sequence  of  this  bill  will  be  very  important  and 
dangerous.  Parliament  cannot  break  into  a 
right  without  hearing  the  parties.  The  ques 
tion  then  is  simply  this  : — Have  they  been 
heard  ?  What !  because  the  papers  say  a 
murder  has  been  committed,  does  it  follow 
they  have  proved  it  ?  Audi  alteram  pdrtem, 
is  a  maxim  I  have  long  adhered  to  ;  but  it  is 
something  so  inconsistent  with  parliamentary 
proceedings  not  to  do  it,  that  I  am  astonished 
at  it.  The  council  are  blamed  because  they 
did  not  give  that  advice  to  the  governor  which 
he  wanted.  I  think,  sir,  the  governor  might 
have  acted  alone,  without  their  assistance. 
Gentlemen  will  consider,  that  this  is  not  only 
the  charter  of  Boston,  or  of  any  particular  part, 
but  the  charter  of  all  America.  Are  the 
Americans  not  to  be  heard  ? — Do  not  choose  to 
consent  and  agree  about  appointing  an  agent  ? 
I  think  there  is  no  harm  upon  this  occasion,  in 
stretching  a  point ;  and  I  would  rather  have 
Mr.  Bollan,  as  an  agent  of  America  (though  he 


416 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


is  irregular  in  his  appointment)  sooner  than 
leave  it  to  be  said,  that  this  bill  passed  without 
it. —  The  house  being  vociferous,  he  said,  I  am 
afraid  I  tire  the  house  with  my  weak  voice  ;  if 
that  is  the  case,  I  will  not  proceed,  but  I  do 
think,  and  it  is  my  sincere  opinion,  that  we  are 
the  aggressors  and  innovators,  and  not  the 
colonies.  We  have  irritated  and  forced  laws 
upon  them  for  these  six  or  seven  years  last 
past.  We  have  enacted  such  a  variety  of  laws, 
with  these  new  taxes,  together  with  a  refusal 
to  repeal  the  trifling  duty  on  tea ;  all  these 
things  have  served  no  other  purpose  but  to 
distress  and  perplex.  I  think  the  Americans 
have  done  no  more  than  every  subject  would, 
do  in  an  arbitrary  statCj  where  laws  are  im 
posed  against  their  will.  In  my  conscience,  I 
think,  taxation  and  legislation  are  in  this  case 
inconsistent.  Have  you  not  a  legislative  right 
over  Ireland  ?  And  yet  no  one  will  dare  to  say 
we  have  a  right  to  tax.  These  acts  respecting 
America,  will  involve  this  country  and  its  min 
isters  in  misfortunes,  and  I  wish  I  may  not 
add,  in  ruin. 

Lord  North.  I  do  not  consider  this  matter 
of  regulation  to  be  taking  away  their  charters 
in  such  manner  as  is  represented  ;  it  is  a  regu 
lation  of  government  to  assist  the  crown  ;  it 
appears  to  me  not  to  be  a  matter  of  political 
expediency,  but  of  necessity.  If  it  does  not 
stand  upon  that  ground,  it  stands  on  nothing. 
The  account  which  has  just  now  been  read  to 
you  is  an  authentic  paper,  transmitted  to  gov 
ernment  here,  showing  that  the  council  refused 
in  every  case  their  assistance  and  advice  ;  and 
will  this  country  sit  still  when  they  see  the 
colony  proceeding  against  your  own  subjects, 
tarring  and  feathering  your  servants,  denying 
your  laws  and  authority,  refusing  every  direc 
tion  and  advice  which  you  send  ?  Are  we,  sir, 
seeing  all  this,  to  be  silent,  and  give  the  gover 
nor  no  support?  Gentlemen  say,  let  the  colo 
ny  come  to  your  bar,  and  be  heard  in  their 
defence  ;  though  it  is  not  likely  that  they  will 
come,  when  they  deny  your  authority  in  every 
instance.  Can  we  remain  in  this  situation  long.?._ 
We  must  effectually  take  some  measures  to 
correct  and  amend  the  defects  of  that  govern- 
ment.  '  I  have  heard  so  many  different  opinions 
in  regard  to  our  conduct  in  America,  I  hardly 
know  how  to  answer  them.  The  honorable 
gentleman,  who  spoke  last,  formerly  blamed 
the  tame  and  insipid  conduct  of  government ; 
now  he  condemns  this  measure  as  harsh  and 
severe.  The  Americans  have  tarred  and  feath 
ered  your  subjects,  plundered  your  merchants, 
burnt  your  ships,  denied  all  obedience  to  your 
laws  and  authority ;  yet  so  clement  and  for 


bearing  has  our  conduct  been,  that  it  is  incum 
bent  upon  us  now  to  take  a  different  course. 
Whatever  may  be  the  consequence,  we  must 
risk  something ;  if  we  do  not,  all  is  over. 
The  measure  now  proposed,  is  nothing  more 
than  taking  the  election  of  counsellors  out  of 
the  hands  of  those  people,  who  are  continually 
acting  in  defiance  and  resistance  of  your  laws. 
It  has  also  been  said  by  gentlemen — send  for 
the  Americans  to  your  bar — give  them  redress 
a  twelve-month  hence.  Surely,  sir,  this  cannot 
be  the  language  that  is  to  give  effectual  relief 
to  America;  it  is  not,  I  say  again,  political 
convenience,  it  is  political  necessity  that  urges 
this  measure  ;  if  this  is  not  the  proper  method, 
show  me  any  other  which  is  preferable,  and  I 
will  postpone  it. 

Sir  George  Young.  It  remains  to  me,  sir,  that 
it  is  unanswered  and  unanswerable,  what  has 
been  advanced  by  the  honorable  gentleman 
who  spoke  second,  that  the  parties  should  be 
heard,  though  even  at  a  twelve-month  hence. 
Nothing,  sir,  but  fatal  necessity  can  counte 
nance  this  measure.  No  body  of  men  ought 
to  be  proceeded  against  without  being  heard, 
much  less  ought  the  regulation  of  a  whole  gov 
ernment  to  take  place,  without  the  parties 
attending  in  their  defence  against  such  altera 
tions. 

Governor  Johnston.  I  see,  sir,  a  great  dis 
position  in  this  house  to  proceed  in  this  busi-  y 
ness  without  knowing  any  thing  of  the  consti 
tution  of  America  ;  several  inconveniences  will 
arise  if  the  sheriff  is  to  be  appointed  by  the  gov 
ernor  ;  the  jury  will,  of  course,  be  biased  by  some 
influence  or  other  ;  special  juries  will  be  most 
liable  to  this.  [Here  the  governor  gave  an  ac 
count  of  the  different  riots  which  had  happened 
in  England,  and  compared  them  with  what  he 
called  the  false  accounts  of  those  from  Amer 
ica.]  I  impute,  says  he,  all  the  misfortunes, 
which  have  happened  in  America,  to  the  taking 
away  the  power  of  the  governor.  No  man  of 
common  sense  can  apprehend  that  the  gov 
ernor  would  ever  have  gone  two  or  three  days 
into  the  country,  during  these  disturbances,  if 
he  had  the  command  of  the  military  power. ' 
The  natural  spirit  of  man  would  be  fired,  in 
such  a  manner,  as  to  actuate  himself  to  shew 
resistance  ;  but  in  this  governor  no  power  was 
lodged.  I  disapprove  much  of  the  measure 
which  is  before  us,  and  I  cannot  but  think  its 
consequences  will  be  prejudicial. 

Mr.  C.  Jenkinson.  \  rise,  sir,  only  to  observe, 
that  if  the  colony  has  not  that  power  within 
itself  to  maintain  its  own  peace  and  order,  the 
legislature  should,  and  ought  to  have.  Let  me 
ask,  sir,  whether  the  colony  took  any  step,  in 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


417 


any  shape,  to  quell  the  riots  and  disturbances  ? 
Noythey  took  none.  Let  me  ask  again,  whether 
all  the  checks  and  control  that  are  necessary, 
are  not  put  into  the  commission  of  the  govern 
ments  ?  Much  has  been  said  about  hearing 
the  parties,  and  taking  away  their  chartered 
rights  ;  I  am  of  opinion,  that  where  the  right  is 
a  high  political  regulation,  you  are  not  in  that 
^instance  bound  to  hear  them  ;  but  the  hearing 
of  parties  is  necessary  where  private  property  is 
concerned.  It  is  not  only  in  the  late  proceed 
ings,  but  in  all  former,  that  they  have  denied 
your  authority  over  them  ;  they  have  refused 
protection  to  his  majesty's  subjects,  and  in 
every  instance  disobeyed  the  laws  of  this  coun 
try  ;  either  let  this  country  forsake  its  trade  with 
America,  or  let  us  give  that  due  protection  to 
it  which  safety  requires. 

Mr.  Harris.  I  cannot  see,  sir,  any  reason  for 
so  wide  a  separation  between  America  and 
England  as  other  gentlemen  are  apt  to  think 
there  ought  to  be ;  that  country,  sir,  was 
hatched  from  this,  and  I  hope  we  shall  always 
keep  it  under  the  shadow  of  our  wings.  It  has 
been  said,  no  representation,  no  taxation.  This 
was  the  system  formerly  adopted,  but  I  do  not 
find  it  authorized  in  any  book  of  jurisprudence, 
nor  do  I  deem  it  to  be  a  doctrine  either  rea 
sonable  or  constitutional.  I  insist  upon  it,  they 
are  bound  to  obey  both  the  crown  and  parlia 
ment.  The  last  twelve  years  of  our  proceed- 
v  ings  have  been  a  scene  of  lenity  and  inactivity. 
Let  us  proceed  and  mend  our  method,  or  else  I 
shall  believe,  as  an  honorable  gentleman  has 
observed,  that  we  are  the  aggressors. 

Sir  Edward  Astley.  If  we  have  had  a  twelve 
years  lenity  and  inactivity,  I  hope  we  shall  not 
now  proceed  to  have  a  twelve  years  cruelty  and 
oppression.  By  the  resolution  and  firmness 
which  I  perceive  in  the  house,  it  seems  to  indi 
cate  a  perseverance  in  the  measure  now  pro 
posed,  which  I  deem  to  be  a  harsh  one,  and 
unworthy  of  a  British  legislature. 

Mr.  Ward.  [The  house  was  very  noisy  du 
ring  the  few  words  which  he  said.] — He  found 
fault  with  the  charter  being  left  too  much,  as  to 
the  execution  of  its  power,  in  the  people,  and 
he  could  not  think  the  legislature  was  doing 
any  thing,  which  it  had  not  a  right  to  do,  as  he 
had  looked  upon  all  charters  to  be  granted 
with  a  particular  clause  in  it  expressing  that  it 
should  not  be  taken  away  but  by  the  parlia 
ment. 

Governor  Pownal.  I  beg  leave  to  set  some 
gentlemen  right,  who  have  erred  with  regard 
to  the  charters  of  America.  The  appointment 
of  several  of  the  officers  is  in  the  governor.  The 
charter  of  Boston  directs,  that  the  governor 

27 


shall  ask  the  council  for  advice,  but  it  does  not 
say  he  shall  not  act  without  it,  if  they  refuse  to 
give  it.  It  is  said  it  is  criminal  to  do  any 
thing  without  advice  of  the  council ;  I  differ 
greatly,  sir,  from  that  doctrine ;  for  I  myself 
have  acted  without  it  in  putting  an  end  to  dis 
turbances,  in  preserving  the  peace  and  good 
order  of  the  place  ;  if  I  had  been  governor  dur 
ing  the  late  disturbances,  I  would  have  given 
an  order  for  the  military  power  to  attend,  and 
then  let  me  have  seen  what  officer  dare  disobey. 
I  think  the  council  are  much  to  blame  for  not 
co-operating  and  assisting  the  governor,  but  I 
think  the  governor  might  have  acted  without 
the  council.  The  council  are  inexcusable, 
though  not  criminal,  as  they  are  not  obliged  to 
give  it.  I,  sir,  for  my  part,  shall  give  my  last 
opinion.  I  have  always  been  in  one  way  of 
thinking  with  regard  to  America,  which  I  have 
both  given  here  and  wrote  to  America.  They 
have  all  along  tended  to  one  point ;  but  it  is  now 
no  longer  matter  of  opinion.  Things  are  now 
come  to  action ;  and  I  must  be  free  to  tell  the 
house,  that  the  Americans  will  resist  these 
measures  :  they  are  prepared  to  do  it.  I  do  not 
mean  by  arms,  but  by  the  conversation  of  pub 
lic  town  meeting ;  they  now  send  their  letters 
by  couriers,  instead  of  the  post,  from  one  town 
to  another ;  and  I  can  say  your  post  office  will 
very  soon  be  deprived  of  its  revenue.  With 
regard  to  the  officers  who  command  the  militia 
of  that  country,  they  will  have  them  of  their 
own  appointment,  and  not  from  government ; 
but  I  will  never  more  give  an  opinion  concern 
ing  America  in  this  house  ;  those  I  have  given 
have  been  disregarded. 

Mr.  Rigby.  Upon  my  word,  sir,  what  was 
just  now  said,  is  very  worthy  the  consideration 
of  this  house  ;  and  if,  from  what  the  honorable 
gentleman  says,  it  is  true,  and  I  believe  he  is 
well  informed,  it  appears,  that  America  is  pre 
paring  to  arms  ;  and  that  the  deliberations  of 
their  town  meetings  tend  chiefly  to  oppose  the 
measures  of  this  country  by  force.  He  has 
told  you,  sir,  that  the  Americans  will  appoint 
other  officers  than  those  sent  by  government 
to  command  their  troops.  He  has  told  you 
that  the  post  office  is  established  on  their  ac 
count  from  town  to  town,  in  order  to  carry  their 
traitorous  correspondence  from  one  to  another. 
He  has  told  you  the  post  office  revenue  will 
soon  be  annihilated.  If  these  things  are 
true,  sir,  I  find  we  have  been  .  the  aggres 
sors,  by  continually  doing  acts  of  lenity 
for  these  twelve  years  last  past.  I  think, 
sir,  and  I  speak  out  boldly  when  I  say  it,  that 
this  country  has  a  right  to  tax  America ;  but, 
sir,  it  is  matter  of  astonishment  to  me,  how  an 


V 


418 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


V 


\J 


honorable  gentleman  (Mr.  Conway)  can  be  the 
author  of  bringing  in  of  declaratory  law  over 
all  America,  and  yet  saying  at  one  and  the 
same  time,  that  we  have  no  right  to  tax 
America?  If  I  was  to  begin  to  say  that 
America  ought  not  to  be  taxed,  and  that  these 
measures  were  not  proper,  I  would  first  desire 
my  own  declaratory  law  to  be  repealed  ;  but 
being  of  opinion  that  the  Americans  are  the 
subjects  of  this  country,  I  will  declare  freely, 
that  I  think  this  country  has  a  right  to  tax 
America ;  but  I  do  not  say  that  I  would  put 
any  new  tax  on  at  this  particular  crisis  ;  but 
when  things  are  returned  to  a  peaceable  state, 
I  would  then  begin  to  exercise  it.  And  I  am 
free  to  declare  my  opinion,  that  I  think  we 
have  a  right  to  tax  Ireland,  if  there  was  a  neces 
sity  so  to  do,  in  order  to  help  the  mother  coun 
try.  If  Ireland  was  to  rebel  and  resist  our 
laws,  I  would  tax  it.  The  mother  country  has 
an  undoubted  right  and  control  over  the  whole 
of  its  colonies.  Again,  sir,  a  great  deal  has 
been  said  concerning  requisition.  Pray,  in 
what  manner  is  it  to  be  obtained  ?  j  Is  the 
king  to  demand  it,  or  are  we,  the  legislative 
power  of  this  country,  to  send  a  very  civil  polite 
gentleman  over  to  treat  with  their  assemblies  ? 
How  and  in  what  manner  is  he  to  address  that 
assembly  ?  Is  he  to  tell  the  speaker  that  we 
have  been  extremely  ill  used  by  our  neighbors 
the  French ;  that  they  have  attacked  us  in 

* 

several  quarters ;  that  the  finances  of  this 
country  are  in  a  bad  state  ;  and  therefore  we 
desire  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  assist  us,  and 
give  us  some  money  ?  Is  this  to  be  the  lan 
guage  of  this  country  to  that ;  and  are  we  thus 
to  go  cap  in  hand?  I  am  of  opinion,  that  if 
the  aclminstration  of  this  country  had  not  been 
changed  soon  after  passing  the  stamp-act,  that 
tax  would  have  been  collected  with  as  much 
ease  as  the  land-tax  is  in  Great  Britain.  I 
have  acted,  with  regard  to  America,  one  con 
sistent  part,  and  shall  continue  in  it,  till  I  h«ar 
better  reasons  to  convince  me  to  the  contrary.' 

Governor  Pownal,  (to  explain)  I  apprehend 
I  have  been  totally  misunderstood.  I  did  not 
assert  the  Americans  were  now  in  rebellion, 
but  that  they  are  going  to  rebel ;  when  that 
comes  to  pass,  the  question  will  be,  who  was 
the  occasion  of  it  ?  Something  has  been  said 
relative  to  requisition  ;  I  think  I  gave  several 
instances  wherein  the  same  had  been  complied 
with  in  time  of  war. 

Mr.  C.  Fox.  I  am  glad  to  hear  from  the 
honorable  gentleman  who  spoke  last,  that  now 
is  not  the  time  to  tax  America  ;  that  the  only 
time  for  that  is,  when  all  these  disturbances 
are  quelled,  and  they  are  returned  to  their 


duty  ;iso,  I  find  taxes  are  to  be  the  reward  of 
obedience  ;  and  the  Americans,  who  are  "con 
sidered  to  have  been  in  open  rebellion,  are  to 
be  rewarded  by  acquiescing  in  their  measures. 
When  will  be  the  time  when  America  ought  to 
have  heavy  taxes  laid  upon  it  ?  The  honorable 
gentleman  (Mr.  Rigby)  tells  you,  that  that 
time  will  be  when  the  Americans  are  returned 
to  peace  and  quietness.  The  honorable  gentle 
man  tells  us  also,  that  we  have  a  right  to  tax 
Ireland  ;  however  I  may  agree  with  him  in  re 
gard  to  the  principle,  it  would  not  be  policy  to 
exercise  it ;  I  believe  we  have  no  more  right  to 
tax  the  one  than  the  other.  I  believe  America 
is  wrong  in  resisting  against  this  country,  with 
regard  to  legislative  authority.  It  was  an  old 
opinion,  and  I  believe  a  very  true  one,  that 
there  was  a  dispensing  power  in  the  crown, 
but  whenever  that  dispensing  power  was  pre 
tended  to  be  exercised,  it  was  always  rejected 
and  opposed  to  the  utmost,  because  it  operated 
to  me,  as  a  subject,  as  a  deteriment  to  my  pro 
perty  and  liberty ;  but,  sir,  there  has  been  a 
constant  conduct  practised  in  this  country, 
consisting  of  violence  and  weakness ;  I  wish 
those  measures  may  not  continue ;  nor  can  I 
think  that  the  stamp-act  would  have  been  sub 
mitted  to  without  resistance,  if  the  administra 
tion  had  not  been  changed  ;  the  present  bill  be 
fore  you  is  not  tanti  to  what  you  want ;  it  irri 
tates  the  minds  of  the  people,  but  does  not 
correct  the  deficiencies  of  that  government. 

Sir  Gilbert  Elliot  arose  to  answer  Mr.  C. 
Fox,  which  he  did  in  a  very  masterly  manner, 
by  stating  that  there  was  not  the  least  degree 
of  absurdity  in  taxing  your  own  subjects,  over 
whom  you  have  declared  you  had  an  absolute 
right  ;  though  that  tax  should,  through  neces 
sity,  be  enacted  at  a  time  when  peace  and  quiet 
ness  were  the  reigning  system  of  the  times ; 
you  declare  you  have  that  right,  where  is  the 
absurdity  in  the  exercise  of  it  ? 

Sir  Richard  Sutton  read  a  copy  of  a  letter, 
relative  to  the  government  of  America,  from  a 
governor  in  America,  to  the  board  of  trade, 
shewing  that,  at  the  most  quiet  times,  the  dis 
positions  to  oppose  the  laws  of  this  country 
were  strongly  ingrafted  in  them,  and  that  all 
their  actions  conveyed  a  spirit  and  wish  for  in 
dependence.  If  you  ask  an  American  who  is 
his  master  ?  he  will  tell  you  he  has  none,  nor 
any  governor  but  Jesus  Christ.  I  do  believe  it, 
and  it  is  my  firm  opinion,  that  the  opposition 
to  the  measurer,  of  theHegislature  of  this  coun 
try,  is  a  determined  prepossession  of  the  idea 
of  total  independence. 

After  which  the  bill  was  committed  for 
Friday  next,  without  a  division. 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


419 


•! 


SPEECH 

WRITTEN  BY  THE  REV.  DR.  JONATHAN 
SHIPLEY.LATE  BISHOP  OF  ST.  ASAPH,  FOR 
DELIVERY  IN  THE  "  HOUSE  OF  LORDS," 
ON  THE  BILL  FOR  ALTERING  THE  CHAR 
TER  of  MASSACHUSETTS  BAY,  1774. 

FROM    THE    MARYLAND    GAZETTE,    SEPTEMBER     29,  1774. 

It  is  of  such  great  importance  to  compose, 
or  even  to  moderate,  the  dissensions  which 
subsist  at  present  between  our  unhappy  country 
and  her  colonies,  that  I  cannot  help  endeavor 
ing,  from  the  faint  prospect  I  have  of  contrib 
uting  something  to  so  good  an  end,  to  over 
come  the  inexpressible  reluctance  I  feel  at 
uttering  my  thoughts  before  the  most  respect 
able  of  all  audiences. 

The  true  object  of  all  our  deliberations  on 
this  occasion,  which  I  hope  we  shall  never 
lose  sight  of,  is  a  full  and  cordial  reconciliation 
with  North  America.  Now  I  own,  my  lords,  I 
have  many  doubts  whether  the  terrors  and 
punishments  we  hang  out  to  them  at  present 
are  the  surest  means  of  producing  this  recon 
ciliation.  |  Let  us  at  least  do  this  justice  to  the 
people  of  North  America,  to  own  that  we  can 
all  remember  a  time  when  they  were  much 
better  friends  than  at  present  to  their  mother 
country.  They  are  neither  our  natural  nor  our 
determined  enemies.  Before  the  stamp-act, 
we  considered  them  in  the  light  of  as  good 
ubjects  as  the  natives  of  any  county  in  Eng- 
and. 

It  is  worth  while  to  enquire  by  what  steps 
we  first  gained  their  affection,  and  preserved  it 
so  long ;  and  by  what  conduct  we  have  lately 
lost  it.  Such  an  enquiry  may  point  out  the 
means  of  restoring  peace ;  and  make  the  use 
of  force  unnecessary  against  a  people,  whom  I 
cannot  yet  forbear  to  consider  as  our  brethren. 

It  has  always  been  a  most  arduous  task  to 
govern  distant  provinces,  with  even  a  tolerable 
appearance  of  justice.  The  viceroys  and  gov 
ernors  of  other  nations  are  usually  temporary 
tyrants,  who  think  themselves  obliged  to  make 
the  most  of  their  time ;  who  not  only  plunder 
the  people,  but  carry  away  their  spoils,  and  dry 
up  all  the  sources  of  commerce  and  industry. 
Taxation,  in  their  hands,  is  an  unlimited  power 
of  oppression :  but  in  whatever  hands  the 
power  of  taxation  is  lodged,  it  implies  and 
includes  all  other  powers.  Arbitrary  taxation 
is  plunder  authorized  by  law :  it  is  the  support 
and  the  essence  of  tyranny,  and  has  done  more 
mischief  to  mankind,  than  those  other  three 
scourges  from  Heaven,  famine,  pestilence  and 
the  sword.  I  need  not  carry  your  lordship  out 
of  your  own  knowledge,  or  out  of  your  own 


dominions,  to  make  you  conceive  what  misery 
this  right  of  taxation  is  capable  of  producing 
in  a  provincial  government.  We  need  only 
recollect  that  our  countrymen  in  India  have, 
in  the  space  of  five  or  six  years,  in  virtue  of  this 
right,  destroyed,  and  driven  away  more  inhabit 
ants  from  Bengal,  than  are  to  be  found  at  pre 
sent  in  all  our  American  colonies ;  more  than 
all  those  formidable  numbers  which  we  have 
been  nursing  up  for  the  space  of  two  hundred 
years,  with  so  much  care  and  success,  to  the 
astonishment  of  all  Europe.  This  is  no  exag 
geration,  my  lords,  but  plain  matter  of  fact, 
collected  from  the  accounts  sent  over  by  Mr. 
Hastings,  whose  name  I  mention  with  honor 
and  veneration.  And,  I  must  own,  such  ac 
counts  have  very  much  lessened  the  pleasure 
I  used  to  feel  in  thinking  myself  an  English 
man.  We  ought  surely  not  to  hold  our  colonies 
totally  inexcusable  for  wishing  to  exempt  them 
selves  from  a  grievance,  which  has  caused  such 
unexampled  devastation ;  and,  my  lords,  it 
would  be  too  disgraceful  to  ourselves,  to  try 
so  cruel  an  experiment  more  than  once.  Let 
us  reflect,  that  before  these  innovations  were 
thought  of,  by  following  the  line  of  good  con 
duct  which  had  been  marked  out  by  our  ances 
tors,  we  governed  North  America  with  mutual 
benefit  to  them  and  ourselves.  It  was  a  happy 
idea,  that  made  us  first  consider  them  rather 
as  instruments  of  commerce  than  as  objects  of 
government.  It  was  wise  and  generous  to  give 
them  the  form  and  the  spirit  of  our  own  con 
stitution  ;  an  assembly,  in  which  a  greater 
equality  of  representation  has  been  preserved 
them  at  home,  and  councils  and  governors, 
such  as  were  adapted  to  their  situation,  though 
they  must  be  acknowledged  to  be  very  inferior 
copies  of  the  dignity  of  this  house,  and  the 
majesty  of  the  crown. 

But  what  is  far  more  valuable  than  all  the 
rest,  we  gave  them  liberty.  We  allowed  them 
to  use  their  own  judgment  in  the  management 
of  their  own  interest.  The  idea  of  taxing 
them  never  entered  our  heads.  On  the  con 
trary  they  have  experienced  our  liberality  on 
many  public  occasions :  we  have  given  them 
bounties  to  encourage  their  industry,  and  have 
demanded  no  return  but  what  every  state 
exacts  from  its  colonies,  the  advantages  of  an 
exclusive  commerce,  and  the  regulations  that 
are  necessary  to  secure  it.  We  made  requisi 
tions  to  them  on  great  occasions  ;  in  the  same 
manner  as  our  piinces  formerly  asked  benevo 
lences  of  their  subjects ;  and  as  nothing  was 
asked  but  what  was  visibly  for  the  public  good, 
it  was  always  granted  ;  and  they  sometimes 
did  more  than  we  expected.  The  matter  of 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


right  was  neither  disputed,  nor  even  considered. 
And  let  us  not  forget  that  the  people  of  New- 
England  were  themselves,  during  the  last  war, 
the  most  forward  of  all  in  the  national  cause  ; 
that  every  year  we  voted  them  a  considerable 
sum,  in  acknowledgment  of  their  zeal  and 
their  services  ;  that,  in  the  preceding  war,  they 
alone  enabled  us  to  make  the  treaty  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle,  by  furnishing  us  with  the  only  equi 
valent  for  the  towns  that  were  taken  from  our 
allies  in  Flanders  ;  and  that,  in  times  of  peace, 
they  alone  have  taken  from  us  six  times  as 
much  of  our  woolen  manufactures  as  the 
whole  kingdom  of  Ireland.  Such  a  colony, 
my  lords,  not  only  from  the  justice,  but  from 
the  gratitude  we  owe  them,  have  a  right  to  be 
heard  in  their  defence  ;  and  if  their  crimes  are 
not  of  the  most  inexpiable  kind,  I  could  almost 
say,  they  have  a  right  to  be  forgiven. 

But  in  the  times  we  speak  of,  our  public  in 
tercourse  was  carried  on  with  ease  and  satis 
faction.  We  regarded  them  as  our  friends 
and  fellow-citizens,  and  relied  as  much  upon 
their  fidelity  as  on  the  inhabitants  of  our  own 
country.  They  saw  our  power  with  pleasure 
for  they  considered  it  only  as  their  protection. 
They  inherited  our  laws,  our  language,  and  our 
customs ;  they  preferred  our  manufactures, 
and  followed  our  fashions  with  a  partiality  that 
secured  our  exclusive  trade  with  them  more 
effectually  than  all  the  regulations  and  vigilance 
of  the  custom-house.  Had  we  suffered  them  to 
enrich  us  a  little  longer,  and  to  grow  a  little 
richer  themselves,  their  men  of  fortune,  like 
the  West-Indians,  would  undoubtedly  have 
made  this  country  the  place  of  their  education 
and  resort.  For  they  looked  up  to  England 
with  reverence  and  affection,  as  to  the  country 
of  their  friends  and  ancestors.  They  esteemed 
and  they  called  it  their  home,  and  thought  of 
it  as  the  Jews  once  thought  of  the  land  of 
Canaan. 

Now,  my  lords,  consider  with  yourselves 
what  were  the  chains  and  ties  that  united  this 
people  to  their  mother-country  with  so  much 
warmth  and  affection,  at  so  amazing  a  distance. 
The  colonies  of  other  nations  have  been  dis 
contented  with  their  treatment,  and  not  with 
out  sufficient  cause ;  always  murmuring  at 
their  grievances,  and  sometimes  breaking  out 
into  acts  of  rebellion.  Our  subjects  at  home, 
with  all  their  reasons  for  satisfaction, 
have  never  been  entirely  satisfied.  Since  the 
beginning  of  this  century  we  have  had  two 
rebellions,  several  plots  and  conspiracies  ;  and 
we  ourselves  been  witnesses  to  the  most  dan 
gerous  excesses  of  sedition.  But  the  provinces 
in  North  America  have  engaged  in  no  party, 


have  excited  no  opposition,  they  have  been 
utter  strangers  even  to  the  name  of  whig  and 
tory.  In  all  changes,  in  all  revolutions,  they 
have  quietly  followed  the  fortunes  and  submit 
ted  to  the  government  of  England. 

Now  let  me  appeal  to  your  lordships  as  to 
men  of  enlarged  and  liberal  minds,  who  have 
been  led  by  your  office  and  rank  to  the  study  of 
history.  Can  you  find  in  the  long  succession 
of  ages,  in  the  whole  extent  of  human  affairs,  a 
single  instance  where  distant  provinces  have 
been  preserved  in  so  flourishing  a  state,  and 
kept  at  the  same  time  in  such  due  subjection 
to  their  mother-country  ?  My  lords,  there  is 
no  instance ;  the  case  never  existed  before. 
It  is  perhaps  the  most  singular  phenomenon 
in  all  civil  history ;  and  the  cause  of  it  well 
deserves  your  serious  consideration.  The  true 
cause  is,  that  a  mother-country  never  existed 
before,  who  placed  her  natives  and  her  colo 
nies  on  the  same  equal  footing ;  and  joined 
with  them  in  fairly  carrying  on  one  common 
interest. 

You  ought  to  consider  this,  my  lords,  not  as 
a  mere  historical  fact,  but  as  a  most  important 
and  invaluable  discovery.  It  enlarges  our 
ideas  of  the  power  and  energy  of  good  govern 
ment  beyond  all  former  examples  ;  and  shews 
that  it  can  act  like  gravitation  at  the  greatest 
distances.  It  proves  to  a  demonstration  that 
you  may  have  good  subjects  in  the  remotest 
corner  of  the  earth,  if  you  will  but  treat  them 
with  kindness  and  equity.  If  you  have  any 
doubts  of  the  truth  of  this  kind  of  reasoning, 
the  experience  we  have  had  of  a  different  kind 
will  entirely  remove  them. 

The  good  genius  of  our  country  had  led  us 
to  the  simple  and  happy  method  of  governing 
freemen,  which  I  have  endeavored  to  describe. 
Our  ministers  received  it  from  their  prede 
cessors  and  for  some  time  continued  to  observe 
it ;  but  without  knowing  its  value.  At  length, 
presuming  on  their  own  wisdom,  and  the  quiet 
dispositions  of  the  Americans,  they  flattered 
themselves  that  we  might  reap  great  advantages 
from  their  prosperity  by  destroying  the  cause 
of  it.  They  chose,  in  an  unlucky  hour,  to  treat 
them  as  other  nations  have  thought  fit  to  treat 
their  colonies  ;  they  threatened,  and  they  taxed 
them. 

I  do  not  now  enquire  whether  taxation  is 
matter  of  right ;  I  only  consider  it  as  matter  of 
experiment ;  for  surely  the  art  of  government 
itself  is  founded  on  experience.  I  need  not 
suggest  what  were  the  consequences  of  this 
change  of  measures.  The  evils  produced  by 
it  were  such  as  we  still  remember  and  still 
feel.  We  suffered  more  by  our  loss  of  trade 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


with  them,  than  the  wealth  flowing  in  from 
India  was  able  to  recompense.  The  bank 
ruptcy  of  the  East-India  company  may  be  suffi 
ciently  accounted  for  by  the  rapine  abroad  and 
the  knavery  at  home;  but  it  certainly  would 
have  been  delayed  some  years,  had  we  contin 
ued  our  commerce  with  them  in  the  single 
article  of  tea.  But  that  and  many  other  bran 
ches  of  trade  have  been  diverted  into  other 
channels,  and  may  probably  never  return 
entire  to  their  own  old  course.  But  what  is 
worst  of  all,  we  have  lost  their  confidence 
and  friendship ;  we  have  ignorantly  under 
mined  the  most  solid  foundation  of  our  own 
power. 

In  order  to  observe  the  strictest  impartiality, 
it  is  but  just  for  us  to  inquire  what  we  have 
gained  by  these  taxes  as  well  as  what  we  have 
lost.  I  am  assured  that  out  of  all  the  sums 
raised  in  America  the  last  year  but  one,  if  the 
expenses  are  deducted,  which  the  natives  would 
else  have  discharged  themselves,  the  net  revenue 
paid  into  the  treasury  to  go  in  aid  of  the  sink- 
ing  fund,  or  to  be  employed  in  whatever  public 
services  parliament  shall  think  fit,  is  eighty-five 
pounds.  Eighty-five  pounds,  my  lords,  is  the 
whole  equivalent  we  have  received  for  all  the 
hatred  and  mischief,  and  all  the  infinite  losses 
this  kingdom  has  suffered  during  that  year  in 
her  disputes  with  North  America.  Money  that 
is  earned  so  dearly  as  this,  ought  to  be  ex 
pended  with  great  wisdom  and  economy.  My 
lords,  were  you  to  take  up  but  one  thousand 
pounds  more  from  North  America  upon  the 
same  terms,  the  nation  itself  would  be  a  bank 
rupt.  But  the  most  amazing  and  most  alarm 
ing  circumstances  are  still  behind.  It  is  that  our 
case  is  so  incurable,  that  all  this  experience  has 
made  no  impression  upon  us.  And  yet,  my 
lords,  if  you  could  but  keep  these  facts,  which 
I  have  ventured  to  lay  before  you,  for  a  few 
moments  in  your  minds  (supposing  your  right 
of  taxation  to  be  never  so  clear)  yet  I  think  you 
must  necessarily  perceive  that  it  cannot  be 
exercised  in  any  manner  that  can  be  advanta 
geous  to  ourselves  or  them.  We  have  not 
always  the  wisdom  to  tax  ourselves  with  pro- 
ff  \  priety  :  and  I  am  confident  we  could  never  tax 
a  people  at  that  distance,  without  infinite  blun 
ders,  and  infinite  oppression.  And  to  own  the 
truth,  my  lords,  we  are  not  honest  enough  to 
trust  ourselves  with  the  power  of  shifting  our 
own  burthens  upon  them.  Allow  me  therefore  to 
conclude,  I  think  unanswerably,  that  the  incon 
venience  and  distress  we  have  felt  in  this  change 
of  our  conduct,  no  less  than  the  ease  and  tran- 
quility  we  formerly  found  in  the  pursuit  of  it, 
will  force  us,  if  we  have  any  sense  left,  to 


return  to  the  good  old  path  we  trod  in  so  long, 
and  found  it  the  way  of  pleasantness. 

I  desire  to  have  it  understood,  that  I  am 
opposing  no  rights  legislature  may  think  proper 
to  claim  :  I  am  only  comparing  two  different 
methods  of  government.  By  your  old  rational 
and  generous  administration,  by  treating  the 
Americans  as  your  friends  and  fellow-citizens, 
you  made  them  the  happiest  or  human  kind  ; 
and,  at  the  same  time,  drew  from  them,  by 
commerce,  more  clear  profit  than  Spain  has 
drawn  from  all  its  mines ;  and  their  growing 
numbers  were  a  daily  increase  and  addition  to 
your  strength.  There  was  no  room  for  improve 
ment  or  alteration  in  so  noble  a  system  of 
policy  as  this.  It  was  sanctified  by  time,  by 
experience,  by  public  utility.  I  will  venture  to 
use  a  bold  language  my  lords ;  I  will  assert, 
that  if  we  had  uniformly  adopted  this  equitable 
administration  in  all  our  distant  provinces  as 
far  as  circumstances  would  admit,  it  would 
have  placed  this  country,  for  ages,  at  the  head 
of  human  affairs  in  every  quarter  of  the  world. 
My  lords,  this  is  no  visionary,  or  chimerical  doc 
trine.  The  idea  of  governing  provinces  and 
colonies  by  force  is  visionary  and  chimerical. 
The  experiment  has  often  been  tried  and  it 
never  has  succeeded.  It  ends  infallibly  in  the 
ruin  of  the  one  country  or  the  other,  or  in  the 
last  degree  of  wretchedness. 

If  there  is  any  truth,  my  lords,  in  what  I 
have  said,  and  I  most  firmly  believe  it  all  to  be 
true,  let  me  recommend  to  you  to  resume  that 
generous  and  benevolent  spirit  in  the  discus 
sion  of  our  differences  which  used  to  be  the 
source  of  our  union.  We  certainly  did  wrong  in 
taxing  them  :  when  the  stamp-act  was  repealed 
we  did  wrong  in  laying  on  other  taxes,  which 
tended  only  to  keep  alive  a  claim  that  was  mis 
chievous,  impracticable  and  useless.  We  acted 
contrary  to  our  own  principles  of  liberty,  and  to 
the  generous  sentiments  of  our  sovereign,  when 
we  desired  to  have  their  judges  dependent  on  the 
crown  for  their  stipends  as  well  as  their  con 
tinuance.  It  was  equally  unwise  to  wish  to 
make  the  governors  independent  of  the  people 
for  their  salaries.  We  ought  to  consider  the 
governors,  not  as  spies  entrusted  with  the  man 
agement  of  our  interest,  but  as  the  servants  of 
the  people,  recommended  to  them  by  us.  Our 
ears  ought  to  be  open  to  every  complaint 
against  the  governors,  but  we  ought  not  to 
suffer  the  governors  to  complain  of  the  people. 
We  have  taken  a  different  method,  to  which 
no  small  part  of  our  difficulties  are  owing.  Our 
ears  have  been  open  to  the  governors  and  shut 
to  the  people.  This  must  necessarily  lead  us 
to  countenance  the  jobs  of  interested  men. 


422 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


V 


under  the  pretence  of  defending  the  rights  of 
the  crown.  But  the  people  are  certainly  the 
best  judges  whether  they  are  well  governed  ; 
and  the  crown  can  have  no  rights  inconsistent 
with  the  happiness  of  the  people. 

Now,  my  lords,  we  ought    to    do    what    I 
have  suggested,  and  many  things  more,  out  of 
prudence  and  justice,  to  win  their  affection,  and 
r.  to  do  them  public  service. 

If  we  have  a  right  to  govern  them,  let  us 
exert  it  for  the  true  ends  of  government.  But, 
my  lords,  what  we  ought  to  do,  from  motives 
of  reason  and  justice,  is  much  more  than  is 
sufficient  to  bring  them  to  a  reasonable  accom 
modation.  For  thus,  as  I  apprehend,  stands 
the  case :  They  petition  for  the  repeal  of  an 
act  of  parliament,  which  they  complain  of  as 
unjust  and  oppressive.  And  there  is  not  a 
man  amongst  us,  not  the  warmest  friend  of 
administration,  who  does  not  sincerely  wish 
that  act  had  never  been  made.  In  fact,  they 
only  ask  for  what  we  wish  to  be  rid  of.  Under 
such  a  disposition  of  mind,  one  would  imagine 
there  could  be  no  occasion  for  fleets  and 
armies  to  bring  men  to  a  good  understanding. 
But,  my  lords,  our  difficulty  lies  in  the  point  of 
honor.  We  must  not  let  down  the  dignity  of 
the  mother-country  ;  but  preserve  her  sover 
eignty  over  all  the  parts  of  the  British  empire. 
This  language  has  something  in  it  that  sounds 
pleasant  to  the  ears  of  Englishmen,  but  is 
otherwise  of  little  weight.  For  sure,  my  lords, 
there  are  methods  of  making  reasonable  con 
cessions,  and  yet  without  injuring  our  dignity. 
Ministers  are  generally  fruitful  in  expedients  to 
reconcile  difficulties  of  this  kind  to  escape  the 
embarrassments  of  forms,  the  competitions  of 
dignity  and  precedency  ;  and  to  let  clashing 
rights  sleep,  while  they  transact  their  business. 
Now,  my  lords,  on  this  occasion  can  they  find 
no  excuse,  no  pretence,  no  invention,  no  happy 
turn  of  language,  not  one  colorable  argument 
for  doing  the  greatest  service  they  can  ever 
render  to  their  country?  It  must  be  some 
thing  more  than  incapacity  that  makes  men 
barren  of  expedients  at  such  a  season  as  this. 
Do,  but  for  once,  remove  this  impracticable 
stateliness  and  dignity,  and  treat  the  matter 
with  a  little  common  sense  and  a  little  good 
humor,  and  our  reconciliation  would  not  be  the 
work  of  an  hour.  But  after  all,  my  lords,  if 
there  is  any  thing  mortifying  in  undoing  the 
errors  of  our  ministers,  it  is  a  mortification  we 
ought  to  submit  to.  If  it  was  unjust  to  tax 
them,  we  ought  to  repeal  it  for  their  sakes ;  if 
it  was  unwise  to  tax  them,  we  ought  to  repeal 
it  for  our  own.  A  matter  so  trivial  in  itself  as 
the  three-penny  duty  upon  tea,  but  which  has 


given  cause  to  so  much  national  hatred  and 
reproach,  ought  not  to  be  suffered  to  subsist 
an  unnecessary  day.  Must  the  interest,  the 
commerce,  and  the  union  of  this  country  and 
her  colonies  be  all  of  them  sacrificed  to  save 
the  credit  of  one  imprudent  measure  of  admin 
istration  ?  I  own  I  cannot  comprehend  that 
there  is  any  dignity  either  in  being  in  the 
wrong,  or  in  persisting  in  it.  I  have  known 
friendship  preserved,  and  affection  gained,  but 
I  never  knew  dignity  lost  by  the  candid  ac 
knowledgment  of  an  error.  And,  my  lords, 
let  me  appeal  to  your  own  experience  of  a  few 
years  backward  (I  would  not  mention  particu 
lars,  because  I  would  pass  no  censures  and 
revive  no  unpleasant  reflections)  but  I  think 
every  candid  minister  must  own,  that  adminis 
tration  has  suffered  in  more  instances  than  one, 
both  in  interest  and  credit,  by  not  choosing  to 
give  up  points  that  could  not  be  defended. 

With  regard  to  the  people  of  Boston,  I  am 
free  to  own  that  I  never  approve  of  their  riots 
nor  their  punishment :  And  yet,  if  we  inflict  it 
as  we  ought,  with  a  consciousness  that  we 
were  ourselves  the  aggressors,  that  we  gave 
the  provocation,  and  that  their  disobedience  is 
the  fruit  of  our  own  imprudent  and  imperious 
conduct,  I  think  the  punishment  cannot  rise  to 
any  great  degree  of  severity. 

I  own,  my  lords,  I  have  read  the  report  of 
the  lord's  committees  of  this  house,  with  very 
different  sentiments  from  those  with  which  it 
was  drawn  up.  It  seems  to  be  designed,  that 
we  should  consider  their  violent  measures  and 
speeches  as  so  many  determined  acts  of  oppo 
sition  to  the  sovereignty  of  England,  arising 
from  the  malignity  of  their  own  hearts.  One 
would  think  the  mother  country  had  been  to 
tally  silent  and  passive  in  the  progress  of  the 
whole  affair.  I,  on  the  contrary,  consider 
these  violences  as  the  natural  effects  of  such 
measures  as  ours  on  the  minds  of  freemen. 
And  this  is  the  most  useful  point  of  view  in 
which  government  can  consider  them.  In 
their  situation,  a  wise  man  would  expect  to 
meet  with  the  strongest  marks  of  passion  and 
imprudence,  and  be  prepared  to  forgive  them. 
The  first  and  easiest  thing  to  be  done  is  to 
correct  our  own  errors  :  and  I  am  confident 
we  should  find  it  the  most  effectual  method  to 
correct  theirs.  At  any  rate  let  us  put  our 
selves  in  the  right ;  and  then  if  we  must 
contend  with  North  America,  we  shall  be 
unanimous  at  home,  and  the  wise  and  moder 
ate  there  will  be  our  friends.  At  present  we 
force  every  North  American  to  be  our  enemy  ; 
and  the  wise  and  moderate  at  home,  and  those 
immense  multitudes  which  must  soon  begin  to 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


423 


suffer  by  the  madness  of  our  rulers,  will  unite 
to  oppose  them.  It  is  a  strange  idea  we  have 
taken  up,  to  cure  their  resentments  by  increas 
ing  their  provocations  ;  to  remove  the  effects 
of  our  own  ill  conduct  by  multiplying  the 
instances  of  it.  But  the  spirit  of  blindness  and 
infatuation  is  gone  forth.  We  are  hurrying 
wildly  on  without  any  fixed  design,  without 
any  important  object.  We  pursue  a  vain 
phantom  of  unlimited  sovereignty,  which  was 
not  made  for  man  :  and  reject  the  solid  advan 
tages  of  a  moderate,  useful,  and  intelligible 
authority.  That  just  God,  whom  we  have  all 
so  deeply  offended,  can  hardly  inflict  a  severer 
national  punishment  than  by  committing  us  to 
the  natural  consequences  of  our  own  conduct. 
Indeed,  in  my  opinion,  a  blacker  cloud  never 
hung  over  this  island. 

To  reason  consistently  with  the  principles  of 
justice  and  national  friendship,  which  I  have 
endeavored  to  establish,  or  rather  to  revive 
what  was  established  by  our  ancestors,  as  our 
wisest  rule  of  conduct  for  the  government  of 
America  ;  I  must  necessarily  disapprove  of  the 
bill  before  us,  for  it  contradicts  every  one  of 
them.  In  our  present  situation  every  act  of 
the  legislature,  even  our  acts  of  severity,  ought 
to  be  so  many  steps  towards  the  reconciliation 
we  wish  for.  j  But  to  change  the  government 
of  a  people,  without  their  consent,  is  the  highest 
and  most  arbitrary  act  of  sovereignty  that  one 
nation  can  exercise  over  another.  The  Ro 
mans  hardly  ever  proceeded  to  this  extremity, 
even  over  a  conquered  nation,  till  its  frequent 
revolts  and  insurrections  had  made  them  deem 
it  incorrigible.  The  very  idea  of  it,  implies  a 
most  abject  and  slavish  dependency  in  the 
inferior  state.  Recollect  that  the  Americans 
are  men  of  like  passions  with  ourselves,  and 
think  how  deeply  this  treatment  must  affect 
them.  They  have  the  same  veneration  for 
their  charters  that  we  have  for  our  Magna 
Charta,  and  they  ought  in  reason  to  have  greater. 
They  are  the  title  deeds  to  all  their  rights,  both 
public  and  private.  What !  my  lords,  must 
these  rights  never  acquire  any  legal  assurance 
and  stability  ?  can  they  derive  no  force  from 
the  peaceful  possession  of  near  two  hundred 
years  ?  and  must  the  fundamental  constitution 
of  a  powerful  state  be,  forever,  subject  to  as 
capricious  alterations  as  you  think  fit  to  make 
in  the  charters  of  a  little  mercantile  company 
or  the  corporation  of  a  borough  ?  this  will  un 
doubtedly  furnish  matter  for  a  more  pernicious 
debate  than  has  yet  been  moved.  Every  other 
colony  will  make  the  case  its  own. — They  will 
complain  that  their  rights  can  never  be  ascer 
tained  ;  that  every  thing  belonging  to  them  de 


pends  upon  our  arbitrary  will ;  and  may  think 
it  better  to  run  any  hazard,  than  to  submit  to  the 
violence  of  their  mother-country,  in  a  matter  in 
which  they  can  see  neither  moderation  nor  end. 

But  let  us  coolly  enquire,  what  is  the  reason 
of  this  unheard  of  innovation.  Is  it  to  make 
them  peaceable  ?  my  lords,  it  will  make  them 
mad.  Will  they  be  better  governed  if  we  in 
troduce  this  change  ?  will  they  be  more  our 
friends  ?  the  least  that  such  a  measure  can  do, 
is  to  make  them  hate  us.  And  would  to  God, 
my  lords,  we  had  governed  ourselves  with  as 
much  economy,  integrity  and  prudence,  as  they 
have  done.  Let  them  continue  to  enjoy  the 
liberty  our  fathers  gave  them.  Gave  them,  did 
I  say  ?  they  are  co-heirs  of  liberty  with  our 
selves  ;  and  their  portion  of  the  inheritance  has 
been  much  better  looked  after  than  ours. 
Suffer  them  to  enjoy  a  little  longer  that  short 
period  of  public  integrity  and  domestic  happi 
ness,  which  seems  to  be  the  portion  allotted  by 
Providence  to  young  rising  states.  Instead  of 
hoping  that  their  constitution  may  receive  im 
provement  from  our  skill  in  government,  the 
most  useful  wish  I  can  form  in  their  favor,  is 
that  Heaven  may  long  preserve  them  from  our 
vices  and  our  politics. 

Let  me  add  further — that  to  make  any  chan 
ges  in  their  government,  without  their  consent, 
would  be  to  transgress  the  wisest  rules  of  poli 
cy,  and  to  wound  our  most  important  interests, 
As  they  increase  in  numbers  and  in  riches, 
our  comparative  strength  must  lessen.  In  an 
other  age,  when  our  power  has  begun  to  lose 
something  of  its  superiority,  we  should  be 
happy  if  we  could  support  our  authority  by 
mutual  good  will  and  the  habit  of  commanding ; 
but  chiefly  by  those  original  establishments, 
which  time  and  public  honor  might  have  ren 
dered  inviolable.  Our  posterity  will  then  have 
reason  to  lament  that  they  cannot  avail  them 
selves  of  those  treasures  of  public  friendship 
and  confidence  which  our  fathers  had  wisely 
hoarded  up,  and  we  are  throwing  away.  'Tis 
hard,  'tis  cruel,  besides  all  our  debts  and  taxes, 
and  those  enormous  expenses  which  are  mul 
tiplying  upon  us  every  year,  to  load  our  unhappy 
sons  with  the  hatred  and  curse  of  North  Amer 
ica.  Indeed,  my  lords,  we  are  treating  pos 
terity  very  scurvily.  We  have  mortgaged  all 
the  lands  ;  we  have  cut  down  all  the  oaks  ;  we 
are  now  trampling  down  the  fences,  rooting  up 
the  seedlings  and  samplers,  and  ruining  all  the 
resources  of  another  age.  We  shall  send  the 
next  generation  into  the  world,  like  the  wretched 
heir  of  a  worthless  father,  without  money,  credit 
or  friends ;  with  a  stripped,  incumbered,  and 
perhaps  untenanted  estate. 


424 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


Having  spoken  so  largely  against  the  principle 
of  the  bill,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  enter  into 
the  merits  of  it.  I  shall  only  observe  that,  even 
if  we  had  the  consent  of  the  people  to  alter 
their  government,  it  would  be  unwise  to  make 
such  alterations  as  these.  To  give  the  ap 
pointment  of  the  governor  and  council  to  the 
crown,  and  the  disposal  of  all  places,  even  of 
the  judges,  and  with  a  power  of  removing  them, 
to  the  governor,  is  evidently  calculated  with  a 
view  to  form  a  strong  party  in  our  favor.  This 
I  know  has  been  done  in  other  colonies  ;  but 
still  this  is  opening  a  source  of  perpetual  dis 
cord,  where  it  is  our  interest  always  to  agree. 
If  we  mean  anything  by  this  establishment,  it 
is  to  support  the  governor  and  the  council 
against  the  people,  i.  e.  to  quarrel  with  our 
friends,  that  we  may  please  their  servants. 
This  scheme  of  governing  them  by  a  party  is 
not  wisely  imagined,  it  is  much  too  premature, 
and,  at  all  events,  must  turn  to  our  disadvan 
tage.  If  it  fails,  it  will  only  make  us  comtemp- 
tible  ;  if  it  succeeds,  it  will  make  us  odious.  It 
is  our  interest  to  take  very  little  part  in  their 
domestic  administration  of  government,  but 
purely  to  watch  over  them  for  their  good.  We 
never  gained  so  much  by  North  America  as 
when  we  let  them  govern  themselves,  and  were 
content  to  trade  with  them  and  to  protect 
them.  One  would  think,  my  lords,  there  was 
some  statute  law,  prohibiting  us,  under  the 
severest  penalties,  to  profit  by  experience. 

My  lords,  I  have  ventured  to  lay  my  thoughts 
before  you,  on  the  greatest  national  concern 
that  ever  came  under  your  deliberation,  with  as 
much  honesty  as  you  will  meet  with  from  abler 
men,  and  with  a  melancholy  assurance,  that 
not  a  word  of  it  will  be  regarded.  And  yet, 
my  lords,  with  your  permission,  I  will  waste 
one  short  argument  more  on  the  same  cause, 
one  that  I  own  I  am  fond  of,  and  which  con 
tains  in  it,  what,  I  think,  must  affect  every  gen 
erous  mind.  My  lords,  I  look  upon  North 
America  as  the  only  great  nursery  of  freemen 
now  left  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  We  have 
seen  the  liberties  of  Poland  and  Sweden  swept 
away,  in  the  course  of  one  year,  by  treachery 
and  usurpation.  The  free  towns  in  Germany 
are  like  so  many  dying  sparks,  that  go  out  one 
after  another ;  and  which  must  all  be  soon 
extinguished  under  the  destructive  greatness  of 
their  neighbors.  Holland  is  little  more  than  a 
great  trading  company,  with  luxurious  manners, 
and  an  exhausted  revenue  ;  with  little  strength 
and  with  less  spirit.  Switzerland  alone  is  free 
and  happy  within  the  narrow  inclosure  of  its 
rocks  and  valleys.  As  for  the  state  of  this 
country,  my  lords,  I  can  only  refer  myself  to 


your  own  secret  thoughts.  I  am  disposed 
to  think  and  hope  the  best  of  public  liberty. 
Were  I  to  describe  her  according  to  my  own 
ideas  at  present,  I  should  say  that  she  has  a 
sickly  countenance,  but  I  trust  she  has  a  long 
constitution. 

But  whatever  may  be  our  future  fate,  the 
greatest  glory  that  attends  this  country,  a  greater 
than  any  other  nation  ever  acquired,  is  to  have 
formed  and  nursed  up  to  such  a  state  of  happi 
ness  those  colonies  whom  we  are  now  so  eager 
to  butcher.  We  ought  to  cherish  them  as  the 
immortal  monuments  of  our  public  justice  and 
wisdom  ;  as  the  heirs  of  our  better  days,  of  our  , 
expiring  national  virtues.  What  work  of  art, 
or  power,  or  public  utility  has  ever  equalled 
the  glory  of  having  peopled  a  continent  with 
out  guilt  or  bloodshed,  with  a  multitude  of  free 
and  happy  commonwealths ;  to  have  given 
them  the  best  arts  of  life  and  government ;  and 
to  have  suffered  them,  under  the  shelter  of  our 
authority,  to  acquire  in  peace  the  skill  to  use 
them.  In  comparison  of  this,  the  policy  of 
governing  by  influence,  and  even  the  pride  of  / 
war  and  victory,  are  dishonest  tricks  and  poor 
contemptible  pageantry. 

We  seem  not  to  be  sensible  of  the  high  and 
important  trust  which  Providence  has  commit 
ted  to  our  charge.  The  most  precious  remains 
of  civil  liberty  that  the  world  can  now  boast  of, 
are  now  lodged  in  our  hands  ;  and  God  forbid 
that  we  should  violate  so  sacred  a  deposite. 
By  enslaving  your  colonies,  you  not  only  ruin 
the  peace,  the  commerce,  and  the  fortunes  of 
both  countries  ;  but  you  extinguish  the  fairest 
hopes,  shut  up  the  last  asylum  of  mankind.  I 
think,  my  lords,  without  being  weakly  supersti 
tious,  that  a  good  man  may  hope  that  Heaven 
will  take  part  against  the  execution  of  a  plan 
which  seems  big  not  only  with  mischief,  but 
impiety. 

Let  us  be  content  with  the  spoils  and  the 
destruction  of  the  east.  If  your  lordships  can 
see  no  impropriety  in  it,  let  the  plunderer  and  V 
oppressor  still  go  free.  But  let  not  the  love  of 
liberty  be  the  only  crime  you  think  worthy  of 
punishment.  I  fear  we  shall  soon  make  it  a 
part  of  our  national  character,  to  ruin  every 
thing  that  has  the  misfortune  to  depend  upon  us. 

No  nation  has  ever  before  contrived,  in  so 
short  a  space  of  time,  without  any  war  or  pub 
lic  calamity  (unless  unwise  measures  may  be  so 
called)  to  destroy  such  ample  resources  of  com 
merce,  wealth  and  power,  as  of  late  were  ours, 
and  which,  if  they  had  been  rightly  improved, 
might  have  raised  us  to  a  state  of  more  honor 
able  and  more  permanent  greatness  than  the 
world  has  yet  seen. 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


425 


Let  me  remind  the  noble  lords  in  administra 
tion,  that  before  the  stamp-act  they  had  power 
sufficient  to  answer  all  the  just  ends  of  govern 
ment,  and  they  were  all  completely  answered. 
If  that  is  the  power  they  want,  though  we  have 
lost  much  of  it  at  present,  a  few  kind  words 
would  recover  it  all. 

But  if  the  tendency  of  this  bill  is,  as  I  own  it 
appears  to  me,  to  acquire  a  power  of  govern- 
,  ing  them  by  influence  and  corruption,  in  the 
first  place,  my  lords,  this  is  not  true  government, 
but  a  sophisticated  kind,  which  counterfeits  the 
appearance,  but  without  the  spirit  or  virtue  of 
the  true :  and  then,  as  it  tends  to  debase  their 
spirits  and  corrupt  their  manners,  to  destroy  all 
that  is  great  and  respectable  in  so  considerable 
a  part  of  the  human  species,  and  by  degrees  to 
gather  them  together  with  the  rest  of  the  world 
\j  under  the  yoke  of  universal  slavery — I  think, 
for  these  reasons,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  wise 
man,  of  every  honest  man,  and  of  every  Eng 
lishman,  by  all  lawful  means,  to  oppose  it. 


JOHN  WILKES. 

EXTRACT  FROM  HIS  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN 
THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS,  FEBRUARY  6, 
1775,  ON  LORD  NORTH'S  PROPOSITIONS  TO 
DECLARE  THAT  A  REBELLION  EXISTED  IN 
THE  COLONY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS,  ETC. 

[FROM  BOTTA'S  HISTORY.] 

"  I  am  indeed  surprised,  that,  in  a  business 
of  so  much  moment  as  this  before  the  house, 
respecting  the  British  colonies  in  America,  a 
cause  which  comprehends  almost  every  ques 
tion  relative  to  the  common  rights  of  mankind, 
almost  every  question  of  policy  and  legislation, 
it  should  be  resolved  to  proceed  with  so  little 
circumspection,  or  rather  with  so  much  preci 
pitation  and  heedless  imprudence.  With  what 
temerity  are  we  assured,  that  the  same  men 
who  have  been  so  often  overwhelmed  with 
praises  for  their  attachment  to  this  country,  for 
their  forwardness  to  grant  it  the  necessajy  suc 
cors,  for  the  valor  they  have  signalized  in  its 
defence,  have  all  at  once  so  degenerated  from 
their  ancient  manners,  as  to  merit  the  appella 
tion  of  seditious,  ungrateful,  impious  rebels ! 
But  if  such  a  change  has  indeed  been  wrought 
in  the  minds  of  this  most  loyal  people,  it  must 
at  least  be  admitted,  that  affections  so  extra 
ordinary  could  only  have  been  produced  by 
some  very  powerful  cause.  But  who  is  igno 
rant,  who  needs  to  be  told  of  the  new  madness 


that  infatuates  our  ministers  ? — who  has  not 
seen  the  tyrannical  counsels  they  have  pursued, 
for  the  last  ten  years  ?  They  would  now  have 
us  carry  to  the  foot  of  the  throne,  a  resolution, 
stamped  with  rashness  and  injustice,  fraught 
with  blood,  and  a  horrible  futurity.  But  before 
this  be  allowed  them,  before  the  signal  of  civil 
war  be  given,  before  they  are  permitted  to 
force  Englishmen  to  sheath  their  swords  in  the 
bowels  of  their  fellow-subjects,  I  hope  this 
house  will  consider  the  rights  of  humanity,  the 
original  ground  and  cause  of  the  present  dis 
pute.  Have  we  justice  on  our  side  ?  No  :  as 
suredly  no.  He  must  be  altogether  a  stranger 
to  the  British  constitution,  who  does  not  know 
that  contributions  are  voluntary  gifts  of  the 
people  ;  and  singularly  blind,  not  to  perceive 
that  the  words  "  liberty  and  property,"  so 
grateful  to  English  ears,  are  nothing  better 
than  mockery  and  insult  to  the  Americans,  if 
their  property  can  be  taken  without  their  con 
sent.  And  what  motive  can  there  exist  for  this 
new  rigor,  for  these  extraordinary  measures  ? 
Have  not  the  Americans  always  demonstrated 
the  utmost  zeal  and  liberality,  whenever  their 
succors  have  been  required  by  the  mother 
country  ? 

"  In  the  two  last  wars,  they  gave  you  more 
than  you  asked  for,  and  more  than  their  facili 
ties  warranted  :  they  were  not  only  liberal  to 
wards  you,  but  prodigal  of  their  substance. 
They  fought  gallantly  and  victoriously  by  your 
side,  with  equal  valor,  against  our  and  their 
enemy,  the  common  enemy  of  the  liberties  of 
Europe  and  America,  the  ambitious  and  faith 
less  French,  whom  now  we  fear  and  flatter. 
And  even  now,  at  a  moment  when  you  are 
planning  their  destruction,  when  you  are  brand 
ing  them  with  the  odious  appellation  of  rebels, 
what  is  their  language,  what  their  protesta 
tions  ?  Read,  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  the  late 
petition  of  the  congress  to  the  king  ;  and  you 
will  find,  '  they  are  ready  and  willing,  as  they 
ever  have  been,  to  demonstrate  their  loyalty, 
by  exerting  their  most  strenuous  efforts  in 
granting  supplies,  and  raising  forces,  when 
constitutionally  required.'  And  yet  we  hear  it 
vociferated,  by  some  inconsiderate  individuals, 
that  the  Americans  wish  to  abolish  the  naviga 
tion  act :  that  they  intend  to  throw  off  the 
supremacy  of  Great  Britain.  But  would  to 
God,  these  assertions  were  not  rather  a  provo 
cation  than  the  truth  !  They  ask  nothing,  for 
such  are  the  words  of  their  petition,  but  for 
peace,  liberty,  and  safety.  They  wish  not  a 
diminution  of  the  royal  prerogative  ;  they  solicit 
not  any  new  right.  They  are  ready,  on  the 
contrary,  to  defend  this  preiogative,  to  main- 


426 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


tain  the  royal  authority,  and  to  draw  closer  the 
bonds  of  their  connection  with  Great  Britain. 
But  our  ministers,  perhaps  to  punish  others  for 
their  own  faults,  are  sedulously  endeavoring, 
not  only  to  relax  these  powerful  ties,  but  to 
dissolve  and  sever  them  forever.  Their  address 
represents  the  province  of  Massachusetts  as  in 
a  state  of  actual  rebellion.  The  other  provinces 
are  held  out  to  our  indignation,  as  aiding  and 
abetting.  Many  arguments  have  been  em 
ployed,  by  some  learned  gentlemen  among  us, 
to  comprehend  them  all  in  the  same  offence, 
and  to  involve  them  in  the  same  proscription. 

"  Whether  their  present  state  is  that  of  re 
bellion,  or  of  a  fit  and  just  resistance  to  unlaw 
ful  acts  of  power,  to  our  attempts  to  rob  them 
of  their  property  and  liberties,  as  they  imagine, 
I  shall  not  declare.  But  I  well  know  what  will 
follow,  nor,  however  strange  and  harsh  it  may 
appear  to  some,  shall  I  hesitate  to  announce  it, 
that  I  may  not  be  accused  hereafter,  of  having 
failed  in  duty  to  my  country,  on  so  grave  an 
occasion,  and  at  the  approach  of  such  direful 
calamities.  Know,  then,  a  successful  resis 
tance  is  a  revolution,  not  a  rebellion  :  Rebellion, 
indeed,  appears  on  the  back  of  a  flying  enemy, 
but  revolution  flames  on  the  breastplate  of  the 
victorious  warrior.  Who  can  tell,  whether,  in 
consequence  of  this  day's  violent  and  mad  ad 
dress  to  his  majesty,  the  scabbard  may  not  be 
thrown  away  by  them  as  well  as  by  us  ;  and 
whether,  in  a  few  years,  the  independent 
Americans  may  not  celebrate  the  glorious  era 
of  the  revolution  of  1775,  as  we  do  that  of 
1668  ?  The  generous  effort  of  our  forefathers 
for  freedom,  Heaven  crowned  with  success,  or 
their  noble  blood  had  dyed  our  scaffolds,  like 
that  of  Scottish  traitors  and  rebels ;  and  the 
period  of  our  history  which  does  us  the  most 
honor,  would  have  been  deemed  a  rebellion 
against  the  lawful  authority  of  the  prince,  not 
a  resistance  authorized  by  all  the  laws  of  God 
and  man,  not  the  expulsion  of  a  detested 
tyrant. 

"  But  suppose  the  Americans  to  combat 
against  us  with  more  unhappy  auspices  than 
we  combated  James,  would  not  victory  itself 
prove  pernicious  and  deplorable  ?  Would  it 
not  be  fatal  to  British  as  well  as  American 
liberty  ?  Those  armies  which  should  subju 
gate  the  colonists,  would  subjugate  also  their 
parent  state.  Marius,  Sylla,  Cssar,  Augustus, 
Tiberius,  did  they  not  oppress  Roman  liberty 
with  the  same  troops  that  were  levied  to  main 
tain  Roman  supremacy  over  subject  provinces  ? 
But  the  impulse  once  given,  its  effects  extended 
much  further  than  its  authors  expected  ;  for 
the  same  soldiery  that  destroyed  the  Roman 


republic,  subverted  and  utterly  demolished  the 
imperial  power  itself.  In  less  than  fifty  years 
after  the  death  of  Augustus,  the  armies  des 
tined  to  hold  the  provinces  in  subjection,  pro 
claimed  three  emperors  at  once  ;  disposed  of 
the  empire  according  to  their  caprice,  and 
raised  to  the  throne  of  the  Caesars  the  object 
of  their  momentary  favor. 

"  I  can  no  more  comprehend  the  polity,  than 
acknowledge  the  justice  of  your  deliberations. 
— Where  is  your  force,  what  are  your  armies, 
how  are  they  to  be  recruited,  and  how  sup 
ported  ?  The  single  province  of  Massachusetts 
has,  at  this  moment,  thirty  thousand  men,  well 
trained  and  disciplined,  and  can  bring,  in  case 
of  emergency,  ninety  thousand  into  the  field  ; 
and,  doubt  not,  they  will  do  it,  when  all  that  is 
dear  is  at  stake,  when  forced  to  defend  their 
liberty  and  property  against  their  cruel  oppres 
sors.  The  right  honorable  gentleman  with  the 
blue  riband  assures  us  that  ten  thousand  of  our 
troops  and  four  Irish  regiments,  will  make 
their  brains  turn  in  the  head  a  little,  and  strike 
them  aghast  with  terror  ?  But  where  does  the 
author  of  this  exquisite  scheme  propose  to  send 
his  army  ?  Boston,  perhaps,  you  may  lay  in 
ashes,  or  it  may  be  made  a  strong  garrison ;  but 
the  province  will  be  lost  to  you.  You  will  hold 
Boston  as  you  hold  Gibraltar,  in  the  midst  of  a 
country  which  will  not  be  yours ;  the  whole 
American  continent  will  remain  in  the  power 
of  your  enemies.  The  ancient  story  of  the 
philosopher  Calanus  and  the  Indian  hide,  will 
be  verified  ;  where  you  tread,  it  will  be  kept 
down ;  but  it  will  rise  the  more  in  all  other 
parts.  Where  your  fleets  and  armies  are  sta 
tioned,  the  possession  will  be  secured  while 
they  continue  ;  but  all  the  rest  will  be  lost.  In 
the  great  scale  of  empire,  you  will  decline  I 
fear,  from  the  decision  of  this  day ;  and  the 
Americans  will  rise  to  independence,  to  power, 
to  all  the  greatness  of  the  most  renowned 
states  ;  for  they  build  on  the  solid  basis  of 
general  public  liberty. 

"  I  dread  the  effects  of  the  present  resolu 
tion  ;  I  shudder  at  our  injustice  and  cruelty  ;  I 
tremble  for  the  consequences  of  our  impru 
dence.  You  will  urge  the  Americans  to  des 
peration.  They  will  certainly  defend  their 
property  and  liberties,  with  the  spirit  of  free 
men,  with  the  spirit  our  ancestors  did,  and  I 
hope  we  should  exert  on  a  like  occasion.  They 
will  sooner  declare  themselves  independent, 
and  risk  every  consequence  of  such  a  contest, 
than  submit  to  the  galling  yoke  which  admin 
istration  is  preparing  for  them.  Recollect 
Philip  II.  king  of  Spain  :  remember  the  Seven 
Provinces,  and  the  duke  of  Alva.  It  was  delib- 


BRITISH  PARLIAMENT. 


427 


crated,  in  the  council  of  the  monarch,  what 
measures  should  be  adopted  respecting  the 
Low  Countries  ;  some  were  disposed  for  clem 
ency,  others  advised  rigor ;  the  second  pre 
vailed.  The  duke  of  Alva  was  victorious,  it  is 
true,  wherever  he  appeared ;  but  his  cruelties 
sowed  the  teeth  of  the  serpemV  The  beggars 
of  the  Briel,  as  they  were  called  by  the  Span 
iards,  who  despised  them  as  you  now  despise 
the  Americans,  were  those,  however,  who  first 
shook  the  power  of  Spain  to  the  centre.  And, 
comparing  the  probabilities  of  success  in  the 
contest  of  that  day,  with  the  chances  in  that  of 
the  present,  are  they  so  favorable  to  England 
as  they  were  then  to  Spain  ?  This  none  will 
pretend.  You  all  know,  however,  the  issue 
of  that  sanguinary  conflict — how  that  powerful 
empire  was  rent  asunder,  and  severed  forever 
into  many  parts.  Profit,  then,  by  the  expe 
rience  of  the  past,  if  you  would  avoid  a  similar 
fate.  But  you  would  declare  the  Americans 
rebels ;  and  to  your  injustice  and  oppression, 
you  add  the  most  opprobrious  language,  and 
the  most  insulting  scoffs.  If  you  persist  in 
your  resolution,  all  hope  of  a  reconciliation  is 
extinct.  The  Americans  will  triumph — the 
whole  continent  of  North  America  will  be  dis 
membered  from  Great  Britain,  and  the  wide 
arch  of  the  raised  empire  fall.  But  I  hope  the 
just  vengeance  of  the  people  will  overtake  the 
authors  of  these  pernicious  counsels,  and  the 
loss  of  the  first  province  of  the  empire  be 
speedily  followed  by  the  loss  of  the  heads  of 
those  ministers  who  first  invented  them." 

Thus  spoke  this  ardent  patriot.  His  discourse 
was  a  prophecy ;  and  hence,  perhaps,  a  new 
probability  might  be  argued  for  the  vulgar 
maxim,  that  the  crazed  read  the  future  often 
better  than  the  sage;  for, among  other  things, 
it  was  said  also  of  Wilkes,  at  that  time,  that 
his  intellects  were  somewhat  disordered. 


REPLY 

'OF  CAPTAIN  HARVEY,  TO  JOHN  WILKES, 
FEBRUARY  6,  1775. 

Captain  Harvey  answered  him,  in  substance, 
as  follows : 

"  I  am  very  far  from  believing  myself  capable 
of  arguing  the  present  question  with  all  the 
eloquence  which  my  vehement  adversary  has 
signalized  in  favor  of  those  who  openly,  and  in 
arms,  resist  the  ancient  power  of  Great  Britain  ; 
as  the  studies  which  teach  men  the  art  of  dis 
coursing  with  elegance,  are  too  different  and 


too  remote  from  my  profession.  This  shall  not 
however,  deter  me  from  declaring  my  senti 
ments  with  freedom,  on  so  important  a  crisis, 
though  my  words  should  be  misinterpreted  by 
the  malignity  of  party,  and  myself  represented 
as  the  author  of  illegal  counsels,  or,  in  the 
language  of  faction,  the  defender  of  tyranny. 

"  And,  first  of  all,  I  cannot  but  deplore  the 
misery  of  the  times,  and  the  destiny  which 
seems  to  persecute  our  beloved  country.  Can 
I  see  her,  without  anguish,  reduced  to  this  dis 
astrous  extremity,  not  only  by  the  refractory 
spirit  of  her  ungrateful  children  On  the  other 
side  of  the  ocean,  but  also  by  some  of  those 
who  inhabit  this  kingdom,  and  whom  honor, 
if  not  justice  and  gratitude,  should  engage  in 
words  and  deeds,  to  support  and  defend  her  ? 
Till  we  give  a  check  to  these  incendiaries, 
who,  with  a  constancy  and  art  only  equalled  by 
their  baseness  and  infamy,  blow  discord  and 
scatter  their  poison  in  every  place,  in  vain  can 
we  hope,  without  coming  to  the  last  extremi 
ties,  to  bring  the  leaders  of  this  deluded  people 
to  a  sense  of  their  duty. 

"  To  deny  that  the  legislative  power  of  Great 
Britain  is  entire,  general,  and  sovereign,  over 
all  parts  of  its  dominions,  appears  to  me  too 
puerile  to  merit  a  serious  answer.  What  I 
would  say  is,  that  under  this  cover  of  rights, 
under  this  color  of  privileges,  under  these  pre 
texts  of  immunities,  the  good  and  loyal  Ameri 
cans  have  concealed  a  design,  not  new,  but 
now  openly  declared,  to  cast  off  every  species 
of  superiority,  and  become  altogether  an  inde 
pendent  nation.  They  complained  of  the  stamp- 
act.  It  was  repealed.  Did  this  satisfy  them  ? 
On  the  contrary  they  embittered  more  than 
ever  our  respective  relations,  refusing  to  indem 
nify  the  victim  now  of  their  violence,  and  now  to 
rescind  resolutions  that  were  so  many  strides 
towards  rebellion.  And  yet,  in  these  cases, 
there  was  no  question  of  taxes,  either  internal 
or  external.  A  duty  was  afterwards  imposed  on 
glass,  paper,  colors,  and  tea.  They  revolted 
anew:  and  the  bounty  of  this  too  indulgent 
mother  again  revoked  the  greater  part  of  these 
duties,  leaving  only  that  upon  tea,  which  may 
yield,  at  the  utmost,  sixteen  thousand  pounds 
sterling.  Even  this  inconsiderable  impost, 
Great  Britain,  actuated  by  a  meekness  and 
forbearance  without  example,  would  have  re 
pealed  also,  if  the  colonists  had  peaceably 
expressed  their  wishes  to  this  effect.  At  pre 
sent;  they  bitterly  complain  of  the  regular 
troops  sent  amongst  them  to  maintain  the 
public  repose.  But,  in  the  name  of  God,  what 
is  the  cause  of  their  presence  in  Boston  ? 
American  disturbances.  If  the  colonists  had 


428 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


not  first  interrupted  the  general  tranquility,  if 
they  had  respected  property,  public  and  private  ; 
if  they  had  not  openly  resisted  the  laws  of  parlia 
ment  and  the  ordinances  of  the  king,  they 
would  not  have  seen  armed  soldiers  within 
their  walls.  But  the  truth  is,  they  expressly 
excite  the  causes,  in  order  to  be  able  afterwards 
to  bemoan  the  effects.  When  they  were  men 
aced  with  real  danger,  when  they  were  beset 
by  enemies  from  within  and  from  without, 
they  not  only  consented  to  admit  regular  troops 
into  the  very  heart  of  their  provinces,  but 
urged  us,  with  the  most  earnest  solicitations, 
to  send  them  ;  but  now  the  danger  is  past,  and 
the  colonists,  by  our  treasure  and  blood,  are 
restored  to  their  original  security ;  now  these 
troops  have  become  necessary  to  repress  the 
factions,  to  sustain  the  action  of  the  laws,  their 
presence  is  contrary  to  the  constitution,  a  mani 
fest  violation  of  American  liberty,  an  attempt  to 
introduce  tyranny :  as  if  it  were  not  the  right 
and  the  obligation  of  the  supreme  authority,  to 
protect  the  peace  of  the  interior  as  well  as  that 
of  the  exterior,  and  to  repress  internal  as  effect 
ually  as  external  enemies. 

"  As  though  the  Americans  were  fearful  of 
being  called,  at  a  future  day,  to  take  part  in 
the  national  representation,  they  pre-occupy 
the  ground,  and  warn  you,  in  advance,  that, 
considering  their  distance,  they  cannot  be 
represented  in  the  British  parliament ;  which 
means,  if  I  am  not  deceived,  that  they  will  not 
have  a  representative  power  in  common  with 
England,  but  intend  to  enjoy  one  by  themselves, 
perfectly  distinct  from  this  of  the  parent  state. 
But  why  do  I  waste  time,  in  these  vain  subtle 
ties  ?  Not  content  with  exciting  discord 
at  home,  with  disturbing  all  the  institutions  of 
social  life,  they  endeavor  also  to  scatter  the 
germs  of  division  in  the  neighboring  colonies, 
such  as  Nova  Scotia,  the  Floridas,  and  espe 
cially  Canada.  Nor  is  this  the  end  of  their 
intrigues.  Have  we  not  read  here,  in  this  land 
of  genuine  felicity,  the  incendiary  expressions 
of  their  address  to  the  English  people  designed 
to  allure  them  to  the  side  of  rebellion  ?  Yes, 
they  have  wished,  and  with  all  their  power 
have  attempted,  to  introduce  into  the  bosom  of 
this  happy  country,  outrage,  tumults,  devasta 
tion,  pillage,  bloodshed,  and  open  resistance 
to  the  laws  !  A  thousand  times  undone  the 
English  people,  should  they  suffer  themselves 
to  be  seduced  by  the  flatteries  of  the  Ameri 
cans  !  The  sweet  peace,  the  inestimable  lib 
erty,  they  now  enjoy,  would  soon  be  replaced 
by  the  most  ferocious  anarchy,  devouring  their 
wealth,  annihilating  their  strength,  contaminat 
ing  and  destroying  all  the  happiness  of  their 


existence.  Already  have  the  colonists  trampled 
on  all  restraints  :  already  have  they  cast  off  all 
human  respect ;  and,  amidst  their  subtle  mach 
inations,  and  the  shades  in  which  they  envelop 
themselves,  they  suffer  as  it  were,  in  spite  of 
themselves,  their  culpable  designs  to  appear.  If 
they  have  not  yet  acquired  the  consistence, 
they  at  least  assume  the  forms,  of  an  independ 
ent  nation. 

"  Who  among  us  has  not  felt  emotions  kind 
ling  deep  in  his  breast,  or  transports  of  indig 
nation,  at  the  reading  of  the  decrees  of  congress 
in  which,  with  a  language  and  a  tone  better 
beseeming  the  haughty  courts  of  Versailles,  or 
of  Madrid,  than  the  subjects  of  a  great  king, 
they  ordain  imperiously  the  cessation  of  all 
commerce  between  their  country  and  our  own  ! 
We  may  transport  our  merchandise  and  our 
commodities  among  all  other  nations.  It  is 
only  under  the  inhospitable  skies  of  America, 
only  in  this  country,  dyed  with  the  blood,  and 
bathed  in  the  sweat,  we  have  shed  for  the 
safety  and  prosperity  of  its  inhabitants,  that 
English  industry  cannot  hope  for  protection, 
cannot  find  an  asylum  !  Are  we  then  of  a 
spirit  to  endure  that  our  subjects  trace  around 
us  the  circle  of  Propilius,  and  proudly  declare 
on  what  condition  they  will  deign  to  obey  the 
ancient  laws  of  the  common  country  ?  But  all 
succeeds  to  their  wish :  they  hope,  from  our 
magnanimity,  that  war  will  result,  and  from 
war,  independence.  And  what  a  people  is 
this,  whom  benefits  cannot  oblige,  whom  clem 
ency  exasperates,  whom  the  necessity  of  de 
fence,  created  by  themselves,  offends  ! 

"  If,  therefore,  no  doubt  can  remain  as  to  the 
projects  of  these  ungrateful  colonies  :  if  an  uni 
versal  resistance  to  the  civil  government,  and 
to  the  laws  of  the  country,  if  the  interruption 
of  a  free  and  reciprocal  commerce  between  one 
part  and  another  of  the  realm  ;  if  resisting 
every  act  of  the  British  legislature,  and  abso 
lutely,  in  word  and  deed,  denying  the  sove 
reignty  of  this  country  ;  if  laying  a  strong  hand 
on  the  revenues  of  America ;  if  seizing  his 
majesty's  forts,  artillery,  and  ammunition ;  if 
exciting  and  stimulating,  by  every  means,  the 
whole  subjects  of  America  to  take  arms,  and 
to  resist  the  constitutional  authority  of  Great 
Britain,  are  acts  of  treason,  then  are  the  Ameri 
cans  in  a  state  of  the  most  flagrant  rebellion. 
Wherefore,  then,  should  we  delay  to  take  reso 
lute  measures  ?  If  no  other  alternative  is  left 
us,  if  it  is  necessary  to  use  the  power  which 
we  enjoy,  under  Heaven,  for  the  protection  of 
the  whole  empire,  let  us  show  the  Americans, 
that,  as  our  ancestors  deluged  this  country 
with  their  blood,  to  leave  us  a  free  constitution, 


BRITISH  PARLIAMENT. 


429 


we,  like  men,  in  defiance  of  faction  at  home 
and  rebellion  abroad,  are  determined,  in  glori 
ous  emulation  of  their  example,  to  transmit  it, 
perfect  and  unimpaired,  to  our  posterity.  I 
hear  it  said  by  these  propagators  of  sinister 
auguries,  that  we  shall  be  vanquished  in  this 
contest.  But  all  human  enterprises  are  never 
without  a  something  of  uncertainty.  Are 
high-minded  men  for  this  to  stand  listless,  and 
indolently  abandon  to  the  caprices  of  fortune 
the  conduct  of  their  affairs  ?  If  this  dastardly 
doctrine  prevailed,  if  none  would  ever  act  with 
out  assurance  of  the  event,  assuredly  no  gen 
erous  enterprise  would  ever  be  attempted ; 
chance,  and  blind  destiny,  would  govern  the 
world.  I  trust,  however,  in  the  present  crisis, 
we  may  cherish  better  hopes  ;  for,  even  omit 
ting  the  bravery  of  our  soldiers  and  the  ability 
of  our  generals,  loyal  subjects  are  not  so  rare 
in  America  as  some  believe,  or  affect  to  believe. 
And,  besides,  will  the  Americans  long  support 
the  privation  of  all  the  things  necessary  to  life, 
which  our  numerous  navy  will  prevent  from 
reaching  their  shores  ? 

"  This  is  what  I  think  of  our  present  situa 
tion  ;  these  are  the  sentiments  of  a  man  neither 
partial  nor  vehement,  but  free  from  all  prepos 
sessions,  and  ready  to  combat  and  shed  the 
last  drop  of  his  blood,  to  put  down  the  excesses 
of  license,  to  extirpate  the  germs  of  cruel 
anarchy,  to  defend  the  rights  and  the  privileges 
of  this  most  innocent  people,  whether  he  finds 
their  enemies  in  the  savage  deserts  of  America, 
or  in  the  cultivated  plains  of  England. 

"  And  if  there  are  Catilines  among  us,  who 
plot  in  darkness  pernicious  schemes  against 
the  state,  let  them  be  unveiled  and  dragged  to 
light,  that  they  may  be  offered  a  sacrifice,  as 
victims  to  the  just  vengeance  of  this  courteous 
country ;  that  their  names  may  be  stamped 
with  infamy  to  the  latest  posterity,  and  their 
memory  held  in  execration,  by  all  men  of 
worth,  in  every  future  age  !  " 


EDMUND  BURKE. 

HIS  CELEBRATED  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN 
THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS,  ON  MOVING 
HIS  RESOLUTION  FOR  CONCILIATION  WITH 
THE  AMERICAN  COLONIES. 

March  22, 1775. 

I  hope,  sir,  that,  notwithstanding  the  aus 
terity  of  the  chair,  your  good  nature  will  incline 
you  to  some  degree  of  indulgence  towards  hu 
man  frailty.  You  will  not  think  it  unnatural, 
that  those  who  have  an  object  depending,  which 


strongly  engages  their  hopes  and  fears,  should 
be  somewhat  inclined  to  superstition.  As  I 
came  into  the  house  full  of  anxiety  about  the 
event  of  my  motion,  I  found,  to  my  infinite  sur 
prise,  that  the  grand  penal  bill,  by  which  we 
had  passed  sentence  on  the  trade  and  susten 
ance  of  America,  is  to  be  returned  to  us  from 
the  other  house.*  I  do  confess  I  could  not 
help  looking  on  this  event  as  a  fortunate  omen. 
I  look  upon  it  as  a  sort  of  Providential  favor, 
by  which  we  are  put  once  more  in  possession 
of  our  deliberative  capacity,  upon  a  business  so 
very  questionable  in  its  nature,  so  very  uncer 
tain  in  its  issue.  By  the  return  of  this  bill, 
which  seemed  to  have  taken  its  flight  forever, 
we  are  at  this  very  instant  nearly  as  free  to 
choose  a  plan  for  our  American  government,  as 
we  were  on  the  first  day  of  the  session.  If,  sir, 
we  incline  to  the  side  of  conciliation,  we  are 
not  at  all  embarrassed  (unless  we  please  to 
make  ourselves  so)  by  any  incongruous  mixture 
of  coercion  and  restraint.  We  are  therefore 
called  upon,  as  it  were  by  a  superior  warning 
voice,  again  to  attend  to  America ;  to  attend 
to  the  whole  of  it  together  ;  and  to  review  the 
subject  with  an  unusual  degree  of  care  and 
calmness. 

Surely  it  is  an  awful  subject ;  or  there  is  none 
so  on  this  side  of  the  grave.  When  I  first  had 
the  honor  of  a  seat  in  this  house,  the  affairs 
of  that  continent  pressed  themselves  upon  us, 
as  the  most  important  and  most  delicate  object 
of  parliamentary  attention.  My  little  share  in 
this  great  deliberation  oppressed  me.  I  found 
myself  a  partaker  in  a  very  high  trust ;  and 
having  no  sort  of  reason  to  rely  on  the  strength 
of  my  natural  abilities  for  the  proper  execution 
of  that  trust,  I  was  obliged  to  take  more  than 
common  pains,  to  instruct  myself  in  every  thing 
which  relates  to  our  colonies.  I  was  not  less 
under  the  necessity  of  forming  some  fixed  ideas, 
concerning  the  general  policy  of  the  British 
empire.  Something  of  this  sort  seemed  to  be 
indispensable,  in  order,  amidst  so  vast  a  fluc 
tuation  of  passions  and  opinions,  to  concentre 
my  thoughts  ;  to  ballast  my  conduct ;  to  pre 
serve  me  from  being  blown  about  by  every 
wind  of  fashionable  doctrine.  I  really  did  not 
think  it  safe,  or  manly,  to  have  fresh  principles 
to  seek  upon  every  fresh  mail  which  should 
arrive  from  America. 

*  The  act  to  restrain  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the 
province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  New  Hampshire,  and 
colonies  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  and  Providence 
Plantation,  in  North  America,  to  Great  Britain,  Ireland, 
and  the  British  islands  in  the  West-Indies  ;  and  to  prohibit 
such  provinces  and  colonies  from  carrying  on  any  fishery 
on  the  banks  of  New  Foundland  and  other  places  therein 
mentioned,  under  certain  conditions  and  limitations. 


430 


PRINCIPLES   AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


At  that  period,  I  had  the  fortune  to  find  my 
self  in  perfect  concurrence  with  a  large  majority 
in  this  house.  Bowing  under  that  high  au 
thority,  and  penetrated  with  the  sharpness  and 
strength  of  that  early  impression,  I  have  con 
tinued  ever  since,  without  the  least  deviation, 
in  my  original  sentiments.  Whether  this  be 
owing  to  an  obstinate  perseverance  in  error,  or 
to  a  religious  adherence  to  what  appears  to 
me  truth  and  reason,  it  is  in  your  equity  to 
judge. 

Parliament,  sir,  having  an  enlarged  view  of 
objects,  made,  during  this  interval,  more  fre 
quent  changes  in  their  sentiments  and  their 
conduct,  than  could  be  justified  in  a  particular 
person  upon  the  contracted  scale  of  private 
information.  But  though  I  do  not  hazard  any 
thing  approaching  to  a  censure  on  the  motives 
of  former  parliaments  to  all  those  alterations, 
one  fact  is  undoubted,  that  under  them  the 
state  of  America  has  been  kept  in  continual 
agitation.  Every  thing  administered  as  remedy 
to  the  public  complaint,  if  it  did  not  produce, 
was  at  least  followed  by.  an  heightening  of  the 
distemper ;  until,  by  a  variety  of  experiments, 
that  important  country  has  been  brought  into 
her  present  situation  ;  a  situation,  which  I  will 
not  miscall,  which  I  dare  not  name ;  which  I 
scarcely  know  how  to  comprehend  in  the  terms 
of  any  description. 

In  this  posture,  sir,  things  stood  at  the  be 
ginning  of  the  session.  About  this  time  a 
worthy  *  member,  of  great  parliamentary  expe 
rience,  who,  in  the  year  1776,  filled  the  chair  of 
the  American  committee  with  much  ability, 
took  me  aside ;  and  lamenting  the  present  as 
pect  of  the  politics,  told  me  things  were  come 
to  such  a  pass,  that  our  former  methods  of 
proceeding  in  the  house  would  be  no  longer 
tolerated.  That  the  public  tribunal  (never  too 
indulgent  to  a  long  and  unsuccessful  opposi 
tion)  would  now  scrutinize  our  conduct  with 
unusual  severity.  That  the  very  vicissitudes 
and  shiftings  of  ministerial  measures,  instead 
of  convicting  their  authors  of  inconstancy  and 
want  of  system,  would  be  taken  as  an  occasion 
of  charging  us  with  a  pre-determined  discon 
tent,  which  nothing  could  satisfy ;  whilst  we 
accused  every  measure  of  vigor  as  cruel,  and 
every  proposal  of  lenity  as  weak  and  irresolute. 
The  public,  he  said,  would  not  have  patience 
to  see  us  play  the  game  out  with  our  adversa 
ries  ;  we  must  produce  our  hand.  It  would  be 
expected,  that  those  who  for  many  years  had 
been  active  in  such  affairs  should  show  that 
they  had  formed  some  clear  and  decided  idea 
of  the  principles  of  colony  government ;  and 
*  Mr.  Rose  Fuller. 


were  capable  of  drawing  out  something  like  a 
platform  of  the  ground,  which  might  be  laid 
for  future  and  permanent  tranquility. 

I  felt  the  truth  of  what  my.hon.  friend  repre 
sented  ;  but  I  felt  my  situation  too.  His  ap 
plication  might  have  been  made  with  far  greater 
propriety  to  many  other  gentlemen.  No  man 
was  indeed  ever  better  disposed,  or  worse 
qualified,  for  such  an  undertaking  than  myself. 
Though  I  gave  so  far  in  to  his  opinion  that  I 
immediately  threw  my  thoughts  into  a  sort  of 
parliamentary  form,  I  was  by  no  means  equally 
ready  to  produce  them.  It  generally  argues 
some  degree  of  natural  impotence  of  mind,  or 
some  want  of  knowledge  of  the  world,  to 
hazard  plans  of  government,  except  from  a 
seat  of  authority.  Propositions  are  made,  not 
only  ineffectually,  but  somewhat  disreputably, 
when  the  minds  of  men  are  not  properly 
disposed  for  their  reception  ;  and,  for  my  part 
I  am  not  ambitious  of  ridicule  ;  nor  absolutely 
a  candidate  for  disgrace. 

Besides,  sir,  to  speak  the  plain  truth,  I  have 
in  general  no  very  exalted  opinion  of  the  virtue 
of  paper  government ;  nor  of  any  politics,  in 
which  the  plan  is  to  be  wholly  separated  from 
the  execution.  But  when  I  saw  that  anger  and 
violence  prevailed  every  day  more  and  more, 
and  that  things  were  hastening  towards  an  in 
curable  alienation  of  our  colonies,  I  confess  my 
caution  gave  way.  I  felt  this  as  one  of  those 
few  moments  in  which  decorum  yields  to  an 
higher  duty.  Public  calamity  is  a  mighty 
leveller,  and  there  are  occasions  when  any 
even  the  slightest,  chance  of  doing  good  must 
be  laid  hold  on,  even  by  the  most  inconsider 
able  person. 

To  restore  order  and  repose  to  an  empire 
so  great  and  so  distracted  as  ours,  is  merely, 
in  the  attempt,  an  undertaking  that  would 
ennoble  the  flights  of  the  highest  genius,  and 
obtain  pardon  for  the  efforts  of  the  meanest 
understanding. — Struggling  a  good  while  with 
these  thoughts,  by  degrees  I  felt  myself  more 
firm.  I  derived,  at  length,  some  confidence 
from  what  in  other  circumstances  usually  pro 
duces  timidity.  I  grew  less  anxious  even  from 
the  idea  of  my  own  insignificance  ;  for  judg 
ing  of  what  you  are,  by  what  you  ought  to  be, 
I  persuaded  myself  that  you  would  not  reject  a 
reasonable  proposition,  because  it  had  nothing 
but  its  reason  to  recommend  it.  On  the  other 
hand,  being  totally  destitute  of  all  shadow  of 
influence,  natural  or  adventitious,  I  was  very 
sure  that,  if  my  proposition  were  futile  or  dan 
gerous,  if  it  were  weakly  conceived,  or  impro 
perly  timed,  there  was  nothing  exterior  to  it, 
of  power  to  awe,  dazzle,  or  delude  you.  You 


BRITISH    PARLIAMENT. 


431 


will  see  it  just  as  it  is,  and  you  will  treat  it 
just  as  it  deserves. 

The  proposition  is  peace.  Not  peace  through 
the  medium  of  war.  Not  peace  to  be  hunted 
through  the  labyrinth  of  intricate  and  endless 
negotiations.  Not  peace  to  arise  out  of  uni 
versal  discord,  fomented  from  principle  in  all 
parts  of  the  empire.  Not  peace  to  depend  on 
the  juridical  determination  of  perplexing  ques 
tions  ;  or  the  precise  marking  the  shadowy 
boundaries  of  a  complex  government.  It  is 
simply  peace,  sought  in  its  natural  course,  and 
its  ordinary  haunts.  It  is  peace  sought  in  the 
spirit  of  peace,  and  laid  in  principles  purely 
pacific.  I  propose,  by  removing  the  ground  of 
the  confidence,  and  by  restoring  the  former 
unsuspecting  difference  of  the  colonies  in  the 
mother  country,  to  give  permanent  satisfaction 
to  your  people ;  and  (far  from  a  scheme  of 
ruling  by  discord)  to  reconcile  them  to  each 
other  in  the  same  act,  and  by  the  bond  of  the 
very  same  interest,  which  reconciles  them  to 
British  government. 

My  idea  is  nothing  more.  Refined  policy 
ever  had  been  the  parent  of  confusion,  and 
ever  will  be  so  as  long  as  the  world  endures. 
Plain  good  intention,  which  is  as  easily  dis 
covered  at  the  "first  view,  as  fraud  is  surely 
detected  at  last,  is,  let  me  say,  of  no  mean 
force  in  the  government  of  mankind.  Genuine 
simplicity  of  heart  is  an  healing  and  cementing 
principle.  My  plan,  therefore,  being  formed 
upon  the  most  simple  grounds  imaginable, 
may  disappoint  some  people  when  they  hear 
it.  It  has  nothing  to  recommend  it  to  the 
pruriency  of  curious  ears.  There  is  nothing 
at  all  new  and  captivating  in  it.  It  has  nothing 
of  the  splendor  of  the  project,  which  has  been 
lately  laid  upon  your  table  by  the  noble  lord  in 
the  blue  riband.*  It  does  not  propose  to  fill 
your  lobby  with  squabbling  colony  agents,  who 

*  "  That,  when  the  governor,  council  or  assembly,  or 
general  court,  of  any  of  his  majesty's  provinces  or  colonies 
in  America,  shall  propose  to  make  provision,  according 
to  the  condition,  circumstances  and  situation  of  such  pro 
vince  or  colony,  for  contributing  their  proportion  to  the 
common  defence  (such  proportion  to  be  raised  under  the 
authority  of  the  general  court  ;  or  general  assembly,  of 
such  province  or  colony,  and  disposable  by  parliament) 
and  shall  engage  to  make  provision  also  for  the  support 
of  the  civil  government,  and  the  administration  of  justice, 
in  such  province  or  colony,  it  will  be  proper,  if  such  pro 
posal  shall  be  approved  by  his  majesty,  and  the  house  of 
parliament  and  for  so  long  as  such  provision  shall  be  made 
accordingly,  to  forbear,  in  respect  of  such  province  or 
colony,  to  levy  any  duty,  tax,  or  assessment,  or  to  impose 
any  further  duty,  tax,  or  assessment,  except  such  duties 
'as  it  may  be  expedient  to  continue  to  levy  or  impose  for 
the  regulation  of  commerce  ;  the  neat  produce  of  the 
duties  last  mentioned  to  be  carried  to  the  account  of  such 
province  or  colony  respectively."  Resolutions  moved 
by  lord  North  in  the  committee,  and  agreed  to  by  the 
house,  27  Feb.  1775. 


will  require  the  interposition  of  your  mace,  at 
every  instant,  to  keep  the  peace  among  them. 
It  does  not  institute  a  magnificent  action  of 
finance,  where  captivated  provinces  come  to 
general  ransom  by  bidding  against  each  other 
until  you  knock  down  the  hammer,  and  deter 
mine  a  proportion  of  payments,  beyond  all  the 
powers  of  algebra  to  equalize  and  settle. 

The  plan,  which  I  shall  presume  to  suggest, 
derives,  however,  one  great  advantage  from 
the  proposition  and  registry  of  that  noble 
lord's  project.  The  idea  of  conciliation  is 
admissible.  First,  the  house,  in  accepting  the 
resolution  moved  by  the  noble  lord,  has  ad 
mitted,  notwithstanding  the  menacing  front  of 
our  address,  notwithstanding  our  heavy  bill  of 
pains  and  penalties,  that  we  do  not  think  our 
selves  precluded  from  all  ideas  of  free  grace 
and  bounty. 

The  house  has  gone  farther,  it  has  declared 
conciliation  admissible,  previous  to  any  sub 
mission  on  the  part  of  America.  It  has  even 
shot  a  good  deal  beyond  that  mark,  and  has 
admitted  that  the  complaints  of  our  former 
mode  of  exerting  the  right  of  taxation  were  not 
wholly  unfounded.  That  right  thus  exerted  is 
allowed  to  have  had  something  reprehensible 
in  it ;  something  unwise,  or  something  griev 
ous  ;  since,  in  the  midst  of  our  heat  and  resent 
ment,  we  of  ourselves  have  proposed  a  capital 
alteration  ;  and,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  what 
seemed  so  very  exceptionable,  have  instituted 
a  mode  that  is  altogether  new;  one  that  is, 
indeed,  wholly  alien  from  all  the  ancient  meth 
ods  and  forms  of  parliament. 

The  principle  of  this  proceeding  is  large 
enough  for  my  purpose.  The  means  proposed 
by  the  noble  lord  for  carrying  his  ideas  into 
execution,  I  think,  indeed,  are  very  indifferently 
suited  to  the  end  ;  and  this  I  shall  endeavor  to 
show  you  before  I  sit  down.  But,  for  the 
present,  I  take  my  ground  on  the  admitted 
principle.  I  mean  to  give  peace.  Peace  im 
plies  reconciliation  ;  and,  where  there  has  been 
a  material  dispute,  reconciliation  does  in  a 
manner  always  imply  concession  on  the  one 
part  or  on  the  other.  In  this  state  of  things  I 
make  no  difficulty  in  affirming  that  the  pro 
posal  ought  to  originate  from  us.  Great  and 
acknowledged  force  is  not  impaired,  either  in 
effect  or  in  opinion,  by  an  unwillingness  to 
exert  itself.  The  superior  power  may  offer 
peace  with  honor  and  with  safety.  Such  an 
offer,  from  such  a  power,  will  be  attributed  to 
magnanimity.  But  the  concessions  of  the 
weak  are  the  concessions  of  fear.  When  such 
a  one  is  disarmed,  he  is  wholly  at  the  mercy  of 
his  superior,  and  he  loses  forever  that  time  and 


432 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


those  chances  which,  as  they  happen  to  all 
men,  are  the  strength  and  resources  of  all 
inferior  power. 

The  capital  leading  questions,  on  which  you 
must  this  day  decide,  are  these  two.  First, 
whether  you  ought  to  concede  ;  and,  secondly, 
what  your  concession  ought  to  be.  On  the  first 
of  these  questions  we  have  gained  (as  I  have 
just  taken  the  liberty  of  observing  to  you) 
some  ground.  But  I  am  sensible  that  a  good 
deal  more  is  still  to  be  done.  Indeed,  sir,  to 
enable  us  to  determine  both  on  the  one  and 
the  other  of  these  great  questions,  with  a  firm 
and  precise  judgment,  I  think  it  may  be  nec 
essary  to  consider  distinctly  the  true  nature 
and  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  object 
which  we  have  before  us.  Because,  after  all 
our  struggle,  whether  we  will  or  not,  we  must 
govern  America  according  to  that  nature,  and 
to  those  circumstances,  and  not  according  to 
our  own  imaginations ;  not  according  to  ab 
stract  ideas  of  right ;  by  no  means  according 
to  mere  general  theories  of  government,  the 
resort  of  which  appears  to  me,  in  our  present 
situation,  no  better  than  arrant  trifling.  I 
shall  therefore  endeavor,  with  your  leave,  to 
lay  before  you  some  of  the  most  material  of 
these  circumstances,  in  as  full  and  as  clear  a 
manner  as  I  am  able  to  state  them. 

The  first  thing  that  we  have  to  consider  with 
regard  to  the  nature  of  the  object,  is  the  num 
ber  of  people  in  the  colonies.  I  have  taken  for 
some  years  a  good  deal  of  pains  on  that  point. 
I  can  by  no  calculation  justify  myself  in  placing 
the  number  below  two  millions  of  inhabitants 
of  our  own  European  blood  and  color,  besides 
at  least  500,000  others,  who  form  no  inconsid 
erable  part  of  the  strength  and  opulence  of  the 
whole.  This,  sir,  is,  I  believe,  about  the  true 
number.  There  is  no  occasion  to  exaggerate 
where  plain  truth  is  of  go  much  weight  and 
importance.  But  whether  I  put  the  present 
numbers  too  high  or  too  low,  is  a  matter  of 
little  moment.  Such  is  the  strength  with 
which  population  shoots  in  that  part  of  the 
world,  that  state  the  numbers  as  high  as  we 
will  whilst  the  dispute  continues,  the  exaggera 
tion  ends.  Whilst  we  are  discussing  any 
given  magnitude,  they  are  grown  to  it. 
Whilst  we  spend  our  time  in  deliberating  on 
the  mode  of  governing  two  millions,  we  shall 
find  we  have  millions  more  to  manage.  Your 
children  do  not  grow  faster  from  infancy  to 
manhood,  than  they  spread  from  families  to 
communities,  and  from  villages  to  nations. 

I  put  this  consideration  of  the  present  and  the 
growing  numbers  in  the  front  of  our  delibera 
tion  ;  because,  sir,  this  consideration  will  make 


it  evident  to  a  blunter  discernment  than  yours, 
that  no  partial,  narrow,  contracted,  pinched 
occasional  system  will  be  at  all  suitable  to  such 
an  object.  It  will  shew  you  that  it  is  not  to  be 
considered  as  one  of  those  "  minima,"  which 
are  out  of  the  eye  and  consideration  of  the  law : 
not  a  paltry  excrescence  of  the  state  ;  not  a  mean 
dependent,  who  may  be  neglected  with  little 
damage,  and  provoked  with  little  danger.  It 
will  prove  that  some  degree  of  care  and  caution 
is  required  in  the  handling  such  an  object ;  it 
will  shew  that  you  ought  not,  in  reason,  to 
trifle  with  so  large  a  mass  of  the  interests  and 
feelings  of  the  human  race.  You  could  at  no 
time  do  so  without  guilt,  and  be  assured  you 
will  not  be  able  to  do  it  long  with  impunity. 

But  the  population  of  this  country,  the  great 
and  growing  population,  though  a  very  import 
ant  consideration,  will  lose  much  of  its  weight 
if  not  combined  with  other  circumstances.  The 
commerce  of  your  colonies  is  out  of  all  propor 
tion  beyond  the  numbers  of  the  people.  This 
ground  of  their  commerce  indeed  has  been  trod 
some  days  ago,  and  with  great  ability,  by  a  dis 
tinguished*  person  at  your  bar.  This  gentle 
man,  after  thirty-five  years — it  is  so  long  since  he 
first  appeared  at  the  same  place  to  plead  for  the 
commerce  of  Great  Britain, — has  come  again 
before  you  to  plead  the  same  cause,  without 
any  other  effect  of  time  than  that,  to  the  fire  of 
imagination,  and  extent  of  erudition,  which  even 
then  marked  him  as  one  of  the  first  literary 
characters  of  his  age,  he  has  added  a  consum 
mate  knowledge  in  the  commercial  interest 
of  his  country,  formed  by  a  long  course  of 
enlightened  and  discriminating  experience. 

Sir,  I  should  be  inexcusable  in  coming  after 
such  a  person  with  any  detail,  if  a  great  part  of 
the  members,  who  now  fill  the  house,  had  not 
the  misfortune  to  be  absent  when  he  appeared 
at  your  bar.  Besides,  sir,  I  propose  to  take 
the  matter  at  periods  of  time  somewhat  differ 
ent  from  his.  There  is,  if  I  mistake  not,  a 
point  of  view  from  whence,  if  you  will  look  at 
this  subject,  it  is  impossible  that  it  should  not 
make  an  impression  upon  you. 

I  have  in  my  hand  two  accounts,  one  a  com 
parative  state  of«the  export  trade  of  England  to 
its  colonies,  as  it  stood  in  the  year  1704,  and  as 
it  stood  in  the  year  1772.  The  other  a  state  of 
the  export  trade  of  this  country  to  its  colonies, 
alone,  as  it  stood  in  1772,  compared  with  the 
whole  trade  of  England  to  all  parts  of  the 
world  (the  colonies  included)  in  the  year  1704. 
They  are  from  good  vouchers  ;  the  latter  period 
from  the  accounts  on  your  table,  the  earlier 
from  an  original  manuscript  of  Davenant,  who 
*  Mr.  Glover. 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


433 


first  established  the  inspector-general's  office, 
which  has  been  ever  since  his  time  so  abund 
ant  a  source  of  parliamentary  information. 

The  export  trade  to  the  colonies  consists  of 
three  great  branches.  The  African,  which  ter 
minating  almost  wholly  in  the  colonies,  must  be 
put  to  the  account  of  their  commerce,  the  West 
Indian  and  the  North  American.  All  these  are 
so  interwoven,  that  the  attempt  to  separate 
them  would  tear  to  pieces  the  contexture  of 
the  whole  ;  and,  if  not  entirely  destroy,  would 
very  much  depreciate  the  value  of  all  the  parts. 
I  therefore  consider  these  three  denomina 
tions  to  be,  what  in  effect  they  are,  one  trade. 

The  trade  to  the  colonies,  taken  on  the  export 
side,  at  the  begining  of  this  century,  that  is,  in 
the  year  1 704,  stood  thus : 
Exports  to  North  America  and  the  West- 
Indies ,£485  265 

To  Africa,  ....  86,665 


569,930 

In  the  year  1772,  which  I  take  as  a  middle 
year  between  the  highest  and  the  lowest  of 
those  lately  laid  on  your  table,  the  accounts 
were  as  follows : 

To  North  America  and  the  West  In 
dies £4,791,734 

To  Africa 866,398 

To  which  if  you  add  the  exports  trade  to 
and  from  Scotland,  which  had  in  1704 
no  existence  ....  364,000 


6,022,132 

From  five  hundred  and  odd  thousands,  it  has 
grown  to  six  millions  ;  it  has  increased  no  less 
than  twelvefold.  This  is  the  state  of  the  colony 
trade,  as  compared  with  itself  at  these  two 
periods,  within  this  century ;  and  this  is  mat 
ter  for  meditation.  Rut  this  is  not  all.  Ex 
amine  my  second  account.  See  how  the  export 
trade  to  the  colonies  alone,  in  1772,  stood  in 
the  other  point  of  view,  that  is,  as  compared  to 
the  whole  trade  of  England,  in  1704. 
The  whole  export  trade  of  England,  in 
cluding  that  to  the  colonies,  in  1704,  £6,509,000 
Except  to  the  colonies  alone,  in  1772,  6,024,000 


Difference.  .  .  485,000 
The  trade  with  America  alone  is  now  within 
less  than  £500,000  of  being  equal  to  what  this 
great  commercial  nation,  England,  carried  on 
at  the  beginning  of  this  century  with  the  whole 
world  !  If  I  had  ta'ken  the  largest  year  of 
those  on  your  table,  it  would  rather  have  ex 
ceeded.  But  it  will  be  said,  is  not  this  Ameri 
can  trade  an  unnatural  protuberance,  that  has 
drawn  the  juices  from  the  rest  of  the  body? 
28 


The  reverse.  It  is  the  very  food  that  has 
nourished  every  other  part  into  its  present 
magnitude.  Our  general  trade  has  been 
greatly  augmented ;  and  augmented  more  or 
less  in  almost  every  part  to  which  it  ever  ex 
tended  ;  but  with  this  material  difference,  that 
of  the  six  millions  which,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  century,  constituted  the  whole  mass  of  our 
export  commerce,  the  colony  trade  was  but 
one  twelfth  part ;  it  is  now  (as  a  part  of  seven 
teen  millions)  considerably  more  than  a  third 
of  the  whole.  This  is  the  relative  proportion 
of  the  importance  of  the  colonies  at  these  two 
periods  ;  and  all  reason  concerning  our  mode 
of  treating  them  must  have  this  proportion  as 
its  basis,  or  it  is  a  reasoning  weak,  rotten,  and 
sophistical. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  cannot  prevail  upon  myself  to 
hurry  over  this  great  consideration.  It  is  good 
for  us  to  be  here.  We  stand  where  we  have 
an  immense  view  of  what  is,  and  what  is  past. 
Clouds  indeed,  and  darkness  rest  upon  the 
future.  Let  us,  however,  before  we  descend 
from  this  noble  eminence,  reflect  that  this 
growth  of  our  national  prosperity  has  happened 
within  the  short  period  of  the  life  of  man.  It 
has  happened  within  sixty-eight  years.  There 
are  those  alive,  whose  memory  might  touch 
the  two  extremities !  For  instance,  my  lord 
Bathurst  might  remember  all  the  stages  of  the 
progress.  He  was,  in  1704,  of  an  age  at  least 
to  be  made  to  comprehend  such  things ;  he 
was  then  old  enough,  acta  parentum  jam  legere, 
et  quas  sit  preterit  cognoscere  virtus.  Suppose, 
sir,  that  the  angel  of  this  auspicious  youth 
foreseeing  the  many  virtues,  which  made  him 
one  of  the  most  amiable,  as  he  is  one  of  the 
most  fortunate  men  of  his  age,  had  opened  to 
him  a  vision,  that  when,  in  the  fourth  genera 
tion,  the  third  prince  of  the  house  of  Brunswick 
had  sat  twelve  years  on  the  throne  of  that 
nation,  which  (by  the  happy  issue  of  moderate 
and  healing  councils)  was  to  be  made  Great 
Britain,  he  should  see  his  son,  lord  Chancellor 
of  England,  turn  back  the  current  of  hereditary 
dignity  to  its  fountain,  and  raise  him  to  a 
higher  rank  of  peerage,  whilst  he  enriched  the 
family  with  a  new  one  ;  if,  amidst  these  bright 
and  happy  scenes  of  domestic  honor  and  pros 
perity,  that  angel  should  have  drawn  up  the 
curtain,  and  unfolded  the  rising  glories  of  his 
country,  and  whilst  he  was  gazing  with  admi 
ration  on  the  then  commercial  grandeur  of 
England,  the  genius  should  point  out  to  him  a 
little  speck,  scarce  visible  in  the  mass  of  the 
national  interest,  a  small  seminal  principle, 
rather  than  a  formed  body,  and  should  tell  him 
— "  young  man,  there  is  America,  which  at  this 


434 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OP    THE   REVOLUTION. 


day  serves  for  little  more  than  to  amuse  you 
with  stories  of  savage  men,  and  uncouth  man 
ners  ;  yet  shall,  before  you  taste  of  death,  shew 
itself  equal  to  the  whole  of  that  commerce 
which  now  attracts  the  envy  of  the  world. 
Whatever  England  has  been  growing  to  by  a 
progressive  increase  of  improvements,  brought 
in  by  variety  of  people,  by  succession  of  civiliz 
ing  conquests  and  civilizing  settlements  in  a 
series  of  seventeen  hundred  years,  you  shall 
see  as  much  added  to  her  by  America,  in  the 
course  of  a  single  life  ! "  If  this  state  of  his 
country  had  been  foretold  to  him,  would  it  not 
require  all  the  sanguine  credulity  of  youth,  and 
all  the  fervid  glow  of  enthusiasm,  to  make  him 
believe  it  ? — Fortunate  man,  he  has  lived  to  see 
it !  Fortunate  indeed,  if  he  lives  to  see  nothing 
that  shall  vary  the  prospect,  and  cloud  the  set 
ting  of  the  day. 

Excuse  me,  sir,  if  turning  from  such  thoughts 
I  resume  this  comparative  view  once  more. 
You  have  seen  it  on  a  large  scale  ;  look  at  it 
on  a  small  one.  I  will  point  out  to  your  atten 
tion  a  particular  instance  of  it  in  the  single 
province  of  Pennsylvania.  In  the  year  1704  that 
province  called  for  .£11,459  m  value  of  your 
commodities,  native  and  foreign.  This  was 
the  whole.  What  did  it  demand  in  1772? 
Why,  nearly  fifty  times  as  much,  for  in  that 
year  the  export  to  Pennsylvania  was  ,£507,909, 
nearly  equal  to  the  export  to  all  the  colonies 
together  in  the  first  period. 

I  choose,  sir,  to  enter  into  these  minute  and 
particular  details  ;  because  generalities,  which 
in  all  other  cases  are  apt  to  heighten  and  raise 
the  subject,  have  here  a  tendency  to  sink  it. 
When  we  speak  of  the  commerce  with  our  col 
onies,  fiction  lags  after  truth  ;  invention  is  un 
fruitful  :  and  imagination  cold  and  barren. 

So  far,  sir,  as  to  the  importance  of  the  object 
in  view  of  its  commerce,  a's  concerned  in  the 
exports  from  England.  If  I  were  to  detail  the 
imports,  I  could  show  how  many  enjoyments 
they  procure  which  deceive  the  burthen  of  life : 
how  many  materials  which  invigorate  the 
springs  of  national  industry,  and  extend  and 
animate  every  part  of  our  foreign  and  domestic 
commerce.  This  would  be  a  curious  subject 
indeed  ;  but  I  must  prescribe  bounds  to  myself 
in  a  matter  so  vast  and  various. 

I  pass,  therefore,  to  the  colonies  in  another 
point  of  view — their  agriculture.  This  they 
have  prosecuted  with  such  a  spirit,  that  besides 
feeding  plentifully  their  own  growing  multitude, 
their  annual  export  of  grain,  comprehending 
rice,  has  some  years  ago  exceeded  a  million  in 
value:  of  their  last  harvest,  I  am  persuaded 
they  will  export  much  more.  At  the  beginning 


of  the  century  some  of  these  colonies  imported 
corn  from  the  mother  country.  For  some 
time  past  the  old  world  has  been  fed  from  the 
new.  The  scarcity  which  you  have  felt  would 
have  been  a  desolating  famine,  if  this  child  of 
your  old  age,  with  a  true  filial  piety,  with  a 
Roman  charity,  had  not  put  the  full  breast  of 
its  youthful  exuberance  to  the  mouth  of  its 
exhausted  parent. 

As  to  the  wealth  which  the  colonies  have 
drawn  from  the  seas  by  their  fisheries,  you  had 
all  that  matter  fully  opened  at  your  bar ;  you 
surely  thought  those  acquisitions,  for  they 
seemed  even  to  excite  your  envy  ;  and  yet  the 
spirit  by  which  that  enterprising  employment  has 
been  exercised,  ought  rather,  in  my  opinion,  to 
have  raised  your  esteem  and  admiration.  And 
pray,  sir,  what  in  the  world  is  equal  to  it  ? 
Pass  by  the  other  parts,  and  look  at  the  man 
ner  in  which  the  people  of  New  England  have 
of  late  carried  on  the  whale  fishery.  Whilst 
we  follow  them  among  the  tumbling  mountains 
of  ice,  and  behold  them  penetrating  into  the 
deepest  frozen  recesses  of  Hudson's  Bay  and 
Davis's  Straits,  whilst  we  are  looking  for  them 
beneath  the  arctic  circle,  we  hear  that  they 
have  pierced  into  the  opposite  region  of  polar 
cold  ;  that  they  are  at  the  antipodes,  and  en 
gaged  under  the  frozen  surface  of  the  south. 
Falkland  island,  which  seemed  too  remote  and 
romantic  an  object  for  the  grasp  of  national 
ambition,  is  but  a  stage  and  resting-place  in 
the  progress  of  their  victorious  industry.  Nor 
is  the  equinoctial  heat  more  discouraging  to 
them  than  the  accumulated  winter  of  both  the 
poles.  We  know  that  whilst  some  of  them 
draw  the  line  and  strike  the  harpoon  on  the 
coast  of  Africa,  others  run  the  longitude,  and 
pursue  the  gigantic  game  along  the  coast  of 
Brazil.  No  sea  but  what  is  vexed  by  their 
fisheries  ;  no  climate  that  is  not  witness  to  their 
toils.  Neither  the  perseverance  of  Holland,  nor 
the  activity  of  France,  nor  the  dextrous  and 
firm  sagacity  of  English  enterprise,  ever  car 
ried  this  most  perilous  mode  of  hardy  industry 
to  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been  pushed 
by  this  recent  people  ;  a  people  who  are  still, 
as  it  were,  but  in  the  gristle,  and  not  yet  hard 
ened  into  the  bone  of  manhood.  When  I  con 
template  these  things  ;  when  I  know  that  the 
colonies  in  general  owe  little  or  nothing  to  any 
care  of  ours,  and  that  they  are  not  squeezed 
into  this  happy  form  by  the  constraints 
of  watchful  and  suspicious  government,  but 
that,  through  a  wise  and  salutary  neglect,  a 
generous  nature  has  been  suffered  to  take  her 
own  way  to  perfection ;  when  I  reflect  upon 
these  efforts,  when  I  see  how  profitable  they 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


435 


have  been  to  us,  I  feel  all  the  pride  of  power 
sink,  and  all  presumption  in  the  wisdom  of 
human  contrivances  melt,  and  die  away  within 
me.  My  rigor  relents.  I  pardon  something 
to  the  spirit  of  liberty. 

I  am  sensible,  sir,  that  all  which  I  have 
asserted  in  my  detail,  is  admitted  in  the  gross  ; 
but  that  quite  a  different  conclusion  is  drawn 
from  it.  America,  gentlemen,  I  say,  is  a  noble 
object.  It  is  an  object  well  worth  fighting  for. 
Certainly  it  is,  if  fighting  a  people  be  the  best 
way  of  gaining  them  ;  gentlemen,  in  this  re 
spect,  will  be  led  to  their  choice  of  means  by 
their  complexion  and  their  habits.  Those  who 
understand  the  military  art,  will  of  course  have 
some  predilection  for  it.  Those  who  wield  the 
thunder  of  the  state,  may  have  more  confidence 
in  the  efficacy  of  arms.  But  I  confess,  possibly 
for  want  of  this  knowledge,  my  opinion  is 
much  more  in  favor  of  prudent  management 
than  offeree ;  considering  force  not  as  an  odious 
but  a  feeble  instrument,  for  preserving  a  peo 
ple,  so  numerous,  so  active,  so  growing,  so 
spirited  as  this,  in  a  profitable  and  subordinate 
connection  with  us. 

First,  sir,  permit  me  to  observe  that  the  use 
of  force  alone  is  but  temporary  ;  it  may  subdue 
for  a  moment,  but  it  does  not  remove  the 
necessity  of  subduing  again :  and  a  nation  is  not 
governed,  which  is  perpetually  to  be  conquered. 

My  next  object  is  its  uncertainty;  terror  is 
not  always  the  effect  of  force ;  and  an  arma 
ment  is  not  a  victory.  If  you  do  not  succeed, 
you  are  without  resource,  for,  conciliation  fail 
ing,  force  remains  ;  but  force  failing,  no  farther 
hope  of  reconciliation  is  left.  Power  and 
authority  are  sometimes  bought  by  kindness  ; 
but  they  can  never  be  begged  as  alms  by  an 
impoverished  and  defeated  violence. 

A  farther  objection  to  force  is,  that  you  im 
pair  the  object  by  your  very  endeavors  to 
preserve  it.  The  thing  you  fought  for,  is  not 
the  thing  which  you  recover  ;  but  depreciated, 
sunk,  wasted,  and  consumed  in  the  contest. 
Nothing  less  will  content  me  than  whole  Amer 
ica.  I  do  not  choose  to  consume  its  strength 
along  with  our  own,  because  in  all  parts  it  is 
the  British  strength  that  I  consume.  I  do  not 
choose  to  be  caught  by  a  foreign  enemy  at  the 
end  of  this  exhausting  conflict ;  and  still  less  in 
the  midst  of  it.  I  may  escape,  but  I  can  make 
no  insurance  against  such  an  event.  Let  me 
add,  that  I  do  not  choose  wholly  to  break  the 
American  spirit,  because  it  is  the  spirit  that 
has  made  the  country. 

Lastly,  we  have  no  sort  of  experience  in  favor 
of  force  as  an  instrument  in  the  rule  of  our  col 
onies.  Their  growth  and  their  utility  has  been 


owing  to  methods  altogether  different.  Our 
ancient  indulgence  has  been  said  to  be  pursued 
to  a  fault.  It  may  be  so.  But  we  know,  if 
feeling  is  evidence,  that  our  fault  was  more 
tolerable  than  our  attempt  to  mend  it,  and  our 
sin  far  more  salutary  than  our  penitence. 

These,  sir,  are  my  reasons  for  not  entertain 
ing  that  high  opinion  of  untried  force,  by  which 
many  gentlemen,  for  whose  sentiments  in 
other  particulars  I  have  great  respect,  seem  to 
be  so  greatly  captivated.  But  there  is  still 
behind  a  third  consideration  concerning  this 
object,  which  serves  to  determine  my  opinion 
on  the  sort  of  policy  which  ought  to  be  pursued 
in  the  management  of  America,  even  more 
than  its  population  and  its  commerce.  I 
mean  its  temper  and  character. 

In  this  character  of  the  Americans  a  love  of 
freedom  is  the  predominating  feature,  which 
marks  and  distinguishes  the  whole  ;  and  as  an 
ardent  is  always  a  jealous  affection,  your  colo 
nies  become  suspicious,  restive,  and  untracta- 
ble,  whenever  they  see  the  least  attempt  to 
wrest  from  them  by  force,  or  shuffle  from  them 
by  chicane,  what  they  think  the  only  advantage 
worth  living  for.  This  fierce  spirit  of  liberty  is 
stronger  in  the  English  colonies  probably  than 
in  any  other  people  of  the  earth,  and  this  from 
a  great  variety  of  powerful  causes  ;  which,  to 
understand  the  true  temper  of  their  minds,  and 
the  directions  which  this  spirit  takes,  it  will 
not  be  amiss  to  lay  open  somewhat  more 
largely. 

First,  the  people  of  the  colonies  are  descend 
ants  of  Englishmen.  England,  sir,  is  a  nation 
which  still  I  hope  respects,  and  formerly 
adored  her  freedom.  The  colonists  emigrated 
from  you,  when  this  part  of  your  character  was 
most  predominant ;  and  they  took  this  bias  and 
direction  the  moment  they  parted  from  your 
hands.  They  are  therefore  not  only  devoted  to 
liberty,  but  to  liberty  according  to  English 
ideas,  and  on  English  principles.  Abstract 
liberty,  like  other  mere  abstractions,  is  not  to 
be  found.  Liberty  inheres  in  some  sensible 
object ;  and  every  nation  has  formed  to  itself 
some  favorite  point  which  by  way  of  eminence 
becomes  the  criterion  of  their  happiness.  It 
happened,  you  know,  sir,  that  the  great  con 
tests  for  freedom  in  this  country,  were  from 
the  earliest  times  chiefly  upon  the  question  of 
taxing.  Most  of  the  contests  in  the  ancient 
commonwealths  turned  primarily  on  the 
right  of  election  of  magistrates  ;  or  on  the  bal 
ance  among  the  several  orders  of  the  state. 
The  question  of  money  was  not  with  them  so 
immediate.  But  in  England  it  was  otherwise. 
On  this  point  of  taxes  the  ablest  pens,  and  most 


436 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


eloquent  tongues  have  been  exercised ;  the 
greatest  spirits  have  acted  and  suffered. 

In  order  to  give  the  fullest  satisfaction  con 
cerning  the  importance  of  this  point,  it  was  not 
only  necessary  for  those,  who  in  argument  de 
fended  the  excellence  of  the  English  constitu 
tion,  to  insist  on  this  privilege  of  granting 
money  as  a  dry  point  of  fact,  and  to  prove  that 
the  right  had  been  acknowledged  in  ancient 
parchments  and  blind  usages,  to  reside  in  a 
certain  body  called  an  house  of  commons. 
They  went  much  further  ;  they  attempted  to 
prove,  and  they  succeeded,  that  in  theory  it 
ought  to  be  so  from  the  particular  nature  of  a 
house  of  commons,  as  an  immediate  represen 
tative  of  the  people,  whether  the  old  records 
had  delivered  this  oracle  or  not.  They  took 
pains  to  calculate,  as  a  fundamental  principle, 
that  in  all  monarchies  the  people  must  in  effect 
themselves  mediately  or  immediately  possess 
the  power  of  granting  their  own  money,  or  no 
shadow  of  liberty  could  subsist.  The  colonies 
draw  from  you,  as  with  their  life  blood,  these 
ideas  and  principles.  Their  love  of  liberty,  as 
with  you,  fixed  and  attached  on  this  specific 
point  of  taxing.  Liberty  might  be  safe,  or 
might  be  endangered  in  twenty  other  particu 
lars,  without  their  being  much  pleased  or 
alarmed.  Here  they  felt  its  pulse  ;  and  as  they 
found  that  beat,  they  found  themselves  sick  or 
sound.  I  do  not  say  whether  they  were  right 
or  wrong  in  applying  your  general  arguments 
to  their  own  case.  It  is  not  easy  indeed  to 
make  a  monopoly  of  theorems  and  corollaries. 
The  fact  is,  that  they  did  thus  apply  those  gen 
eral  arguments ;  and  your  mode  of  governing 
them,  whether  through  lenity  or  indolence, 
through  wisdom  or  mistake,  confirm  them  in 
the  imagination  that  they,  as  well  as  you,  had 
an  interest  in  these  common  principles. 

They  were  further  confirmed  in  this  pleasing 
error  by  the  form  of  their  provincial  legislative 
assemblies.  Their  governments  are  popular  in 
an  high  degree,  some  are  merely  popular ;  in 
all,  the  popular  representative  is  the  most 
weighty  ;  and  this  share  of  the  people  in  their 
ordinary  government  never  fails  to  inspire  them 
with  lofty  sentiments,  and  with  a  strong  aver 
sion  from  whatever  tends  to  deprive  them  of 
their  chief  importance. 

If  anything  were  wanting  to  this  necessary 
operation  of  the  form  of  government,  religion 
would  have  given  it  a  complete  effect.  Re 
ligion,  always  a  principle  of  energy,  in  this  new 
people,  is  no  way  worn  out  or  impaired ;  and 
their  mode  of  professing  it  is  also  one  main 
cause  of  this  free  spirit.  The  people  are 
protestants ;  and  of  that  kind  which  is  the  most 


averse  to  all  implicit  submission  of  mind  and 
opinion. 

This  is  a  persuasion  not  only  favorable  to 
liberty  but  built  upon  it.  I  do  not  think,  sir, 
that  the  reason  of  this  averseness  in  the  dis 
senting  churches,  from  all  that  looks  like  abso 
lute  government,  is  so  much  to  be  sought  in 
their  religious  tenets,  as  in  their  history.  Every 
one  knows,  that  the  Roman  Catholic  religion 
is  at  least  coeval  with  most  of  the  governments 
where  it  prevails ;  that  it  has  generally  gone 
hand  in  hand  with  them,  and  received  great 
favor  and  every  kind  of  support  from  authority. 
The  church  of  England  too  was  formed  from 
her  cradle  under  the  nursing  care  of  regular 
government.  But  the  dissenting  interests  have 
sprung  up  in  direct  opposition  to  all  the  ordi 
nary  powers  of  the  world ;  and  could  justify 
that  opposition  only  on  a  strong  claim  to  natu 
ral  liberty.  Their  very  existence  depended  on 
the  powerful  and  unremitted  assertion  of  that 
claim.  All  Protestantism,  even  the  most  cold 
and  passive,  is  a  sort  of  dissent.  But  the  re 
ligion  most  prevalent  in  our  northern  colonies, 
is  a  refinement  on  the  principle  of  resistance, 
it  is  the  diffidence  of  dissent ;  and  the  protes 
tantism  of  the  protestant  religion.  This  re 
ligion,  under  a  variety  of  denominations  agree 
ing  in  nothing  but  in  the  communion  of  the 
spirit  of  liberty,  is  predominant  in  most  of  the 
northern  provinces  ;  where  the  church  of  Eng 
land,  notwithstanding  its  legal  rights,  is  in 
reality  no  more  than  a  sort  of  private  sect ;  not 
composing  most  probably  the  tenth  of  the  peo 
ple.  The  colonists  left  England  when  this 
spirit  was  high  :  and  in  the  emigrants  was  the 
highest  of  all,  and  even  that  strain  of  foreign 
ers,  which  has  been  constantly  flowing  into 
these  colonies,  has  for  the  greatest  part,  been 
composed  of  dissenters  from  the  establishments 
of  their  several  countries ;  and  have  brought 
with  them  a  temper  and  character  far  from 
alien  to  that  of  a  people  with  whom  they 
mixed. 

Sir,  I  can  perceive,  by  their  manner,  that 
some  gentlemen  object  to  the  latitude  of  this 
description :  because  in  the  southern  colonies 
the  church  of  England  forms  a  large  body,  and 
has  a  regular  establishment.  It  is  certainly 
true.  There  is,  however,  a  circumstance  at 
tending  these  colonies,  which  in  my  opinion, 
fully  counterbalances  this  difference,  and 
makes  the  spirit  of  liberty  still  more  high  and 
haughty  than  in  those  to  the  northward.  It 
is  that  in  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  they  have 
a  vast  multitude  of  slaves.  Where  this  is  the 
case  in  any  part  of  the  world,  those  who  are 
free,  are  by  far  the  most  proud  and  jealous  of 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


437 


their  freedom.  Freedom  is  to  them  not  only 
an  enjoyment,  but  a  kind  of  rank  and  privilege. 
Not  seeing  there  that  freedom,  as  in  countries 
where  it  is  a  common  blessing,  and  as  broad 
and  general  as  the  air,  may  be  united  with 
much  abject  toil,  with  great  misery,  with  all 
the  exterior  of  servitude,  liberty  looks  amongst 
them  like  something  that  is  more  noble  and 
liberal.  I  do  not  mean,  sir,  to  commend  the 
superior  morality  of  this  sentiment,  which  has 
at  least  as  much  pride  as  virtue  in  it,  but  I 
cannot  alter  the  nature  of  man.  The  fact  is 
so,  and  these  people  of  the  southern  colonies 
are  much  more  strongly,  and  with  a  higher 
and  more  stubborn  spirit,  attached  to  liberty 
than  those  of  the  northward.  Such  were  all 
the  ancient  commonwealths ;  such  were  our 
Gothic  ancestors  ;  such  in  our  days  were  the 
Poles ;  and  such  will  be  all  masters  of  slaves, 
who  are  not  slaves  themselves.  In  such  a  peo 
ple  the  haughtiness  of  domination  combines 
with  the  spirit  of  freedom,  fortifies  it,  and 
renders  it  invincible. 

To  impoverish  the  colonies  in  general,  and 
in  particular  to  arrest  the  noble  course  of  their 
marine  enterprises,  would  be  a  more  easy  task, 
I  freely  confess  it.  We  have  shown  a  dispo 
sition  even  to  continue  the  restraint  after  the 
offence,  looking  on  ourselves  as  rivals  to  our 
colonies,  and  persuaded  that  of  course  we  must 
gain  all  that  they  shall  lose.  Much  mischief 
we  may  certainly  do.  The  power  inadequate 
to  all  other  things  is  often  more  than  sufficient 
for  this4.  I  do  not  look  on  the  direct  and  im 
mediate  power  of  the  colonies  to  resist  our 
violence  as  very  formidable.  In  this,  however, 
I  may  be  mistaken.  But  when  I  consider,  that 
we  have  colonies  for  no  purpose  but  to  be 
serviceable  to  us,  it  seems  to  my  poor  under 
standing  a  little  preposterous,  to  make  them 
unserviceable,  in  order  to  keep  them  obedient. 
It  is,  in  truth,  nothing  more  than  the  old,  and, 
as  I  thought,  exploded  problem  of  tyranny, 
which  proposes  to  beggar  its  subjects  into  sub 
mission.  But  remember  when  you  have  com 
pleted  your  system  of  impoverishment,  that 
nature  still  proceeds  in  her  ordinary  course  ; 
that  discontent  will  increase  with  misery  ;  and 
that  there  are  critical  moments  in  the  fortune 
of  all  states,  when  they,  who  are  too  weak  to 
contribute  to  your  prosperity,  may,  be  strong 
enough  to  complete  your  ruin.  Spolatis  arma 
supersunt. 

The  temper  and  character,  which  prevail  in 
our  colonies,  are,  I  am  afraid,  unalterable  by 
any  human  art.  We  cannot,  I  fear,  falsify  the 
pedigree  of  this  fierce  people,  and  persuade 
them  that  they  are  not  sprung  from  a  nation,  in 


whose  veins  the  blood  of  freedom  circulates. 
The  language,  in  which  they  would  hear  you 
tell  them  this  tale,  would  detect  the  imposition  ; 
your  speech  would  betray  you.  An  English 
man  is  the  unfittest  person  on  earth  to  argue 
another  Englishman  into  slavery. 

I  think  it  is  nearly  as  little  in  our  power  to 
change  their  republican  religion,  as  their  free 
descent ;  or  to  substitute  the  Roman  Catholic  as 
a  penalty,  or  the  church  of  England  as  an  im 
provement.  The  mode  of  inquisition  and 
dragooning  is  going  out  of  fashion  in  the  old 
world,  and  I  should  not  confide  much  to  their 
efficacy  in  the  new.  The  education  of  the 
Americans  is  also  on  the  same  unalterable  bot 
tom  with  their  religion.  You  cannot  persuade 
them  to  burn  their  books  of  curious  science  ;  to 
banish  their  lawyers  from  their  courts  of  law,  or 
to  quench  the  lights  of  their  assemblies,  by 
refusing  to  choose  those  persons  who  are  best 
read  in  their  privileges.  It  would  be  no  less 
impracticable  to  think  of  wholly  annihilating 
the  popular  assemblies,  in  which  these  lawyers 
sit. — The  army,  by  which  we  must  govern  in 
their  place,  would  be  far  more  chargeable  to  us, 
not  quite  so  effectual,  and  perhaps  in  the  end, 
full  as  difficult  to  be  kept  in  obedience. 

With  regard  to  the  high  aristocratic  spirit  oi 
Virginia  and  the  southern  colonies,  it  has 
been  proposed,  I  know,  to  reduce  it  by  declar 
ing  a  general  enfranchisement  of  their  slaves. 
This  project  has  had  its  advocates  and  panegy 
rists  :  yet  I  never  could  argue  myself  into  an 
opinion  of  it.  Slaves  are  often  much  attached 
to  their  masters.  A  general  wild  offer  of  liberty 
would  not  always  be  accepted. — History  fur 
nishes  few  instances  of  it.  It  is  sometimes  as 
hard  to  persuade  slaves  to  be  free,  as  it  is  to 
compel  freemen  to  be  slaves,  and  in  this  auspi 
cious  scheme,  we  should  have  both  these  pleas 
ing  tasks  on  our  hands  at  once.  But  when  we 
talk  of  enfranchisement,  do  we  not  perceive 
that  the  American  masters  may  enfranchise  too, 
and  arm  servile  hands  in  defence  of  freedom  ? 
A  measure  to  which  other  people  have  had 
recourse  more  than  once,  and  not  without  suc 
cess,  in  a  desperate  situation  of  their  affairs. 

Slaves,  as  these  unfortunate  black  people  are, 
and  dull  as  all  men  are  from  slavery,  must  they 
not  a  little  suspect  the  offer  of  freedom  from 
that  very  nation  which  has  sold  them  to  their 
present  masters  ?  From  that  nation,  one  of 
whose  causes  of  quarrel  with  those  masters,  is 
their  refusal  to  deal  any  more  in  that  inhuman 
traffic  ?  An  offer  of  freedom  from  England 
would  come  rather  oddly,  shipped  to  them  in  an 
African  vessel,  which  is  refused  an  entry  into 
the  ports  of  Virginia  and  Carolina,  with  a  cargo 


V 


438 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


of  three  hundred  Angola  negroes.  It  would  be 
curious  to  see  the  Guinea  captain  attempting 
at  the  same  instant  to  publish  his  proclamation 
of  liberty,  and  to  advertise  his  sale  of  slaves. 

But  let  us  suppose  all  these  moral  difficulties 
got  over.  The  ocean  remains.  You  cannot 
pump  this  dry,  and  as  long  as  it  continues  in 
its  present  bed,  so  long  all  the  causes  which 
weaken  authority  by  distance  will  continue. 
"  Ye  Gods  annihilate  but  space  and  time,  and 
make  two  lovers  happy  ! "  was  a  pious  and 
passionate  prayer,  but  just  as  reasonable  as 
many  of  the  serious  wishes  of  very  grave  and 
solemn  politicians. 

If  then,  sir,  it  seems  almost  desperate  to  think 
of  any  alternative  course  for  changing  the  moral 
causes  (and  not  quite  easy  to  remove  the 
natural)  which  produce  prejudices  irreconcila 
ble  to  the  late  exercise  of  our  authority ;  but 
that  the  spirit  infallibly  will  continue,  and  con 
tinuing,  will  produce  such  effects,  as  now  em 
barrass  us,  the  second  mode  under  considera 
tion  is  to  prosecute  that  spirit  in  its  overt  acts 
as  criminal. 

At  this  proposition  I  must  pause  a  moment. 
The  thing  seems  a  great  deal  too  big  for  my 
ideas  of  jurisprudence.  It  should  seem,  to  my 
way  of  conceiving  such  matters,  that  there  is  a 
very  wide  difference  in  reason  and  policy,  be 
tween  the  mode  of  proceedings  in  the  irregular 
proceeding  of  scattered  individuals,  or  even  of 
bands  of  men,  who  disturb  order  within  the  state 
and  the  civil  dissensions  which  may,  from  time 
to  time,  on  great  questions,  agitate  the  several 
communities  which  compose  a  great  empire. 
It  looks  to  me  to  be  narrow  and  pedantic,  to 
apply  the  ordinary  ideas  of  criminal  justice  to 
this  great  public  contest.  I  do  not  know  the 
method  of  drawing  up  an  indictment  against  a 
whole  people.  I  cannot  insult  and  ridicule  the 
feelings  of  millions  of  my  fellow  creatures,  as 
sir  Edward  Coke  insulted  one  excellent  indivi 
dual  (sir  Walter  Raleigh)  at  the  bar.  I  am 
not  ripe  to  pass  sentence  on  the  gravest  public 
bodies,  entrusted  with  magistracies  of  great 
authority  and  dignity,  and  charged  with  the 
safety  of  their  fellow-citizens,  upon  the  very 
same  title  that  I  am.  I  really  think  that,  for 
wise  men,  this  is  not  judicious  ;  for  sober  men, 
not  decent ;  for  minds  tinctured  with  humanity, 
not  mild  and  merciful. 

Perhaps,  sir,  I  am  mistaken  in  my  idea  of  an 
empire,  as  distinguished  from  a  single  state  or 
kingdom.  But  my  idea  of  it  is  this,  that  an 
empire  is  the  aggregate  of  many  states  under 
one  common  head  ;  whether  this  head  be  a 
monarch  or  a  presiding  republic.  It  does,  in 
such  constitutions,  frequently  happen  (and 


nothing  but  the  dismal,  cold,  dead  uniformity 
of  servitude  can  prevent  its  happening)  that 
the  subordinate  parts  have  many  local  privi 
leges  and  immunities.  Between  these  pri 
vileges,  and  the  supreme  common  authority, 
the  line  may  be  extremely  nice.  Of  course 
disputes,  often  too,  very  bitter  disputes,  and 
much  ill-blood,  will  arise.  But  though  every 
privilege  is  an  exemption  (in  the  case)  from 
the  ordinary  exercise  of  the  supreme  authority, 
it  is  no  denial  of  it.  The  claim  of  privilege 
seems  rather  ex  vi  termini,  to  imply  a  superior 
power.  For  to  talk  of  the  privileges  of  a  state 
or  of  a  person,  who  has  no  superior,  is  hardly 
any  better  than  speaking  nonsense.  Now,  in 
such  unfortunate  quarrels,  among  the  com 
ponent  parts  of  a  great  political  union  of  com 
munities,  I  can  scarcely  conceive  any  thing 
more  completely  imprudent,  than  for  the  head 
of  the  empire  to  insist,  that  if  any  privilege  is 
pleaded  against  his  will,  or  his  acts,  that  his 
whole  authority  is  denied,  instantly  to  proclaim 
rebellion ;  to  beat  to  arms,  and  to  put  the 
offending  provinces  under  the  ban.  Will  not 
this,  sir,  very  soon  teach  the  provinces  to  make 
no  distinctions  on  their  part  ?  Will  it  not 
teach  them  that  the  government,  against  which 
a  claim  of  liberty  is  tantamount  to  high  trea 
son,  is  a  government  to  which  submission  is 
equivalent  to  slavery  ?  It  may  not  always  be 
quite  convenient  to  impress  dependent  commu 
nities  with  such  an  idea. 

We  are,  Indeed,  in  all  disputes  with  the  colo 
nies,  by  the  necessity  of  things,  the  judge.  It 
is  true,  sir.  But  I  confess  that  the  character 
of  judge  in  my  own  cause,  is  a  thing  that 
frightens  me. — Instead  of  filling  me  with  pride, 
I  am  exceedingly  humbled  by  it.  I  cannot 
proceed  with  a  stern,  assured,  judicial  char 
acter.  I  must  have  these  hesitations  as  long 
as  I  am  compelled  to  recollect,  that,  in  my 
little  reading  upon  such  contests  as  these,  the 
sense  of  mankind  has,  at  least,  as  often  de 
cided  against  the  superior  as  the  subordinate 
power.  Sir,  let  me  add,  too,  that  the  opinion 
of  my  having  some  abstract  right  in  my  favor, 
would  not  put  me  much  at  my  ease  in  passing 
sentence,  unless  I  could  be  sure  that  there 
were  no  rights  which,  in  their  exercises  under 
certain  circumstances,  were  not  the  most 
odious  of  all  wrongs,  and  the  most  vexatious 
of  all  injustice.  Sir,  these  considerations  have 
great  weight  with  me,  when  I  find  things  so 
circumstanced,  that  I  see  the  same  party,  at 
once  a  civil  litigant  against  me  in'a  point  of 
right,  and  a  culprit  before  me,  while  I  sit  as  a 
criminal  judge,  on  acts  of  his  whose  moral 
quality  is  to  be  decided  upon  the  merits  of  that 


BRITISH    PARLIAMENT. 


439 


very  litigation.  Men  are  every  now  and  then 
put,  by  the  complexity  of  human  affairs,  into 
strange  situations  ;  but  justice  is  the  same,  let 
the  judge  be  in  what  situation  he  will. 

There  is,  sir,  also  a  circumstance  which  con 
vinces  me  that  this  mode  of  criminal  proceed 
ing  is  not  (at  least  in  the  present  stage  of  our 
contest)  altogether  expedient ;  which  is  noth 
ing  less  than  the  conduct  of  those  very  persons 
who  have  seemed  to  adopt  that  mode,  by 
lately  declaring  a  rebellion  in  Massachusetts- 
Bay,  as  they  had  formerly  addressed,  to  have 
traitors  brought  hither  under  an  act  of  Henry 
the  eighth  for  trial.  For  though  rebellion  is 
declared,  it  is  not  proceeded  against  as  such  ; 
nor  have  any  steps  been  taken  towards  the 
apprehension  or  conviction  of  any  individual 
offender,  either  in  our  late  or  our  former 
address ;  but  modes  of  public  coercion  have 
been  adopted,  and  such  as  have  much  more 
resemblance  to  a  sort  of  qualified  hostility 
towards  an  independent  power  than  the  pun 
ishment  of  rebellious  subjects.  All  this  seems 
rather  inconsistent,  but  it  shows  how  difficult 
it  is  to  apply  these  juridical  ideas  to  our  pre 
sent  case. 

In  this  situation,  let  us  seriously  and  coolly 
ponder.  What  is  it  we  have  got  by  all  our 
menaces,  which  have  been  many  and  ferocious  ? 
What  advantage  have  we  derived  from  the 
penal  laws  we  have  passed,  and  which,  for  the 
time,  have  been  severe  and  numerous  ?  What 
advances  have  we  made  towards  our  object 
by  the  sending  of  a  force  which,  by  land  and 
sea,  is  no  contemptible  strength  ?  Has  the 
disorder  abated  ?  Nothing  less. — When  I 
see  things  in  this  situation,  after  such  confident 
hopes,  bold  promises,  and  active  exertions,  I 
cannot,  for  my  life,  avoid  a  suspicion  that  the 
plan  itself  is  not  correctly  right. 

If  then  the  removal  of  the  causes  of  this 
spirit  of  American  liberty  be,  for  the  greater 
part,  or  lather  entirely  impracticable  ;  if  the 
ideas  of  criminal  process  be  inapplicable,  or,  if 
applicable,  are  in  the  highest  degree  inexpe 
dient,  what  way  yet  remains  ?  No  way  is  open 
but  the  third  and  last ;  to  comply  with  the 
American  spirit  as  necessary,  or  if  you  please, 
to  submit  to  it  as  a  necessary  evil. 

If  we  adopt  this  mode,  if  we  mean  to  con 
ciliate  and  concede,  let  us  see  of  what  nature 
the  concession  ought  to  be  ?  To  ascertain  the 
nature  of  our  concession,  we  must  look  at  their 
complaint.  The  colonies  complain  that  they 
have  not  the  characteristic  mark  and  zeal  of 
British  freedom.  They  complain,  that  they  are 
taxed  in  a  parliament,  in  which  they  are  not 
represented.  If  you  mean  to  satisfy  them  at 


all,  you  must  satisfy  them  with  regard  to  this 
complaint.  If  you  mean  to  please  any  people, 
you  must  give  them  the  boon  which  they  ask  ; 
not  what  you  may  think  better  for  them,  but  of 
a  kind  totally  different.  Such  an  act  may  be 
a  wise  regulation,  but  it  is  no  concession ; 
whereas  our  present  theme  is  the  mode  of  giv 
ing  satisfaction. 

Sir,  I  think  you  must  perceive,  that  I  am 
resolved  this  day  to  have  nothing  at  all  to  do 
with  the  question  of  the  right  of  taxation. 
Some  gentlemen  startle — but  it  is  true.  I  put 
it  totally  out  of  the  question.  It  is  less  than 
nothing  in  my  consideration.  I  do  not  indeed 
wonder,  nor  will  you,  sir,  that  gentlemen  of 
profound  learning  are  fond  of  displaying  it  on 
this  profound  subject.  But  my  consideration 
is  narrow,  confined,  and  wholly  limited  to  the 
policy  of  the  question.  I  do  not  examine, 
whether  the  giving  away  a  man's  money  be  a 
power  excepted  and  reserved  out  of  the  general 
trust  of  government,  and  how  far  all  mankind, 
in  all  forms  of  polity  are  entitled  to  an  exercise 
of  that  right  by  the.  charter  of  nature.  Or 
whether,  on  the  contrary,  a  right  of  taxation  is 
necessarily  involved  in  the  general  principle  of 
legislation,  and  inseparable  from  the  ordinary 
supreme  power? — These  are  deep  questions, 
where  great  names  militate  against  each  other  ; 
where  reason  is  perplexed,  and  an  appeal  to 
authorities  only  thickens  the  confusion.  For 
high  and  reverend  authorities  lift  up  their  heads 
on  both  sides,  and  there  is  no  sure  footing  in 
the  middle.  This  point  is  the  great  Serbonian 
bog,  betwixt  Damiata  and  Mount  Cassius  old, 
where  armies  whole  have  sunk.  I  do  not 
intend  to  be  overwhelmed  in  that  bog,  though 
in  such  respectable  company.  The  question 
with  me  is,  not  whether  you  have  a  right  to 
render  your  people  miserable,  but  whether  it  is 
not  your  interest  to  make  them  happy  ?  It  is 
not  what  a  lawyer  tells  me  I  may  do,  but  what 
humanity,  reason,  and  justice  tells  me  I  ought 
to  do.  Is  a  politic  act  the  worse  for  being  a 
generous  one  ?  Is  no  concession  proper,  but 
that  which  is  made  from  your  want  of  right  to 
keep  what  you  grant  ?  Or  does  it  lessen  the 
grace  or  dignity  of  relaxing  in  the  exercise  of 
an  odious  claim,  because  you  have  your  evidence 
room  full  of  titles,  and  all  those  arms  ?  Of 
what  avail  are  they,  when  the  reason  of  the 
thing  tells  me,  that  the  assertion  of  title  is  the 
loss  of  my  suit ;  and  that  I  could  do  nothing 
but  wound  myself  by  the  use  of  my  own 
weapons  ? 

Such  is  steadfastly  my  opinion  of  the  abso 
lute  necessity  of  keeping  up  the  concord  of  this 
empire  by  a  unity  of  spirit,  though  in  a  diversity 


440 


PRINCIPLES    AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


of  operations  ;  that,  if  I  were  sure  the  colonists 
had,  at  their  leaving  this  country,  sealed  a 
regular  compact  of  servitude ;  that  they  had 
solemnly  adjured  all  the  rights  of  citizens  ;  that 
they  had  made  a  vow  to  renounce  all  ideas  of 
liberty,  for  them  and  their  posterity,  to  all 
generations  ;  yet  I  should  hold  myself  obliged 
to  conform  to  the  temper  I  found  universally 
prevalent  in  my  own  day,  and  to  govern  two 
millions  of  men,  impatient  of  servitude,  on  the 
principles  of  freedom.  I  am  not  determining 
a  point  of  law  ;  I  am  restoring  tranquility,  and 
the  general  character  and  situation  of  a  people 
must  determine  what  sort  of  government  is 
fitted  for  them.  That  point  nothing  else  can  or 
ought  to  determine. 

My  idea,  therefore,  without  considering 
whether  we  yield  as  matter  of  right,  or  grant 
as  matter  of  favor,  is  to  admit  the  people  of 
our  colonies  into  an  interest  in  the  constitution  ; 
and  by  recording  that  admission  in  the  journals 
of  parliament,  to  give  them  as  strong  an  assu 
rance  as  the  nature  of  the  thing  will  admit, 
that  we  mean  forever  to  adhere  to  that  solemn 
declaration  of  systematic  indulgence. 

Some  years  ago  the  repeal  of  a  revenue  act, 
upon  its  understood  principle,  might  have 
served  to  shew  that  we  intended  an  uncondi 
tional  abatement  of  the  exercise  of  a  taxing 
power.  Such  a  measure  was  then  sufficient  to 
remove  all  suspicion,  and  to  give  perfect  con 
tent.  But  unfortunate  events,  since  that  time, 
may  make  something  farther  necessary  and 
not  more  necessary  for  the  satisfaction  of  the 
colonies  than  for  the  dignity  and  consistency  of 
our  own  future  proceedings. 

I  have  taken  a  very  incorrect  measure  of  the 
disposition  of  the  house,  if  this  proposal  in 
itself  would  be  received  with  dislike.  I  think 
sir,  we  have  few  American  financiers.  But  our 
misfortune  is,  we  are  too  acute,  we  are  too 
exquisite  in  our  conjectures  of  the  future,  for 
men  oppressed  with  such  great  and  present 
evils.  The  more  moderate  among  the  opposers 
of  parliamentary  concession  freely  confess,  that 
they  hope  no  good  from  taxation,  but  they  ap 
prehend  the  colonists  have  farther  views,  and 
if  this  point  were  conceded,  they  would  instant 
ly  attack  the  trade  laws.  These  gentlemen  are 
convinced,  that  this  was  the  intention  from  the 
beginning,  and  the  quarrel  of  the  Americans 
with  taxation  was  no  more  than  a  cloak  and  a 
cover  to  this  design.  Such  has  been  the  lan 
guage  even  of  a  gentleman  *  of  real  modera 
tion,  and  of  a  natural  temper  well  adjusted  to 
fair  and  equal  government.  I  am,  however, 
sir,  not  a  little  surprised  at  this  kind  of  dis- 
*  Mr.  Rire. 


course,  whenever  I  hear  it ;  and  I  am  more 
surprised,  on  account  of  the  arguments  which 
I  constantly  find  in  company  with  it,  and  which 
are  often  urged  from  the  same  mouths,  and  on 
the  same  day.  For  instance,  when  we  allege 
that  it  is  against  reason  to  tax  a  people  under 
so  many  restraints  to  trade  as  the  Americans, 
the  noble  lord  *  in  the  blue  riband  shall  tell 
you,  that  the  restraints  on  trade  are  futile  and 
useless  ;  of  no  advantage  to  us,  and  of  no  bur 
then  to  those  on  whom  they  are  imposed  ;  that 
the  trade  to  America  is  not  secured  by  the 
acts  of  navigation,  but  by  the  natural  and  irre 
sistible  advantage  of  a  commercial  preference. 

Such  is  the  merit  of  the  trade  laws  in  this 
posture  of  the  debate.  But  when  strong  in 
ternal  circumstances  are  urged  against  the 
taxes ;  when  the  scheme  is  dissected  ;  when 
experience  and  the  nature  of  things  are  brought 
to  prove,  and  do  prove,  the  utter  impossibility 
of  obtaining  an  effective  revenue  from  the  colo 
nies  :  when  these  things  are  pressed,  or  rather 
press  themselves,  so  as  to  drive  the  advocates 
of  colony  taxes  to  a  clear  admission  of  the  futil 
ity  of  the  scheme,  then,  sir,  the  sleeping  trade 
laws  revive  from  their  trance  ;  and  this,  unless 
taxation  is  to  be  kept  sacred,  not  for  its  own 
sake,  but  as  a  counterguard  and  security  of  the 
laws  of  trade. 

Then,  sir,  you  keep  up  revenue  laws  which 
are  mischievous,  in  order  to  preserve  trade 
laws  that  are  useless  ;  such  is  the  wisdom  of 
our  plan  in  both  its  members.  They  are  sepa 
rately  given  up  as  of  no  value,  and  yet  one  is 
always  to  be  defended  for  the  sake  of  the 
other.  But  I  cannot  agree  with  the  noble  lord, 
nor  with  the  pamphlet  from  whence  he  seems 
to  have  borrowed  these  ideas,  concerning  the 
inutility  of  the  trade  laws.  For  without  idoliz 
ing  them,  I  am  sure  they  are  still,  in  many 
ways,  of  great  use  to  us  ;  and  in  former  times 
they  have  been  of  the  greatest.  They  do  con 
fine,  and  they  do  greatly  narrow,$he  market 
for  the  Americans.  But  my  perfect  conviction 
of  this  does  not  help  me  in  the  least  to  discern 
how  the  revenue  laws  form  any  security  what 
soever  to  the  commercial  regulations,  or  that 
these  commercial  regulations  are  the  true 
ground  of  the  quarrel,  or  that  the  giving 
away,  in  any  one  instance,  of  authority,  is  to 
lose  all  that  may  remain  unconceded. 

One  fact  is  clear  and  indisputable.  The 
public  and  avowed  origin  of  this  quarrel  was 
on  taxation.  This  quarrel  has  indeed  brought 
on  new  disputes,  on  new  questions ;  but  cer 
tainly  the  least  bitter,  and  the  fewest  of  all,  on 
the  trade  laws.  To  judge  which  of  the  two  be 
*  Lord  North. 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


441 


the  real  radical  cause  of  quarrel,  we  have  to 
see  whether  the  commercial  dispute  did,  in 
order  of  time,  precede  the  dispute  on  taxation  ? 
There  is  not  a  shadow  of  evidence  for  it.  Next, 
to  enable  us  to  judge  whether  at  this  moment 
a  dislike  to  the  trade  laws  be  the  real  cause  of 
quarrel,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  put  the 
taxes  out  of  the  question  by  a  repeal.  See 
how  the  Americans  act  in  this  position,  and 
then  you  will  be  able  to  discern  correctly  what 
is  the  true  object  of  the  controversy,  or  whether 
any  controversy  at  all  will  remain  ?  Unless 
you  consent  to  remove  this  cause  of  difference, 
it  is  impossible,  with  decency,  to  assert  that 
the  dispute  is  not  upon  what  it  is  avowed  to  be. 
And  I  would,  sir,  recommend  to  your  serious 
consideration  whether  it  be  prudent  to  form  a 
rule  for  punishing  people,  not  on  their  own 
acts,  but  on  your  conjectures.  Surely  it  is  pre 
posterous  at  the  very  best.  It  is  not  justifying 
your  anger  by  their  misconduct,  but  it  is  con 
verting  your  ill-will  into  their  delinquency. 

But  the  colonies  will  go  farther — Alas  !  alas  ! 
When  will  this  speculating  against  fact  and 
reason  end  ?  What  will  quiet  these  panic  fears, 
which  we  entertain  of  the  hostile  effect  of  a 
conciliatory  conduct  ?  Is  it  true  that  no  case 
can  exist,  in  which  it  is  proper  for  the  sove 
reign  to  accede  to  the  desires  of  his  discon 
tented  subjects  ?  Is  there  any  thing  peculiar 
in  this  case,  to  make  a  rule  for  itself?  Is  all 
authority  of  course  lost,  when  it  is  not  pushed 
to  the  extreme?  Is  it  a  certain  maxim,  that 
the  fewer  causes  of  dissatisfaction  that  are  left 
by  government,  the  more  the  subject  will  be 
inclined  to  resist  and  rebel  ? 

All  these  objections,  being  in  fact  no  more 
than  suspicions,  conjectures,  divinations  formed 
in  defiance  of  fact  and  experience,  did  not,  sir, 
discourage  me  from  entertaining  the  idea  of  a 
conciliatory  concession,  founded  on  the  princi 
ples  I  have  just  stated. 

In  forming  a  plan  for  this  purpose,  I  endea 
vored  to  put  myself  in  that  frame  of  mind, 
which  was  the  most  natural,  and  the  most 
reasonable  ;  and  which  was  certainly  the  most 
probable  means  of  securing  me  from  all  error. 
I  set  out  with  a  perfect  distrust  of  my  own 
abilities  ;  a  total  renunciation  of  every  specula 
tion  of  my  own,  and  with  a  profound  reverence 
for  the  wisdom  of  our  ancestors,  who  have  left 
us  the  inheritance  of  so  happy  a  constitution, 
and  so  flourishing  an  empire,  and  what  is  a 
thousand  times  more  valuable,  the  treasury  of 
the  maxims  and  principles  which  formed  the 
one,  and  obtained  the  other. 

During  the  reigns  of  the  kings  of  Spain  of 
the  Austrian  family,  whenever  they  were  at  a 


loss  in  the  Spanish  councils,  it  was  common 
for  their  statesmen  to  say,  that  they  ought  to 
consult  the  genius  of  Philip  the  second.  The 
genius  of  Philip  the  second  might  mislead 
them,  and  the  issue  of  their  affair  showed  that 
they  had  not  chosen  the  most  perfect  standard. 
But,  sir,  I  am  sure  that  I  shall  not  be  misled, 
when,  in  a  case  of  constitutional  difficulty,  I 
consult  the  genius  of  the  English  constitution. 
Consulting  at  that  oracle  (it  was  with  all  due 
humility  and  piety)  I  found  four  capital  exam 
ples  in  a  similar  case  before  me,  those  of  Ire 
land,  Wales,  Chester,  and  Durham. 

Ireland,  before  the  English  conquest,  though 
never  governed  by  a  despotic  power,  had  no 
parliament.  How  far  the  English  parliament 
was  at  that  time  modelled  according  to  the 
present  form,  is  disputed  among  antiquarians. 
But  we  have  all  the  reason  in  the  world  to  be 
assured  that  a  form  of  parliament,  such  as 
England  then  enjoyed,  she  instantly  communi 
cated  to  Ireland  •  and  we  are  equally  sure  that 
almost  every  successive  improvement  in  con 
stitutional  liberty,  as  fast  as  it  was  made  here, 
was  transmitted  thither.  The  feudal  baronage, 
and  the  feudal  knighthood,  the  roots  of  our 
primitive  constitution,  were  early  transplanted 
into  that  soil,  and  grew  and  flourished  there. 
Magna  Charta,  if  it  did  not  give  us  originally 
the  house,  gave  us  at  least  a  house  of  commons 
of  weight  and  consequence.  But  your  ances 
tors  did  not  churlishly  sit  down  alone  to  the 
feast  of  Magna  Charta.  Ireland  was  made 
immediately  a  partaker.  This  benefit  of  Eng 
lish  laws  and  liberties,  I  confess,  was  not  at 
first  extended  to  all  Ireland.  Mark  the  conse 
quence.  English  authority,  and  English  liber 
ties  had  exactly  the  same  boundaries.  Your 
standard  could  never  be  advanced  an  inch 
before  your  privileges.  Sir  John  Davis  shows, 
beyond  a  doubt,  that  the  refusal  of  a  general 
communication  of  these  rights,  was  the  true 
cause  why  Ireland  was  five  hundred  years  in 
subduing ;  and  after  the  vain  projects  of  a 
military  government,  attempted  in  the  reign  of 
queen  Elizabeth,  it  was  soon  discovered,  that 
nothing  could  make  that  country  English,  in 
civility  and  allegiance,  but  your  laws  and  your 
forms  of  legislature.  It  was  not  English  arms, 
but  the  English  constitution,  that  conquered 
Ireland.  From  that  time,  Ireland  has  ever  had 
a  general  parliament  as  she  had  before  a  par 
tial  parliament ;  you  changed  the  people,  you 
altered  the  religion,  but  you  never  touched  the 
form  or  the  vital  substance  of  free  government. 
You  deposed  kings  ;  you  restored  them ;  you 
altered  the  succession  to  theirs,  as  well  as  to 
your  own  crown  ;  but  you  never  altered  their 


442 


PRINCIPLES  AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


constitution,  the  principle  of  which  was  re 
spected  by  usurpation  ;  restored  with  the  res 
toration  of  monarchy,  and  established,  I  trust 
forever,  by  the  glorious  revolution.  This  has 
made  Ireland  the  great  and  flourishing  king 
dom  that  it  is  ;  and  from  a  disgrace  and  a  bur 
then  intolerable  to  this  nation,  has  rendered 
her  a  principal  part  of  our  strength  and  orna 
ment.  This  country  cannot  be  said  to  have 
ever  formally  taxed  her.  The  irregular  things 
done  in  the  confusion  of  mighty  troubles,  and 
on  the  hinge  of  great  revolutions,  even  if  all 
were  done  that  is  said  to  have  been  done,  form 
no  example.  If  they  have  any  effect  in  argu 
ment,  they  make  an  exception  to  prove  the 
rule.  None  of  your  own  liberties  could  stand 
a  moment,  if  the  casual  deviations  from  them, 
at  such  times,  were  suffered  to  be  used  as 
proofs  of  their  nullity.  By  the  lucrative  amount 
of  such  casual  breaches  in  the  constitution, 
judge  what  the  stated  and  fixed  rule  of  supply 
has  been  in  that  kingdom.  Your  Irish  pen 
sioners  would  starve,  if  they  had  no  other  fund 
to  live  on  than  taxes  granted  by  English  autho 
rity.  Turn  your  eyes  to  those  popular  grants 
from  whence  all  your  great  supplies  are  come, 
and  learn  to  respect  that  only  source  of  public 
wealth  in  the  British  empire. 

My  next  example  is  Wales.  This  country 
was  said  to  be  reduced  by  Henry  the  third. 
It  was  said  more  truly  to  be  so  by  Edward  the 
first.  But  though  then  conquered,  it  was  not 
looked  upon  as  any  part  of  the  realm  of 
England.  Its  old  constitution,  whatever  that 
might  have  been,  was  destroyed,  and  no  good 
one  was  substituted  in  its  place.  The  care  of 
that  tract  was  put  into  the  hand  of  lord  Mar 
chers — a  form  of  government  of  a  very  singu 
lar  kind ;  a  strange  heterogeneous  monster, 
something  between  hostility  and  government  ; 
perhaps  it  has  a  sort  of  resemblance,  according 
to  the  modes  of  those  times,  to  that  of  com 
mander  in  chief  at  present,  to  whom  all  civil 
power  is  granted  as  secondary.  The  manners 
of  the  Welch  nation  followed  the  genius  of  the 
government ;  the  people  were  ferocious,  rest 
ive,  savage  and  uncultivated  ;  sometimes  com 
posed,  never  pacified.  Wales  within  itself  was 
in  perpetual  disorder  ;  and  it  kept  the  frontier 
of  England  in  perpetual  alarm.  Benefits  from 
it  to  the  state  there  were  none.  Wales  was 
only  known  to  England  by  incursion  and 
invasion. 

Sir,  during  that  state  of  things,  parliament 
was  not  idle.  They  attempted  to  subdue  the 
fierce  spirit  of  the  Welch  by  all  sorts  of  rigor 
ous  laws.  They  prohibited  by  statute  the  send 
ing  all  sorts  of  arms  into  Wales,  as  you  pro 


hibit  by  proclamation  (with  something  more  of 
doubt  on  the  legality)  the  sending  arms  to 
America.  They  disarmed  the  Welch  by  stat 
ute  as  you  attempted  (but  still  with  more  ques 
tion  on  the  legality)  to  disarm  New  England  by 
instruction.  They  made  an  act  to  drag 
offenders  from  Wales  into  England  for  trial, 
as  you  have  done  (but  with  more  hardship) 
with  regard  to  America.  By  another  act, 
where  one  of  the  parties  was  an  Englishman, 
they  ordained  that  his  trial  should  be  always 
by  English.  They  made  acts  to  restrain  trade, 
as  you  do,  and  they  prevented  the  Welch  from 
the  use  of  fairs  and  markets,  as  you  do  the 
Americans  from  fisheries  and  foreign  ports. 
In  short,  when  the  statute  book  was  not  quite 
so  much  swelled  as  it  is  now,  you  find  no  less 
than  fifteen  acts  of  penal  regulation  on  the 
subject  of  Wales. 

Here  we  rub  our  hands — A  fine  body  of  pre 
cedents  for  the  authority  of  parliament,  and  the 
use  of  it  !  I  admit  it  fully,  and  pray  add  like 
wise  to  these  precedents,  that  all  the  while 
Wales  eyed  this  kingdom  like  an  incubus  ;  that 
it  was  an  unprofitable  and  oppressive  burthen  ; 
and  that  an  Englishman,  travelling  in  that 
country,  could  not  go  six  yards  from  the  high 
road  without  being  murdered. 

The  march  of  the  human  mind  is  slow,  sir  ; 
it  was  not  until  after  two  hundred  years  dis 
covered,  that,  by  an  eternal  law,  Providence 
had  decreed  vexation  to  violence  and  poverty 
to  rapine.  Your  ancestors  did  however  at 
length  open  their  eyes  to  the  ill  husbandry  of 
injustice.  They  found  the  tyranny  of  a  free 
people  could,  of  all  tyrannies,  the  least  be  en 
dured,  and  that  laws  made  against  a  whole 
nation  were  not  the  most  effectual  methods 
for  securing  its  obedience.  Accordingly,  in 
the  twenty-seventh  year  of  Henry  VIII.  the 
course  was  entirely  altered.  With  a  preamble 
stating  the  entire  and  perfect  rights  of  the 
crown  of  England,  it  gave  to  the  Welch  all  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  English  subjects.  A 
political  order  was  established ;  the  military 
power  gave  way  to  the  civil ;  the  marches  were 
turned  into  counties.  But  that  a  nation  should 
have  a  right  to  English  liberties,  and  yet  no 
share  at  all  in  the  fundamental  security  of 
these  liberties,  the  grant  of  their  own  property, 
seemed  a  thing  so  incongruous,  that  eight 
years  after,  that  is,  in  the  thirty-fifth  of  that 
reign,  a  complete  and  not  ill-proportioned  repre 
sentation  by  counties  and  boroughs  was  be 
stowed  upon  Wales,  by  act  of  parliament. 
From  that  moment,  as  by  a  charm,  the  tumults 
subsided ;  obedience  was  restored,  peace, 
order,  and  civilization  followed  in  the  train  of 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


443 


liberty. — When  the  day  star  of  the  English 
constitution  had  arisen  in  their  hearts,  all  was 
harmony  within  and  without. 

Simul  alba  nautis 

Stella  retulsit, 

Defluit  faxis  agitatus  humor  ; 
Concidunt  venti,  fugiuntque  nubes  ; 
Et  minax  (quod  sic  voluere)  ponto 

Unda  recumbit. 

The  very  same  year  the  county  palatine  of 
Chester  received  the  same  relief  from  its  op 
pressions,  and  the  same  remedy  to  its  disor 
ders.  Before  this  time  Chester  was  little  less 
distempered  than  Wales.  The  inhabitants, 
without  rights  themselves,  were  the  fittest  to 
destroy  the  rights  of  others  ;  and  from  thence 
Richard  II.  drew  the  standing  armies  of  archers, 
with  which  for  a  time  he  oppressed  England. 
The  people  of  Chester  applied  to  parliament  in 
a  petition,  penned  as  I  shall  read  to  you. 

"  To  the  king,  our  sovereign  lord,  in  most 
humble  wise  shown  unto  your  excellent  maj 
esty,  the  inhabitants  of  your  grace's  county 
palatine  of  Chester,  that  where  the  said  county 
palatine  of  Chester  is  and  hath  been  always 
hitherto  exempt,  excluded  and  separated  out 
and  from  your  high  court  of  parliament,  to 
have  any  knights  or  burgesses  within  the  said 
court ;  by  reason  whereof  the  said  inhabitants 
have  hitherto  sustained  manifold  disherisons, 
losses  and  damages,  as  well  in  their  lands, 
goods,  and  bodies,  as  in  the  good,  civil,  and 
politic  governance  and  maintainance  of  the 
commonwealth  of  their  said  county.  (2.)  And 
forasmuch  as  the  said  inhabitants  have  always 
hitherto  been  bound  by  the  acts  and  statutes 
made  and  ordained  by  your  said  highness,  and 
your  most  noble  progenitors,  by  authority  of 
the  said  court,  as  far  forth  as  other  counties, 
cities,  and  boroughs  have  been,  that  have  had 
their  knights  and  burgesses  within  your  said 
court  of  parliament,  and  yet  have  had  neither 
knight  nor  burgesses  there  for  the  said  county 
palatine  ;  the  said  inhabitants,  for  lack  thereof, 
have  been  oftentimes  touched,  and  grieved 
with  acts  and  statutes  made  within  the  said 
court,  as  well  derogatory  unto  the  most  ancient 
jurisdictions,  liberties,  and  privileges  of  your 
said  county  palatine,  as  prejudicial  unto  the 
commonwealth,  quietness,  rest,  and  peace  of 
your  grace's  most  bounden  subjects  inhabiting 
within  the  same." 

What  did  parliament  with  this  audacious 
address  ?  Reject  it  as  a  libel  ?  Treat  it  as  an 
affront  to  government  ?  Spurn  it  as  a  deroga 
tion  from  the  rights  of  legislature  ?  Did  they 
toss  it  over  the  table  ?  Did  they  burn  it  by  the 
hands  of  the  common  hangman  ?  They  took 


the  petition  of  grievance,  all  rugged  as  it  was, 
without  softening,  or  temperament,  unpurged 
of  the  original  bitterness  and  indignation  of 
complaint ;  they  made  it  the  very  preamble  to 
their  act  of  redress  ;  and  consecrated  its  prin 
ciple  to  all  ages  on  the  sanctuary  of  legislation. 

Here  is  my  third  example.  It  was  attended 
with  the  success  of  my  two  former.  Chester, 
civilized  as  well  as  Wales,  has  demonstrated 
that  freedom  and  not  servitude,  is  the  cure  of 
anarchy  ;  as  religion,  and  not  atheism,  is  the 
true  remedy  for  superstition. 

Sir,  this  pattern  of  Chester  was  followed  in 
the  reign  of  Charles  II.  with  regard  to  the 
county  palatine  of  Durham,  which  is  my  fourth 
example.  This  county  had  long  lain  out  of  the 
pale  of  free  legislation.  So  scrupulously  was 
the  example  of  Chester  followed,  that  the  style 
of  the  preamble  is  nearly  the  same  with  that  of 
the  Chester  act ;  and  without  affecting  the  ab 
stract  extent  of  the  authority  of  parliament,  it 
recognizes  the  equity  of  not  suffering  any  con 
siderable  district  in  which  the  British  subjects 
may  act  as  a  body,  to  be  taxed  without  their 
own  voice  in  the  grant. 

Now  if  the  doctrines  of  policy  contained  in 
these  preambles,  and  the  force  of  these  exam 
ples  in  the  acts  of  parliament,  avail  anything, 
what  can  be  said  against  applying  them  with 
regard  to  America  ?  Are  not  the  people  of 
America  as  much  Englishmen  as  the  Welch  ? 
The  preamble  of  the  act  of  Henry  VIII.  says, 
the  Welch  speak  a  language  no  way  resembling 
that  of  his  majesty's  English  subjects.  Are 
the  Americans  not  so  numerous  ?  If  we  may 
trust  the  learned  and  accurate  judge  Barring- 
ton's  account  of  North  Wales,  and  take  that  as 
a  standard  to  measure  the  rest,  there  is  no 
comparison.  The  people  cannot  amount  to 
above  200,000  ;  not  a  tenth  part  of  the  number 
in  the  colonies.  Is  America  in  rebellion  ?  Wales 
was  hardly  free  from  it.  Have  you  attempted 
to  govern  America  by  penal  statutes  ?  You 
made  fifteen  for  Wales.  But  your  legislative 
authority  is  perfect  with  regard  to  America ; 
was  it  less  perfect  in  Wales,  Chester,  and  Dur 
ham  ?  But  America  is  virtually  represented. 
What !  Does  the  electric  force  of  virtual  rep 
resentation  more  easily  pass  over  the  Atlantic, 
than  pervade  Wales,  which  lies  in  your  neigh 
borhood  ;  or  than  Chester  and  Durham  sur 
rounded  by  abundance  of  representation  that  is 
actual  and  palpable  ?  But,  sir,  your  ancestors 
thought  this  sort  of  virtual  representation,  how 
ever  ample,  to  be  totally  insufficient  for  the 
freedom  of  the  inhabitants  of  territories  that 
are  so  near,  and  comparatively  so  inconsidera 
ble.  How  then  can  I  chink  it  sufficient  for 


444 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


those  who  are  infinitely  greater,  and  infinitely 
more  remote  ? 

You  will  now,  sir,  perhaps,  imagine  that  I 
am  on  the  point  of  proposing  to  you  a  scheme 
for  a  representation  of  the  colonies  in  parlia 
ment.  Perhaps  I  might  be  inclined  to  enter 
tain  some  such  thought ;  but  a  great  flood  stops 
me  in  my  course.  Opposuit  natura — I  cannot 
remove  the  eternal  barriers  of  the  creation. 
The  thing  in  that  mode,  I  do  not  know  to  be 
possible.  As  I  meddle  with  no  theory,  I  do  not 
absolutely  assert  the  impracticability  of  such  a 
representation.  But  I  do  not  see  my  way  to  it ; 
and  those  who  have  been  more  confident,  have 
not  been  more  successful.  However,  the  arm 
of  public  benevolence  is  not  shortened,  and 
there  are  often  several  means  to  the  same  end. 
What  nature  has  disjoined  in  one  way,  wisdom 
may  unite  in  another.  When  we  cannot  give 
the  benefit  as  we  would  wish,  let  us  not  refuse 
it  altogether.  If  we  cannot  give  the  principal, 
let  us  find  a  substitute.  But  how  ?  Where  ? 
What  substitute  ? 

Fortunately  I  am  not  obliged,  for  the  ways  and 
means  of  this  substitute,  to  tax  my  own  unpro 
ductive  invention.  I  am  not  even  obliged  to 
go  to  the  rich  treasury  of  the  fertile  framers  of 
imaginary  commonwealths  ;  not  to  the  republic 
of  Plato,  not  to  the  Utopia  of  Moore,  not  to  the 
oceans  of  Harrington.  It  is  before  me.  It  is 
at  my  feet,  and  the  rude  swain  treads  daily  on  it 
with  his  clouted  shoon.  I  only  wish  you  to 
recognize,  for  the  theory,  the  ancient  constitu 
tional  policy  of  this  kingdom  with  regard  to 
representatives,  as  that  policy  has  been  declared 
in  acts  of  parliament ;  and  as  to  the  practice, 
to  return  to  that  mode  which  an  uniform  ex 
perience  has  marked  out  to  you  as  best ;  and 
in  which  you  walked  with  security,  advantage, 
and  honor,  until  the  year  1763. 

My  resolutions,  therefore,  mean  to  establish 
the  equity  and  justice  of  a  taxation -of  America 
by  grant  and  not  by  imposition.  To  mark  the 
legal  competency  of  the  colony  assemblies  for 
the  support  of  their  government  in  peace,  and 
for  public  aids  in  time  of  war.  To  acknowledge 
that  this  legal  competency  has  had  a  dutiful 
and  beneficial  exercise ;  and  that  experience 
has  shown  the  benefit  of  their  grants,  and  the 
futility  of  parliamentary  taxation  as  a  method 
of  supply. 

These  solid  truths  compose  six  fundamental 
propositions.  There  are  three  more  resolutions 
corollary  to  these.  If  you  admit  the  first  set 
you  can  hardly  reject  the  others.  But  if  you 
admit  the  first,  I  shall  be  far  from  solicitous 
whether  you  accept  or  refuse  the  last.  I  think 
these  six  massive  pillars  will  be  of  strength  suf 


ficient  to  support  the  temple  of  British  concord. 
I  have  no  more  doubt  than  I  entertain  of  my 
existence,  that  if  you  admitted  these,  you  would 
command  an  immediate  peace ;  and  with  but 
tolerable  future  management,  a  lasting  obedi 
ence  in  America.  I  am  not  arrogant  in  this 
confident  assurance.  The  propositions  are 
all  mere  matters  of  fact ;  and  if  they  are  such 
facts  as  draw  irresistible  conclusions  even  in 
the  stating,  that  is  the  power  of  truth,  and  not 
any  management  of  mine. 

Sir,  I  shall  open  the  whole  plan  to  you  to 
gether,  with  such  observations  on  the  motions 
as  may  tend  to  illustrate  them  where  they  may 
want  explanation.  The  first  is  a  resolution — 
"That  the  colonies  and  plantations  of  Great 
Britain  in  North  America,  consisting  of  four 
teen  separate  governments,  and  containing 
two  millions  and  upwards  of  free  inhabitants, 
have  not  the  liberty  and  privilege  of  electing 
and  sending  any  knights  and  burgesses,  or 
others,  to  represent  them  in  the  high  court  of 
parliament." — This  is  a  plain  matter  of  fact, 
necessary  to  be  laid  down,  and  (excepting  the 
description)  it  is  laid  down  in  the  language  of 
the  constitution  ;  it  is  taken  nearly  verbatim 
from  acts  of  parliament. 

The  second  is  like  unto  the  first — "  That  the 
said  colonies  and  plantations  have  been  liable 
to,  and  bounden  by,  several  subsidies,  pay 
ments,  rates,  and  taxes,  given  and  granted  by 
parliament,  though  the  said  colonies  and  plan 
tations  have  not  their  knights  and  burgesses, 
in  the  said  high  court  of  parliament,  of  their 
own  election,  to  represent  the  condition  of  their 
country ;  by  lack  whereof  they  have  been  often 
times  touched  and  grieved  by  subsidies  given, 
granted,  and  assented  to,  in  the  said  court,  in 
a  manner  prejudicial  to  the  commonwealth, 
quietness,  rest,  and  peace,  of  the  subjects  in 
habiting  within  the  same." 

Is  this  description  too  hot,  or  too  cold,  too 
strong,  or  too  weak?  Does  it  arrogate  too 
much  to  the  supreme  legislature?  Does  it 
lean  too  much  to  the  claims  of  the  people  ?  If 
it  runs  into  any  of  these  errors,  the  fault  is  not 
mine.  It  is  the  language  of  your  own  ancient 
acts  of  parliament.  Non  meys  hie  sermo,  sed 
qua  proecepit,  ofella,  rusticus,  abnormis  sapiens  , 
it  is  the  general  produce  of  the  ancient,  rustic, 
manly,  home-bred  sense  of  this  country.  I  did 
not  dare  to  rub  off  a  particle  of  the  venerable 
rust  that  rather  adorns  and  preserves  than 
destroys  the  metal.  It  would  be  a  profanation 
to  touch  with  a  tool  the  stones  which  con 
struct  the  sacred  altar  of  peace.  I  would  not 
violate,  with  modern  polish,  the  ingenious  and 
noble  roughness  of  these  truly  constitutional 


BRITISH  PARLIAMENT. 


445 


materials.  Above  all  things,  I  was  resolved 
not  to  be  guilty  of  tampering — the  odious  vice 
of  restless  and  unstable  minds.  I  put  my  foot 
in  the  tracks  of  our  forefathers,  where  I  can 
neither  wander  nor  stumble.  Determining  to 
fix  articles  of  peace,  I  was  resolved  not  to  be 
wise  beyond  what  was  written  ;  I  was  resolved 
to  use  nothing  else  than  the  form  of  sound 
words  to  let  others  abound  in  their  own  sense  ; 
and  carefully  to  abstain  from  all  expressions 
of  my  own.  What  the  law  has  said,  I  say. 
In  all  things  else  I  am  silent.  I  have  no  organ 
but  for  her  words.  This  if  it  be  not  ingenious, 
I  am  sure  is  safe. 

There  are,  indeed,  words  expressive  of  griev 
ance  in  this  second  resolution,  which  those 
who  are  resolved  always  to  be  in  the  right, 
will  deny  to  contain  matter  of  fact,  as  applied 
to  the  present  case ;  although  parliament 
thought  them  true  with  regard  to  the  counties 
of  Chester  and  Durham. — They  will  deny  that 
the  Americans  were  ever  "touched  and 
grieved  V  with  the  taxes.  If  they  consider 
nothing  in  taxes  but  their  weight  as  pecuniary 
impositions,  there  might  be  some  pretence  for 
this  denial.  But  men  may  be  sorely  touched 
and  deeply  grieved  in  their  privileges  as  well  as 
in  their  purses.  Men  may  lose  little  in  property 
by  the  act  which  takes  away  all  their  freedom. 
When  a  man  is  robbed  of  a  trifle  on  the  high 
way,  it  is  not  the  twopence  lost  that  constitutes 
the  capital  outrage.  This  is  not  confined  to 
privileges  ;  even  ancient  indulgences  withdrawn, 
without  offence  on  the  part  of  those  who 
enjoyed  such  favors,  operate  as  grievances. 
But  were  the  Americans  then  not  touched  and 
grieved  by  the  taxes,  in  some  measure,  merely 
asked  ?  If  so,  why  were  they  all  either  wholly 
repealed  or  exceedingly  reduced  ?  Were  they 
not  touched  and  grieved  even  by  the  regulating 
duties  of  the  sixth  of  George  the  II  ?  Else 
why  were  the  duties  first  reduced  to  one  third 
in  1764,  and  afterwards  to  a  third  of  that  third 
in  the  year  1766?  were  they  not  touched  and 
grieved  by  the  stamp  act  ?  I  shall  say  they 
were  until  that  tax  is  revived.  Were  they  not 
touched  -and  grieved  by  the  duties  of  1767, 
which  were  likewise  repealed,  and  which  lord 
Hillsborough  tells  you  .  (for  the  ministry)  were 
laid  contrary  to  the  true  principle  of  commerce  ? 
Is  not  the  assurance  given  by  that  noble  person 
to  the  colonies  of  a  resolution  to  lay  no  more 
taxes  on  them,  an  admission  that  taxes  would 
touch  and  grieve  them  ?  Is  not  the  resolution 
of  the  noble  lord  in  the  blue  riband,  now  stand 
ing  on  your  journals,  the  strongest  of  all  proofs 
that  parliamentary  subsidies  really  touched  and 
grieved  them  ?  Else  why  all  these  changes, 


modifications,  repeals,  assurances  and  resolu 
tions  ? 

The  next  proposition  is,  "That,  from  the 
distance  of  the  said  colonies,  and  from  other 
circumstances,  no  method  has  hitherto  been 
devised  for  procuring  a  representation  in  parlia 
ment  for  the  said  colonies."  This  is  an  asser 
tion  of  a  fact.  I  go  no  farther  on  the  paper, 
though  in  my  private  judgment,  an  useful 
representation  is  impossible  ;  I  am  sure  it  is 
not  desired  by  them,  nor  ought  it  perhaps  by 
us  ;  but  I  abstain  from  opinions. 

The  fourth  resolution  is,  "  that  each  of  the 
said  colonies  hath  within  itself  a  body  chosen 
in  part,  or  in  the  whole,  by  the  freedmen,  free 
holders,  or  other  free  inhabitants  thereof,  com 
monly  called  the  general  assembly,  or  general 
court,  with  powers  legally  to  raise,  levy,  and 
assess,  according  to  the  several  usage  of  such 
colonies,  duties  and  taxes  towards  defraying  all 
sorts  of  public  service." 

This  competence  in  the  colony  assemblies  is 
certain.  It  is  proved  by  the  whole  tenor  of 
their  acts  of  supply  in  all  the  assemblies,  in 
which  the  constant  style  of  granting  is,  "  An 
aid  to  his  majesty  ;  "  and  acts,  granting  to  the 
crown,  has  regularly,  for  near  a  century,  passed 
the  public  offices  without  dispute.  Those  who 
have  been  pleased  paradoxically  to  deny  this 
right,  holding  that  none  but  the  British  parlia 
ment  can  grant  to  the  crown,  are  wished  to 
look  to  what  is  done,  not  only  in  the  colonies, 
but  in  Ireland,  in  one  uniform  unbroken  tenor 
every  session.  Sir,  I  am  surprised  that  this 
doctrine  should  come  from  some  of  the  law 
servants  of  the  crown.  I  say,  that  if  the  crown 
could  be  responsible,  his  majesty but  cer 
tainly  the  ministers  are,  even  these  law  officers 
themselves,  through  whose  hands  the  acts  pass 
biennially  in  Ireland  or  annually  in  the  colonies, 
in  an  habitual  course  of  committing  impeach- 
able  offences.  What  habitual  offenders  have 
been  all  presidents  of  the  council,  all  secretaries 
of  state,  all  first  lords  of  trade,  all  attornies, 
and  all  solicitors  general !  However,  they  are 
safe,  as  no  one  impeaches  them,  and  there  is 
no  ground  of  charge  against  them,  except  in 
their  own  unfounded  theories. 

The  first  resolution  is  also  a  resolution  of 
fact,  "  that  the  said  general  assemblies,  general 
courts,  or  other  bodies  legally  qualified  as 
aforesaid,  have  at  sundry  times  freely  granted 
several  large  subsidies  and  public  aids  for  his 
majesty's  service  according  to  their  abilities, 
when  required  thereto  by  letter  from  one  of  his 
majesty's  principal  secretaries  of  state  ;  and 
that  their  right  to  grant  the  same,  and  their 
cheerfulness  and  sufficiency  in  the  said  grants 


446 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


have  been  at  sundry  times  acknowledged  by 
parliament."  To  say  nothing  of  their  great 
expenses  in  the  India  wars ;  and  not  to  take 
their  exertion  in  foreign  ones,  so  high  as  the 
supplies  in  the  year  1695 ;  not  to  go  back  to 
their  public  contributions  in  the  year  1710;  I 
shall  begin  to  travel  only  where  the  journals 
give  me  light ;  resolved  to  deal  in  nothing  but 
fact,  authenticated  by  parliamentary  record, 
and  to  build  myself  wholly  on  that  solid  basis. 

On  the  fourth  of  April,  1748,  a  committee  of 
this  house  came  to  the  following  resolution  : 

"  RESOLVED,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this 
committee,  that  it  is  just  and  reasonable  that  the 
several  provinces  and  colonies  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode 
Island,  be  reimbursed  the  expenses  they  have 
been  at  in  taking  and  securing  to  the  crown  of 
Great  Britain,  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  and 
its  dependencies." 

These  expenses  were  immense  for  such  colon 
ies.  They  were  above  ,£200,000  sterling  ;  money 
first  raised  and  advanced  on  their  public  credit. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  of  January,  1756,  a 
message  from  the  king  came  to  us  to  this  effect 
— "  His  majesty,  being  sensible  of  the  Zealand 
vigor  with  which  his  subjects  of  certain  colo 
nies  in  North  America  have  exerted  themselves 
in  defence  of  his  majesty's  just  rights  and  pos 
sessions,  recommends  it  to  this  house  to  take 
the  same  into  their  consideration,  and  to  enable 
his  majesty  to  give  them  such  assistance  as 
may  be  a  proper  reward  and  encouragement." 

On  the  third  of  February,  1756,  the  house 
came  to  a  suitable  resolution,  expressed  in 
words  nearly  the  same  as  those  of  the  message, 
but  with  the  farther  addition,  that  the  money 
they  voted  was  as  an  encouragement  to  the 
colonies  to  exert  themselves  with  vigor.  It 
will  not  be  necessary  to  go  through  all  the 
testimonies  which  your  own  records  have  given 
to  the  truth  of  my  resolutions.  I  will  only  refer 
you  to  the  places  in  the  journals : 

Vol.  XXVII. i6th  and  ipth  of  May,  1757. 

Vol.  XXVIII.  —June  1st,  1758,  April  26th  and 
30th,  1759. 

March    26th    and    3ist,   and 
April  28th,  1760. 
January  gth  and  2Oth,  1761. 

Vol.  XXIX. Jan.22d,  and  26th,  1762,  March 

I4th  and  I7th,  1763. 

Sir,  here  is  the  repeated  acknowledgment  of 
parliament  that  the  colonies  not  only  gave,  but 
gave  to  satiety.  This  nation  has  formally 
acknowledged  two  things  :  first,  that  the  colo 
nies  had  gone  beyond  their  abilities,  parliament 
having  thought  it  necessary  to  reimburse  them  ; 
secondly,  that  they  had  acted  legally  and  laud 


ably  in  their  grants  of  money,  and  their  main 
tenance  of  troops,  since  the  compensation  is 
expressly  given  as  a  reward  and  encouragement. 
Reward  is  not  bestowed  for  acts  that  are  un 
lawful,  and  encouragement  is  not  held  out  to 
things  that  deserve  reprehension.  My  resolu 
tion,  therefore,  does  nothing  more  than  col 
lect  into  one  proposition  what  is  scattered 
through  your  journals.  I  give  you  nothing  but 
your  own,  and  you  cannot  refuse  in- the  gross, 
what  you  have  so  often  acknowledged  in  detail. 
The  admission  of  this,  which  will  be  so  honor 
able  to  them  and  to  you,  will,  indeed,  be  mor 
tal  to  all  the  miserable  stories,  by  which  the 
passions  of  the  misguided  people  have  been  en 
gaged  in  an  unhappy  system.  The  people. heard 
indeed  from  the  beginning  of  these  disputes, 
one  thing  continually  dinned  in  their  ears,  that 
reason  and  justice  demanded  that  the  Ameri 
cans,  who  paid  no  taxes,  should  be  compelled 
to  contribute.  How  did  that  fact  of  their  pay 
ing  nothing  stand  when  the  taxing  system 
began  ?  When  Mr.  Greenville  began  to  form 
his  system  of  American  revenue,  he  stated,  in 
this  house,  that  the  colonies  were  then  in  debt 
two  million  six  hundred  thousand  pounds  ster 
ling  money,  and  was  of  opinion  they  would  dis 
charge  the  debt  in  four  years.  On  this  state, 
those  untaxed  people  were  actually  subject  to 
the  payment  of  taxes  to  the  amount  of  six 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  a  year.  In  fact, 
however,  Mr.  Greenville  was  mistaken.  The 
funds  given  for  sinking  the  debt  did  not  prove 
quite  so  ample  as  both  the  colonies  and  he 
expected.  The  calculation  was  too  sanguine. 
The  reduction  was  not  completed  till  some 
years  after,  and  at  different  times  in  different 
colonies.  However,  the  taxes  after  the  war 
continued  too  great  to  bear  any  addition  with 
prudence  or  propriety  ;  and  when  the  burthens 
imposed  in  consequence  of  former  requisitions 
were  discharged,  our  tone  became  too  high  to 
resort  again  to  requisition.  No  colony,  since 
that  time,  ever  has  had  any  requisition  whatso 
ever  made  to  it. 

We  see  the  sense  of  the  crown,  and  the  sense 
of  parliament,  on  the  productive  nature  of  a 
revenue  by  grant.  Now  search  the  same  jour 
nals  for  the  produce  of  the  revenue  by  imposi 
tion.  Where  is  it  ?  Let  us  know  the  volume 
and  the  page  ?  What  is  the  net  produce  ?  To 
what  service  is  it  applied  ?  How  have  you 
appropriated  its  surplus  ?  What,  can  none  of 
the  many  skilful  index  makers,  that  we  are 
now  employing,  find  any  trace  of  it  ?  Well,  let 
them  and  that  rest  together.  But  are  the 
journals,  which  say  nothing  of  the  revenue,  as 
silent  on  the  discontent  ?  O  no  !  A  child  may 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


447 


find  it.    It  is  the  melancholy  burthen  and  blot* 
of  every  page. 

I  think  then  I  am,  from  those  journals,  justi 
fied  in  the  sixth  and  last  resolution,  which  is — 
"  That  it  hath  been  found,  by  experience,  that 
the  manner  of  granting  the  said  supplies  and 
aids,  by  the  said  general  assemblies,  hath  been 
more  agreeable  to  the  said  colonies,  and  more 
beneficial  and  conducive  to  the  public  service, 
than  the  mode  of  giving  and  granting  aids  in 
parliament,  to  be  raised  and  paid  in  the  same 
colonies."  This  makes  the  whole  of  the  funda 
mental  part  of  the  plan.  The  conclusion  is 
irresistible.  You  cannot  say  that  you  were 
driven  by  any  necessity  to  an  exercise  of  the 
utmost  rights  of  legislature.  You  cannot  assert 
that  you  took  on  yourselves  the  task  of  impos 
ing  colony  taxes,  from  the  want  of  another 
legal  body,  that  is  competent  to  the  purpose  of 
supplying  the  exigencies  of  the  state,  without 
wounding  the  prejudices  of  the  people. 
Neither  is  it  true  that  the  body  so  qualified, 
and  having  that  competence  had  neglected  the 
duty. 

The  question  now,  on  all  this  accumulated 
matter,  is,  whether  you  will  choose  to  abide  by 
a  profitable  experience,  or  a  mischievous  theory ; 
whether  you  choose  to  build  on  imagination 
or  fact ;  whether  you  prefer  enjoyment  or  hope  ; 
satisfaction  in  your  subjects,  or  discontent. 

If  these  propositions  are  accepted,  everything 
which  has  been  made  to  enforce  a  contrary  sys 
tem,  must,  I  take  it  for  granted,  fall  along  with  it. 
On  that  ground,  I  have  drawn  the  following  res 
olution,  which,  when  it  comes  to  be  moved,  will 
naturally  be  divided  in  a  proper  manner.  "  That 
it  may  be  proper  to  repeal  an  act,  made  in  the 
seventh  year  of  the  reign  of  his  present  majesty, 
entitled^,  an  act  for  granting  certain  duties  in 
the  British  colonies  and  plantations  in  Amer 
ica  ;  for  allowing  a  drawback  of  the  duties  of 
customs  upon  the  exportation  from  this  king 
dom  of  coffee  and  cocoa  nuts,  of  the  produce 
of  the  said  colonies  and  plantations ;  for  dis 
continuing  the  drawbacks  payable  on  China 
earthen-ware  exported  to  America,  and  for 
more  effectually  preventing  the  clandestine 
running  of  goods  in  the  said  colonies  and  plan 
tations. — And  that  it  may  be  proper  to  repeal 
an  act  made  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  the  reign 
of  his  present  majesty,  entitled,  an  act  to  dis 
continue,  in  such  manner,  and  for  such  time, 
as  are  therein  mentioned,  the  landing  and  dis 
charging,  the  lading  and  shipping,  of  goods, 
wares,  and  merchandise,  at  the  town  and  within 
the  harbor  of  Boston,  in  the  province  of  Mas 
sachusetts  Bay,  in  North  America. — And  that 
it  may  be  proper  to  repeal  an  act  made  in  the 


fourteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  his  present 
majesty,  entitled,  an  act  for  the  impartial  ad 
ministration  of  justice,  in  the  cases  of  persons 
questioned  for  any  acts  done  by  them,  in  the 
execution  of  the  law,  or  for  the  suppression  of 
riots  and  tumults  in  the  province  of  Massachu 
setts-Bay,  in  New  England. — And  it  may  be 
proper  to  repeal  an  act  made  in  the  fourteenth 
year  of  the  reign  of  his  present  majesty,  entitled, 
an  act  for  the  better  regulating  the  government 
of  the  province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  in 
New  England. — And  also  that  it  may  be 
proper  to  explain  and  amend  an  act, 
made  in  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  the  reign  of 
king  Henry  the  eighth,  entitled,  an  act  for  the 
trial  of  treasons  committed  out  of  the  king's  do 
minions." 

I  wish,  sir,  to  repeal  the  Boston  port  bill, 
because  (independently  of  the  dangerous  pre 
cedent  of  suspending  the  rights  of  the  subjects 
during  the  king's  pleasure)  it  was  passed,  as  I 
apprehend,  with  less  regularity,  and  on  more 
partial  principles  than  it  ought.  The  cor 
poration  of  Boston  was  not  heard,  before 
it  was  condemned.  Other  towns  full  as 
guilty  as  she  was,  have  not  had  their  ports 
blocked  up.  Even  the  restraining  bill  of  the 
present  session  does  not  go  to  the  length  of 
the  Boston  port  act.  The  same  ideas  of  pru 
dence,  which  induced  you  not  to  extend  .equal 
punishment  to  equal  guilt,  even  when  you  were 
punishing,  induce  me,  who  mean  not  to  chas 
tise,  but  to  reconcile,  to  be  satisfied  with  the 
punishment  already  partially  inflicted. 

Ideas  of  prudence,  and  accommodation  to 
circumstances,  prevent  you  from  taking  away 
the  charters  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island, 
as  you  have  taken  away  that  of  Massachusetts 
colony,  though  the  crown  has  far  less  power  in 
the  above  two  former  provinces  than  it  enjoyed 
in  the  latter ;  and  though  the  abuses  have 
been  full  as  great,  and  as  flagrant,  in  the  ex 
empted  as  in  the  punished.  The  same  reasons 
of  prudence  and  accommodation  have  weight 
with  me  in  restoring  the  charter  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Bay.  Besides,  sir,  the  act  which 
changes  the  charter  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
is  in  many  particulars  so  exceptionable,  that  if 
I  did  not  wish  absolutely  to  repeal,  I  would  by 
all  means  desire  to  alter  it,  as  several  of  its 
provisions  tend  to  the  subversion  of  all  public 
and  private  justice.  Such,  among  others,  is  the 
power  in  the  governor  to  change  the  sheriff  at 
his  pleasure,  and  to  make  a  new  returning 
officer  for  every  special  cause.  It  is  shameful 
to  behold  such  a  regulation  standing  among 
English  laws. 

The  act  for  bringing  persons,  accused  of 


448 


PRINCIPLES   AND   ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


committing  murder,  under  the  orders  of  gov 
ernment,  to  England,  for  trial,  is  but  tempo 
rary.  That  act  has  calculated  the  probable 
duration  of  our  quarrel  with  the  colonies,  and 
is  accommodated  to  that  supposed  duration.  I 
would  hasten  the  happy  moment  of  recon 
ciliation:  and  therefore  must,  on  my  prin 
ciple,  get  rid  of  that  most  justly  obnoxious 
act. 

The  act  of  Henry  the  eighth,  for  the  trial  of 
treasons,  I  do  not  mean  to  take  away,  but  to 
confine  it  to  its  proper  bounds  and  original 
intention  ;  to  make  it  expressly  for  trial  of  trea 
sons,  and  the  greatest  treasons  may  be  com 
mitted  in  places  where  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
crown  does  not  extend. 

Having  guarded  the  privileges  of  local  legis 
lation,  I  would  next  secure  to  the  colonies  a 
fair  and  unbiased  judicature ;  for  which  pur 
pose,  sir,  I  propose  the  following  resolution : 
"  That,  from  the  time  when  the  general  assem 
bly  or  general  court  of  any  colony  or  plantation 
in  North  America,  shall  have  appointed,  by  act 
of  assembly  duly  confirmed,  a  settled  salary  to 
the  offices  of  the  chief  justice  and  other  judges 
of  the  superior  court,  it  may  be  proper  that  the 
said  chief  justice  and  other  judges  of  the  supe 
rior  courts  of  such  colony,  shall  hold  his  and 
their  office  and  offices  during  their  good  be 
havior,  and  shall  not  be  removed  therefrom, 
but  when  the  said  removal  shall  be  adjudged 
by  his  majesty,  in  council,  upon  a  hearing  or 
complaint  from  the  general  assembly,  or  on  a 
complaint  from  the  governor,  or  council,  or  the 
house  of  representatives  severally,  of  the  colony 
in  which  the  said  chief  justice  and  other  judges 
have  exercised  the  said  offices." 

The  next  resolution  relates  to  the  courts  of 
admiralty. 

It  is  this.  "  That  it  may  be  proper  to  regu 
late  the  courts  of  admiralty,  or  vice  admiralty, 
authorized  by  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  the  fourth 
of  George  the  third,  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
make  the  same  more  commodious  to  those 
who  sue,  or  are  sued  in  the  said  courts,  and  to 
provide  for  the  more  decent  maintenance  of 
the  judges  in  the  same." 

These  courts  I  do  not  wish  to  take  away  ; 
they  are  in  themselves  proper  establishments. 
This  court  is  one  of  the  capital  securities  of  the 
act  of  navigation.  The  extent  of  its  jurisdiction 
indeed  has  been  increased  :  but  this  is  alto 
gether  as  proper,  and  is  indeed,  on  many  ac 
counts,  more  eligible,  where  new  powers  were 
wanted,  than  a  court  absolutely  new.  But 
courts  incommodiously  situated,  in  effect,  deny 
justice  ;  and  a  court,  partaking  in  all  the  fruits 
of  its  own  condemnation,  is  a  robber.  The 


congress  complain,  and  complain  justly,  of  this 
grievance.* 

These  are  the  three  consequential  proposi 
tions.  I  have  thought  of  two  or  three  more, 
but  they  come  rather  too  near  detail,  and  to 
the  province  of  executive  government,  which  I 
wish  parliament  always  to  superintend,  never 
to  assume.  If  the  first  six  are  granted,  con- 
gruity  will  carry  the  latter  three.  If  not,  the 
things  that  remain  unrepealed,  will  be,  I  hope, 
rather  unseemly  incumbrances  on  the  building 
than  very  materially  detrimental  to  its  strength 
and  stability. 

Here,  sir,  I  should  close,  but  that  I  plainly 
perceive  some  objections  remain,  which  I  ought, 
if  possible,  to  remove.  The  first  will  be,  that, 
in  resorting  to  the  doctrine  of  our  ancestors,  as 
contained  in  the  preamble  to  the  Chester  act,  I 
prove  too  much ;  that  the  grievance  from  a 
want  of  representation,  stated  in  that  preamble, 
goes  to  the  whole  of  legislation  as  well  as  to 
taxation.  And  that  the  colonies,  grounding 
themselves  upon  that  doctrine,  will  apply  it  to 
all  parts  of  legislative  authority. 

To  this  objection,  with  all  possible  deference 
and  humility,  and  wishing  as  little  as  any  man 
living  to  impair  the  smallest  particle  of  our 
supreme  authority,  I  answer,  that  the  words 
are  the  words  of  parliament,  and  not  mine  ; 
and  that  all  false  and  inconclusive  inferences 
drawn  from  them,  are  not  mine  ;  for  I  heartily 
disclaim  any  such  inference.  I  have  chosen 
the  words  of  an  act  of  parliament,  which  Mr. 
Greenville,  surely  a  tolerably  zealous  and  very 
judicious  advocate  for  the  sovereignty  of  parlia 
ment,  formerly  moved  to  have  read  at  your 
table,  in  confirmation  of  his  tenets.  It  is  true 
that  lord  Chatham  considered  these  preambles 
as  declaring  strongly  in  favor  of  his  opinion. 
He  was  a  no  less  powerful  advocate  for  the 
privileges  of  the  Americans.  Ought  I  not  from 
hence  to  presume,  that  these  preambles  are  as 
favorable  as  possible  to  both,  when  properly 
understood  ;  favorable  both  to  the  rights  of 
parliament,  and  the  privilege  of  the  dependen 
cies,  of  this  crown  ?  But,  sir,  the  object  of 
grievance  in  my  resolution,  I  have  not  taken 
from  the  Chester  but  from  the  Durham  act, 
which  confines  the  hardship  of  want  of  repre 
sentation  to  the  case  of  subsidies  ;  and  which 
therefore  falls  in  exactly  with  the  case  of  the 
colonies.  But  whether  the  unrepresented 
counties  were  de  jure  or  de  facto  bound,  the 
preambles  do  not  accurately  distinguish ;  nor 

*  The  solicitor  general  informed  Mr.  B.  when  the  re 
solutions  were  separately  moved,  that  the  grievance  of 
the  judges,  partaking  of  the  profits  of  some  of  the  seizures, 
had  been  redressed  by  office  ;  accordingly  the  resolution 
was  amended. 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


449 


indeed  was  it  necessary,  for,  whether  de  jure  or 
de  facto,  the  legislature  thought  the  exercise  of 
the  power  of  taxing  as  of  right,  or  as  fact  with 
out  right,  equally,  a  grievance,  and  .equally  op 
pressive. 

I  do  not  know  that  the  colonies  have,  in  any 
general  way,  or  in  any  cool  hour,  gone  much 
beyond  the  demand  of  immunity  in  relation  to 
taxes.  It  is  not  fair  to  judge  of  the  temper  or 
dispositions  of  any  man,  or  any  set  of  men, 
when  they  are  composed  and  at  rest,  from 
their  conduct  or  their  expressions  in  a  state  of 
disturbance  and  irritation.  It  is  besides  a  very 
great  mistake  to  imagine,  that  mankind  follow 
up  practically  any  speculative  principle,  either 
of  government  or  of  freedom,  as  far  as  it  will 
go  in  argument  and  logical  illation.  We  En 
glishmen  stop  very  short  of  the  principles  upon 
which  we  support  any  given  part  of  our  consti 
tution,  or  even  the  whole  of  it  together.  I 
could  easily,  if  I  had  not  already  tired  you,  give 
you  very  striking  and  convincing  instances  of 
it.  This  is  nothing  but  what  is  natural  and 
proper.  All  government,  indeed  every  human 
benefit  and  enjoyment,  every  virtue,  and  every 
prudent  act,  is  founded  on  compromise  and 
barter.  We  balance  inconveniences,  we  give 
and  take  ;  we  remit  some  rights  that  we  may 
enjoy  others ;  and  we  choose  rather  to  be 
happy  citizens  than  subtle  disputants.  And 
we  must  give  away  some  natural  liberty  to 
enjoy  civil  advantages ;  so  we  must  sacrifice 
some  civil  liberties,  for  the  advantages  to  be 
derived  from  the  communion  and  fellowship  of 
a  great  empire.  But  in  all  fair  dealings,  the 
thing  bought  must  bear  some  proportion  to  the 
purchase  paid.  None  will  barter  away  the  im 
mediate  jewel  of  his  soul.  Though  a  great 
house  is  apt  to  make  slaves  haughty,  yet  it  is 
purchasing  a  part  of  the  artificial  importance 
of  a  great  empire  too  dear,  to  pay  for  it  all 
essential  rights,  and  all  the  intrinsic  dignity  of 
human  nature.  None  of  us  who  would  not 
risk  his  life,  rather  than  fall  under  a  govern 
ment  purely  arbitrary.  But,  although  there 
are  some  amongst  us  who  think  our  constitu 
tion  wants  many  improvements,  to  make  it  a 
complete  system  of  liberty,  perhaps  none  who 
are  of  that  opinion,  would  think  it  right  to  aim 
at  such  improvement,  by  disturbing  this  coun 
try,  and  risking  every  thing  that  is  dear  to  him. 
In  every  arduous  enterprise  we  consider  what 
we  are  to  lose,  as  well  as  what  we  are  to  gain  ; 
and  the  more  and  better  stake  of  liberty  every 
people  possess,  the  less  they  will  hazard  in  a 
vain  attempt  to  make  it  more.  These  are  the 
cords  of  man.  Man  acts  from  adequate  mo 
tives  relative  to  his  interest,  and  not  on  meta- 
29 


physical  speculations.  Aristotle,  the  great 
master  of  reasoning,  cautions  us,  and  with 
great  weight  and  propriety,  against  this  species 
of  delusive  geometrical  accuracy  in  moral 
arguments,  as  the  most  fallacious  of  all  soph 
istry. 

The  Americans  will  have  no  interest  contrary 
to  the  grandeur  and  glory  of  England,  when 
they  are  not  oppressed  by  the  weight  of  it,  and 
they  will  rather  be  inclined  to  respect  the  acts 
of  a  superintending  legislature,  when  they  see  in 
them  the  acts  of  that  power,  which  is  itself  the 
security,  not  the  rival,  of  their  secondary  im 
portance.  In  this  assurance,  my  mind  most 
perfectly  acquiesces  ;  and  I  confess  I  feel  not 
the  least  alarm,  from  the  discontents  which  are 
to  arise  from  putting  people  at  their  ease  ;  nor 
do  I  apprehend  the  destruction  of  this  empire, 
from  giving,  by  an  act  of  free  grace  and  indul 
gence,  to  two  millions  of  my  fellow  citizens, 
some  share  of  those  rights  upon  which  I  have 
always  been  taught  to  value  myself. 

It  is  said  indeed  that  this  power  of  granting, 
vested  in  American  assemblies,  would  dissolve 
the  unity  of  the  empire,  which  was  preserved 
entire,  although  Wales,  Chester,  and  Durham 
were  added  to  it.  Truly,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  do 
not  know  what  this  unity  means ;  nor  has  it 
ever  been  heard  of,  that  I  know,  in  the  consti 
tutional  policy  of  this  country.  The  very  idea 
of  subordination  of  parts  excludes  this  notion 
of  simple  and  undivided  unity.  England  is  the 
head  ;  but  she  is  not  the  head  and  the  mem 
bers  too.  Ireland  has  ever  had,  from  the  be 
ginning,  a  separate,  but  not  an  independent, 
legislature ;  which,  far  from  distracting,  pro 
moted  the  union  of  the  whole.  Every  thing 
was  sweetly  and  harmoniously  disposed 
through  both  islands  for  the  conservation  of 
English  dominion,  and  the  comminution  of 
English  liberties.  I  do  not  see  that  the  same 
principles  might  not  be  carried  into  twenty 
islands,  and  with  the  same  good  effect.  This 
is  my  model  with  regard  to  America,  as  far  as 
the  internal  circumstances  of  the  two  countries 
are  the  same.  I  know  no  other  unity  of  this 
empire,  than  I  can  draw  from  its  example  du 
ring  these  periods  when  it  seemed,  to  my  poor 
understanding,  more  united  than  it  is  now,  or 
than  it  is  likely  to  be  by  the  present  methods. 

But  since  I  speak  of  these  methods,  I  recol 
lect,  Mr.  Speaker,  almost  too  late,  that  I  pro 
mised,  before  I  finished,  to  say  something  of 
the  proposition  of  the  *  noble  lord  on  the  floor, 
which  has  been  so  lately  received,  and  stands 
on  your  journals.  I  must  be  deeply  concerned, 
whenever  it  is  my  misfortune  to  continue  a  dif- 

*  Lord  North. 


450 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


ference  with  the  majority  of  this  house.  But 
as  the  reasons  for  that  difference  are  my  apol 
ogy  for  thus  troubling  you,  suffer  me  to  state 
them  in  a  very  few  words.  I  shall  compress 
them  in  as  small  a  body  as  I  possibly  can,  hav 
ing  already  debated  that  matter  at  large,  when 
the  question  was  before  the  committee. 

First  then,  I  cannot  admit  that  proposition  of 
a  ransom  by  auction — because  it  is  a  mere  pro 
ject.  It  is  a  thing  new,  unheard  of,  supported 
by  no  experience,  justified  by  no  analogy, 
without  example  of  our  ancestors,  or  root  in 
the  constitution.  It  is  neither  regular  parlia 
mentary  taxation,  nor  colony  grant.  Experi- 
mentum  in  corpore  vile,  is  a  good  rule,  which 
will  ever  make  me  adverse  to  any  trial  of  expe 
riments  on  what  is  certainly  the  most  valuable 
of  all  subjects,  the  peace  of  this  empire. 

Secondly,  it  is  an  experiment  which  must  be 
fatal,  in  the  end,  to  our  constitution.  For 
what  is  it  but  a  scheme  for  taxing  the  colonies 
in  the  antechamber  of  the  noble  lord  and  his 
successors  ?  To  settle  the  quotas  and  propor 
tions  in  this  house  is  clearly  impossible.  You, 
sir,  may  flatter  yourself,  you  shall  sit  a  state 
auctioneer,  with  your  hammer  in  your  hand, 
and  knock  down  to  each  colony  as  it  bids. 
But  to  settle  (on  the  plan  laid  down  by  the 
noble  lord)  the  true  proportioned  payment  for 
four  or  five  and  twenty  governments,  according 
to  the  absolute  and  relative  wealth  of  each,  and 
according  to  the  British  proportion  of  wealth 
and  burthen,  is  a  wild  and  chimerical  notion. 
This  new  taxation  must  therefore  come  in  by 
the  back  door  of  the  constitution.  Each  quota 
must  be  brought  to  this  house  ready  formed  ; 
you  can  neither  add  nor  alter.  You  must  regis 
ter  it.  You  can  do  nothing  farther.  For  on 
what  grounds  can  you  deliberate,  either  before 
or  after  the  proposition  ?  You  cannot  hear 
the  council  for  all  these  provinces  quarrelling 
each  on  its  own  quantity  of  payment,  and  its 
proportion  to  others.  If  you  should  attempt  it, 
the  committee  of  the  provincial  ways  and  means, 
or  by  whatever  other  name  it  will  delight  to  be 
called,  must  swallow  up  all  the  time  of  par 
liament. 

Thirdly,  it  does  not  give  satisfaction  to  the 
complaint  of  the  colonies.  They  complain 
that  they  are  taxed  without  their  consent ;  you 
answer,  that  you  will  fix  the  sum  at  which  they 
shall  be  taxed.  That  is,  you  give  them  the 
very  grievance  for  the  remedy.  You  tell  them, 
indeed,  that  you  will  leave  the  mode  to  them 
selves.  I  really  beg  pardon — it  gives  me  pain 
to  mention  it — but  you  must  be  sensible  that 
you  will  not  perform  this  part  of  the  compact. 
For,  suppose  the  colonies  were  to  lay  the  duties, 


which  furnished  their  contingent,  upon  the  im 
portation  of  your  manufactures,  you  know  you 
would  never  suffer  such  a  tax  to  be  laid.  You 
know  too,  that  you  would  not  suffer  many 
other  modes  of  taxation.  So  that,  when  you 
come  to  explain  yourself,  it  will  be  found  that 
you  will  neither  leave  to  themselves  the  quan 
tum,  nor  the  mode,  nor  indeed  anything.  The 
whole  is  delusion  from  one  end  to  the  other. 

Fourthly,  this  method  of  ransom  by  auction 
(unless  it  be  universally  accepted)  will  plunge 
you  into  great  and  inextricable  difficulties.  In 
what  year  of  our  Lord  are  the  proportions  of 
payments  to  be  settled  ?  To  say  nothing  of 
the  impossibility,  that  colony  agents  should 
have  general  powers  of  taxing  the  colonies  at 
their  discretion,  consider,  I  implore  you,  that 
the  communication,  by  special  messages  and 
orders,  between  these  agents  and  their  constit 
uents,  on  each  variation  of  the  case,  when  the 
parties  come  to  contend  together,  and  to  dispute 
on  their  relative  proportions,  will  be  a  matter 
of  delay,  perplexity,  and  confusion  that  can 
never  have  an  end. 

If  all  the  colonies  do  not  appear  at  the  out 
cry,  what  is  the  condition  of  those  assemblies 
who  offer,  by  themselves  or  their  agents,  to  tax 
themselves  up  to  your  ideas  of  their  proportion  ? 
The  refractory  colonies,  who  refuse  all  compo 
sition,  will  remain  taxed  only  to  your  old  impo 
sitions  ;  which,  however  grievous  in  principle, 
are  trifling  as  to  production.  The  obedient 
colonies  in  this  scheme  are  heavily  taxed.  The 
refractory  remain  unburthened.  What  will  you 
do  ?  Will  you  lay  new  and  heavier  taxes  by 
parliament  on  the  disobedient  ?  Pray  consider, 
in  what  way  can  you  do  it  ?  You  are  perfectly 
convinced  that  in  the  way  of  taxing  you  can 
do  nothing  but  at  th'e  ports.  Now  suppose  it 
is  Virginia  that  refuses  to  appear  at  your  auc 
tion,  while  Maryland  and  North  Carolina  bid 
handsomely  for  their  ransom,  and  are  taxed 
to  your  quota?  How  will  you  put  these  colo 
nies  on  a  par  ?  Will  you  tax  the  tobacco  of 
Virginia  ?  If  you  do,  you  give  it  its  dead  wound 
to  your  English  revenue  at  home,  and  to  one 
of  the  very  greatest  articles  of  your  own  foreign 
trade.  If  you  tax  the  import  of  that  rebellious 
colony,  what  do  you  tax  but  your  own  manu 
factures,  or  the  goods  of  some  other  obedient, 
and  already  well  taxed  colony?  Who  has 
said  one  word  on  this  labyrinth  of  detail,  which 
bewilders  you  more  and  more  as  you  enter 
into  it  ?  Who  has  presented,  who  can  present 
you  with  a  clew  to  lead  you  out  of  it  ?  I  think, 
sir,  it  is  impossible  that  you  should  not  recol 
lect  that  the  colony  bounds  are  so  implicated 
in  one  another  (you  know  it  by  your  other  ex- 


BRITISH  PARLIAMENT. 


451 


periments  in  the  bill  for  prohibiting  the  New 
England  fishery)  that  you  can  lay  no  possible 
restraint  on  almost  any  of  them,  which  may 
not  be  presently  eluded,  if  you  do  not  confound 
the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  and  burthen  those 
whom  upon  every  principle  you  ought  to  exon 
erate.  He  must  be  grossly  ignorant  of  Ameri 
ca,  who  thinks  that,  without  falling  into  this 
confusion  of  all  rules  of  equity  and  policy,  you 
can  restrain  any  single  colony,  especially  Vir 
ginia  and  Maryland,  the  central  and  most 
important  of  them  all. 

Let  it  also  be  considered,  that  either  in  the 
present  confusion  you  settle  a  permanent  con 
tingent,  which  will  and  must  be  trifling,  (and 
then  you  have  no  effectual  revenue,)  or  you 
change  the  quota  at  every  exigency,  and  then 
on  every  new  requisition  you  will  have  a  new 
quarrel. 

Reflect  besides,  that  when  you  have  fixed  a 
quota  for  every  colony,  you  have  not  provided 
for  prompt  and  punctual  payment.  Suppose 
one,  two,  five,  ten  years'  arrears.  You  cannot 
issue  a  treasury  extent  against  the  failing  colony. 
You  must  make  new  Boston  port  bills,  new 
restraining  laws,  new  acts  for  dragging  men  to 
England  for  trial.  You  must  send  out  new 
fleets,  new  armies.  All  is  to  begin  again. 
From  this  day  forward  the  empire  is  never  to 
know  an  hour's  tranquility.  An  intestine  fire 
will  be  kept  alive  in  the  bowels  of  the  colonies, 
which  one  time  or  other  must  consume  this 
whole  empire.  I  allow  indeed  that  the  empire 
of  Germany  raises  her  revenue  and  her  troops 
by  quotas  and  contingents  ;  but  the  revenue  of 
the  empire,  and  the  army  of  the  empire  is 
the  worst  revenue  and  the  worst  army  in  the 
world. 

Instead  of  a  standing  revenue,  you  will  there 
fore  have  a  perpetual  quarrel.  Indeed,  the 
noble  lord,  who  proposed  this  project  of  a 
ransom  by  auction,  seemed  himself  to  be  of  that 
opinion.  His  project  was  rather  designed  for 
breaking  the  union  of  the  colonies,  than  for 
establishing  a  revenue. — He  confessed,  he 
apprehended,  that  his  proposal  would  not  be 
to  their  taste.  I  say,  this  scheme  of  disunion 
seems  to  be  at  the  bottom  of  the  project ;  for  I 
will  not  suspect  that  the  noble  lord  meant 
nothing  but  merely  to  delude  the  nation  by  an 
airy  phantom,  which  he  never  intended  to 
realize.  But  whatever  his  views  may  be,  as  I 
propose  the  peace  and  union  of  the  colonies  as 
the  very  foundation  of  my  plan,  it  cannot  with 
one,  whose  foundation  is  perpetual,  descend. 

Compare  the  two.  This  I  offer  to  give  you 
is  plain  and  simple  ;  the  other  full  of  perplexed 
and  intricate  mazes.  This  is  mild,  that  harsh. 


This  is  found  by  experience  effectual  for  its 
purposes  ;  the  other  is  a  new  object.  This  is 
universal,  the  other  calculated  for  certain  colo 
nies  only.  This  is  immediate  in  its  conciliatory 
operation ;  the  other  remote,  contingent,  full 
of  hazard.  Mine  is  what  becomes  the  dignity 
of  a  ruling  people  ;  gratuitous,  unconditional, 
and  not  held  out  as  a  matter  of  bargain  and 
sale.  I  have  done  my  duty  in  proposing  it  to 
you.  I  have  indeed  tired  you  by  a  long  dis 
course  ;  but  this  is  the  misfortune  of  those  to 
whose  influence  nothing  will  be  conceded,  and 
who  must  win  every  inch  of  their  ground  by 
argument.  You  have  heard  me  with  goodness  ; 
may  you  decide  with  wisdom !  tor  my  part,  I 
feel  my  mind  greatly  disburthened,  by  what  I 
have  done  to  day.  I  have  been  the  less  fearful 
of  trying  your  patience,  because,  on  this  sub 
ject,  I  mean  to  spare  it  altogether  in  future.  I 
have  this  comfort,  that  in  every  stage  of  the 
American  affairs,  I  have  steadily  opposed  the 
measures  that  have  produced  the  confusion,  and 
may  bring  on  the  destruction  of  this  empire.  I 
now  go  so  far  as  to  require  a  proposal  of  my 
own.  If  I  cannot  give  peace  to  my  country,  I 
give  it  my  conscience. 

But  what  (says  the  financier)  is  peace  to  us 
without  money  ?  Your  plan  gives  us  no  revenue. 
No  !  But  it  does — for  it  secures  to  the  sub 
ject  the  power  of  REFUSAL  :  the  first  of  all 
revenues. — Experience  is  a  cheat,  and  fact  a 
liar,  if  this  power  in  the  subject  of  proportion 
ing  his  grant,  or  of  not  granting  at  all,  has  not 
been  found  the  richest  mine  of  revenue  ever 
discovered  by  the  skill  or  by  the  fortune  of  man. 
It  does  not  indeed  vote  you  one  hundred  and 
fifty- two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  eleven  shillings  and  twopence  three 
farthings,  nor  any  other  paltry  limited  sum. 
But  it  gives  the  strong  box  itself,  the  fund,  the 
bank  from  whence  only  revenues  can  arise 
among  a  people  sensible  of  freedom :  Posita 
luditur  area.  Cannot  you  in  England,  cannot 
you  at  this  time  of  day  ;  cannot  you  (an  house 
of  commons)  trust  to  the  principle  which  has 
raised  so  mighty  a  revenue,  and  accumulated  a 
debt  of  near  one  hundred  and  forty  millions  in 
this  country  !  Is  this  principle  to  be  true  in 
England,  and  false  every  where  else  ?  Is  it  not 
true  in  Ireland  ?  Has  it  not  hitherto  been  true 
in  the  colonies?  Why  should  you  presume,  - 
that  in  any  country  a  body,  duly  constituted  for 
any  function,  will  neglect  to  perform  its  duty, 
and  abdicate  its  trust?  Such  a  presumption 
would  go  against  all  government,  in  all  modes. 
But,  in  truth,  this  dread  of  penury  of  supply, 
from  a  free  assembly,  has  no  foundation  in  na 
ture.  For,  first  observe,  that  besides  the  desire 


452 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


which  all  men  have  naturally  of  supporting 
the  honor  of  their  own  government,  that  sense 
of  dignity,  and  that  security  to  property,  which 
ever  attends  freedom,  has  a  tendency  to  increase 
the  stock  of  the  free  community.  Most  may 
be  taken  where  most  is  accumulated.  And 
what  is  the  soil  or  climate  where  experience 
has  not  uniformly  proved,  that  for  the  voluntary 
flow  of  heaped  up  plenty,  bursting  from  the 
weight  of  its  own  rich  luxuriance,  has  ever 
run  with  a  more  copious  stream  of  revenue, 
than  could  be  squeezed  from  the  dry  husks  of 
oppressed  indigence,  by  the  straining  of  all  the 
political  machinery  in  the  world. 

Next  we  know  that  parties  must  ever  exist  in 
a  free  country.  We  know  too,  that  the  emula 
tions  of  such  parties,  their  contradictions,  their 
reciprocal  necessities,  their  hopes,  and  their 
fears  must  send  them  all  in  their  turns  to  him 
that  holds  the  balance  of  the  state.  The  par 
ties  are  the  gamesters ;  but  government  keeps 
the  table,  and  is  sure  to  be  the  winner  in  the 
end.  When  this  game  is  played,  I  really  think 
it  is  more  to  be  feared,  that  the  people  will  be 
exhausted,  than  that  government  will  not  be 
supplied.  Whereas,  whatever  is  got  by  acts  of 
absolute  power  ill  obeyed,  because  odious,  or 
by  contract  ill  kept,  because  constrained,  will 
be  narrow,  feeble,  uncertain,  and  precarious. 
"Ease  would  retract  vows  made  in  pain,  as 
violent  and  void." 

I,  for  one  protest  against  compounding  our 
demands  ;  I  declare  against  compounding,  for 
a  poor  limited  sum,  the  immense,  ever  grow 
ing,  eternal  debt,  which  is  clue  to  generous 
government  from  protected  freedom.  And  -so 
may  I  speed  in  the  great  object  I  propose  to 
you,  as  I  think  it  would  not  only  be  an  act  of 
injustice,  but  would  be  the  worst  economy  in 
the  world,  to  compel  the  colonies  to  a  certain 
sum,  either  in  the  way  of  ransom,  or  in  the 
way  of  compulsory  compact. 

But  to  clear  up  my  ideas  on  this  subject,  a 
revenue  from  America  transmitted  hither — do 
not  delude  yourselves — you  never  can  receive 
it — no,  not  a  shilling.  We  have  experienced 
that,  from  remote  countries,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected.  If,  when  you  attempted  to  extract 
a  revenue  from  Bengal,  you  were  obliged  to 
return  in  iron  what  you  had  taken  in  imposition, 
what  can  you  expect  from  North  America  ? 
For  certain  if  ever  there  was  a  country  qualified 
to  produce  wealth,  it  is  India  ;  or  an  institution 
fit  for  the  transmission,  it  is  the  East-India 
company.  America  has  none  of  these  apti 
tudes.  If  America  gives  you  taxable  objects, 
on  which  you  lay  your  duties  here,  and  gives 
you  at  the  same  time,  a  surplus  by  a  foreign 


sale  of  her  commodities,  to  pay  the  duties  on 
these  objects,  which  you  tax  at  home,  she  has 
performed  her  part  to  the  British  revenue.  But 
with  regard  to  her  own  internal  establishments, 
she  may,  I  do  not  doubt  she  will,  contribute  in 
moderation,  I  say  in  moderation  ;  for  she  ought 
not  to  be  permitted  to  exhaust  herself.  She 
ought  to  be  reserved  to  a  war ;  the  weight  of 
which,  with  the  enemies  that  we  are  most  likely 
to  have,  must  be  considerable  in  her  quarter 
of  the  globe.  There  she  may  serve  you,  and 
serve  you  essentially. 

For  that  service,  for  all  service,  whether  of 
revenue,  trade,  or  empire,  my  trust  is  in  her 
interest  in  the  British  constitution.  My  hold 
of  the  colonies  is  in  the  close  affection  which 
grows  from  common  names,  from  kindred 
blood,  from  similar  privileges,  and  equal  pro 
tection.  These  are  ties  which  though  light  as 
air:  are  as  strong  as  links  of  iron.  Let  the  colo 
nies  always  keep  the  idea  of  their  civil  rights 
associated  with  your  government ;  they  will 
cling  and  grapple  to  you  ;  and  no  force  under 
Heaven  will  be  of  power  to  tear  them  from 
their  allegiance.  But  let  it  once  be  understood, 
that  your  government  may  be  one  thing,  and 
their  privileges  another,  that  these  two  things 
may  exist  without  any  mutual  relation,  the 
cement  is  gone ;  the  cohesion  is  loosened  ;  and 
every  thing  hastens  to  decay  and  dissolution. 
As  long  as  you  have  wisdom  to  keep  the  sove 
reign  authority  of  this  country  as  the  sanctuary 
of  liberty,  the  sacred  temple  consecrated  to  our 
common  faith,  wherever  the  chosen  race  and 
sons  of  England  worship  freedom,  they  will 
turn  their  faces  towards  you. 

The  more  they  multiply,  the  more  friends  you 
will  have;  the  more  ardently  they  love  liberty,  the 
more  perfect  will  be  their  obedience.  Slavery 
they  can  hare  any  where.  It  is  a  weed  that 
grows  in  every  soil.  They  may  have  it  from 
Spain,  they  may  have  it  from  Prussia.  But 
until  you  become  lost  to  all  feeling  of  your  true 
interest,  and  your  natural  dignity,  freedom  they 
can  have  from  none  but  you.  This  is  the  com 
modity  of  price,  of  which  you  have  the  monopo 
ly.  This  is  the  true  act  of  navigation,  which 
binds  to  you  the  commerce  of  the  colonies,  and 
through  them  secures  to  you  the  wealth  of  the 
world.  Deny  them  this  participation  of  freedom 
and  you  break  that  sole  bond,  which  originally 
made,  and  must  still  preserve,  the  unity  of  the 
empire.  Do  not  entertain  so  weak  an  imagina 
tion,  as  that  your  registers  and  your  bonds, 
your  affidavits  and  your  suffrances,  your  cock- 
ets  and  clearances,  are  what  form  the  great 
securities  of  your  commerce.  Do  not  dream, 
that  your  letters  of  office,  and'your  instructions, 


BRITISH  PARLIAMENT. 


453 


and  your  suspending  classes  are  the  things 
that  hold  together  the  great  contexture  of  this 
mysterious  whole.  These  things  do  not  make 
your  government.  Dead  instruments,  passive 
tools  as  they  are,  it  is  the  spirit  of  English  com 
munion  that  gives  all  their  life  and  efficacy  to 
them.  It  is  the  spirit  of  the  English  constitution 
which,  infused  through  the  mighty  mass,  per 
vades,  feeds,  invigorates,  vivifies,  every  part  of 
the  empire,  even  down  to  the  minutest  members. 

Is  it  not  the  same  virtue  which  does  every 
thing  for  us  here  in  England  ?  Do  you  imagine 
then,  that  it  is  the  land  tax  act  which  raises 
your  revenue  ?  that  it  is  the  annual  vote  in  the 
committee  of  supply,  which  gives  you  your 
army  ?  or  that  it  is  the  mutiny  bill  which  in 
spires  it  with  bravery  and  discipline  ?  No  ! 
surely  no  !  It  is  the  love  of  the  people,  it  is 
their  attachment  to  their  government,  from  the 
sense  of  the  deep  stake  they  have  in  such  a 
glorious  institution,  which  gives  you  your  army 
and  your  navy,  and  infuses  into  both  that  libe 
ral  obedience,  without  which  your  army  would 
be  a  base  rabble,  and  your  navy  nothing  but 
rotten  timber. 

All  this,  I  know  well  enough,  will  sound  wild 
and  chimerical  to  the  profane  herd  of  those 
vulgar  and  mechanical  politicians,  who  have  no 
place  among  us ;  a  sort  of  people  who  think 
that  nothing  exists  but  what  is  gross  and 
material ;  and  who  therefore,  far  from  being 
qualified  to  be  directors  of  the  great  movement 
of  empire,  are  not  fit  to  turn  a  wheel  in  the 
machine.  But  to  men  truly  initiated  and  rightly 
taught,  these  ruling  and  master  principles, 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  such  men  as  I  have 
mentioned,  have  no  substantial  existence,  are 
in  truth  everything,  and  all  in  all.  Magnani 
mity  ih  politics  is  not  seldom  the  truest  wis 
dom  ;  and  a  great  empire  and  little  minds  go 
ill  together.  If  we  are  conscious  of  our  situa 
tion,  and  glow  with  zeal  to  fill  our  place  as 
becomes  our  station  and  ourselves,  we  ought 
to  auspicate  all  our  public  proceedings  on 
America,  with  the  old  warning  of  the  church, 
sursum  corda !  We  ought  to  elevate  our 
minds  to  the  greatness  of  that  trust  to  which 
the  order  of  Providence  has  called  us.  By 
adverting  to  the  dignity  of  this  high  calling, 
our  ancestors  have  turned  a  savage  wilderness 
into  a  glorious  empire ;  and  have  made  the 
most  extensive,  and  the  only  honorable  con 
quests  ;  not  by  destroying,  but  by  promoting, 
the  wealth,  the  number,  the  happiness,  of  the 
human  race.  Let  us  get  an  American  revenue 
as  we  have  got  an  American  empire.  English 
privileges  have  made  it  all  that  it  is  ;  English 
privileges  alone  will  make  it  all  it  can  be.  In 


full  confidence  of  this  unalterable  truth,  I  now 
(quod  felix  faustumque  sz'f)  lay  the  first 
stone  of  the  temple  of  peace  ;  and  I  move  tc 
you, 

"  That  the  colonies  and  plantations  of  Great 
Britain,  in  North  America,  consisting  of  four 
teen  separate  governments  and  containing  two 
millions  and  upwards  of  free  inhabitants,  have 
not  had  the  right  and  privilege  of  electing  and 
sending  their  knights  and  burgesses,  or  others, 
to  represent  in  the  high  court  of  parliament." 

Upon  this  resolution  the  previous  question 
was  put,  and  carried  ;  for  the  previous  question 
270,  against  it  78. 


GOVERNOR  PENN, 

LATE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.     His  EXAMINA 
TION  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  LORDS. 

SATURDAY,  November  n,  1775. 

HOUSE  OF  LORDS.  The  lords  were-  yester 
day  assembled  for  the  purposes  of  examining 
governor  Penn,  and  of  discussing  a  motion 
which  the  duke  of  Richmond  proposed  to 
ground  on  such  information  as  that  gentleman 
should  afford  the  house. 

Previous  to  the  calling  of  Mr.  Penn  to  the 
bar,  the  duke  of  Richmond  announced  the 
mode  he  had  adopted  preparatory  to  the  gov 
ernor's  examination.  His  grace  confessed, 
"  That  he  had  apprised  Mr.  Penn  of  the  ques 
tions  which  would  be  propounded  to  him,  but 
the  noble  duke  disclaimed  having  entered  into 
any  sort  of  conversation  with  the  governor,  lest 
such  conversation  should  be  malevolently  con 
strued  into  a  design  of  anticipating  the  answers 
Mr.  Penn  might  think  proper  to  return." 

The  duke  of  Richmond  having  finished  his 
preliminary  remarks,  Mr.  Penn  was  called  to 
the  bar,  and  interrogated  nearly  to  the  follow 
ing  purport : 

Q.  How  long  had  he  resided  in  America  ? 

A.  Four  years.  Two  of  those  years  in  the 
capacity  of  governor  of  Pennsylvania. 

Q.  Was  he  acquainted  with  any  of  the  mem 
bers  of  the  continental  congress  ? 

A.  He  was  personally  acquainted  with  all  the 
members  of  that  congress. 

Q.  In  what  estimation  was  the  congress 
held? 

A.  In  the  highest  veneration  imaginable  by 
all  ranks  and  orders  of  men. 

Q.  Was  an  implicit  obedience  paid  to  the 
resolutions  of  that  congress  throughout  all  the 
provinces  ? 

A.  He  believed  this  to  be  the  case. 


454 


PRINCIPLES    AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


Q.  How  many  men  had  been  raised  through 
out  the  province  of  Pennsylvania  ? 

A.  Twenty  thousand  effective  men  had  vol 
untarily  enrolled  themselves  to  enter  into  actual 
service  if  necessity  required. 

Q.  Of  what  rank,  quality  and  condition  were 
these  persons  ? 

A.  Men  of  the  most  respectable  character  in 
the  province. 

Q.  Were  not  a  considerable  number  of  them 
entirely  destitute  of  property  ? 

A.  It  was  presumed  that,  subtracted  from 
so  large  a  number  as  20,000,  there  were  some 
necessitous,  but  the  major  part  were  in  flour 
ishing  situations. 

Q.  Besides  those  20,000,  who  voluntarily  en 
rolled  themselves  to  act  as  exigencies  might 
require,  what  other  forces  had  the  provincials 
of  Pennsylvania  raised  ? 

A.  Four  thousand  minute-men,  whose  duty 
was  pointed  out  by  their  designation.  They 
were  to  be  ready  for  service  at  a  minute's 
warning. 

Q.  Did  the  province  of  Pennsylvania  grow 
corn  sufficient  for  the  supply  of  its  inhabitants  ? 

A.  Much  more  than  sufficient,  there  was  a 
surplus  for  exportation  if  required. 

Q.  Were  they  capable  of  making  gunpowder 
in  Pennsylvania? 

A.  They  perfectly  well  understood  the  art, 
and  had  effected  it. 

Q.  Could  salt-petre  be  made  in  the  pro 
vince  ? 

A.  It  could  ;  mills  and  other  instruments  for 
effecting  such  an  undertaking  had  been  erected 
with  success. 

Q.  Could  cannon  be  cast  in  Pennsylvania  ? 

A.  The  art  of  casting  cannon  had  been  car 
ried  to  great  perfection  ;  they  were  amply  fur 
nished  with  iron  for  that  purpose. 

Q.  Could  small  arms  be  made  to  any  degree 
of  perfection  ? 

A.  To  as  great  a  degree  of  perfection  as 
could  be  imagined.  The  workmanship  em 
ployed  in  finishing  the  small  arms  was  univer 
sally  admired  for  its  excellence. 

Q.  Were  the  Americans  expert  in  ship-build 
ing? 

A.  More  so  than  the  Europeans. 

Q.  To  what  extent  of  tonnage  did  the  largest 
of  their  shipping  amount  ? 

A.  A  ship  of  about  three  hundred  tons  was 
the  largest  they  were  known  to  build. 

Q.  Circumstanced  as  things  at  present  were, 
did  the  witness  think,  that  the  language  of  the 
congress  expressed  the  sense  of  the  people  in 
America  in  general  ? 

A.  As  far  as  the  question  applied  to  Penn 


sylvania,  he  was  sure  this  was  the  case  ;  for  the 
other  provinces,  he  replied  in  the  affirmative 
from  information  only. 

Q.  Did  he  suppose  that  the  congress  con 
tained  delegates  fairly  nominated  by  the  choice 
of  the  people  ? 

A.  He  had  no  doubt  but  that  the  congress  did 
contain  delegates  chosen  under  this  description. 

Q.  By  what  mode  were  the  delegates  in  con 
gress  appointed  ? 

A.  By  the  votes  of  assemblies  in  some  places, 
by  ballot  in  others. 

Q.  In  what  light  had  the  petition,  which  the 
witness  had  presented  to  the  king,  been  con 
sidered  by  the  Americans  ? 

A.  The  petition  had  been  considered  as  an 
olive  branch,  and  the  witness  had  been  com 
plimented  by  his  friends,  as  the  messenger  of 
peace. 

Q.  On  the  supposition  that  the  prayer  of 
this  petition  should  be  rejected,  what  did  the 
witness  imagine  would  be  the  consequence  ? 

A.  That  the  Americans,  who  placed  much 
reliance  on  the  petition,  would  be  driven  to 
desperation  by  its  non-success. 

Q.  Did  the  witness  imagine,  that  sooner  than 
yield  to  what  were  supposed  to  be  unjust  claims 
of  Great  Britain,  the  Americans  would  take  the 
desperate  resolution  of  calling  in  the  aid  of 
foreign  assistance  ? 

A.  The  witness  was  apprehensive  that  this 
would  be  the  case. 

Q.  What  did  the  witness  recollect  of  the 
stamp  act  ? 

A.  That  it  caused  great  uneasiness  through 
out  America. 

Q.  What  did  the  witness  recollect,  concern 
ing  repeal  of  that  act  ? 

A.  The  anniversary  of  that  memorable  day  is 
kept  throughout  America,  by  every  testimony 
of  public  rejoicing,  such  as  bonfires,  illumina 
tions,  and  other  exhibitions  of  gladness. 

Q.  Would  not  the  neglect  with  which  the 
last  petition  was  treated  induce  the  Americans 
to  resign  all  hopes  of  pacific  negotiations  ? 

A.  In  the  opinion  of  witness  it  would. 

Q.  When  the  witness  presented  the  petition 
to  the  secretary  of  state,  was  he  asked  any  ques 
tions  relative  to  the  state  of  America  ? 

A.  Not  a  single  question. 

CROSS  EXAMINED  BY  THE  LORDS  DENBIGH 
AND  SANDWICH. 

As  the  witness  had  acted  in  the  capacity  of 
governor,  was  he  well  acquainted  with  the 
charter  of  Pennsylvania  ? 

A.  He  had  read  the  charter,  and  was  well 
acquainted  with  its  contents. 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


455 


Q.  Did  he  know  that  there  was  a  clause 
which  specifically  subjected  the  colony  to  taxa 
tion  by  the  British  legislature  ? 

A.  He  was  well  apprised  that  there  was 
such  a  clause. 

Q.  Were  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  content 
with  their  charter  ? 

A.  Perfectly  content. 

Q.  Then  did  they  not  acquiesce  in  the  right 
of  the  British  parliament  to  enforce  taxa 
tion  ? 

A.  They  acquiesced  in  a  declaration  of  the 
right  so  long  as  they  experienced  no  inconveni 
ence  from  the  declaration. 

QUERIES  FROM  LORD  SANDWICH. 

Q.  Had  the  witness  ever  heard  of  an  act  en 
titled,  "  The  declaratory  act  ?  " 

A.  He  had  heard  of  such  an  act. 

Q.  Did  he  ever  peruse,  and  was  he  suffi 
ciently  acquainted  with  the  contents  of  that 
act? 

A.  He  never  had  perused  it.  It  never  had 
been  much  discussed  whilst  he  resided  in 
America. 

A.  Did  the  witness  apprehend  that  the  con 
gress  acquiesced  in  an  act  which  maintained  the 
authority  of  the  British  parliament  in  all  cases 
whatsoever  ? 

Objected  to,  and  the  witness  was  desired  to 
withdraw ;  but  being  called  in  again,  the  ques 
tion  was  put,  and  he  replied  : 

That,  except  in  the  case  of  TAXATION,  he 
apprehended  the  Americans  would  have  no 
objection  to  acknowledge  the  sovereignty  of 
Great  Britain. 

Q.  Had  the  witness  any  knowledge  of  cer 
tain  resolutions  passed  by  the  county  of  Suf 
folk? 

A.  He  had  not  attended  to  them. 

Q.  Had  the  witness  any  knowledge  of  an 
answer  given  by  the  continental  congress,  to 
what  had  been  commonly  called  lord  North's 
conciliatory  motion  ? 

A.  The  witness  knew  nothing  of  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  congress,  they  were  generally 
transacted  under  the  seal  of  secrecy. 

Q.  Was  the  witness  personally  acquainted 
with  Mr.  Harrison,  a  member  of  the  congress  ? 

A.  The  witness  knew  him  well. 

Q.  What  character  did  he  bear  ? 

A.  A  very  respectable  one. 

Q.  Had  the  witness  ever  heard  of  any  per 
sons  who  had  suffered  persecutions,  for  declar 
ing  sentiments  favorable  to  the  supremacy  of 
the  British  parliament  ? 

A.  He  had  heard  of  such  oppressions  in  other 


provinces,  but  never  met  with  them  during  his 
residence  in  Pennsylvania. 

Q.  In  the  opinion  of  the  witness,  were  the 
Americans  now  free  ? 

A.  They  imagined  themselves  to  be  so. 

Q.  In  case  a  formidable  force  should  be  sent 
to  America,  in  support  of  government,  did  the 
witness  imagine  there  were  many  who  would 
openly  profess  submission  to  the  authority  of 
parliament  ? 

A.  The  witness  apprehended  the  few  who 
would  join  on  such  occasion  would  be  too 
trivial  a  number  to  be  of  any  consequence. 

Mr.  Penn  was  then  ordered  to  withdraw, 
and  the  duke  of  Richmond,  after  descanting 
with  singular  propriety  on  the  necessity  of  im 
mediate  conciliation,  proposed  the  last  petition 
from  the  continental  congress  to  the  king,  as  a 
basis  for  a  plan  of  accommodation.  His  grace 
of  Richmond  moved,  "  That  the  preceding 
paper  furnished  grounds  of  conciliation  of  the 
unhappy  differences  at  present  subsisting  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  America,  and  that 
some  mode  should  be  immediately  adopted,  for 
the  effectuating  so  desirable  a  purpose." 

This  produced  a  debate  supported  on  both  sides 
with  infinite  ingenuity.     The  numbers  were  : 

For  the  motion  27 — Proxies   6 33 

Against  the  motion  50 — Proxies 36 86 

Majority  against  the  motion  52. 


WILLIAM    PITT— EARL  OF  CHATHAM. 

HIS  CELEBRATED  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE 
HOUSE  OF  LORDS, 

On  a  motion  for  an  address  to  his  majesty  to 
give  immediate  orders  for  removing  his 
troops  from  Boston,  forthwith,  in  order  to 
quiet  the  minds  and  take  away  the  apprehen 
sions  of  his  good  subjects  in  America,  De 
cember  20,  1775. 

My  lords — After  more  than  six  weeks  pos 
session  of  the  papers  now  before  you,  on  a 
subject  so  momentous,  at  a  time  when  the 
fate  of  this  nation  hangs  on  every  hour,  the 
ministry  have  at  length  condescended  to  sub 
mit,  to  the  consideration  of  the  house,  intelli 
gence  from  America,  with  which  your  lord 
ships  and  the  public  have  been  long  and  fully 
acquainted. 

The  measures  of  last  year,  my  lords,  which 
have  produced  the  present  alarming  state  of 
America,  were  founded  upon  misrepresentation 
— they  were  violent,  precipitate  and  vindictive. 
The  nation  was  told,  that  it  was  only  a  faction 


456 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


in  Boston,  which  opposed  all  lawful  govern 
ment  ;  that  an  unwarrantable  injury  had  been 
done  to  private  property,  for  which  the  justice 
of  parliament  was  called  upon,  to  order  repa 
ration  ; — that  the  least  appearance  of  firmness 
would  awe  the  Americans  into  submission, 
and  upon  only  passing  the  Rubicon  we  should 
be  fine  clade  victor. 

That  the  people  might  choose  their  represent 
atives,  under  the  impression  of  those  misrep 
resentations,  the  parliament  was  precipitately 
dissolved.  Thus  the  nation  was  to  be  ren 
dered  instrumental  in  executing  the  vengeance 
of  administration  on  that  injured,  unhappy, 
traduced  people. 

But  now,  my  lords,  we  find,  that  instead  of 
suppressing  the  opposition  of  the  faction  at 
Boston,  these  measures  have  spread  it  over  the 
whole  continent.  They  have  united  that  whole 
people,  by  the  most  indissoluble  of  all  bands 
—intolerable  wrongs.  The  just  retribution  is 
an  indiscriminate,  unmerciful  proscription  of 
the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  unheard  and 
untried.  The  bloodless  victory,  is  an  impotent 
general,  with  his  dishonored  army,  trusting 
solely  to  the  pick-axe  and  the  spade,  for  secu 
rity  against  the  just  indignation  of  an  injured 
and  insulted  people. 

My  lords,  I  am  happy  that  a  relaxation  of 
my  infirmities  permits  me  to  seize  this  earliest 
opportunity  of  offering  my  poor  advice  to  save 
this  unhappy  country,  at  this  moment  totter 
ing  to  its  ruin.  But  as  I  have  not  the  honor 
of  access  to  his  majesty,  I  will  endeavor  to 
transmit  to  him,  through  the  constitutional 
channel  of  this  house,  my  ideas  on  American 
business,  to  rescue  him  from  the  misadvice  of 
his  present  ministers.  I  congratulate  your 
lordships  that  that  business  is  at  last  entered 
upon,  by  the  noble  lord's  (lord  Dartmouth) 
laying  the  papers  before  you.  As  I  suppose 
your  lordships  are  too  well  apprised  of  their 
contents,  I  hope  I  am  not  premature  in  submit 
ting  to  you  my  present  motion  (reads  the  mo 
tion).  I  wish  my  lords  not  to  lose  a  day  in 
this  urging  present  crisis  :  An  hour  now  lost 
in  allaying  the  ferment  in  America,  may  pro 
duce  years  of  calamity  :  but,  for  my  own  part, 
I  will  not  desert  for  a  moment  the  conduct  of 
this  mighty  business  from  the  first  to  the  last, 
unless  nailed  to  my  bed  by  the  extremity  of 
sickness ;  I  will  give  it  unremitting  attention : 
I  will  knock  at  the  door  of  this  sleeping,  or 
:onfounded  ministry,  and  will  rouse  them  to  a 
sense  of  their  important  danger.  When  I 
state  the  importance  of  the  colonies  to  this 
country,  and  the  magnitude  of  danger  hanging 
over  this  country  from  the  present  plan  of  mis- 


administration  practised  against  them,  I  desire 
not  to  be  understood  to  argue  for  a  reciprocity 
of  indulgence  between  England  and  America : 
I  contend  not  for  indulgence,  but  justice,  to 
America ;  and  I  shall  ever  contend  that  the 
Americans  owe  obedience  to  us,  in  a  limited 
degree  ;  they  owe  obedience  to  our  ordinances 
of  trade  and  navigation  ;  but  let  the  line  be 
skilfully  drawn  between  the  objects  of  those 
ordinances,  and  their  private,  internal  pro 
perty  :  Let  the  sacredness  of  their  property 
remain  inviolate  ;  let  it  be  taxable  only  by  their 
own  consent,  given  in  their  provincial  assem 
blies,  else  it  will  cease  to  be  property :  As  to 
the  metaphysical  refinements  attempting  to 
show  that  the  Americans  are  equally  free  from 
obedience  to  commercial  restraints,  as  from 
taxation  for  revenue,  as  being  unrepresented 
here,  I  pronounce  them  futile,  frivolous  and 
groundless. — Property  is,  in  its  nature,  single 
as  an  atom.  It  is  indivisible,  can  belong  to 
one  only,  and  cannot  be  touched  but  by  his 
own  consent.  The  law  that  attempts  to  alter 
this  disposal  of  it  annihilates  it. 

When  I  urge  this  measure  for  recalling  the 
troops  from  Boston,  I  urge  it  on  this  pressing 
principle — that  it  is  necessarily  preparatory  to 
the  restoration  of  your  prosperity.  It  will  then 
appear  that  you  are  disposed  to  treat  amicably 
and  equitably,  and  to  consider,  revise  and 
repeal,  if  it  should  be  found  necessary,  as  I 
affirm  it  will,  those  violent  acts  and  declarations 
which  have  disseminated  confusion  through 
out  your  empire.  Resistance  to  your  acts,  was 
as  necessary  as  it  was  just ;  and  your  vain  de 
clarations  of  the  omnipotence  of  parliament, 
and  your  imperious  doctrines  of  the  necessity 
of  submission,  will  be  found  equally  impotent 
to  convince  or  enslave  your  fellow  subjects  in 
America,  who  feel  that  tyranny,  whether  am- 
bitioned  by  an  individual  part  of  the  legis 
lature,  or  by  the  bodies  which  compose  it,  is 
equally  intolerable  to  British  principles. 

As  to  the  means  of  enforcing  this  thraldom, 
they  are  found  to  be  as  ridiculous  and  weak  in 
practice,  as  they  were  unjust  in  principle :  In 
deed  I  cannot  but  feel,  with  the  most  anxious 
sensibility,  for  the  situation  of  general  Gage 
and  the  troops  under  his  command ;  thinking 
him,  as  I  do,  a  man  of  humanity  and  under 
standing,  and  entertaining,  as  I  ever  shall,  the 
highest  respect,  the  warmest  love,  for  the 
British  troops.  Their  situation  is  truly  un 
worthy,  pent  up,  pining  in  inglorious  inactivity. 
They  are  an  army  of  impotence.  You  may 
call  them  an  army  of  safety  and  of  guard  ;  but 
they  are  in  truth  an  army  of  impotence  and 
contempt — and  to  render  the  folly  equal  to 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


457 


the  disgrace,  they  are  an  army  of  irritation.  I 
do  not  mean  to  censure  the  inactivity  of  the 
troops.  It  is  prudent  and  necessary  inaction. 
But  it  is  a  miserable  condition,  where  disgrace 
is  prudence  ;  and  where  it  is  necessary'  to  be 
contemptible.  This  tameness,  however  dis 
graceful,  ought  not  to  be  blamed,  as  I  am 
surprised  to  hear  is  done  by  these  ministers. 
The  first  drop  of  blood,  shed  in  a  civil  and  un 
natural  war,  would  be  an  immedicabile  vulnus. 
It  would  entail  hatred  and  contention  between 
the  two  people,  from  generation  to  generation. 
Woe  be  to  him  who  sheds  the  first,  the  unexpi- 
able  drop  of  blood  in  an  impious  war,  with  a 
people  contending  in  the  great  cause  of  public 
liberty.  I  will  tell  you  plainly,  my  lords,  no 
son  of  mine  nor  any  one  over  whom  I  have 
influence,  shall  ever  draw  his  sword  upon  his 
fellow  subjects. 

I  therefore  urge  and  conjure  your  lordships 
immediately  to  adopt  this  conciliatory  measure. 
I  will  pledge  myself  for  its  immediately  pro 
ducing  conciliatory  effects,  from  its  being  well 
timed  :  But  if  you  delay,  till  your  vain  hope  of 
triumphantly  dictating  the  terms  shall  be  ac 
complished — you  delay  forever.  And,  even 
admitting  that  this  hope,  which  in  truth  is  des 
perate,  should  be  accomplished,  what  will  you 
gain  by  a  victorious  imposition  of  amity  ?  You 
will  be  untrusted  and  unthanked.  Adopt  then 
the  grace,  while  you  have  the  opportunity  of 
reconcilement,  or  at  least  prepare  the  way ; 
allay  the  ferment  prevailing  in  America,  by 
removing  the  obnoxious  hostile  corps.  Ob 
noxious  and  unserviceable ;  for  their  merit 
can  be  only  inaction.  "  Non  dimicare  est 
vincere."  Their  victory  can  never  be  by 
exertions.  Their  force  would  be  most  dispro 
portionately  exerted,  against  a  brave,  gener 
ous,  and  united  people,  with  arms  in  their 
hands  and  courage  in  their  hearts  ;  three  mil 
lions  of  people,  the  genuine  descendants  of  a 
valiant  and  pious  ancestry,  driven  to  these 
deserts  by  the  narrow  maxims  of  a  supersti 
tious  tyranny.  And  is  the  spirit  of  tyrannous 
persecution  never  to  be  appeased  ?  Are  the 
brave  sons  of  those  brave  forefathers  to  inherit 
their  sufferings,  as  they  have  inherited  their 
virtues  ?  Are  they  to  sustain  the  inflictions  of 
the  most  oppressive  and  unexampled  severity, 
beyond  the  accounts  of  history  or  the  descrip 
tion  of  poetry  ?  "  Rhadamanthus  habet  durris- 
sima  regna,  castigatque  auditque."  So  says 
the  wisest  statesman  and  politician.  But  the 
Bostonians  have  been  condemned  unheard. 
The  discriminating  hand  of  vengeance  has 
lumped  together  innocent  and  guilty ;  with 
all  the  formalities  of  hostility,  has  blocked  up 


the  town,  and  reduced  to  beggary  and  famine 
30,000  inhabitants.  But  his  majesty  is  advised 
that  the  union  of  America  cannot  last. — Minis 
ters  have  more  eyes  than  I,  and  should  have 
more  ears,  but  from  all  the  information  I  have 
been  able  to  procure,  I  can  pronounce  it  a 
union  solid,  permanent  and  effectual.  Minis 
ters  may  satisfy  themselves  and  delude  the 
public  with  the  reports  of  what  they  call  com 
mercial  bodies  in  America.  They  are  not  com 
mercial.  They  are  your  packers  and  factors  ; 
they  live  upon  nothing,  for  I  call  commission 
nothing ;  I  mean  the  ministerial  authority  for 
their  American  intelligence.  The  runners  of 
government,  who  are  paid  for  their  intelligence. 
But  these  are  not  the  men,  nor  this  the  influ 
ence  to  be  considered  in  America,  when  we  esti 
mate  the  firmness  of  their  union.  Even  to 
extend  the  question,  and  to  take  in  the  really 
mercantile  circle,  will  be  totally  inadequate 
to  the  consideration.  Trade  indeed  increases 
the  wealth  and  glory  of  a  country;  but  its 
real  strength  and  stamina  are  to  be  looked 
for  among  the  cultivators  of  the  land.  In  their 
simplicity  of  life  is  founded  the  simplicity  of 
virtue,  the  integrity  and  courage  of  freedom. 
Those  true  genuine  sons  of  the  earth  are  invin 
cible  :  and  they  surround  and  hem  in  the  mer 
cantile  bodies  ;  even  if  those  bodies,  which 
supposition  I  totally  disclaim,  could  be  sup 
posed  disaffected  to  the  cause  of  liberty.  Of 
this  general  spirit  existing  in  the  American 
nation,  for  so  I  wish  to  distinguish  the  real  and 
genuine  Americans  from  the  pseudo  traders  I 
have  described  ;  of  this  spirit  of  independence, 
animating  the  nation  of  America,  I  have  the 
most  authentic  information.  It  is  not  new 
among  them ;  it  is,  and  ever  has  been  their 
established  principle,  their  confirmed  persua 
sion  ;  it  is  their  nature  and  their  doctrine.  I 
remember  some  years  ago  when  the  repeal  of 
the  stamp  act  was  in  agitation,  conversing  in  a 
friendly  confidence  with  a  person  of  undoubted 
respect  and  authenticity  on  this  subject ;  and 
he  assured  me  with  a  certainty  which  his  judg 
ment  and  opportunity  gave  him,  that  these 
were  the  prevalent  and  steady  principles  of 
America :  That  you  might  destroy  their 
towns,  and  cut  them  off  from  the  superfluities, 
perhaps  the  conveniencies  of  life,  but  that  they 
were  prepared  to  despise  your  power,  and 
would  not  lament  their  loss,  whilst  they  had, 
what,  my  lords  ? — Their  woods  and  liberty. 
The  name  of  my  authority,  if  I  am  called  upon, 
will  authenticate  the  opinion  irrefragably. 

If  illegal  violences  have  been,  as  it  is  said,com- 
mitted  in  America,  prepare  the  way,  open  a  door 
of  possibility,  for  acknowledgment  and  satisfac- 


458 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


tion.  But  proceed  not  to  such  coercion,  such 
proscription.  Cease  your  indiscriminate  inflic 
tions  ;  amerce  not  thirty  thousands,  oppress  not 
three  millions,  for  the  faults  of  forty  or  fifty.  Such 
severity  of  injustice  must  forever  render  incu 
rable  the  wounds  you  have  given  your  colonies  ; 
you  irritate  them  to  unappeasable  rancor. 
What  though  you  march  from  town  to  town, 
and  from  province  to  province  ? — Though  you 
should  be  able  to  force  a  temporary  and  local 
submission,  which  I  only  suppose,  not  admit, 
how  shall  you  be  able  to  secure  the  obedience 
of  the  country  you  leave  behind  you  in  your 
progress?  To  grasp  the  dominion  of  1,800 
miles  of  continent,  populous  in  valor,  liberty 
and  resistance  ?  This  resistance  to  your  arbi 
trary  system  of  taxation  might  have  been  fore 
seen  ;  it  was  obvious  from  the  nature  of  things 
and  of  mankind  ;  and  above  all,  from  the  whig- 
gish  spirit  flourishing  in  that  country.  The 
spirit  which  now  resists  your  taxation  in 
America,  is  the  same  which  formerly  opposed, 
and  with  success  opposed,  loans,  benevolences, 
and  ship  money  in  England — the  same  spirit 
which  called  all  England  on  its  legs,  and  by 
the  bill  of  rights  vindicated  the  English  consti 
tution — the  same  spirit  which  established  the 
great  fundamental  and  essential  maxim  of  your 
liberties,  that  no  subject  shall  be  taxed,  but  by 
his  own  consent.  If  your  lordships  will  turn  to 
the  politics  of  those  times,  you  will  see  the  at 
tempts  of  the  lords  to  poison  this  inestimable 
benefit  of  the  bill,  by  an  insidious  proviso.  You 
will  see  their  attempts  defeated,  in  their  con 
ference  with  the  commons,  by  the  decisive  argu 
ments  of  the  ascertainers  and  maintainers  of 
our  liberty  ;  you  will  see  the  thin,  inconclusive 
and  fallacious  stuff  of  those  enemies  to  freedom, 
contrasted  with  the  sound  and  solid  reasoning 
of  sergeant  Glanville  and  the  rest,  those  great 
and  learned  men  who  adorned  and  enlightened 
this  country,  and  placed  her  security  on  the 
summit  of  justice  and  freedom.  And  whilst  I 
am  on  my  legs,  and  thus  do  justice  to  the 
memory  of  those  great  men,  I  must  also  justify 
the  merit  of  the  living  by  declaring  my  firm  and 
fixed  opinion,  that  such  a  man  exists  this  day 
[looking  towards  lord  Cambden]  ;  this  glorious 
spirit  of  whiggism  animates  three  millions  in 
America,  who  prefer  poverty  with  liberty,  to 
golden  chains  and  sordid  affluence  ;  and  who 
will  die  in  defence  of  their  rights,  as  men — 
as  freemen.  What  shall  oppose  this  spirit  ? 
aided  by  the  congenial  flame  glowing  in  the 
breast  of  every  whig  in  England,  to  the  amount, 
I  hope,  of  at  least  double  the  American  num 
bers  !  Ireland  they  have  to  a  man.  In  that 
country,  joined  as  it  is  with  the  cause  of  the 


colonies,  and  placed  at  their  head,  the  distinc 
tion  I  contend  for,  is  and  must  be  observed. 

My  lords — This  country  superintends  and 
controls  their  trade  and  navigation ;  but  they 
tax  themselves.  And  this  distinction  between 
external  and  internal  control,  is  sacred  and 
insurmountable ;  it  is  involved  in  the  abstract 
nature  of  things.  Property  is  private,  individ 
ual,  absolute.  Trade  is  an  extended  and  com 
plicated  consideration  ;  it  reaches  as  far  as  ships 
can  sail,  or  winds  can  blow.  It  is  a  great  and 
various  machine — To  regulate  the  numberless 
movements  of  its  several  parts,  and  combine 
them  into  effect  for  the  good  of  the  whole, 
requires  the  superintending  wisdom  and  energy 
of  the  supreme  power  in  the  empire.  But  this 
supreme  power  has  no  effect  towards  internal 
taxation — for  it  does  not  exist  in  that  relation. 
There  is  no  such  thing,  no  such  idea  in  this 
constitution,  as  a  supreme  power  operating 
upon  property. 

Let  this  distinction  then  remain  forever  as 
certained.  Taxation  is  theirs,  commercial  reg 
ulation  is  ours.  As  an  American,  I  would 
recognize  to  England  her  supreme  right  of 
regulating  commerce  and  navigation.  As  an 
Englishman,  by  birth  and  principle,  I  recognize 
to  the  Americans  their  supreme,  unalienable 
right  to  their  property  ;  a  right  which  they  are 
justified  in  the  defence  of,  to  the  extremity. 
To  maintain  this  principle  is  the  common  cause 
of  the  whigs  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
and  on  this.  'Tis  liberty  to  liberty  engaged, 
that  they  will  defend  themselves,  their  families 
and  their  country.  In  this  great  cause  they 
are  immovably  allied.  It  is  the  alliance  of 
God  and  nature — immutable,  eternal,  fixed  as 
the  firmament  of  Heaven !  To  such  united 
force,  what  force  shall  be  opposed  !  What,  my 
lords,  a  few  regiments  in  America,  and  17  or 
18,000  men  at  home  !  The  idea  is  too  ridicu 
lous  to  take  up  a  moment  of  your  lordships' 
time — nor  can  such  a  national  principled  union 
be  resisted  by  the  tricks  of  office  or  ministerial 
manoeuvres.  Laying  papers  on  your  table,  or 
counting  noses  on  a  division,  will  not  avert  or 
postpone  the  hour  of  danger.  It  must  arrive, 
my  lords,  unless  these  fatal  acts  are  done  away ; 
it  must  arrive  in  all  its  horrors.  And  then 
these  boastful  ministers,  'spite  of  all  their  con 
fidence  and  all  their  manoeuvres,  shall  be  forced 
to  hide  their  heads.  But  it  is  not  repealing 
this  act  of  parliament,  or  that  act  of  parliament 
—  it  is  not  repealing  a  piece  of  parchment  that 
can  restore  America  to  your  bosom.  You  must 
repeal  her  fears  and  her  resentments,  and  you 
may  then  hope  for  her  love  and  gratitude. 
But  now  insulted  with  an  armed  force  posted 


BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 


459 


in  Boston,  irritated  with  an  hostile  array  before 
her  eyes,  her  concessions,  if  you  could  force 
them,  would  be  suspicious  and  insecure.  They 
will  be,  irato  animo.  They  will  not  be  the 
sound,  honorable  pactions  of  freemen;  they 
will  be  the  dictates  of  fear  and  the  extortions 
of  force.  But  it  is  more  than  evident  that  you 
CANNOT  force  them,  principled  and  united  as 
they  are,  to  your  unworthy  terms  of  submission. 
It  is  impossible.  And  when  I  hear  general 
Gage  censured  for  inactivity,  I  must  retort  with 
indignation  on  those  whose  intemperate  meas 
ures  and  improvident  councils  have  betrayed 
him  into  his  present  situation.  His  situation 
reminds  me,  my  lords,  of  the  answer  of  a  French 
general  in  the  civil  wars  of  France,  Monsieur 
Turenne,  I  think.  The  queen  said  to  him,  with 
some  peevishness,  I  observe  that  you  were  of 
ten  very  near  the  prince  during  the  campaign, 
why  did  you  not  take  him  ? — The  Mareschal 
replied  with  great  coolness — J'avois  grand  peur, 
que  Monsieur  le  prince  ne  me  pris, — I  was  very 
much  afraid  the  prince  would  take  me. 

When  your  lordships  look  at  the  papers 
transmitted  us  from  America,  when  you  con 
sider  their  decency,  firmness  and  wisdom,  you 
cannot  but  respect  their  cause,  and  wish  to 
make  it  your  own — for  myself  I  must  declare 
and  avow  that,  in  all  my  reading  and  observa 
tion,  and  it  has  been  my  favorite  study — I  have 
read  Thucydides,  and  have  studied  and  admired 
the  master  statesmen  of  the  world — that  for 
solidity  and  reasoning,  force  of  sagacity,  and  wis 
dom  of  conclusion,  under  such  a  complication  of 
different  circumstances,  no  nation  or  body  of 
men  can  stand  in  preference  to  the  general 
congress  at  Philadelphia. — I  trust  it  is  obvious 
to  your  lordships,  that  all  attempts  to  impose 
servitude  on  such  men,  to  establish  despotism 
over  such  a  mighty  continental  nation — must  be 
vain — must  be  futile: — We  shall  be  forced  ulti 
mately  to  retract,  whilst  we  can,  not  when  we 
must.  J  say  we  must  necessarily  undo  these 
violent  and  oppressive  acts : — they  must  be 
repealed — you  will  repeal  them  :  I  pledge  my 
self  for  it  you  will  in  the  end  repeal  them.  I 
stake  my  reputation  on  it :  I  will  consent  to  be 
taken  for  an  idiot  if  they  are  not  finally  repealed. 
Avoid  then  this  humiliating,  disgraceful  neces 
sity. — With  a  dignity  becoming  your  exalted 
situation,  make  the  first  advances  to  concord, 
to  peace  and  happiness,  for  that  is  your  true 
dignity,  to  act  with  prudence  and  with  justice. 
That  you  should  first  concede  is  obvious  from 
sound  and  rational  policy.  Concession  comes 
with  better  grace  and  more  salutary  effect 
from  the  superior  power.  It  reconciles  supe 
riority  of  power  with  the  feelings  of  men  ;  and 


establishes  solid  confidence  in  the  foundation 
of  affection  and  gratitude.  So  thought  the 
wisest  poet,  and  perhaps  the  wisest  man  in 
political  sagacity,  the  friend  of  Maecenas,  and 
the  eulogist  of  Augustus.  To  him  the  adopted 
son  and  successor  of  the  first  Cassar,  to  him 
the  master  of  the  world,  he  wisely  urged  this 
conduct  of  prudence  and  dignity. 

Tuque,  prior,  etc.  VIRGIL. 

Every  motive,  therefore,  of  justice  and  of  pol 
icy,  of  dignity  and  of  prudence,  urges  you  to 
allay  the  ferment  in  America,  by  a  removal  of 
your  troops  from  Boston,  by  a  repeal  of  your 
acts  of  parliament,  and  by  demonstration  of 
amicable  dispositions  toward  your  colonies. 
On  the  other  hand,  every  danger  and  every 
hazard,  impend  to  deter  you  from  perseverance 
in  your  present  ruinous  measures.  Foreign 
war  hanging  over  your  heads  by  a  slight  and 
brittle  thread :  France  and  Spain  watching 
for  the  maturity  of  your  errors  ;  with  a  vigilant 
eye  to  America  and  the  temper  of  your  colo 
nies,  more  than  to  their  own  concerns,  be  they 
what  they  may. 

To  conclude,  my  lords,  if  the  ministers  thus 
persevere  in  misadvising  and  misleading  the 
king,  I  will  not  say  that  they  can  alienate  his 
subjects  from  his  crown,  but  I  will  affirm  that 
they  will  make  the  crown  not  worth  his  wearing. 
I  shall  not  say  that  the  king  is  betrayed,  but 
I  will  pronounce  that  the  kingdom  is  undone. 


SPEECH 

OF  WILLIAM  PITT,  EARL  CHATHAM,  DELIV 
ERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  LORDS,   1777. 

In  opposition  to  Lord  Suffolk's  proposition  to 

parliament  to  employ  Indians  against  the 

American   Colonists ;    who  had   stated,   in 

course  of  debate,  that  "  they  had>  a  right  to 

use  all  the  means  that  God  and  nature  had 

put  into  their  hands  to  conquer  America." 

"  My  Lords — I  am  astonished  to  hear  such 

principles  confessed !     I  am  shocked  to  hear 

them  avowed  in  this  house,  or  in  this  country ! 

Principles,  equally  unconstitutional,   inhuman, 

and  unchristian  ! 

My  lords,  I  did  not  intend  to  have-encroached 
again  on  your  attention ;  but  I  cannot  repress 
my  indignation.  I  feel  myself  impelled  by 
every  duty.  My  lords,  we  are  called  upon  as 
members  of  this  house,  as  men,  as  Christian 
men,  to  protest  against  such  notions  standing 
near  the  throne,  polluting  the  ear  of  majesty. 
"  That  God  and  nature  put  into  our  hands  !  " 
I  know  not  what  ideas  that  lord  may  entertain 


460 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


of  God  and  nature;  but  I  know,  that  such 
abominable  principles  are  equally  abhorrent  to 
religion  and  humanity. 

What !  to  attribute  the  sacred  sanction  of 
God  and  nature  to  the  massacres  of  the  Indian 
scalping  knife  ?  to  the  cannibal  savage,  tortur 
ing,  murdering,  roasting,  and  eating ;  literally, 
my  lords,  eating  the  mangled  victims  of  his 
barbarous  battles !  Such  horrible  notions 
shock  every  precept  of  religion,  divine  or  natu 
ral,  and  every  generous  feeling  of  humanity. 
And,  my  lords,  they  shock  every  sentiment  of 
honor ;  they  shock  me  as  a  lover  of  honorable 
war,  and  a  detester  of  murderous  barbarity. 

These  abominable  principles,  and  this,  more 
abominable  avowal  of  them  ;  demand  the  most 
decisive  indignation.  I  call  upon  that  right 
reverend  bench,  those  holy  ministers  of  the 
gospel,  and  pious  pastors  of  our  church :  I 
conjure  them  to  join  in  the  holy  work,  and  vin 
dicate  the  religion  of  their  God.  I  appeal  to 
wisdom  and  the  law  of  this  learned  bench,  to 
defend  and  support  the  justice  of  their  country. 
I  call  upon  the  bishops  to  interpose  the  un 
sullied  sanctity  of  their  lawn  ;  upon  the  learned 
judges,  to  interpose  the  purity  of  their  ermine, 
to  save  us  from  this  pollution.  I  call  upon  the 
honor  of  your  lordships  to  reverence  the  dignity 
of  your  ancestors,  and  to  maintain  your  own. 
I  call  upon  the  spirit  and  humanity  of  my 
country,  to  vindicate  the  national  character.  I 
invoke  the  genius  of  the  constitution. 

From  the  tapestry  that  adorn  these  walls, 
the  immortal  ancestor  of  this  noble  lord  frowns 
with  indignation  at  the  disgrace  of  his  country. 
In  vain  he  led  your  victorious  fleet  against  the 
boasted  armada  of  Spain,  in  vain  he  defended 
and  established  the  honor,  the  liberties,  the  re 
ligion,  the  protestant  religion  of  this  country, 


against  the  arbitrary  cruelties  of  popery  and 
the  inquisition,  if  these  more  than  popish  cruel 
ties  and  inquisitorial  practices  are  let  loose 
among  us  ;  to  turn  forth  into  our  settlements, 
among  our  ancient  connections,  friends,  and 
relations,  the  merciless  cannibal,  thirsting  for 
the  blood  of  man,  woman  and  child !  to  send 
forth  the  infidel  savage — against  whom  ?  against 
your  protestant  brethren ;  to  lay  waste  their 
country  ;  to  desolate  their  dwellings,  and  extir 
pate  their  race  and  name,  with  these  horrible 
hell-hounds  of  savage  warfare  ! 

Spain  armed  herself  with  blood-hounds,  to 
extirpate  the  wretched  natives  of  America ; 
and  we  improve  on  the  human  example  even  of 
Spanish  cruelty.  We  turn  loose  these  savage 
hell-hounds  against  our  brethren  and  country 
men  in  America,  of  the  same  language,  laws, 
liberty,  and  religion,  endeared  to  us  by  every 
tie  that  should  sanctify  humanity. 

My  lords,  this  awful  subject,  so  important  to 
our  honor,  our  constitution,  and  our  religion, 
demands  the  most  solemn  and  effectual  inquiry. 
And  I  again  call  upon  your  lordships  and  the 
united  power  of  the  state,  to  examine  it  thor 
oughly,  and  decisively,  and  to  stamp  upon  it  an 
indelible  stigma  of  the  public  abhorrence.  And 
I  again  implore  those  holy  prelates  of  our  reli 
gion,  to  do  away  these  iniquities  from  among 
us.  Let  them  perform  a  lustration  ;  let  them 
purify  this  house,  and  this  country  from  this 
sin. 

My  lords,  I  am  old  and  weak,  and  at  present 
unable  to  say  more  ;  but  my  feelings  and  indig 
nation  were  too  strong  to  have  said  less.  I 
could  not  have  slept  this  night  in  my  bed,  nor 
reposed  my  head  upon  my  pillow,  without  giv 
ing  this  vent  to  my  eternal  abhorrence  of  such 
preposterous  and  enormous  principles." 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


461 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 


[It  seemed  right  that  we  should  collect  the 
following  articles,  and  present  them  together, 
as  containing,  in  themselves,  the  best  portrait 
of  the  father  of  his  country,  drawn  by  him 
self,  that  we  had  the  power  to  offer — though 
in  detached  parts,  they  must  needs  be  famil 
iar  to  the  American  people.]  EDITOR. 

GENERAL  WASHINGTON'S   SPEECH 

To  CONGRESS  ON  ACCEPTING  HIS  COMMIS 
SION,  JUNE  15,  1775. 

Mr.  President — Though  I  am  truly  sensible 
of  the  high  honor  done  me,  in  this  appointment, 
yet  I  feel  great  distress,  from  a  consciousness 
that  my  abilities  and  military  experience  may 
not  be  equal  to  the  extensive  and  important 
trust.  However,  as  the  congress  desire  it,  I 
will  enter  upon  the  momentous  duty,  and  exert 
every  power  I  possess  in  their  service,  and  for 
support  of  the  glorious  cause.  I  beg  they  will 
accept  my  most  cordial  thanks  for  this  distin 
guished  testimony  of  their  approbation. 

"  But,  lest  some  unlucky  event  should  happen 
unfavorable  to  my  reputation,  I  beg  it  may  be 
remembered,  by  every  gentleman  in  the 
room,  that  I,  this  day,  declare  with  the  utmost 
sincerity,  I  do  not  think  myself  equal  to  the 
command  I  am  honored  with. 

"  As  to  pay,  sir,  I  beg  leave  to  assure  the 
congress,  that,  as  no  pecuniary  consideration 
could  have  tempted  me  to  accept  this  arduous 
employment,  at  the  expense  of  my  domestic 
ease  and  happiness,  I  do  not  wish  to  make  any 
profit  from  it.  I  will  keep  an  exact  account  of 
my  expenses.  Those,  I  doubt  not,  they  will 
discharge,  and  that  is  all  I  desire." 


GENERAL    WASHINGTON'S   ADDRESS. 

TO  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  CANADA,    1775. 

The  following  address  was  published  in  Cana 
da,  on  the  arrival  of  colonel  Arnold,  with  the 
troops  under  his  command. 

By  his  excellency  George  Washington,  esq., 
commander  in  chief  of  the  army  of  the  United 
Colonies  of  North  America. 

TO   THE  INHABITANTS    OF  CANADA. 

Friends  and  brethren — The  unnatural  con 
test  between  the  English  Colonies  and  Great 


Britain,  has  now  risen  to  such  a  height,  that 
arms  alone  must  decide  it.  The  colonies,  con 
fiding  in  the  justice  of  their  cause,  and  the 
purity  of  their  intentions,  have  reluctantly 
appealed  to  that  Being,  in  whose  hands  are  all 
human  events.  He  has  hitherto  smiled  upon 
their  virtuous  efforts — the  hand  of  tyranny  has 
been  arrested  in  its  ravages,  and  the  British 
arms,  which  have  shone  with  so  much  splendor 
in  every  part  of  the  globe,  are  now  tarnished 
with  disgrace  and  disappointment.  Generals 
of  approved  experience,  who  boasted  of  subdu 
ing  this  great  continent,  find  themselves  cir 
cumscribed  within  the  limits  of  a  single  city 
and  its  suburbs,  suffering  all  the  shame  and 
distress  of  a  siege,  while  the  freeborn  sons  of 
America,  animated  by  the  genuine  principles 
of  liberty  and  love  of  their  country,  with  in 
creasing  union,  firmness  and  discipline,  repel 
every  attack,  and  despise  every  danger. 

Above  all,  we  rejoice,  that  our  enemies  have 
been  deceived  with  regard  to  you — they  have 
persuaded  themselves,  they  have  even  dared  to 
say,  that  the  Canadians  were  not  capable  of 
distinguishing  between  the  blessings  of  liberty, 
and  the  wretchedness  of  slavery  ;  that^ratifying 
the  vanity  of  a  little  circle  of  nobility — would 
blind  the  people  of  Canada.  By  such  artifices 
they  hoped  to  bend  you  to  their  views,  but 
they  have  been  deceived ;  instead  of  finding  in 
you  that  poverty  of  soul  and  baseness  of  spirit, 
they  see  with  a  chagrin,  equal  to  our  joy,  that 
you  are  enlightened,  generous,  and  virtuous — 
that  you  will  not  renounce  your  own  rights,  or 
serve  as  instruments  to  deprive  your  fellow- 
subjects  of  theirs.  Come,  then,  my  brethren, 
unite  with  us  in  an  indissoluble  union,  let  us 
run  together  to  the  same  goal.  We  have  taken 
up  arms  in  defence  of  our  liberty,  our  property, 
our  wives,  and  our  children  ;  we  are  determined 
to  preserve  them,  or  die.  We  look  forward  with 
pleasure  to  that  day,  not  far  remote  (we  hope) 
when  the  inhabitants  of  America  shall  have 
one  sentiment,  and  the  full  enjoyment  of  the 
blessings  of  a  free  government. 

Incited  by  these  motives,  and  encouraged  by 
the  advice  of  many  friends  of  liberty  among 
you,  the  grand  American  congress  have  sent 
an  army  into  your  province,  under  the  com 
mand  of  general  Schuyler — not  to  plunder,  but 
to  protect  you — to  animate,  and  bring  forth 
into  action  those  sentiments  of  freedom  you 


462 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


have  disclosed,  and  which  the  tools  of  despot 
ism  would  extinguish  through  the  whole  crea 
tion.  To  co-operate  with  this  design,  and  to 
frustrate  those  cruel  and  perfidious  schemes, 
which  would  deluge  our  frontiers  with  Jhe 
blood  of  women  and  children,  I  have  detached 
colonel  Arnold  into  your  country,  with  a  part  of 
the  army  under  my  command.  I  have  enjoined 
upon  him,  and  I  am  certain  that  he  will  con 
sider  himself,  and  act  as  in  the  country  of  his 
patrons  and  best  friends.  Necessaries  and 
accommodations  of  every  kind  which  you  may 
furnish,  he  will  thankfully  receive  and  render 
the  full  value.  I  invite  you  therefore  as  friends 
and  brethren,  to  provide  him  with  such  supplies 
as  your  country  affords ;  and  I  pledge  myself 
not  only  for  your  safety  and  security,  but  for 
an  ample  compensation.  Let  no  man  desert 
his  habitation — let  no  one  flee  as  before  an 
enemy.  The  cause  of  America,  and  of  liberty, 
is  the  cause  of  every  virtuous  American  citi 
zen  ;  whatever  may  be  his  religion  or  his 
descent,  the  United  Colonies  know  no  distinc 
tion  but  such  as  slavery,  corruption,  and  arbi 
trary  dominion,  may  create.  Come  then,  ye 
generous  citizens,  range  yourselves  under  the 
standard  of  general  liberty — against  which  all 
the  force  and  artifice  of  tyranny  will  never  be 
able  to  prevail. 

G.  WASHINGTON. 


CORRESPONDENCE 

BETWEEN  GENERAL  WASHINGTON  AND 
GENERAL  GAGE,  UPON  THE  SUBJECT  OF 
THE  TREATMENT  OF  PRISONERS  BY  THE 
BRITISH. 

GEN.  WASHINGTON  TO  GENERAL  GAGE. 

HEADQUARTERS,  CAMBRIDGE,  August  n,  1773. 

Sir — I  understand  that  the  officers,  engaged 
in  the  cause  of  liberty  and  their  country,  who, 
by  the  fortune  of  war,  have  fallen  into  your 
hands,  have  been  thrown  indiscriminately  into 
a  common  jail,  appropriated  for  felons — that 
no  consideration  has  been  had  for  those  of  the 
most  respectable  rank,  when  languishing  with 
wounds  and  sickness — that  some  of  them  have 
been  even  amputated  in  this  unworthy  sit 
uation. 

Let  your  opinion,  sir,  of  the  principles  which 
actuates  them,  be  what  it  may,  they  suppose 
they  act  from  the  noblest  of  all  principles,  a 
love  of  freedom  and  their  country.  But  politi 
cal  opinions,  I  conceive,  are  foreign  to  this 
point.  The  obligations  arising  from  the  rights 
of  humanity,  and  claims  of  rank,  are  universally 


binding  and  extensive,  except  in  case  of  retalia 
tion.  These,  I  should  have  hoped,  would  have 
dictated  a  more  tender  treatment  of  those  in 
dividuals,  whom  chance  or  war  had  put  in  your 
power.  Nor  can  I  forbear  suggesting  its  fatal 
tendency  to  widen  that  unhappy  breach,  which 
you,  and  those  ministers  under  whom  you  act, 
have  repeatedly  declared  you  wished  to  see  for 
ever  closed. 

My  duty  now  makes  it  necessary  to  apprise 
you,  that,  for  the  future,  I  shall  regulate  my 
conduct  towards  those  gentlemen  of  your  army, 
who  are,  or  may  be  in  our  possession,  exactly 
by  the  rule  you  shall  observe  towards  those  of 
ours  who  may  be  in  your  custody. 

If  severity  and  hardship  mark  the  line  of 
your  conduct  (painful  as  it  may  be  to  me)  your 
prisoners  will  feel  its  effect ;  but  if  kindness 
and  humanity  are  shown  to  ours,  I  shall,  with 
pleasure,  consider  those  in  our  hands  only  as 
unfortunate,  and  they  shall  receive  from  me 
that  treatment  to  which  the  unfortunate  are 
ever  entitled. 


ANSWER  OF  GENERAL  GAGE. 

BOSTON,  August  13,  1775. 

Sir — To  the  glory  of  civilized  nations,  hu 
manity  and  war  have  been  compatible  ;  and 
compassion  to  the  subdued  is  become  almost  a 
general  system. 

Britons,  ever  pre-eminent  in  mercy,  have 
outgone  common  examples,  and  overlooked  the 
criminal  in  the  captive.  Upon  these  principles, 
your  prisoners,  whose  lives,  by  the  laws  of  the 
land,  are  destined  to  the  cord,  have  hitherto 
been  treated  with  care  and  kindness,  and  more 
comfortably  lodged,  than  the  king's  troops,  in 
the  hospitals ;  indiscriminately,  it  is  true,  for  I 
acknowledge  no  rank  that  is  not  derived  from 
the  king. 

My  intelligence  from  your  army  would  justify 
severe  recrimination.  I  understand  there  are 
some  of  the  king's  faithful  subjects,  taken  some 
time  since  by  the  rebels,  laboring  like  negro 
slaves,  to  gain  their  daily  subsistence,  or  reduced 
to  the  wretched  alternative,  to  perish  by  famine 
or  take  arms  against  their  king  and  country. 
Those,  who  have  made  the  treatment  of  the 
prisoners  in  my  hands,  or  of  your  other  friends 
in  Boston,  a  pretence  for  such  measures,  found 
barbarity  upon  falsehood. 

I  would  willingly  hope,  sir,  that  the  senti 
ments  of  liberality,  which  I  have  always  believed 
you  to  possess,  will  be  exerted  to  correct  these 
misdoings.  Be  temperate  in  political  disquisi 
tions  ;  give  free  operation  to  truth,  and  punish 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


463 


those  who  deceive  and  misrepresent ;  and  not 
only  the  effects,  but  the  causes  of  this  unhappy 
conflict  will  soon  be  removed. 

Should  those,  under  whose  usurped  authority 
you  act,  control  such  a  disposition,  and  dare  to 
call  severity  retaliation,  to  God,  who  knows  all 
hearts,  be  the  appeal  for  the  dreadful  conse 
quences.  I  trust  that  British  soldiers,  asserting 
the  rights  of  the  state,  the  laws  of  the  land, 
the  being  of  the  constitution,  will  meet  all 
events  with  becoming  fortitude.  They  will 
court  victory  with  the  spirit  their  cause  inspires, 
and  from  the  same  motive  will  find  the  patience 
of  martyrs  under  misfortune. 

Till  I  read  your  insinuations  in  regard  to 
ministers,  I  conceived  that  I  had  acted  under  the 
king,  whose  wishes,  it  is  true,  as  well  as  those 
of  his  ministers,  and  of  every  honest  man,  have 
been  to  see  this  unhappy  breach  forever  closed  ; 
but  unfortunately  for  both  countries,  those,  who 
have  long  since  projected  the  present  crisis, 
and  influence  the  councils  of  America,  have 
views  very  distant  from  accommodation. 

I  am,  sir,  your  most  obedient  humble  ser 
vant,  THOMAS  GAGE. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  ESQ. 


WASHINGTON'S  REPLY. 

HEADQUARTERS,  CAMBRIDGE,  August  19,  1775. 

Sir — I  addressed  you  on  the  nth  inst.  in 
terms  which  gave  the  fairest  scope  for  the 
exercise  of  that  humanity  and  politeness,  which 
were  supposed  to  form  a  part  of  your  character. 
I  remonstrated  with  you  on  the  unworthy  treat 
ment  shewn  to  the  officers  and  citizens  of  Amer 
ica,  whom  the  fortune  of  war,  chance,  or  a  mis 
taken  confidence,  had  thrown  into  your  hands. 

Whether  British  or  American  mercy,  forti 
tude,  and  patience,  are  most  pre-eminent — 
whether  our  virtuous  citizens,  whom  the  hand 
of  tyranny  has  forced  into  arms,  to  defend  their 
wives,  their  children,  and  their  property,  or  the 
mercenary  instruments  of  lawless  domination, 
avarice,  and  revenge,  best  deserve  the  appella 
tion  of  rebels,  and  the  punishment  of  that  cord, 
which  your  affected  clemency  has  forborne  to 
inflict — whether  the  authority  under  which  I 
act,  is  usurped,  or  founded  upon  the  genuine 
principles  of  liberty — were  altogether  foreign 
to  the  subject.  I  purposely  avoided  all  politi 
cal  disquisition  ;  nor  shall  I  now  avail  myself 
of  those  advantages,'  which  the  sacred  cause  of 
my  country,  of  liberty  and  human  nature,  give 
me  over  you  ;  much  less  shall  I  stoop  to  retort 
any  invective.  But  the  intelligence,  you  say 
you  have  received  from  our  army,  requires  a 


reply.  I  have  taken  time,  sir,  to  make  a  strict 
enquiry,  and  find  it  has  not  the  least  foundation 
in  truth.  Not  only  your  officers  and  soldiers 
have  been  treated  with  a  tenderness  due  to 
fellow  citizens  and  brethren,  but  even  those 
execrable  parricides,  whose  councils  and  aid 
have  deluged  their  country  with  blood,  have 
been  protected  from  the  fury  of  a  justly  en 
raged  people.  Far  from  compelling  or  permit 
ting  their  assistance,  I  am  embarrassed  with 
the  numbers  who  crowd  to  our  camp,  animated 
with  the  purest  principles  of  virtue  and  love  of 
their  country.  You  advise  me  to  give  free 
operation  to  truth  ;  to  punish  misrepresenta 
tion  and  falsehood.  If  experience  stamps 
value  upon  counsel,  yours  must  have  a  weight 
which  few  can  claim.  You  best  can  tell,  how 
far  the  convulsion,  which  has  brought  such 
ruin  on  both  countries,  and  shaken  the  mighty 
empire  of  Britain  to  its  foundation,  may  be 
traced  to  these  malignant  causes. 

You  affect,  sir,  to  despise  all  rank,  not  deri 
ved  from  the  same  source  with  your  own.  I 
cannot  conceive  one  more  honorable,  than  that 
which  flows  from  the  uncorrupted  choice  of  a 
brave  and  free  people,  the  purest  source  and 
original  fountain  of  all  power.  Far  from  mak 
ing  it  a  plea  for  cruelty,  a  mind  of  true  magna 
nimity  and  enlarged  ideas,  would  comprehend 
and  respect  it. 

What  may  have  been  the  ministerial  views 
which  have  precipitated  the  present  crisis, 
Lexington,  Concord,  and  Charlestown,  can  best 
declare.  May  that  God,  to  whom  you  then 
appealed,  judge  between  America  and  you. 
Under  his  providence,  those  who  influence  the 
councils  of  America,  and  all  the  other  inhabi 
tants  of  the  United  Colonies,  at  the  hazard  of 
their  lives,  are  determined  to  hand  down  to 
posterity  those  just  and  invaluable  privileges 
which  they  received  from  their  ancestors. 

I  shall  now,  sir,  close  my  correspondence 
with  you,  perhaps  forever.  If  your  officers,  our 
prisoners,  receive  a  treatment  from  me,  differ 
ent  from  what  I  wished  to  shew  them,  they 
and  you  will  remember  the  occasion  of  it. 

I  am,  sir,  your  very  humble  servant, 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

GENERAL  GAGE. 


464 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


GENERAL  WASHINGTON'S   LETTER 

To  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  CONGRESS,  1776: 

To  John  Hancock,  esq.  president  of  congress. 

COLONEL  MORRIS'S,  ON  THE  HEIGHTS  OF  HARLEM,  ) 
SEPT.  24, 1776.        ) 

Sir — From  the  hours  allotted  to  sleep,  I  will 
borrow  a  few  moments  to  convey  my  thoughts, 
on  sundry  important  matters,  to  congress.  I 
shall  offer  them  with  the  sincerity  which  ought 
to  characterize  the  man  of  candor,  and  with 
the  freedom  which  may  be  used  in  giving  use 
ful  information,  without  incurring  the  imputa 
tion  of  presumption. 

We  are  now,  as  it  were,  upon  the  eve  of 
another  dissolution  of  our  army.  The  remem 
brance  of  the  difficulties  which  happened  upon 
the  occasion  last  year,  the  consequences  which 
might  have  followed  the  change,  if  proper  ad 
vantages  had  been  taken  by  the  enemy,  added 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  present  temper  and  sit 
uation  of  the  troops,  reflect  but  a  very  gloomy 
prospect  upon  the  appearance  of  things  now, 
and  satisfy  me  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt, 
that,  unless  some  speedy  and  effectual  meas 
ures  are  adopted  by  congress,  our  cause  will 
be  lost. 

It  is  in  vain  to  expect,  that  any,  or  more  than 
a  trifling  part  of  this  army  will  again  engage  in 
the  service  on  the  encouragement  offered  by 
congress.  When  men  find  that  their  towns 
men  and  companions  are  receiving  twenty, 
thirty,  and  more,  dollars  for  a  few  months' 
service  (which  is  truly  the  case)  it  cannot  be 
expected,  without  using  compulsion  ;  and  to 
force  them  into  the  service,  would  answer  no 
valuable  purpose.  When  men  are  irritated, 
and  the  passions  inflamed,  they  fly  hastily  and 
cheerfully  to  arms  :  but  after  the  first  emotions 
are  over,  a  soldier  reasoned  with  upon  the  good 
ness  of  the  cause  he  is  engaged  in,  and  the  in 
estimable  rights  he  is  contending  for,  hears  you 
with  patience,  and  acknowledges  the  truth  of 
your  observation,  but  adds,  that  it  is  of  no 
more  importance  to  him  than  others.  The 
officer  makes  you  the  same  reply,  with  this 
further  remark,  that  his  pay  will  not  support 
him,  and  he  cannot  ruin  himself  and  family  to 
serve  his  country  when  every  member  of  the 
community  is  equally  interested  and  benefited 
by  his  labors. 

It  becomes  evidently  clear  then,  that,  as  this 
contest  is  not  likely  to  be  the  work  of  a  day  ; 
as  the  war  must  be  carried  on  systematically  ; 
and  to  do  it  you  must  have  good  officers  ;  there 
are,  in  my  judgment,  no  other  possible  means 
to  obtain  them,  but  by  establishing  your  army 


upon  a  permanent  footing,  and  giving  your 
officers  good  pay.  This  will  induce  gentlemen, 
and  men  of  character,  to  engage  :  and,  till  the 
bulk  of  your  officers  are  composed  of  such 
persons  as  are  actuated  by  principles  of  honor 
and  a  spirit  of  enterprise,  you  have  little  to 
expect  from  them.  They  ought  to  have  such 
allowances  as  will  enable  them  to  live  like,  and 
support  the  characters  of,  gentlemen.  Besides, 
something  is  due  to  the  man  who  puts  his  life 
in  your  hands,  hazards  his  health,  and  forsakes 
the  sweets  of  domestic  enjoyment.  Why  a 
captain  in  the  continental  service  should  re 
ceive  no  more  than  five  shillings  currency  per 
day,  for  performing  the  same  duties  that  an 
officer  of  the  same  rank  in  the  British  service 
receives  ten  shillings  sterling  for,  I  never  could 
conceive,  especially  when  the  latter  is  provided 
with  every  necessary  he  requires,  upon  the  best 
terms,  and  the  former  can  scarcely  procure 
them  at  any  rate.  There  is  nothing  that  gives 
a  man  consequence,  and  renders  him  fit  for 
command,  like  a  support  that  renders  him  in- 
dependeht  of  every  body  but  the  state  he 
serves. 

With  respect  to  the  men,  nothing  but  a  good 
bounty  can  obtain  them  upon  a  permanent  es 
tablishment  ;  and  for  no  shorter  time  than  the 
continuance  of  the  war,  ought  they  to  be  en 
gaged,  as  facts  incontestibly  prove  that  the 
difficulty  and  cost  of  enlistments  increase  with 
time.  -When  the  army  was  first  at  Cambridge, 
I  am  persuaded  the  men  might  have  been  got, 
without  a  bounty,  for  the  war.  After  this,  they 
began  to  see  that  the  contest  was  not  likely  to 
end  so  speedily  as  was  imagined,  and  to  feel 
their  consequence  by  remarking,  that,  to  get  in 
the  militia  in  the  course  of  the  last  year,  many 
towns  were  induced  to  give  them  a  bounty. 

Foreseeing  the  evils  resulting  from  this,  and 
the  destructive  consequences  which  unavoida 
bly  would  follow  short  enlistments,  I  took  the 
liberty,  in  a  long  letter,  (date  not  recollected, 
as  my  letter  book  is  not  here)  to  recommend 
the  enlistments  for  and  during  the  war,  assign 
ing  such  reasons  for  it  as  experience  has  since 
convinced  me  were  well  founded.  At  that 
time,  twenty  dollars  would,  I  am  persuaded, 
have  engaged  the  men  for  this  term.  But  it 
will  not  do  to  look  back :  and,  if  the  present 
opportunity  is  slipped,  I  am  persuaded  that 
twelve  months  more  will  increase  our  difficul 
ties  fourfold.  I  shall  therefore  take  the  free 
dom  of  giving  it  as  my  opinion,  that  a  good 
bounty  be  immediately  offered,  aided  by  the 
proffer  of  at  least  a  hundred,  or  a  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  of  land,  and  a  suit  of  clothes  and 
blanket,  to  each  non-commissioned  officer  and 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


465 


soldier ;  as  I  have  good  authority  for  saying 
that,  however  high  the  men's  pay  may  appear 
it  is  barely  sufficient,  in  the  present  scarcity 
and  dearness  of  all  kinds  of  goods,  to  keep 
them  in  clothes,  much  less  afford  support  to 
their  families. 

If  this  encouragement  then  is  given  to  the 
men,  and  such  pay  allowed  the  officers  as  will 
induce  gentlemen  of  character  and  liberal  sen 
timents,  to  engage,  and  proper  care  and  pre 
caution  used  in  the  nomination  (having  more 
regard  to  the  characters  of  persons  than  the 
number  of  men  they  can  enlist)  we  should,  in  a 
little  time,  have  an  army  able  to  cope  with  any 
that  can  be  opposed  to  it,  as  there  are  excellent 
materials  to  form  one.  But  while  the  only 
merit  an  officer  possesses,  is  his  ability  to  raise 
men  ;  while  those  men  consider  and  treat  him 
as  an  equal,  and,  in  the  character  of  an  officer, 
regard  him  no  more  than  a  broom-stick,  being 
mixed  together  as  one  common  herd,  no  order 
nor  discipline  can  prevail ;  nor  will  the  officer 
ever  meet  with  that  respect  which  is  essentially 
necessary  to  due  subordination. 

To  place  any  dependence  upon  militia  is 
assuredly  resting  upon  a  broken  staff;  men 
just  dragged  from  the  tender  scenes  of  domes 
tic  life ;  unaccustomed  to  the  din  of  arms ; 
totally  unacquainted  with  military  skill ;  which 
being  followed  by  a  want  of  confidence  in  them 
selves,  when  opposed  to  troops  regularly  trained, 
disciplined,  and  appointed  ;  superior  in  knowl 
edge  and  superior  in  arms,  makes  them  timid 
and  ready  to  fly  from  their  own  shadows. 
Besides,  the  sudden  change  in  their  manner  of 
living,  particularly  in  their  lodgings,  brings  on 
sickness  in  many,  impatience  in  all :  and  such 
an  unconquerable  desire  of  returning  to  their  re 
spective  homes,  that  it  not  only  produces  shame 
ful  and  scandalous  desertions  among  them 
selves,  but  infuses  the  like  spirit  into  others. 

Again  ;  men  accustomed  to  unbounded  free 
dom  and  no  control,  cannot  brook  the  restraint 
which  is  indispensably  necessary  to  the  good 
order  and  government  of  an  army;  without 
which,  licentiousness  and  every  kind  of  disorder 
triumphantly  reign.  To  bring  men  to  a  proper 
degree  of  subordination  is  not  the  work  of  a 
day,  a  month,  or  even  a  year :  and,  unhappily 
for  us  and  the  cause  we  are  engaged  in,  the 
little  discipline  I  have  been  laboring  to  estab 
lish  in  the  army  under  my  immediate  command, 
is  in  a  manner  done  away,  by  having  such  a 
mixture  of  troops  as  have  been  called  together 
within  these  few  months. 

Relaxed  and  unfit  as  our  rules  and  regula 
tions  of  war  are,  for  the  government  of  an 
army,  the  militia  (those  properly  so  called  ;  for 

3° 


of  these  we  have  two  sorts,  six  months'  men, 
and  those  sent  in  as  temporary  aid)  do  not 
think  themselves  subject  to  them,  and  therefore 
take  liberties  which  the  soldier  is  punished  for. 
This  creates  jealousy  :  jealousy  begets  dissatis 
faction  :  and  these  by  degrees,  ripen  into 
mutiny,  keeping  the  whole  army  in  a  confused 
and  disordered  state ;  rendering  the  time  of 
those  who  wish  to  see  regularity  and  good 
order  prevail,  more  unhappy  than  words  can 
describe.  Besides  this,  such  repeated  changes 
take  place  that  all  arrangement  is  set  at  nought, 
and  the  constant  fluctuation  of  things  deranges 
every  plan  as  fast  as  adopted. 

These,  sir,  congress  may  be  assured,  are  but 
a  small  part  of  the  inconveniences  which  might 
be  enumerated,  and  attributed  to  militia ;  but 
there  is  one  that  merits  particular  attention, 
and  that  is  the  expense.  Certain  I  am,  that  it 
would  be  cheaper  to  keep  fifty  or  a  hundred 
thousand  in  constant  pay,  than  to  depend  upon 
half  the  number,  and  supply  the  other  half 
occasionally  by  militia.  The  time  the  latter  are 
in  pay,  before  and  after  they  are  in  camp, 
assembling,  and  marching;  the  waste  of  am 
munition,  the  consumption  of  stores,  which,  in 
spite  of  every  resolution  or  requisition  of  con 
gress,  they  must  be  furnished  with,  or  sent 
home,  added  to  other  incidental  expenses  conse 
quent  upon  their  coming  and  conduct  in  camp, 
surpasses  all  idea,  and  destroys  every  kind  of 
regularity  and  economy  which  you  could  estab 
lish  among  fixed  and  settled  troops,  and  will, 
in  my  opinion,  prove,  if  the  scheme  is  adhered 
to,  the  ruin  of  our  cause. 

The  jealousies  of  a  standing  army,  and  the 
evils  to.  be  apprehended  from  one,  arc  remote, 
and,  in  my  judgment,  situated  and  circum 
stanced  as  we  are,  not  at  all  to  be  dreaded ; 
out  the  consequence  of  wanting  one,  according 
to  my  ideas,  formed  from  the  present  view  of 
things,  is  certain  and  inevitable  ruin.  For,  if  I 
was  called  upon  to  declare  upon  oath,  whether 
the  militia  have  been  most  serviceable  or  hurt- 
iul,  upon  the  whole,  I  should  subscribe  to  the 
atter.  I  do  not  mean  by  this,  however,  to 
arraign  the  conduct  of  congress  ;  in  so  doing  I 
should  equally  condemn  my  own  measures,  if  I 
did  not  my  judgment ;  but  experience,  which  is 
the  best  criterion  to  work  by,  so  fully,  so  clearly, 
and  decisively  reprobates  the  practice  of  trust- 
ng  to  militia,  that  no  man,  who  regards  order, 
regularity  and  economy,  or  who  has  any  regard 
for  his  own  honor,  character,  or  peace  of  mind, 
will  risk  them  upon  this  issue. 

An  army  formed  of  good  officers  moves  like 
clock-work  ;  but  there  is  no  situation  upon 
earth  less  enviable  nor  more  distressing  than 


466 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


that  person's  who  is  at  the  head  of  troops  who 
are  regardless  of  order  and  discipline,  and  who 
are  unprovided  with  almost  every  necessary. 
In  a  word,  the  difficulties  which  have  forever 
surrounded  me,  since  I  have  been  in  the  service, 
and  kept  my  mind  constantly  upon  the  stretch ; 
the  wounds  which  my  feelings,  as  an  officer, 
have  received  by  a  thousand  things  which  have 
happened  contrary  to  my  expectations  and 
wishes :  added  to  a  consciousness  of  my  inabil 
ity  to.  govern  an  army  composed  of  such  dis 
cordant  parts,  and  under  such  a  variety  of 
intricate  and  perplexing  circumstances,  induce, 
not  only  a  belief,  but  a  thorough  conviction  in 
my  mind,  that  it  will  be  impossible,  unless 
there  is  a  thorough  change  in  our  military 
system,  for  me  to  conduct  matters  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  give  satisfaction  to  the  public, 
which  is  all  the  recompense  I  aim  at,  or  ever 
wished  for. 

Before  I  conclude,  I  must  apologize  for  the 
liberties  taken  in  this  letter,  and  for  the  blots 
and  scratchings  therein,  not  having  time  to 
give  it  more  correctly.  With  truth,  I  can  add, 
that,  with  every  sentiment  of  respect  and  es 
teem,  I  am  yours  and  the  congress's  most 
obedient,  etc 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


GENERAL  WASHINGTON'S 

GENERAL  ORDERS  ISSUED  TO   THE  ARMY, 
APRIL  18,  1783. 

HEADQUARTERS,  CHATHAM,  April  18, 1783. 

The  commander  in  chief  orders  the  cessation 
of  hostilities  between  the  United  States  of 
America  and  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  to  be 
publicly  proclaimed  to-morrow  at  twelve  o'clock, 
at  the  new  building ;  and  that  the  proclama 
tion  which  will  be  communicated  herewith,  be 
read  to-morrow  evening  at  the  head  of  every 
regiment  and  corps  of  the  army  ;  after  which 
the  chaplains,  with  the  several  brigades,  will 
render  thanks  to  the  Almighty  God  for  all  his 
mercies,  particularly  for  his  over-ruling  the 
wrath  of  man  to  his  own  glory,  and  causing 
the  rage  of  war  to  cease  among  the  nations. 

Although  the  proclamation  before  alluded  to, 
extends  only  to  the  prohibition  of  hostilities, 
and  not  to  the  annunciation  of  a  general  peace, 
yet  it  must  afford  the  most  rational  and  sincere 
satisfaction  to  every  benevolent  mind,  as  it 
puts  a  period  to  a  long  and  doubtful  contest, 
stops  the  effusion  of  human  blood,  opens  the 
prospect  to  a  more  splendid  scene,  and,  like 
another  morning  star,  promises  the  approach 


of  a  brighter  day  than  hath  hitherto  illuminated 
the  western  hemisphere.  On  such  a  happy 
day,  which  is  the  harbinger  of  peace,  a  day 
which  completes  the  eighth  year  of  the  war,  it 
would  be  ingratitude  not  to  rejoice  ;  it  would 
be  insensibility  not  to  participate  in  the  general 
felicity. 

The  commander  in  chief,  far  from  endeav 
oring  to  stifle  the  feelings  of  joy  in  his  own  bo 
som,  offers  his  most  cordial  congratulations  on 
the  occasion  to  all  the  officers  of  every  denomi 
nation  ;  to  all  the  troops  of  the  United  States 
in  general ;  and  in  particular  to  those  gallant 
and  persevering  men  who  had  resolved  to  de 
fend  the  rights  of  their  invaded   country,  so 
long  as  the  war  should  continue.     For  these 
are  men  who  ought  to  be  considered  as  the 
pride  and  boast  of  the  American  army ;  and 
who,  crowned  with  well  earned   laurels,  may 
soon  withdraw  from  the  field  of  glory  to  the 
more  tranquil  walks  of  civil  life.     While  the 
commander  in  chief  recollects  the  almost  infi 
nite  variety  of  scenes  through  which  we  have 
past,  with  a  mixture  of  pleasure,  astonishment, 
and    gratitude ;    while    he    contemplates    the 
prospects  before  us  with   rapture,  he  cannot 
help  wishing  that  all  the  brave,  of  whatever 
condition  they  may  be,  who  have  shared  the 
toils  and  dangers  of  effecting  this  glorious  rev 
olution  ;  of  rescuing  millions  from  the  hanrt  n» 
oppression,  and  of  laying  the  foundation  ot  a 
great    empire,   might    be    impressed    with    a 
proper  idea  of  the  dignified  part  they  have  been 
called  to  act,  under  the  smiles  of  Providence 
on  the  stage  of  human  affairs  ;  for  happy,  thrice 
happy !   shall  they  be   pronounced   hereafter, 
who  have  contributed  anything,  who  have  per 
formed  the  meanest  office  in  erecting  this  stu 
pendous  fabric  of  freedom  and  empire,  on  the 
broad  basis  of  independency ;  who  have  assisted 
in  protecting  the  rights  of  human  nature,  and 
established   an   asylum  for  the  poor  and  op 
pressed  of  all  nations  and  religions.     The  glo 
rious  task  for  which  we  first  flew  to  arms  being 
accomplished — the  liberties  of  our  country  be 
ing  fully  acknowledged  and  firmly  secured  by 
the  smiles  of  heaven  on  the  purity  of  our  cause  ; 
and   the   honest  exertions  of  a  feeble  people, 
determined  to  be  free,  against  a  powerful  na 
tion  disposed  to  oppress  them  ;  and  the  char 
acter  of  those  who  have  persevered,  through 
every  extremity  of  hardship,  suffering  and  dan 
ger,    being    immortalized    by    the    illustrious 
appellation  of  the  patriot  army — nothing  now 
remains  but  for  the  actors  of  this  mighty  scene 
to  preserve  a  perfect  unvarying  consistency  of 
character  through  the  very  last  act,  to  close 
the  drama  with  applause  ;  and  to  retire  from 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


467 


the  military  theatre  with  the  same  approbation, 
of  angels  and  men,  which  have  crowned  all 
their  former  virtuous  actions.  For  this  purpose 
no  disorder  or  licentiousness  must  be  tolerated. 
Every  considerate  and  well  disposed  soldier 
must  remember  it  will  be  absolutely  necessary 
to  wait  with  patience  until  peace  shall  be  de 
clared,  or  congress  shall  be  enabled  to  take 
proper  measures  for  the  security  of  the  public 
stores,  etc.  As  soon  as  these  arrangements 
shall  be  made,  the  general  is  confident,  there 
will  be  no  delay  in  discharging,  with  every 
mark  of  distinction  and  honor,  all  the  men  en 
listed  for  the  war,  who  will  then  have  faithfully 
performed  their  engagements  with  the  public. 
The  general  has  already  interested  himself  in 
their  behalf,  and  he  thinks  he  need  not  repeat 
the  assurance  of  his  disposition  to  be  useful  to 
them  on  the  present,  and  every  other  proper 
occasion.  In  the  mean  time,  he  is  determined 
that  no  military  neglects  or  excesses  shall  go 
unpunished,  while  he  retains  the  command  of 
the  army. 

The  adjutant-general  will  have  such  work 
ing  parties  detached,  to  assist  in  making  the 
preparations  for  a  general  rejoicing,  as  the 
chief  engineer  of  the  army  shall  call  for  ;  and 
the  quarter-master  general  will,  without  delay, 
procure  such  a  number  of  discharges  to  be 
printed  as  will  be  sufficient  for  all  the  men  en 
listed  for  the  war — he  will  please  to  apply  to 
head  quarters  for  the  form.  An  extra  ration 
of  liquor  to  be  issued  to  every  man  to-morrow 
to  drink  "  Perpetual  peace  and  happiness  to  the 
United  States  of  America." 


GENERAL  WASHINGTON'S. 

CIRCULAR  LETTER  TO  THE  GOVERNORS  OF 
EACH  OF  THE  STATES. 

Announcing  his  proposed  retirement  from  the 
command  of  the  army,  and  refers  to  the  fu 
ture  of  the  country  and  the  duty  of  the  people 
looking  to  the  maintenance  of  their  liberties. 

HEADQUARTERS,  NEWBURGH,  NEW  YORK,  June  18,  1783. 

"  Sir—  The  object  for  which  I  had  the  honor 
to  hold  an  appointment  in  the  service  of  my 
country,  being  accomplished,  I  am  now  pre 
paring  to  resign  it  into  the  hands  of  congress, 
and  return  to  that  domestic  retirement,  which, 
it  is  well  known,  I  left  with  the  greatest  reluc 
tance  ;  a  retirement  for  which  I  have  never 
ceased  to  sigh  through  a  long  and  painful 
absence,  in  which,  (remote  from  the  noise  and 
trouble  of  the  world,)  I  meditate  to  pass  the 


remainder  of  life,  in  a  state  of  undisturbed 
repose  ;  but,  before  I  carry  this  resolution  into 
effect,  I  think  it  a  duty  incumbent  on  me  to 
make  this  my  last  official  communication,  to 
congratulate  you  on  the  glorious  events  which 
heaven  has  been  pleased  to  produce  in  our 
favor ;  to  offer  my  sentiments  respecting  some 
important  subjects,  which  appear  to  me  to  be 
intimately  connected  with  the  tranquility  of 
the  United  States  ;  to  take  my  leave  of  your 
excellency  as  a  public  character;  and  to  give 
my  final  blessing  to  that  country,  in  whose 
service  I  have  spent  the  prime  of  my  life  ;  for 
whose  sake  I  have  consumed  so  many  anxious 
days  and  watchful  nights,  and  whose  happi 
ness,  being  extremely  dear  to  me,  will  always 
constitute  no  inconsiderable  part  of  my  own. 

"  Impressed  with  the  liveliest  sensibility  on 
this  pleasing  occasion,  I  will  claim  the  indul 
gence  of  dilating  the  more  copiously  on  the 
^subject  of  our  mutual  felicitation.  When  we 
consider  the  magnitude  of  the  prize  we  con 
tended  for,  the  doubtful  nature  of  the  contest 
and  the  favorable  manner  in  which  it  has  ter 
minated,  we  shall  find  the  greatest  possible 
reason  for  gratitude  and  rejoicing.  This  is  a 
theme  that  will  afford  infinite  delight  to  every 
benevolent  and  liberal  mind,  whether  the  event 
in  contemplation  be  considered  as  a  source 
of  present  enjoyment,  or  the  parent  of  future 
happiness  ;  and  we  shall  have  equal  occasion  to 
felicitate  ourselves  on  the  lot  which  Provi 
dence  has  assigned  us,  whether  we  view  it  in  a 
natural,  a  political,  or  moral  point  of  light. 

"  The  citizens  of  America,  placed  in  the  most 
enviable  condition,  as  the  sole  lords  and  pro 
prietors  of  a  vast  tract  of  continent,  compre 
hending  all  the  various  soils  and  climates  of 
the  world,  and  abounding  with  all  the  neces 
saries  and  conveniences  of  life,  are  now,  by  the 
late  satisfactory  pacification,  acknowledged  to 
be  possessed  of  absolute  freedom  and  indepen 
dency  ;  they  are  from  this  period  to  be  consid 
ered  as  the  actors  on  a  most  conspicuous 
thertre,  which  seems  to  be  peculiarly  designed 
by  Providence  for  the  display  of  human  great 
ness  and  felicity.  Here  they  are  not  only  sur 
rounded  with  every  thing  that  can  contribute 
to  the  completion  of  private  and  domestic  en 
joyment,  but  heaven  has  crowned  all  its  other 
blessings,  by  giving  a  surer  opportunity  for 
political  happiness,  than  any  other  nation  has 
ever  been  favored  with.  Nothing  can  illustrate 
these  observations  more  forcibly  than  a  recol 
lection  of  the  happy  conjuncture  of  times  and 
circumstances,  under  which  our  republic  as 
sumed  its  rank  among  the  nations. — The 
foundation  of  our  empire  was  not  laid  in  a 


468 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


gloomy  age  of  ignorance  and  superstition,  but 
at  an  epocha  when  the  rights  of  mankind  were 
better  understood  and  more  clearly  denned, 
than  at  any  former  period.  Researches  of  the 
human  mind  after  social  happiness  have  been 
carried  to  a  great  extent ;  the  treasures  of 
knowledge  acquired  by  the  labors  of  philos 
ophers,  sages,  and  legislators,  through  a  long 
succession  of  years  are  laid  open  for  us,  and 
their  collected  wisdom  may  be  happily  applied 
in  the  establishment  of  our  forms  of  govern 
ment.  The  free  cultivation  of  letters,  the 
unbounded  extension  of  commerce,  the  progres 
sive  refinement  of  manners,  the  growing  liber 
ality  of  sentiment,  and,  above  all,  the  pure  and 
benign  light  of  revelation,  have  had  a  meliora 
ting  influence  on  mankind,  and  increased  the 
blessings  of  society.  At  this  auspicious  period, 
the  United  States  came  into  existence  as  a  na 
tion  ;  and  if  their  citizens  should  not  be  com 
pletely  free  and  happy,  the  fault  will  be  entirely 
their  own. 

"  Such  is  our  situation,  and  such  are  our  pros 
pects.  But  notwithstanding  the  cup  of  bless 
ing  is  thus  reached  out  to  us  ;  notwithstanding 
happiness  is  ours,  if  we  have  a  disposition  to 
seize  the  occasion,  and  make  it  our  own,  yet  it 
appears  to  me  there  is  an  option  still  left  to  the 
United  States  of  America,  whether  they  will 
be  respectable  and  prosperous,  or  contempt 
ible  and  miserable  as  a  nation.  This  is  the 
time  of  their  political  probation :  this  is  the 
moment  when  the  eyes  of  the  whole  world  are 
turned  upon  them  :  this  is  the  time  to  establish 
or  ruin  their  national  character  forever :  this  is 
the  favorable  moment  to  give  such  a  tone  to  the 
federal  government,  as  will  enable  it  to  answer 
the  ends  of  its  institution  :  or,  this  may  be  the 
ill-fated  moment  for  relaxing  the  powers  of  the 
union,  annihilating  the  cement  of  the  confed 
eration,  and  exposing  us  to  become  the  sport 
of  European  politics,  which  may  play  one 
state  against  another,  to  prevent  their  growing 
importance,  and  to  serve  their  own  interested 
purposes.  For,  according  to  the  system  of 
policy  the  states  shall  adopt  at  this  moment, 
they  will  stand  or  fall ;  and  by  their  confirma 
tion  or  lapse,  it  is  yet  to  be  decided,  whether 
the  revolution  must  ultimately  be  considered 
as  a  blessing  or  a  curse,  not  to  the  present  age 
alone,  for  with  our  fate  will  the  destiny  of 
unborn  millions  be  involved. 

"  With  this  conviction  of  the  importance  of 
the  present  crisis,  silence  in  me  would  be  a 
crime  ;  I  will  therefore  speak  to  your  excellency 
the  language  of  freedom  and  sincerity,  without 
disguise.  I  am  aware,  however,  those  who 
differ  from  me  in  political  sentiments  may, 


perhaps,  remark,  I  am  stepping  out  of  the 
proper  line  of  my  duty ;  and  they  may  probably 
ascribe  to  arrogance  or  ostentation,  what  I 
know  is  alone  the  result  of  the  purest  intention. 
But  the  rectitude  of  my  own  heart,  which  dis 
dains  such  unworthy  motives  ;  the  part  I  have 
hitherto  acted  in  life  ;  the  determination  I  have 
formed  of  not  taking  any  share  in  public  busi 
ness  hereafter,  the  ardent  desire  1  feel,  and 
shall  continue  to  manifest,  of  quietly  enjoying 
in  private  life,  after  all  the  toils  of  war,  the 
benefits  of  a  wise  and  liberal  government, 
will,  I  flatter  myself,  sooner  or  later,  convince 
my  country,  that  I  could  have  no  sinister  views 
in  delivering,  with  so  little  reserve,  the  opinion 
contained  in  this  address. 

"  There  are  four  things  which,  I  humbly  con 
ceive,  are  essential  to  the  well  being,  I  may 
even  venture  to  say,  to  the  existence,  of  the 
United  States,  as  an  independent  power. 

"  i  st.  An  indissoluble  union  of  the  states 
under  one  federal  head. 

"  2dly.  A  sacred  regard  to  public  justice. 

"  sdly.  The  adoption  of  a  proper  peace  estab 
lishment.  And, 

"  4thly.  The  prevalence  of  that  pacific  a"nd 
friendly  disposition  among  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  which  will  induce  them  to  forget 
their  local  prejudices  and  policies ;  to  make 
those  mutual  concessions  which  are  requisite  to 
the  general  prosperity ;  and  in  some  instances, 
to  sacrifice  their  individual  advantages  to  the 
interest  of  the  community. 

"  These  are  the  pillars  on  which  the  glorious 
fabric  of  our  independency  and  national  charac 
ter  must  be  supported.  Liberty  is  the  basis — 
and  whoever  would  dare  to  sap  the  foundation, 
or  overturn  the  structure,  under  whatever  spe 
cious  pretext  he  may  attempt  it,  will  merit  the 
bitterest  execration,  and  the  severest  punish 
ment,  which  can  be  inflicted  by  his  injured 
country. 

"  On  the  three  first  articles  I  will  make  a  few 
observations,  leaving  the  last  to  the  good  sense 
and  serious  consideration  of  those  immediately 
concerned. 

"  Under  the  first  head,  although  it  may  not 
be  necessary  or  proper  for  me  in  this  place  to 
enter  into  a  particular  disquisition  of  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  union,  and  to  take  up  the  great 
question  which  has  been  frequently  agitated, 
whether  it  be  expedient  and  requisite  for  the 
states  to  delegate  a  larger  proportion  of  power 
to  congress,  or  not ;  yet  it  will  be  a  part  of  my 
duty,  and  that  of  every  true  patriot,  to  assert, 
without  reserve,  and  to  insist  upon  the  follow 
ing  positions  :— That,  unless  the  states  will 
suffer  congress  to  exercise  those  prerogatives 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


469 


they  are  undoubtedly  invested  with  by  the  con 
stitution,  every  thing  must  very  rapidly  tend  to 
anarchy  and  confusion  :  That  it  is  indispens 
able  to  the  happiness  of  the  individual  states, 
that  there  should  be  lodged,  somewhere,  a 
supreme  power  to  regulate  and  govern  the 
general  concerns  of  the  confederated  republic, 
without  which  the  union  cannot  be  of  long 
duration.  That  there  must  be  a  faithful  and 
pointed  compliance  on  the  part  of  every  state 
with  the  late  proposals  and  demands  of  con 
gress,  or  the  most  fatal  consequences  will 
ensue :  That  whatever  measures  have  a  ten 
dency  to  dissolve  the  union,  or  contribute  to 
violate  or  lessen  the  sovereign  authority,  ought 
to  be  considered  as  hostile  to  the  liberty  and 
independence  of  America,  and  the  authors  of 
them  treated  accordingly.  And,  lastly,  that, 
unless  we  can  be  enabled  by  the  concurrence 
of  the  states  to  participate  in  the  fruits  of  the 
revolution,  and  enjoy  the  essential  benefits  of 
civil  society,  under  a  form  of  government  so 
free  and  uncorrupted,  so  happily  guarded 
against  the  danger  of  oppression,  as  has  been 
devised  and  adopted  by  the  articles  of  confed 
eration,  it  will  be  a  subject  of  regret,  that  so 
much  blood  and  treasure  have  been  lavished 
for  no  purpose  ;  that  so  many  sufferings  have 
been  encountered  without  a  compensation,  and 
that  so  many  sacrifices  have  been  made  in 
vain.  Many  other  considerations  might  here 
be  adduced  to  prove,  that,  without  an  entire 
conformity  to  the  spirit  of  the  union,  we  cannot 
exist  as  an  independent  power.  It  will  be 
sufficient  for  my  purpose  to  mention  but  one  or 
two,  which  seem  to  me  of  the  greatest  import 
ance.  It  is  only  in  our  united  character  as  an 
empire,  that  our  independence  is  acknowledged, 
that  our  power  can  be  regarded,  or  our  credit 
supported  among  foreign  nations.  The  treaties 
of  the  European  powers  with  the  United  States 
of  America,  will  have  no  validity  on  a  dissolu 
tion  of  the  union.  We  shall  be  left  nearly  in  a 
state  of  nature  ;  or  we  may  find,  by  our  own 
unhappy  experience,  that  there  is  a  natural 
and  necessary  progression  from  the  extreme  of 
anarchy  to  the  extreme  of  tyranny ;  and  that 
arbitrary  power  is  most  easily  established  on 
the  ruins  of  liberty,  abused  to  licentiousness. 

"As  to  the  second  article,  which  respects 
the  performance  of  public  justice,  congress 
have,  in  their  late  address  to  the  United  States, 
almost  exhausted  the  subject ;  they  have  ex 
plained  their  ideas  so  fully,  and  have  enforced 
the  obligations  the  states  are  under  to  render 
complete  justice  to  all  the  public  creditors, 
with  so  much  dignity  and  energy,  that,  in  my 
opinion,  no  real  friend  to  the  honor  and  inde 


pendency  of  America  can  hesitate  a  single 
moment  respecting  the  propriety  of  complying 
with  the  just  and  honorable  measures  proposed. 
If  their  arguments  do  not  produce  conviction, 
I  know  of  nothing  that  will  have  greater  influ 
ence,  especially  when  we  reflect  that  the  system 
referred  to,  being  the  result  of  the  collected 
wisdom  of  the  continent,  must  be  esteemed,  if 
not  perfect,  certainly  the  least  objectionable, 
of  any  that  could  be  devised  ;  and  that,  if  it 
should  not  be  carried  into  immediate  execution, 
a  national  bankruptcy,  with  all  its  deplorable 
consequences,  will  take  place  before  any  differ 
ent  plan  can  possibly  be  proposed  or  adopted  ; 
so  pressing  are  the  present  circumstances,  and 
such  is  the  alternative  now  offered  to  the 
states. 

"  The  ability  of  the  country  to  discharge  the 
debts  which  have  been  incurred  in  its  defence, 
is  not  to  be  doubted ;  and  inclination,  I  flat 
ter  myself,  will  not  be  wanting.  The  path 
of  our  duty  is  plain  before  us  ;  honesty  will  be 
found,  on  every  experiment,  to  be  the  best  and 
only  true  policy.  Let  us  then,  as  a  nation,  be 
just ;  let  us  fulfil  the  public  contracts  which 
congress  had  undoubtedly  a  right  to  make  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  on  the  war,  with  the 
same  good  faith  we  suppose  ourselves  bound 
to  perform  our  private  engagements.  In  the 
meantime.,  let  an  attention  to  the  cheerful  per 
formance  of  their  proper  business,  as  individ 
uals,  and  as  members  of  society,  be  earnestly 
inculcated  on  the  citizens  of  America  ;  then 
will  they  strengthen  the  bands  of  government, 
and  be  happy  under  its  protection.  Every  one 
will  reap  the  fruit  of  his  labors  :  every  one  will 
enjoy  his  own  acquisitions,  without  molestation 
and  without  danger. 

"  In  this  state  of  absolute  freedom  and  per 
fect  security,  who  will  grudge  to  yield  a  very 
little  of  his  property  to  support  the  common 
interests  of  society,  and  ensure  the  protection 
of  government  ?  Who  does  not  remember  the 
frequent  declarations  at  the  commencement  of 
the  war — that  we  should  be  completely  satis 
fied  if,  at  the  expense  of  one  half,  we  could 
defend  the  remainder  of  our  possessions? 
Where  is  the  man  to  be  found,  who  wishes  to 
remain  in  debt,  for  the  defence  of  his  own  per 
son  and  property,  to  the  exertions,  the  bravery, 
and  the  blood  of  others,  without  making  one 
generous  effort  to  pay  the  debt  of  honor  and 
of  gratitude  ?  In  what  part  of  the  continent 
shall  we  find  any  man,  or  body  of  men,  who 
would  not  blush  to  stand  up  and  propose  meas 
ures  purposely  calculated  to  rob  the  soldier  of 
his  stipend,  and  the  public  creditor  of  his  due  ? 
And  were  it  possible  that  such  a  flagrant  in- 


470 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


stance  of  injustice  could  ever  happen,  would  it 
not  excite  the  general  indignation,  and  tend  to 
bring  down  upon  the  authors  of  such  meas 
ures  the  aggravated  vengeance  of  Heaven  ? 
If,  after  all,  a  spirit  of  disunion,  or  a  temper  of 
obstinacy  and  perverseness  should  manifest 
itself  in  any  of  the  states ;  if  such  an  ungra 
cious  disposition  should  attempt  to  frustrate  all 
the  happy  effects  that  might  be  expected  to 
flow  from  the  union  ;  if  there  should  be  a 
refusal  to  comply  with  requisitions  for  funds  to 
discharge  the  annual  interest  of  the  public 
debts  ;  and  if  that  refusal  should  revive  all  those 
jealousies,  and  produce  all  those  evils,  which 
are  now  happily  removed,  congress,  who  have 
in  all  their  transactions  shown  a  great  degree 
of  magnanimity  and  justice,  will  stand  justified 
in  the  sight  of  God  and  man !  and  that  state 
alone,  which  puts  itself  in  opposition  to  the 
aggregate  wisdom  of  the  continent,  and  follows 
such  mistaken  and  pernicious  councils,  will  be 
responsible  for  all  the  consequences. 

"  For  my  own  part,  conscious  of  having 
acted,  while  a  servant  of  the  public,  in  the 
manner  I  conceived  best  suited  to  promote 
the  real  interests  of  my  country ;  having,  in 
consequence  of  my  fixed  belief,  in  some  meas 
ure  pledged  myself  to  the  army,  that  their 
country  would  finally  do  them  complete  and 
ample  justice,  and  not  wishing  to  conceal  any 
instance  of  my  official  conduct  from  the  eyes 
of  the  world,  I  have  thought  proper  to  transmit 
to  your  excellency  the  enclosed  collection  of 
papers,  relative  to  the  half  pay  and  commuta 
tion  granted  by  congress,  to  the  officers  of  the 
army.  From  these  communications  my  de 
cided  sentiment  will  be  clearly  comprehended, 
together  with  the  conclusive  reasons  which 
induced  me,  at  an  early  period,  to  recommend 
the  adoption  of  this  measure  in  the  most  earn 
est  and  serious  manner.  As  the  proceedings 
of  congress,  the  army,  and  myself,  are  open  to 
all,  and  contain,  in  my  opinion,  sufficient  in 
formation  to  remove  the  prejudices  and  errors 
which  may  have  been  entertained  by  any,  I 
think  it  unnecessary  to  say  anything  more 
than  just  to  observe,  that  the  resolutions  of 
congress,  now  alluded  to,  are  as  undoubtedly 
and  absolutely  binding  upon  the  United  States, 
as  the  most  solemn  acts  of  confederation  or 
legislation. 

"  As  to  the  idea  which,  I  am  informed,  has 
in  some  instances  prevailed,  that  the  half-pay 
and  commutation  are  to  be  regarded  merely  in 
the  odious  light  of  a  pension,  it  ought  to  be 
exploded  forever ;  that  provision  should  be 
viewed,  as  it  really  was,  a  reasonable  compen 
sation  offered  by  congress,  at  a  time  when 


they  had  nothing  else  to  give  to  officers  of  the 
army,  for  services  then  to  be  performed.  It 
was  the  only  means  to  prevent  a  total  derelic 
tion  of  the  service.  It  was  a  part  of  their  hire. 
I  may  be  allowed  to  say,  it  was  the  price  of 
their  blood'  and  of  your  independency.  It  is 
therefore  more  than  a  common  debt ;  it  is  a 
debt  of  honor ;  it  can  never  be  considered  as 
a  pension,  or  gratuity,  nor  cancelled  until  it  is 
fairly  discharged. 

"  With  regard  to  the  distinction  between 
officers  and  soldiers,  it  is  sufficient  that  the 
uniform  experience  of  every  nation  of  the 
world,  combined  with  our  own,  proves  the 
utility  and  propriety  of  the  discrimination. 
Rewards,  in  proportion  to  the  aid  the  public 
draws  from  them,  are  unquestionably  due  to  all 
its  servants.  In  some  lines,  the  soldiers  have, 
perhaps,  generally,  had  as  ample  compensation 
for  their  services,  by  the  large  bounties  which 
have  been  paid  them,  as  their  officers  will 
receive  in  the  proposed  commutation,  in  others, 
if,  besides  the  donation  of  land,  the  payment 
of  arrearages  of  clothing  and  wages,  (in  which 
articles  all  the  component  parts  of  the  army 
must  be  put  upon  the  same  footing,)  we  take 
into  the  estimate  the  bounties  many  of  the 
soldiers  have  received,  and  the  gratuity  of  one 
year's  full  pay,  which  is  promised  to  all,  possi 
bly  their  situation,  (every  circumstance  being 
duly  considered,)  will  not  be  deemed  less  eligi 
ble  than  that  of  the  officers. — Should  a  farther 
reward,  however,  be  judged  equitable,  I  will 
venture  to  assert,  no  man  will  enjoy  greater 
satisfaction  than  myself,  in  an  exemption  from 
taxes  for  a  limited  time,  (which  has  been  peti 
tioned  for  in  some  instances,)  or  any  other  ade 
quate  immunity  or  compensation  granted  to 
the  brave  defenders  of  their  country's  cause. 
But  neither  the  adoption  or  rejection  of  this 
proposition  will,  in  any  manner,  affect,  much 
less  militate  against,  the  act  of  congress,  by 
which  they  have  offered  five  years'  full  pay,  in 
lieu  of  the  half  pay  for  life,  which  had  been 
before  promised  to  the  officers  of  the  army. 

"Before  I  conclude  the  subject  on  public 
justice,  I  cannot  omit  to  mention  the  obliga 
tions  this  country  is  under  to  that  meritorious 
class  of  veterans,  the  non-commissioned  offi 
cers  and  privates,  who  have  been  discharged 
for  inability,  in  consequence  of  the  resolution 
of  congress,  of  the  23d  of  April,  1782,  on  an 
annual  pension  for  life.  Their  peculiar  suffer 
ings,  their  singular  merits  and  claims  to  that 
provision,  need  only  to  be  known,  to  interest 
the  feelings  of  humanity  in  their  behalf.  Noth 
ing  but  a  punctual  payment  of  their  annual 
allowance,  can  rescue  them  from  the  most 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


471 


complicated  misery ;  and  nothing  could  be  a 
more  melancholy  and  distressing  sight,  than  to 
behold  those  who  have  shed  their  blood,  or 
lost  their  limbs  in  the  service  of  their  country, 
without  a  shelter,  without  a  friend,  and  without 
the  means  of  obtaining  any  of  the  comforts  or 
necessaries  of  life,  compelled  to  beg  their  bread 
daily  from  door  to  door.  Suffer  me  to  recom 
mend  those  of  this  description,  belonging  to 
your  state,  to  the  warmest  patronage  of  your 
excellency  and  your  legislature. 

"  It  is  necessary  to  say  but  a  few  words  on 
the  third  topic  which  was  proposed,  and  which 
regards  particularly  the  defence  of  the  republic 
— as  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  congress  will 
recommend  a  proper  peace  establishment  for 
the  United  States,  in  which  a  due  attention 
will  be  paid  to  the  importance  of  placing  the 
militia  of  the  union  upon  a  regular  and  respect 
able  footing.  If  this  should  be  the  case,  I 
should  beg  leave  to  urge  the  great  advantage 
of  it  in  the  strongest  terms. 

"  The  militia  of  this  country  must  be  consid 
ered  as  the  palladium  of  our  security,  and  the 
first  effectual  resort  in  case  of  hostility.  It  is 
essential,  therefore,  that  the  same  system 
should  pervade  the  whole  ;  that  the  formation 
and  discipline  of  the  militia  of  the  continent 
should  be  absolutely  uniform ;  and  that  the 
same  species  of  arms,  accoutrement,  and  mili 
tary  apparatus,  should  be  introduced  in  every 
part  of  the  United  States.  No  one,  who  has 
not  learned  it  from  experience,  can  conceive 
the  difficulty,  expense,  and  confusion,  which 
result  from  a  contrary  system,  or  the  vague 
arrangements  which  have  hitherto  prevailed. 

"  If  in  treating  of  political  points,  a  greater 
latitude  than  usual  has  been  taken  in  the 
course  of  the  address,  the  importance  of  the 
crisis,  and  the  magnitude  of  the  objects  in  dis 
cussion,  must  be  my  apology.  It  is,  however, 
neither  my  wish  nor  expectation,  that  the  pre 
ceding  observations  should  claim  any  regard, 
except  so  far  as  they  shall  appear  to  be  dic 
tated  by  a  good  intention,  consonant  to  the 
immutable  rules  of  justice  ;  calculated  to  pro 
duce  a  liberal  system  of  policy,  and  founded  on 
whatever  experience  may  have  been  acquired 
by  a  long  and  close  attention  to  public  busi 
ness.  Here  I  might  speak  with  more  confi 
dence,  from  my  actual  observations  ;  and  if  it 
would  not  swell  thfe  letter  (already  too  prolix,) 
beyond  the  bounds  I  had  prescribed  myself,  I 
could  demonstrate  to  every  mind  open  to  con 
viction,  that,  in  less  time,  and  with  much  less 
expense  than  has  been  incurred,  the  war  might 
have  been  brought  to  the  same  happy  conclu 
sion,  if  the  resources  of  the  continent  could 


have  been  properly  called  forth ;  that  the 
distresses  and  disappointments  which  have 
very  often  occurred,  have,  in  too  many  in 
stances,  resulted  more  from  a  want  of  energy 
in  the  continental  government  than  a  deficiency 
of  means  in  the  particular  states  ;  that  the  in- 
efficacy  of  the  measures,  arising  from  the  want 
of  an  adequate  authority  in  the  supreme  pow 
er,  from  partial  compliance  with  the  requisi 
tions  of  congress,  in  some  of  the  states,  and 
from  a  failure  of  punctuality  in  others,  while 
they  tended  to  damp  the  zeal  of  those  who 
were  more  willing  to  exert  themselves,  served 
also  to  accumulate  the  expenses  of  the  war, 
and  to  frustate  the  best  concerted  plans  ;  and 
that  the  discouragement  occasioned  by  the 
complicated  difficulties  and  embarrassments, 
in  which  our  affairs  were  by  this  means  in 
volved,  would  have  long  ago  produced  the  dis 
solution  of  any  army,  less  patient,  less  virtuous, 
and  less  persevering,  than  that  which  I  have 
had  the  honor  to  command.  But  while  I  men 
tion  those  things  which  are  notorious  facts,  as 
the  defects  of  our  federal  constitution,  particu 
larly  in  the  prosecution  of  a  war,  I  beg  it  may 
be  understood,  that,  as  I  have  ever  taken  a 
pleasure  in  gratefully  acknowledging  the  assist 
ance  and  support  I  have  derived  from  every 
class  of  citizens,  so  I  shall  always  be  happy  to 
do  justice  to  the  unparalleled  exertions  of  the 
individual  states,  on  many  interesting  occa 
sions. 

"  I  have  thus  freely  disclosed  what  I  wished 
to  make  known,  before  I  surrendered  up  my 
public  trust  to  those  who  committed  it  to  me. 
The  task  is  now  accomplished  ;  I  now  bid 
adieu  to  your  excellency,  as  the  chief  magistrate 
of  your  state ;  at  the  same  time  I  bid  a  last 
farewell  to  the  cares  of  office,  and  all  the  em 
ployments  of  public  life. 

"  It  remains,  then,  to  be  my  final  and  only 
request,  that  your  excellency  will  communi 
cate  these  sentiments  to  your  legislature,  at 
their  next  meeting ;  and  that  they  may  be  con 
sidered  as  the  legacy  of  one  who  has  ardently 
wished,  on  all  occasions,  to  be  useful  to  his 
country,  and  who,  even  in  the  shade  of  retire 
ment,  will  not  fail  to  implore  the  Divine  bene 
diction  upon  it. 

"  I  now  make  it  my  earnest  prayer,  that  God 
would  have  you,  and  the  state  over  which  you 
preside,  in  his  holy  protection  ;  that  he  would 
incline  the  hearts  of  the  citizens  to  cultivate  a 
spirit  of  subordination  and  obedience  to  gov 
ernment  ;  to  entertain  a  brotherly  affection  and 
love  for  one  another  ;  for  their  fellow-citizens 
of  the  United  States  at  large,  and  particularly 
for  their  brethren  who  have  served  in  the  field  ; 


472 


PRINCIPLES    AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


and,  finally,  that  he  would  most  graciously  be 
pleased  to  dispose  us  all  to  do  justice,  to  love 
mercy,  and  to  demean  ourselves  with  that 
charity,  humility,  and  pacific  temper  of  the 
mind,  which  were  the  characteristics  of  the 
Divine  Author  of  our  blessed  religion  ;  without 
an  humble  imitation  of  whose  example,  in 
these  things,  we  can  never  hope  to  be  a  happy 
nation. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  much  esteem 
and  respect,  sir,  your  excellency's  most  obe 
dient  and  most  humble  servant. 

"  GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 


GENERAL  WASHINGTON 

TO   THE   PRESIDENT  OF    CONGRESS,  RESIGN 
ING  HIS  COMMISSION,  DECEMBER  23,  1783. 

"  Mr.  President — The  great  events  on  which 
my  resignation  depended,  having  at  length 
taken  place,  I  have  now  the  honor  of  offering 
my  sincere  congratulations  to  congress,  and  of 
presenting  myself  before  them  to  surrender  into 
their  hands  the  trust  committed  to  me,  and  to 
claim  the  indulgence  of  retiring  from  the 
service  of  my  country. 

"  Happy  in  the  confirmation  of  our  indepen 
dence  and  sovereignty,  and  pleased  with  the 
opportunity  afforded  the  United  States  of  be 
coming  a  respectable  nation,  I  resign,  with 
satisfaction,  the  appointment  I  accepted  with 
diffidence  ;  a  diffidence  in  my  abilities  to  ac 
complish  so  arduous  a  task,  which,  however, 
was  superseded  by  a  confidence  in  the  recti 
tude  of  our  cause,  the  support  of  the  Supreme 
Power  of  the  union,  and  the  patronage  of 
Heaven. 

"The  successful  termination  of  the  war  has 
verified  the  most  sanguine  expectations  ;  and 
my  gratitude  for  the  interposition  of  Providence, 
and  the  assistance  I  have  received  from  my 
countrymen,  increases  with  every  review  of  the 
momentous  contest. 

"  While  I  repeat  my  obligations  to  the  army 
in  general,  I  should  do  injustice  to  my  own 
feelings,  not  to  acknowledge,  in  this  place,  the 
peculiar  services  and  distinguished  merits  of 
the  persons  who  have  been  attached  to  my 
person  during  the  war.  It  was  impossible  the 
choice  of  confidential  officers  to  compose  my 
family  could  have  been  more  fortunate.  Per 
mit  me,  sir,  to  recommend  in  particular,  those 
who  have  continued  in  the  service  to  the  present 
moment,  as  worthy  of  the  favorable  notice  and 
patronag-e  of  congress. 


"  I  consider  it  as  an  indispensable  duty  to 
close  this  last  solemn  act  of  my  official  life, 
by  commending  the  interests  of  our  dearest 
country  to  the  protection  of  Almighty  God,  and 
those  who  have  the  superintendence  of  them, 
to  his  holy  keeping. 

"  Having  now  finished  the  work  assigned  me, 
I  retire  from  the  great  theatre  of  action  ;  and. 
bidding  an  affectionate  farewell  to  this  august 
body,  under  whose  orders  I  have  long  acted,  I 
here  offer  my  commission,  and  take  my  leave 
of  all  the  employments  of  public  life." 


PRESIDENT  WASHINGTON'S  SPEECH 

TO  THE  FIRST  CONGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES,  APRIL  30,  1789. 

Fellow-citizens  of  the  senate 

and  of  the  house  of  representatives  : 

Among  the  vicissitudes  incident  to  life,  no 
event  could  have  filled  me  with  greater  anxie 
ties  than  that,  of  which  the  notification  was 
transmitted  by  your  order,  and  received  on  the 
4th  day  of  the  present  month.  On  the  one 
hand,  I  was  summoned  by  my  country,  whose 
voice  I  can  never  hear  but  with  veneration  and 
love,  from  a  retreat  which  I  had  chosen  with 
the  fondest  predilection,  and,  in  my  flattering 
hopes,  with  an  immutable  decision  as  the  asylum 
of  my  declining  years ;  a  retreat  which  was 
rendered  every  day  more  necessary  as  well  as 
more  clear  to  me,  by  the  addition  of  habit  to 
inclination,  and  of  frequent  interruptions  in  my 
health  to  the  gradual  waste  committed  on  it  by 
time :  on  the  other  hand,  the  magnitude  and 
difficulty  of  the  trust  to  which  the  voice  of  my 
country  called  me,  being  sufficient  to  awaken, 
in  the  wisest  and  most  experienced  of  her  citi 
zens,  a  distrustful  scrutiny  into  his  qualifica 
tions,  could  not  but  overwhelm  with  despond 
ence  one  who,  inheriting  inferior  endowments 
from  nature,  and  unpractised  in  the  duties  of 
civil  administration,  ought  to  be  peculiarly  con 
scious  of  his  own  deficiences.  In  this  conflict 
of  emotions,  all  I  dare  aver  is,  that  it  has  been 
my  faithful  study  to  collect  my  duty  from  a 
just  appreciation  of  every  circumstance  by  which 
it  might  be  effected.  All  I  dare  hope  is,  that 
if,  in  executing  this  task,  I  have  been  too  much 
swayed  by  a  grateful  remembrance  of  former 
instances,  or  by  an  affectionate  sensibility  to 
this  transcendent  proof  of  the  confidence  of  my 
fellow-citizens,  and  have  thence  too  little  con 
sulted  my  incapacity  as  well  as  disinclination 
for  the  weighty  and  untried  cares  before  me, 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


473 


my  error  will  be  palliated  by  the  motives  which 
misled  me,  and  its  consequences  be  judged  by 
my  country,  with  some  share  of  the  partiality 
In  which  they  originated. 

Such  being  the  impressions  under  which  I 
have,  in  obedience  to  the  public  summons,  re 
paired  to  the  present  station,  it  would  be  pe 
culiarly  improper  to  omit,  in  this  first  official 
act,  my  fervent  supplications  to  that  Amighty 
Being,  who  rules  over  the  universe,  who  pre 
sides  in  the  councils  of  nations,  and  whose 
providential  aids  can  supply  every  human  de 
fect,  that  his  benediction  may  consecrate  to  the 
liberties  and  happiness  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  a  government  instituted  by 
themselves  for  these  essential  purposes,  and 
may  enable  every  instrument  employed  in  its 
administration,  to  execute,  with  success,  the 
functions  allotted  to  his  charge.  In  tendering 
this  homage  to  the  Great  Author  of  every  pub 
lic  and  private  good,  I  assure  myself  that  it 
expresses  your  sentiments  not  less  than  my 
own ;  nor  those  of  my  fellow-citizens  at  large 
less  than  either.  No  people  can  be  bound  to 
acknowledge  and  .adore  the  invisible  hand 
which  conducts  the  affairs  of  men,  more  than 
the  people  of  the  United  States.  Every  step, 
by  which  they  have  advanced  to  the  character 
of  an  independent  nation,  seems  to  have  been 
distinguished  by  some  token  of  providential 
agency.  And,  in  the  important  revolution  just 
accomplished,  in  the  system  of  their  united 
government,  the  tranquil  deliberations  and  vol 
untary  consent  of  so  many  distinct  communities, 
from  which  the  event  has  resulted,  cannot  be 
compared  with  the  means  by  which  most  gov 
ernments  have  been  established,  without  some 
return  of  pious  gratitude,  along  with  an  humble 
anticipation  of  the  future  blessings,  which  the 
past  seem  to  presage.  These  reflections,  aris 
ing  out  of  the  present  crisis,  have  forced  them 
selves  too  strongly  on  my  mind  to  be  suppressed. 
You  will  join  with  me,  I  trust,  in  thinking  that 
there  are  none  under  the  influence  of  which, 
the  proceedings  of  a  new  and  free  government 
can  more  auspiciously  commence. 

By  the  article  establishing  the  executive  de 
partment,  it  is  made  the  duty  of  the  president 
"  to  recommend  to  your  consideration,  such 
measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  expe 
dient."  The  circumstances  under  which  I  now 
meet  you,  will  acquit  me  from  entering  into 
that  subject  farther  than  to  refer  you  to  the 
great  constitutional  charter  under  which  we 
are  assembled  ;  and  which,  in  defining  your 
powers,  designates  the  objects  to  which  your  at 
tention  is  to  be  given.  It  will  be  more  consistent 
with  those  circumstances,  and  far  more  con 


genial  with  the  feelings  which  actuate  me,  to 
substitute,  in  place  of  a  recommendation  of 
particular  measures,  the  tribute  that  is  due  to 
the  talents,  the  rectitude,  and  the  patriotism 
which  adorn  the  characters  selected  to  devise 
and  adopt  them.  In  these  honorable  qualifi 
cations,  I  behold  the  surest  pledges,  that  as, 
on  one  side,  no  local  prejudices  or  attachments, 
no  separate  views  nor  party  animosities,  will 
misdirect  the  comprehensive  and  equal  eye 
which  ought  to  watch  over  this  great  assem 
blage  of  communities  and  interests — so,  on 
another,  that  the  foundations  of  our  national 
policy  will  be  laid  in  the  pure  and  immutable 
principles  of  private  morality ;  and  the  pre 
eminence  of  a  free  government  be  exemplified 
by  all  the  attributes  which  can  win  the  affec 
tions  of  its  citizens,  and  command  the  respect 
of  the  world. 

I  dwell  on  this  prospect  with  every  satisfac 
tion  which  an  ardent  love  for  my  country  can 
inspire  :  since  there  is  no  truth  more  thorough 
ly  established  than  that  there  exists,  in  the 
economy  and  course  of  nature,  an  indissoluble 
union  between  virtue  and  happiness — between 
duty  and  advantage — between  the  genuine 
maxims  of  an  honest  and  magnanimous  policy 
and  the  solid  rewards  of  public  prosperity  and 
felicity — since  we  ought  to  be  no  less  persuaded 
that  the  propitious  smiles  of  Heaven  can  never 
be  expected  on  a  nation  that  disregards  the 
eternal  rules  of  order  and  right  which  Heaven 
itself  has  ordained — and  since  the  preserva 
tion  of  the  sacred  fire  of  liberty,  and  the  des 
tiny  of  the  republican  model  of  government, 
are  justly  considered  as  deeply,  perhaps,  as 
finally  staked,  on  the  experiment  entrusted  to 
the  hands  of  the  American  people. 

Besides  the  ordinary  objects  submitted  to 
your  care,  it  will  remain  with  your  judgment  to 
decide  how  far  an  exercise  of  the  occasional 
power  delegated  by  the  fifth  article  of  the  con 
stitution  is  rendered  expedient,  at  the  present 
juncture,  by  the  nature  of  objections1  which 
have  been  urged  against  the  system,  or  by  the 
degree  of  inquietude  which  has  given  birth  to 
them.  Instead  of  undertaking  particular  re 
commendations  on  this  subject,  in  which  I 
could  be  guided  by  no  lights  derived  from  offi 
cial  opportunities,  I  shall  again  give  way  to  my 
entire  confidence  in  your  discernment  and  pur 
suit  of  the  public  good ;  For,  I  assure  myself, 
that,  whilst  you  carefully  avoid  every  alteration 
which  might  endanger  the  benefits  of  an  united 
and  effective  government,  or  which  ought  to 
await  the  future  lessons  of  experience,  a  rever 
ence  for  the  characteristic  rights  of  freemen, 
and  a  regard  for  the  oublic  harmony,  will  surfi- 


474 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


ciently  influence  your  deliberations  on  the 
question,  how  far  the  former  can  be  more  im- 
pregnably  fortified,  or  the  latter  be  safely  and 
more  advantageously  promoted. 

To  the  preceding  observations  I  have  one  to 
add,  which  will  be  most  properly  addressed  to 
the  house  of  representatives.  It  concerns  my 
self,  and  will  therefore  be  as  brief  as  possible. 

When  I  was  first  honored  with  a  call  into  the 
service  of  my  country,  then  on  the  eve  of  an 
arduous  struggle  for  its  liberties,  the  light  in 
which  I  contemplated  my  duty,  required  that  I 
should  renounce  every  pecuniary  compensation. 
From  this  resolution  I  have  in  no  instance 
departed.  And  being  still  under  the  impres 
sions  which  produced  it,  I  must  decline,  as  in 
applicable  to  myself,  any  share  in  the  personal 
emoluments,  which  may  be  indispensably  in 
cluded  in  a  permanent  provision  for  the  execu 
tive  department ;  and  must  accordingly  pray 


that  the  pecuniary  estimates  for  the  station  In 
•which  I  am  placed,  may,  during  my  continua 
tion  in  it,  be  limited  to  such  actual  expenditures 
as  the  public  good  may  be  thought  to  require. 
Having  thus  imparted  to  you  my  sentiments, 
as  they  have  been  awakened  by  the  occasion 
which  brings  us  together,  I  shall  take  my  pre 
sent  leave,  but  not  without  resorting  once  more 
to  the  benign  Parent  of  the  human  race,  in 
humble  supplication,  that,  since  he  has  been 
pleased  to  favor  the  American  people  with  op 
portunities  for  deliberating  in  perfect  tranquility, 
and  dispositions  for  deciding  with  unparalleled 
unanimity,  on  a  form  of  government  for  the 
security  of  their  union,  and  the  advancement  of 
their  happiness,  so  his  Divine  blessing  may  be 
equally  conspicuous  in  the  enlarged  views,  the 
temperate  consultations,  and  the  wise  measures 
on  which  the  success  of  this  government  must 
depend. 


BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN. 


We  offer  to  our  readers  extracts  from  some 
unpublished  letters  of  Dr.  Franklin,  which  may 
be  considered  as  properly  belonging  to  the 
general  stock  of  materials  for  the  determination 
of  his  character;  and  for  the  national  history. 
We  have  added  to  them  an  extract  of  a  letter 
of  Silas  Dean,  in  relation  to  him,  containing  an 
interesting  anecdote  which  we  have  not  seen  in 
print.  The  letter  of  Franklin  to  his  son,  on 
the  subject  of  the  stamp-act,  is  important;  as 
is,  indeed,  almost  every  particular,  however 
small,  connected  with  that  measure — the  im 
mediate  cause  of  the  most  momentous  and 
exemplary  of  political  relations. 

Nat.  Gaz. 


INTERESTING  LETTERS. 

EXTRACT  OF  A  LETTER  FROM  DR.  FRANKLIN 
TO  H.  R.  ESQ.,  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

LONDON,  Feb.  26,  1761. 

"  You  tell  me  you  sometimes  visit  the  ancient 
Junto.  I  wish  you  would  do  it  oftener ;  I 
know  they  all  love  and  respect  you,  and  regret 
your  absenting  yourself  so  much.  People  are 
apt  to  grow  strange  and  not  understand  one 
another  so  well,  when  they  meet  but  seldom. 


Since  we  have  held  that  club  till  we  are  grown 
grey  together,  let  us  hold  it  out  to  the  end. 
For  my  own  part  I  find  I  love  company,  chat,  a 
laugh,  a  glass,  and  even  a  song,  as  well  as 
ever  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  relish  better  than 
I  used  to  do,  the  grave  observations  and  wise 
sentences  of  old  men's  conversation.  So  that 
I  am  sure  the  Junto  will  be  still  as  agreeable  to 
me  as  it  ever  has  been  ;  I  therefore  hope  it  will 
not  be  discontinued  as  long  as  we  are  able  to 
crawl  together." 

TO  THE  SAME. 

LONDON,  July  7, 1765. 

"  I  wish  you  would  continue  to  meet  the 
Junto,  notwithstanding  that  some  effect  of  our 
public  political  misunderstandings  may  some 
times  appear  there.  'Tis  now  perhaps  one  of 
the  oldest  clubs  as  I  think  it  was  formerly  one 
of  the  best,  in  the  king's  dominions ;  it  wants 
but  about  two  years  of  forty  since  it  was  estab 
lished  ;  we  loved  and  still  love  one  another ;  we 
are  grown  grey  together,  and  yet  it  is  too  early 
to  part.  Let  us  sit  till  the  evening  of  life  is 
spent ;  the  last  hours  were  always  the  most 
joyous  ;  when  we  can  stay  no  longer  'tis  time 
enough  then  to  bid  each  other  good-night, 
separate  and  go  quietly  to  bed." 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 


475 


TO  THE  SAME. 

LONDON,  Feb.  27,  1766. 

"  I  received  your  kind  letter  of  Nov.  27th  ; 
you  cannot  conceive  how  much  good  the  cor 
dial  salutations  of  an  old  friend  do  to  the  heart 
of  a  man  so  far  from  home,  and  hearing  fre 
quently  of  the  abuse  thrown  on  him  in  his 
absence  by  the  enemies  that  party  has  raised 
against  him. 

"  In  the  meantime  I  hope  I  have  done  even 
those  enemies  some  service  in  our  late  struggle 
for  America.  It  has  been  a  hard  one,  and  we 
have  been  often  between  hope  and  despair ; 
but  now  the  day  begins  to  clear  ;  the  ministry 
are  fixed  for  us,  and  we  have  obtained  a  major 
ity  in  the  house  of  commons  for  repealing  the 
stamp-act,  and  giving  us  ease  in  every  com 
mercial  grievance.  God  grant  that  no  bad 
news  of  farther  excesses  in  America  may  arrive 
to  strengthen  our  adversaries  and  weaken  the 
hands  of  our  friends,  before  this  good  work  is 
quite  completed. 

"  The  partisans  of  the  late  ministry  have 
been  strongly  crying  out  rebellion,  and  calling 
for  force  to  be  sent  against  America.  The 
consequence  might  have  been  terrible !  but 
milder  measures  have  prevailed." 


EXTRACT  OF  A  LETTER  FROM  BENJAMIN 
FRANKLIN  TO  HIS  SON  WILLIAM  FRANK 
LIN,  ESQ. 

LONDON,  Nov.  9,  1765. 

"  Mr.  Cooper,  secretary  of  the  treasury,  is  our 
old  acquaintance,  and  expresses  a  hearty  friend 
ship  for  us  both.  Enclosed  I  send  you  his  bil 
let  proposing  to  make  me  acquainted  with  lord 
Rockingham.  I' dine  with  him  to-morrow. 

"  I  had  a  long  audience  on  Wednesday  with 
lord  Dartmouth.  He  was  highly  recommended 
to  me  by  lords  Grantham  and  Besborough,  as  a 
young  man  of  excellent  understanding,  and  the 
most  amiable  dispositions.  They  seemed  ex 
tremely  intent  on  bringing  us  together.  I  had 
been  to  pay  my  respects  to  his  lordship  on  his 
appointment  to  preside  at  the  board  of  trade  ; 
but  during  the  summer  he  has  been  much  out 
of  town,  so  that  I  had  not,  till  now,  the  oppor 
tunity  of  conversing  with  him.  I  found  him  all 
they  said  of  him.  He  even  exceeded  the 
expectations  they  had  raised  in  me.  If  he  con 
tinues  in  that  department,  I  foresee  much  hap 
piness  from  it  to  the  American  affairs.  He 
inquired  kindly  after  you,  and  spoke  of  you 
handsomely.  I  gave  it  him  as  my  opinion,  that 
the  general  execution  of  the  stamp-act  would 
be  impracticable,  without  occasioning  more 


mischief  than  it  was  worth,  by  totally  alienat 
ing  the  affections  of  the  Americans,  and  thereby 
lessening  their  commerce.  I  therefore  wished 
that  advantage  might  be  taken  of  the  address 
expected  over,  (if  expressed,  as  I  hoped  it  would 
be  in  humble  and  dutiful  terms)  to  suspend 
the  execution  of  the  act  for  a  term  of  years,  till 
the  colonies  should  be  more  clear  of  debt,  and 
better  able  to  bear  it,  and  then  drop  it  on  some 
decent  pretence,  without  ever  bringing  the  ques 
tion  of  right  to  decision. 

"  And  I  strongly  recommended  either  a 
thorough  union  with  America,  or  that  govern 
ment  here  would  proceed  in  the  old  method  o  f 
requisition,  by  which  I  was  confident  more 
would  be  obtained  in  the  way  of  voluntary 
grant,  than  could  probably  be  got  by  com 
pulsory  taxes  laid  by  parliament.  I  stated  that 
particular  colonies  might  at  times  be  back 
ward,  but  at  other  times,  when  in  better  tem 
per,  they  would  make  up  for  that  backwardness, 
so  that  on  the  whole  it  would  be  nearly  equal. 
That  to  send  armies  and  fleets  to  enforce  the 
act,  would  not,  in  my  opinion,  answer  any 
good  end :  That  the  inhabitants  would  prob 
ably  take  every  method  to  encourage  the  sol 
diers  to  desert,  to  which  the  high  price  of  labor 
"would  contribute,  and  the  chance  of  being  never 
apprehended  in  so  extensive  a  country,  where 
the  want  of  hands,  as  well  as  the  desire  of 
wasting  the  strength  of  an  army  come  to  op 
press,  would  incline  every  one  to  conceal 
deserters,  so  that  the  officers  would  probably 
soon  be  left  alone  :  That  fleets,  indeed,  might 
easily  obstruct  their  trade,  but  withal  must 
ruin  great  part  of  the  trade  of  Britain  ;  as  the 
properties  of  American  and  British  or  London 
merchants  were  mixed  in  the  same  vessels,  and 
no  remittance  could  be  received  here  ;  besides 
the  danger,  by  mutual  violences,  excesses  and 
severities,  of  creating  a  deep  rooted  aversion 
between  the  two  countries,  and  laying  the 
foundation  of  a  future  total  separation. 

"  I  added,  that,  notwithstanding  the  present 
discontents,  there  still  remained  so  much  re 
spect  in  America  for  this  country,  that  wisdom 
would  do  more  towards  reducing  things  to 
order,  than  all  our  forces,  and  that,  if  the  ad 
dress  expected  from  the  congress  of  the  colo 
nies  should  be  unhappily  such  as  could  not  be 
made  the  foundation,  three  or  four  wise  and 
good  men,  personages  of  some  rank  and  dig 
nity,  should  be  sent  over  to  America,  with  a 
royal  commission  to  enquire  into  grievances, 
hear  complaints,  learn  the  true  state  of  affairs, 
giving  expectations  of  redress  where  they  found 
the  people  really  aggrieved,  and  endeavoring  to 
convince  and  reclaim  them  by  reason,  wnere 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


they  found  them  in  the  wrong  :  That  such  an 
instance  of  the  considerateness,  moderation; 
and  justice  of  this  country  towards  its  remote 
subjects  would  contribute  more  towards  secur 
ing  and  perpetuating  the  dominion,  than  all  its 
forces,  and  be  much  cheaper. 

"  A  great  deal  more  I  said  on  our  American 
affairs  ;  too  much  to  write.  His  lordship  heard 
all  with  great  attention  and  patience.  As  to 
the  address  expected  from  the  congress,  he 
doubted  some  difficulty  would  arise  about  re 
ceiving  it,  as  it  was  an  irregular  meeting,  un 
authorized  by  any  American  constitution  ;  I  said 
I  hoped  government  here  would  not  be  too  nice 
on  that  head  ;  that  an  address  of  the  whole 
there  seemed  necessary,  their  separate  petitions 
last  year  being  rejected.  And  to  refuse  hear 
ing  complaints  and  redressing  grievances,  from 
punctilios  about  form,  had  always  an  ill  effect, 
and  gave  great  handle  to  those  turbulent,  fac 
tious  spirits  who  are  ever  ready  to  blow  the  coals 
of  dissension.  He  thanked  me  politely  for  the 
visit  and  desired  to  see  me  often. 

"  It  is  true  that  inconveniences  may  arise  to 
government  here  by  a  repeal  of  the  act,  as  it 
will  be  deemed  a  tacit  giving  up  the  sovereignty 
of  parliament,  and  yet  I  think  the  inconveni 
ences  of  persisting  much  greater,  as  I  have 
said  above.  The  present  ministry  are  truly 
perplexed  how  to  act  on  the  occasion  :  as,  if 
they  relax,  their  predecessors  will  reproach 
them  with  giving  up  the  honor,  dignity,  and 
power  of  their  nation.  And  yet  even  they,  I 
am  told,  think  they  have  carried  things  too 
far ;  so  that  if  it  were  indeed  true  that  I  had 
planned  the  act  (as  you  say  it  is  reported  with 
you)  I  believe  we  should  soon  hear  some  of 
them  exculpating  themselves  by  saying  I  had 
misled  them.  I  need  not  tell  you,  that  I  had 
not  the  least  concern  in  it.  It  was  all  cut  and 
dried,  and  every  resolve  framed  at  the  treasury 
ready  for  the  house,  before  I  arrived  in  Eng 
land,  or  knew  any  thing  of  the  matter  ;  so  that 
if  they  had  given  me  a  pension  on  that  ac 
count,  (as  is  said  by  some,)  it  would  have  been 
very  dishonest  in  me  to  accept  it.  I  wish  an 
enquiry  was  made  of  the  Dutch  parsons  how 
they  came  by  the  letter  you  mention,  which  is 
undoubtedly  a  forgery,  as  not  only  there  were 
no  such  facts,  but  there  is  no  such  person  as  the 
queen's  chaplain.  I  think  there  rs  no  doubt, 
but  that,  though  the  stamp  act  should  be  re 
pealed,  some  mulct  or  punishment  will  be 
inflicted  on  the  colonies  that  have  suffered  the 
houses  of  officers,  etc.,  to  be  pulled  down; 
especially  if  their  respective  assemblies  do  not 
immediately  make  reparation." 


EXTRACT  OF  A  LETTER  FROM  SILAS  DEANE, 
AT  PARIS,  RESPECTING  DR.  FRANKLIN. 

"  Gratitude,  as  well  as  justice,  to  that  truly 
reat  man,  to  whose  friendship,  and  counsel,  I 
owe  much,  oblige  me  to  say  on  this  occasion, 
that  I  not  only  believe,  but  know  that  the  reports 
of  his  enemies,  to  say  no  more,  are  directly  the 
reverse  of  the  character  which  Dr.  Franklin  has 
ever  sustained,  and  which  he  now  most  emi 
nently  supports.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  re 
flect  on  the  honors  and  respect  universally  paid 
him  by  all  orders  of  people  in  France,  and 
never  did  I  enjoy  greater  satisfaction,  than  in 
being  the  spectator  of  the  public  honors  paid 
him. 

"  A  celebrated  cause  being  to  be  heard  be 
fore  the  parliament  of  Paris,  and  the  house  and 
street  leading  to  it  crowded  with  people,  on 
the  appearance  of  Dr.  Franklin,  way  was  made 
for  him  in  the  most  respectful  manner,  and  he 
passed  through  the  crowd  to  the  seat  reserved 
for  him,  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  people — 
an  honor  seldom  paid  to  their  first  princes  of 
the  blood. 

"  When  he  attended  the  operas  and  plays, 
similar  honors  were  paid  him,  and  I  confess  I 
felt  a  joy  and  pride  which  was  pure  and  honest, 
though  not  disinterested,  for  I  considered  it 
an  honor  to  be  known  to  be  an  American  and 
his  acquaintance.  I  am  unable  to  express  the 
grief  and  indignation  I  feel  at  finding  such  a 
character  represented  as  the  worst  that  human 
depravity  is  capable  of  exhibiting,  and  that 
such  a  representation  should  be  made  even  by 
Americans. 


CORRESPONDENCE 

BETWEEN  DR.  FRANKLIN,  AND  LORD  HOWE, 
1775- 

[Lord  Howe  was  one  of  the  commissioners 
sent  out  in  1775,  to  prevent  the  revolution. 
On  his  arrival  he  addressed  the  following 
note  to  Dr.  Franklin — the  reply  of  the  latter 
is  truly  a  master-piece.  It  has  been  fre 
quently  published,  but  it  seemed  as  if  we 
could  not  dispense  with  its  insertion  in  this 
volume.] 


LORD  HOWE  TO  DR.  FRANKLIN. 

"  I  cannot,  my  worthy  friend,  permit  the 
letters  and  parcels,  which  I  have  sent,  to  be 
landed  without  adding  a  word  upon  the  subjects 
of  the  injurious  extremities,  in  which  our  un 
happy  disputes  have  engaged  us. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 


477 


"  You  will  learn  the  nature  of  my  mission 
from  the  official  despatches,  which  I  have 
recommended  to  be  forwarded  by  the  same 
conveyance. — Retaining  all  the  earnestness,  I 
ever  expressed,  to  see  our  differences  accommo 
dated,  I  shall  conceive,  if  I  meet  with  the  dis 
position  in  the  colonies,  which  I  was  once 
taught  to  expect,  the  most  flattering  hopes  of 
proving  serviceable  in  the  objects  of  the  king's 
paternal  solicitude,  by  promoting  the  establish 
ment  of  lasting  peace  and  union  with  the  colo 
nies  :  but,  if  the  deep  rooted  prejudices  of 
America,  and  the  necessity  of  preventing  her 
trade  from  passing  into  foreign  channels,  must 
keep  us  still  a  divided  people,  I  shall,  from  every 
private  as  well  as  public  motive,  most  heartily 
lament  that  this  is  not  the  moment  wherein 
those  great  objects  of  my  ambition  are  to  be 
attained  ;  and  that  I  am  to  be  longer  deprived  of 
an  opportunity  to  assure  you  personally  of  the 
regard  with  which  I  am,"  etc. 


DR.  FRANKLIN'S  ANSWER.    . 

•  1  received  safe  the  letters  your  lordship  so 
kindly  forwarded  to  me,  and  beg  you  to  accept 
my  thanks. 

"  The  official  despatches,  to  which  you  refer 
me,  contained  nothing  more  than  what  we  had 
seen  in  the  act  of  parliament,  viz. :  "  Offers  of 
pardon  upon  submission ;  "  which  I  am  sorry 
to  find,  as  it  must  give  your  lordship  pain  to  be 
sent  so  far  on  so  hopeless  a  business. 

"  Directing  pardons  to  be  offered  to  the 
colonies,  who  are  the  very  parties  injured, 
expresses  indeed  that  opinion  of  our  ignorance, 
baseness  and  insensibility,  which  your  unin 
formed  and  proud  nation  has  long  been  pleased 
to  entertain  of  us ;  but  it  can  have  no  other 
effect  than  that  of  increasing  our  resentments. 
It  is  impossible  we  should  think  of  submission 
to  a  government  that  has,  with  the  most 
wanton  barbarity  and  cruelty,  burned  our  de 
fenceless  towns  in  the  midst  of  winter  ;  excited 
the  savages  to  massacre  our  peaceful  farmers, 
and  our  slaves  to  murder  their  masters  ;  and 
is  even  now  bringing  foreign  mercenaries  to 
deluge  our  settlements  with  blood.  These 
atrocious  injuries  have  extinguished  every  spark 
of  affection  for  that  parent  country,  that  we 
once  held  so  dear,  but  were  it  possible  for  us 
to  forget  and  forgive  them,  it  is  not  possible  for 
you,  I  mean  the  British  nation,  to  forgive  the 
people  you  have  so  heavily  injured.  You  can 
never  confide  again  in  those  as  fellow  subjects, 
and  permit  them  to  enjoy  equal  freedom,  to 
whom  you  know  you  have  given  such  just 


causes  of  lasting  enmity;  and  this  must  im 
pel  you,  were  we  again  under  government,  to 
endeavor  to  break  our  spirit  by  the  severest 
tyranny,  and  obstructing  by  every  means  in 
your  power,  our  growing  strength  and  pros 
perity. 

"  Your  lordship  mentions  '  the  king's  pater 
nal  solicitude  for  promoting  the  establishment 
of  lasting  peace  and  union  with  the  colonies.' 
If,  by  peace,  he  here  meant  a  peace,  to  be 
entered  into  by  distinct  states,  now  at  war,  and 
his  majesty  has  given  your  lordship  powers  to 
treat  with  us  of  such  a  peace,  I  may  venture  to 
say,  though  without  authority,  that  I  think  a 
treaty  for  that  purpose  not  quite  impracticable, 
before  we  enter  into  foreign  alliances ;  but  I 
am  persuaded  you  have  no  such  powers. — Your 
nation  thought,  by  punishing  those  American 
governors,  who  have  fomented  the  discord ; 
rebuilding  our  burnt  towns,  and  repairing,  as 
far  as  possible,  the  mischiefs  done  us,  she 
might  recover  a  great  share  of  our  regard,  and 
the  greatest  share  of  our  growing  commerce, 
with  all  the  advantages  of  that  additional 
strength  to  be  derived  from  a  friendship  with 
us  ;  yet,  I  know  too  well  her  abounding  pride 
and  deficient  wisdom,  to  believe  she  will  ever 
take  such  salutary  measures.  Her  fondness 
for  conquest,  as  a  warlike  nation  ;  her  lust  of 
dominion,  as  an  ambitious  one  ;  and  her  thirst 
for  a  gainful  monopoly,  as  a  commercial  one, 
none  of  them  legitimate  causes  of  war,  will 
join  to  hide  from  her  eyes  every  view  of  her 
true  interest,  and  continually  goad  her  on,  in 
these  ruinous  distant  expeditions,  so  destruc 
tive  both  of  lives  and  of  treasure,  that  they 
must  prove  as  pernicious  to  her  in  the  end,  as 
the  crusades  formerly  were  to  most  of  the 
nations  of  Europe. 

"  I  have  not  the  vanity,  my  lord,  to  think  of 
intimidating  by  thus  predicting  the  effects  of 
this  war :  for  I  know  that  it  will,  in  England, 
have  the  fate  of  all  my  former  predictions,  not 
to  be  believed  till  the  event  shall  verify  it. 

"  Long  did  I  endeavor,  with  unfeigned  and 
unwearied  zeal,  to  preserve  from  breaking  that 
fine  and  noble  porcelain  vase,  the  British  em 
pire  :  for,  I  knew  that,  being  once  broken,  the 
separate  parts  could  not  retain  even  their  share 
of  the  strength  and  value  that  existed  in  the 
whole,  and  that  a  perfect  re-union  of  those 
parts  could  scarce  ever  be  hoped  for.  Your 
lordship  may  possibly  remember  the  tears  of 
joy  that  wetted  my  cheek,  when,  at  your  good 
sister's,  in  London,  you  once  gave  me  expecta 
tions,  that  a  reconciliation  might  take  place. 
I  had  the  misfortune  to  find  these  expectations 
disappointed,  and  to  be  treated  as  the  cause  ot 


478 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


the  mischief  I  was  laboring  to  prevent.-  My 
consolation,  under  that  groundless  and  malev 
olent  treatment,  was  that  I  retained  the  friend 
ship  of  many  wise  and  good  men  in  that  coun 
try,  and  among  the  rest,  some  share  in  the 
regard  of  lord  Howe. 

"  The  well  founded  esteem,  and  permit  me 
to  say,  affection,  which  I  shall  always  have  for 
your  lordship,  make  it  painful  to  me  to  see  you 
engaged  in  conducting  a  war,  the  great  ground 
of  which,  as  described  in  your  letter,  is,  'the 
necessity  of  preventing  the  American  trade 
from  passing  into  foreign  channels.'  To  me  it 
seems  that  neither  the  obtaining  or  retaining 
any  trade,  how  valuable  soever,  is  an  object  for 
which  men  may  justly  spill  each  other's  blood  ; 
that  the  true  and  sure  means  of  extending  and 
securing  commerce  are  the  goodness  and 
cheapness  of  commodities  :  and  that  the  prof 
its  of  no  trade  can  ever  be  equal  to  the  ex 
pense  of  compelling  it,  and  holding  it  by  fleets 
and  armies.  I  considered  this  war  against  us, 
therefore,  as  both  unjust  and  unwise ;  and  I 
am  persuaded  that  cool  and  dispassionate  pos 
terity  will  condemn  to  infamy  those  who  ad 
vised  it :  and  that  even  success  will  not  save 
from  some  degree  of  dishonor  those  who  have 
voluntarily  engaged  to  conduct  it. 

"  I  know  your  great  motive  in  coming  hither 
was  the  hope  of  being  instrumental  in  a  recon 
ciliation  ;  and,  I  believe,  when  you  find  that  to 
be  impossible,  on  any  terms  given  you  to  pro 
pose,  you  will  then  relinquish  so  odious  a  com 
mand,  and  return  to  a  more  honorable  private 
station. 

"  With  the  greatest  and  most  sincere  re 
spect,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,"  etc. 


DR.  FRANKLIN'S  ADDRESS 

TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  IRELAND,  WRITTEN 
WHILE  AT  VERSAILLES,  FRANCE,  OCTOBER 
4,  1778. 

TO  THE  GOOD  PEOPLE  OF  IRELAND. 

The  misery  and  distress  which  your  ill-fated 
country  has  been  so  frequently  exposed  to,  and 
has  so  often  experienced,  by  such  a  combina 
tion  of  rapine,  treachery,  and  violence,  as  would 
have  disgraced  the  name  of  government,  in  the 
most  arbitrary  country  in  the  world,  has  most 
sincerely  affected  your  friends  in  America,  and 
has  engaged  the  most  serious  attention  of  con 
gress  ;  the  ministry  of  Britain  have  seen  the 
extreme  meanness  and  folly  of  the  attempt  to 
establish  a  supreme  authority  in  parliament,  as 


their  venal  scribblers  had  endeavored  to  define 
it,  exempt  from  question  and  control,  appeal  or 
restriction ;  but  it  is  evident  to  all  the  world, 
that  such  doctrine  is  incompatible  with  every 
idea  of  a  civil  constitution,  for  all  compacts, 
bills  of  right,  nay,  the  solemn  obligation  of  theii 
king  to  govern  according  to  the  statutes  in  par 
liament  agreed  on,  and  the  laws  and  customs 
of  the  same,  would  have  been  all  nugatory 
trumpery,  were  such  a  supremacy  admitted; 
for  this  supreme  authority  having  no  rule  or 
law  to  direct  its  operations,  or  limit  its  power, 
it  must  necessarily  become  arbitrary  and  abso 
lute  ;  for  ceasing  to  be  a  government  by  force, 
and  it  will  appear  fully  evident  that  this  unnat 
ural  war,  in  which  we  have  been  unavoidably 
engaged,  has  been  begun  and  supported  for  no 
other  purpose  than  to  establish  this  supreme  or 
arbitrary  power,  for  they  are  individually  the 
same  ;  nor  is  it  in  the  power  of  sophistry  to 
draw  a  line  of  separation  ;  the  flimsy  and  con 
tradictory  speech  of  lord  North,  introductory  to 
his  conciliatory  motion,  furnishes  the  fullest 
conviction  on  this  point.  He  says,  "  before  the 
war  broke  out,  he  offered  a  conciliatory 
proposition.  The  ground  upon  which  he 
made  it  was,  That  it  was  just  the  colonies 
should  contribute  to  the  support  of  govern 
ment."  And  almost  in  the  same  breath  he 
says  "  he  thought  necessary  to  shew  the  colo 
nies  we  were  not  fighting  for  taxation,  for  he 
never  thought  taxation  would  be  beneficial  to 
us."  He  farther  says,  "  he  never  proposed  any 
tax,  his  maxim  was  to  say  nothing  about  Amer 
ica,  neither  to  propose  or  repeal  laws,  neither 
to  advance  nor  recede,  but  to  remain  in  total 
silence."  His  lordship,  I  hope,  will  excuse  me, 
if  I  presume  to  look  beyond  the  acknowledged 
indolence  of  his  disposition,  to  explain  this 
stupor  of  a  first  minister,  and  the  case  is  very 
obvious;  for  as  soon  as  their  five  regiments 
should  have  completed  the  conquest  of  Amer 
ica,  it  should  lie  with  the  lives  and  properties 
of  its  inhabitants,  at  the  mercy  of  the  conquer 
or's  sword.  The  very  names  of  assemblies, 
conventions,  or  charters,  those  odious  appenda 
ges  of  democratical  power,  should  be  finished, 
and  the  tyrant's  fiat  should  henceforth  become 
the  law  of  the  land,  and  hence  sprung  the  tor 
pedo  that  benumbed  the  minister's  faculties. 

His  lordship  says,  his  proposition  was  misin 
terpreted  or  misunderstood,  and  was  rendered 
suspicious  by  a  supposition  of  a  variety  of 
cases  ;  the  congress  treated  it  as  unreasonable 
and  insidious,  and  rejected  it.  War  began, 
and  his  intention  was,  from  the  beginning,  at 
the  moment  of  victory,  to  propose  the  same 
proposition  in  terms  obviating  all  the  misrepre- 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 


479 


sentations  and  misunderstandings  concerning 
it.  Here  it  is  confessed,  that  this  wise  and 
virtuous  administration  at  every  hazard,  and  at 
a  certain  expense,  has  almost  annihilated  pub 
lic  credit,  have  been  looking  for  victory  which 
has  never  come,  and  I  trust  never  will  come, 
and  which,  if  it  did  come,  must  have  been  ac 
complished  by  the  murder  of  fellow  citizens, 
sooner  than  clear  their  own  propositions  of 
their  ambiguity  and  suspicion.  And  what  de 
prives  them  of  the  color  of  excuse,  for  the  hor 
rid  barbarities  of  the  war,  the  city  of  London, 
in  the  most  respectful  language,  petitioned  the 
throne  to  declare  clearly  and  explicitly  before 
the  war  commenced,  what  they  wished  to  have 
done  on  the  part  of  America ;  but  all  to  no 
purpose  ;  they  would  not,  they  dare  not  declare 
their  true  object.  The  solemn  appeal  was 
made,  and,  for  the  honor  of  virtue,  the  comfort 
of  human  nature,  and  the  terror  of  oppression, 
it  will  be^,  indelibly  recorded  in  the  historic  page, 
that  a  few  virtuous  citizens  could  effectually 
resist  the  most  vigorous  efforts  of  the  most 
powerful  tyranny,  and  thereby  establish  the 
freedom  of  the  western  world  forever.  To 
arrive  at  power,  Gustavus  like,  by  a  bold  effort 
of  courage,  proves  at  least  the  existence  of 
one  virtue,  at  the  same  time  we  detest  the 
treachery  ;  but  to  sacrifice  the  public  treasure, 
to  devote  every  effort  of  rapacious  taxation,  and 
the  fruits  of  an  ever-growing  excise,  to  this 
idol  of  madness  and  folly,  to  establish  a  system 
of  venality,  by  which  the  price  of  every  man's 
integrity  and  abilities  was  to  be  determined,  to 
stipulate  the  precise  condition  for  which  he 
shall  treacherously  betray  the  interest  of  his 
country,  and  violate  every  obligation  of  private 
friendship  and  public  virtue,  to  beat  down  every 
fence  to  honor  and  principle,  to  destroy  the 
very  bond  and  frame  of  civil  society,  to  make 
the  pillage  of  property  the  means  to  accomplish 
the  plunder  of  liberty,  and  to  drive  the  people 
into  all  the  miseries  of  a  civil  war,  in  pursuit  of 
this  dream  of  power,  are  instances  of  such 
determined  depravity  as  are  not  to  be  described 
even  in  the  language  of  a  country  where  new 
villainy  adds  to  the  catalogue  of  crimes  almost 
every  day.  The  perfect  similarity  of  the  de 
claratory  act  of  supremacy,  and  that  relating 
to  your  country,  viz.,  That  Ireland  should  be 
subordinate  to  and  depend  on  the  imperial 
crown  of  Great  Britain,  is  very  obvious ;  but 
this  declaration  ex  parte  can  avail  nothing,  at 
the  same  time  that  it  furnishes  the  most  incon- 
testible  and  decisive  proofs,  that  no  such  sub 
ordination  or  dependence  was  ever  understood 
before,  or  there  would  have  been  no  necessity 
for  such  an  act. 


The  navigation  act,  which  had  been  framed 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  securing  to  the  British 
subjects,  all  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from 
the  commerce  of  their  own  settlements,  has, 
by  subsequent  acts,  been  framed  into  the  most 
odious  and  impolitic  monopoly  that  could  be 
devised :  creating  local  distinctions  and  com 
mercial  schisms,  giving  privilege  to  one  set  of 
subjects  to  the  injury  of  others,  and  operating 
on  all  the  indicted  provinces  as  an  oppressive 
tax,  comprehending  all  the  taxes  of  Britain, 
however  variously  modified  or  compounded. 
And  we  wish  to  have  it  forever  fixed  on  your 
minds,  that  by  a  monopoly  of  trade  every  pre 
tence  to  internal  taxation  is  given  up  ;  for  were 
you  even  without  a  constitution .  of  your  own, 
and  as  dependent  as  usurpation  has  endeavored 
to  make  you,  the  monopoly  of  your  trade  is 
more  than  a  full  and  equitable  compensation 
for  all  other  taxes,  and  it  will  not  appear  para 
doxical  to  futurity,  that  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
British  empire  have  been  owing  to  this  act : 
and  the  engine  by  which  the  wise  politician, 
who  framed  it,  designed  to  wind  up  and  con 
nect  the  British  interest  all  over  the  world,  we 
have  seen  employed  as  the  wheel  on  which 
British  liberty  and  grandeur  have  disgracefully 
expired. 

The  anticipation  of  public  revenue  has  fixed 
the  crisis  of  Britain,  the  labor  of  their  people 
for  all  succeeding  generations  being  engaged 
to  pay  the  interests  of  their  public  debts.  I 
cannot  suppose  it  an  unfair  deduction  to  say 
they  are  all  born  in  a  state  of  slavery,  for  an 
obligation  to  work  for  any  other  purpose  than 
one's  own  advantage,  is  truly  the  condition  of 
a  slave,  and  every  new  tax  adds  a  link  to  the 
chain.  But  even  in  this  gloomy  picture  there 
is  a  dawn  of  hope  ;  all  bodies  are  capable  of 
refraction  to  a  certain  degree,  beyond  which  it 
is  impossible  to  expand  them  ever  so  little, 
without  absolute  destruction.  It  is  evident  to 
all  the  world,  that  the  nerves  of  public  credit 
in  England  are  on  the  rack  of  extension,  and 
the  dreadful  explosion  must  follow  of  course  ; 
and  can  it  be  supposed  that  the  system  of 
weakness  and  folly,  that  has  so  long  usurped 
the  name  of  constitution,  can  survive  the 
shock  ;  and  their  people  may  yet  hope  to  see  a 
vigorous  young  one  grow  out  of  the  ruins  of 
the  old. 

I  have  it  in  my  commission  to  repeat  to  you, 
my  good  friends,  the  cordial  concern  that  con 
gress  takes  in  every  thing  that  relates  to  the 
happiness  of  Ireland  ;  they  are  sensibly  affected 
by  the  load  of  oppressive  pensions  on  your 
establishment,  the  arbitrary  and  illegal  ex 
actions  of  public  money  by  king's  letters  ;  the 


480 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


profuse  dissipation,  by  sinecure  appointments 
with  large  salaries,  and  the  very  arbitrary  and 
impolitic  restrictions  on  your  trade  and  manu 
factures,  which  are  beyond  example  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  and  can  only  be  equalled 
by  that  illiberal  spirit  which  directs  it,  and 
which  has  shewn  itself  so  abundantly  in  peti 
tions  from  all  parts  of  their  islands,  and  in  the 
debate  in  their  house  of  commons  when  you 
had  been  lately  amused  with  the  vain  hope  of 
an  extension  of  your  trade,  and  which  were 
conducted  with  such  temper  and  language  as 
might  be  supposed  to  suit  their  copper-colored 
allies  in  America,  but  must  fix  a  stain  on  the 
character  of  a  civilized  nation  forever. 

When  I  had  the  pleasure  of  residing  in  your 
capital  some  years  ago,  it  gave  me  pain  to 
observe  such  a  debility  and  morbid  languor  in 
every  department  of  your  government,  as 
would  have  disgraced  anarchy  itself;  the  laws 
are  too  weak  to  execute  themselves,  and  vice 
and  violence  often  reign  with  impunity ;  and 
even  the  military  with  you  seem  to  claim  an 
exemption  from  all  civil  restraint,  or  jurisdic 
tion,  and  individuals  are  forced  to  trust  to 
themselves  for  that  security  and  protection 
which  the  government  of  the  country  can  no 
longer  afford  them.  We  congratulate  you 
however,  on  the  bright  prospect  which  the 
western  hemisphere  has  afforded  to  you,  and 
the  oppressed  of  every  nation,  and  we  trust 
that  the  liberation  of  your  country  has 
been  effected  in  America,  and  that  you  never 
will  be  called  on  for  those  painful,  though 
necessary  exertions,  which  the  sacred  love  of 
liberty  inspires,  and  which  have  enabled  us  to 
establish  our  freedom  forever. 

We  hope  the  political  Quixots  of  Great  Brit 
ain  will  no  longer  be  able  to  disturb  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  mankind,  and  which  Provi 
dence  has  permitted  perhaps  to  shew  the  mon 
strous  abuse  of  power ;  yet  lost  to  all  public 
virtue  as  they  are,  we  wish  they  may  turn  from 
their  wickedness  and  live  ;  and  we  doubt  not 
the  noble  efforts  of  America  will  meet  the  full 
approbation  of  every  virtuous  Briton,  when 
they  shall  be  able  to  distinguish  between  the 
mad  pursuits  of  government  and  the  true  in 
terest  of  their  people.  But  as  for  you,  our  dear 
and  good  friends  of  Ireland,  we  must  cordially 
recommend  to  you  to  continue  peaceable  and 
quiet  in  every  possible  situation  of  your  affairs, 
and  endeavor,  by  mutual  good  will,  to  supply 
the  defects  of  administration.  But  if  the  gov 
ernment,  whom  you  at  this  time  acknowledge, 
does  not,  in  conformity  to  her  own  true  in 
terest,  take  off  and  remove  every  restraint  on 
your  trade,  commerce  and  manufactures,  I  am 


charged  to  assure  you,  that  means  will  be 
found  to  establish  your  freedom  hi  this  re 
spect,  in  the  fullest  and  amplest  manner.  And 
as  it  is  the  ardent  wish  of  America  to  promote, 
as  far  as  her  other  engagements  will  permit,  a 
reciprocal  commercial  interest  with  you,  I  am 
to  assure  you,  they  will  seek  every  means  to 
establish  and  extend  it ;  and  it  has  given  the 
most  sensible  pleasure  to  have  those  instruc 
tions  committed  to  my  care,  as  I  have  ever  re 
tained  the  most  perfect  good  will  and  esteem 
for  the  people  of  Ireland.  And  am,  with  every 
sentiment  of  respect,  their  obedient  and  hum 
ble  servant,  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

Versailles,  October  4,  1778. 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  FRANKLIN'S  INTRODUC 
TION  TO  THE  ACADEMY  OF  FRANCE,  AND 
HIS  ASSOCIATION  WITH  VOLTAIRE. 

His  introduction  into  the  academy,  was  as 
high  a  testimonial  of  esteem  as  one  great 
people  could  offer  another.  As  he  entered 
D'Alembert  saluted  him  with  the  celebrated 
Ifne, 
Eripuit  ccelo  fulmen,  sceptr unique  iyrannis. 

Condorcet  thus  describes  this  grateful  and 
memorable  ceremony  : — "  At  this  same  time 
Paris  boasted,  also,  the  presence  of  the  cele 
brated  Franklin,  who,  in  another  hemisphere, 
had  been  the  apostle  of  philosophy  and  tolera 
tion.  Like  Voltaire,  he  had  often  employed 
the  weapon  of  humor  which  corrects  the  ab 
surdities  of  men,  and  had  displayed  their  per- 
verseness  as  a  folly  more  fatal  but  also  worthy 
of  pity.  He  had  joined  to  the  science  of  meta 
physics  the  genius  of  practical  philosophy  ;  as 
Voltaire,  that  of  poetry.  Franklin  had  de 
livered  the  vast  continent  of  America  from  the 
yoke  of  Europe,  and  I  was  eager  to  see  a  man 
whose  reputation  had  long  been  spread  over 
both  worlds. — Voltaire,  although  he  had  lost 
the  habit  of  speaking.English,  endeavored  to 
support  the  conversation  in  that  language,  and 
afterwards  resuming  the  French,  he  said,  '  I 
could  not  resist  the  desire  of  speaking  the 
language  of  Mr.  Franklin,  for  a  moment.' 
The  American  philosopher  presented  his 
grandson  to  Voltaire,  with  a  request  that  he 
would  give  him  his  benediction.  '  God  and 
liberty,'  said  Voltaire,  '  it  is  the  only  benedic 
tion  which  can  be  given  to  the  grandson  of 
Franklin.' 

"  They  went  together  to  a  public  assembly 
of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  the  public  at 
the  same  time  beheld  with  emotion  these  two 
men,  born  in  different  quarters  of  the  globe, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 


481 


venerable  by  their  years,  their  glory,  the  em 
ployment  of  their  life,  and  both  enjoying  the 
influence  which  they  had  exercised  over  the 
age  in  which  they  lived.  They  embraced  each 
other  amidst  public  acclamations,  and  it  was 
said  to  be  Solon  who  embraced  Sophocles. 
But  the  French  Sophocles  had  trampled  on 
error  and  advanced  the  reign  of  reason  ;  and 
the  Solon,  of  Philadelphia,  having  placed  the 
constitution  of  his  country  on  the  immovable 
foundation  of  the  rights  of  man,  had  no  fear 
of  seeing  his  uncertain  laws,  even  during  his 
own  life,  open  the  way  to  tyranny,  and  prepare 
fetters  for  his  country." 


,DR.  FRANKLIN. 

INTERESTING  NOTICE  IN  RELATION  TO  HIM, 
AND  EXTRACTS  FROM  ARTICLES  PRINTED 
BY  HIM  IN  LONDON  IN  1779. 

The  author  of  the  "  Systeme  de  la  Nature  " 
says — "What  imports  it  to  me,  that  Mauper- 
tuis  is  a  good  geometrician,  if  he  be  a  despotic 
and  merciless  president,  and  if  I  be  obliged  to 
live  in  his  domain  or  his  academy  ?  A  benefi 
cent  man  is,  in  my  opinion,  much  more  esti 
mable,  than  a  being  who  is  learned,  but  cruel." 
— Mirabeau  the  Elder.  Not  so  with  our  Dr. 
Franklin — for,  "  Whatever  he  writes,  his  fellow- 
citizens  read  with  eagerness,  delight,  and  plea 
sure — and  whatever  he  performs,  the  civilized 
part  of  the  world  approves." — Turgol  to 
Dr.  Price. 


From  among  "the  political,  miscellaneous, 
and  philosophical  pieces  of  Dr.  Franklin,  printed 
in  London,  1779,  p.  297,"  is  extracted  the  fol 
lowing,  and  placed  at  your  service.  ClVlS. 

"At  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  1762, 
when  certain  projectors  asked  the  English 
to  leave  the  French  in  possession  of  Canada,  in 
order  that  they  might  check  the  too  rapid 
increase  of  the  English  colonies,  the  celebrated 
Dr.  Franklin  observed,  '  It  is  a  modest  word, 
this  check  for  massacreing  men,  women,  and 
children  ;  and  for  all  the  other  horrors  of  Indian 
warfare."  It  was  being  very  far-sighted  indeed, 
to  feel  so  soon  the  necessity  of  checking  the 
excessive  population  of  the  then  English  colo 
nies.  'But,'  continues  this  truly  great  man, 
with  that  Socratic  simplicity  which  is  the 
peculiar  characteristic  of  his  writings.  '  If  it 
be,  after  all,  '  thought  necessary  to  check  the 
growth  of  our  colonies,  give  me  leave  to 

31 


propose  a  method  less  cruel.  It  is  a  method 
of  which  we  have  an  example  in  the  scripture. 
The  murder  of  husbands,  of  wives,  of  brothers, 
sisters,  and  children,  whose  pleasing  society 
has  been  for  some  time  enjoyed,  affects  deeply 
the  respective  surviving  relations ;  but  grief  for 
the  loss  of  a  child  just  born  is  short,  and  ea 
sily  supported.  The  method  I  mean  is,  that 
which  was  dictated  by  the  Egyptian  policy, 
when  the  infinite  increase  of  the  children  of 
Israel  was  appehended  as  dangerous  to  the 
state ;  and  Pharaoh  said  unto  his  priests,  be 
hold  the  people  of  the  children  of  Israel  are  more 
and  mightier  than  we  ;  come  on,  let  us  deal  wise 
ly  with  them,  lest  they  multiply,  and  it  come  to 
pass  that  when  there  falleth  out  any  war,  they 
join  also  unto  our  enemies  and  fight  against 
us,  and  so  get  them  up  out  of  the  land.  And 
the  king  spake  unto  the  Hebrew  midwives,  etc. 
— Exo.  Chap,  i.,  Now,'  says  the  doctor,  '  let  an 
act  of  parliament  be  made,  enjoining  the  colony 
midwives  to  stifle,  in  their  birth,  every  third 
or  fourth  child.  By  this  means  may  you  keep 
the  colonies  to  their  size.  And  if  they  were 
under  the  hard  alternative  of  submitting  to  one 
or  the  other  of  these  schemes  for  checking 
their  growth,  I  dare  answer  for  them  they 
would  prefer  the  latter." 

Note  by  the  transcriber.  They  seem  to  have 
found  out  since  that  time,  another  method  or 
scheme  which,  bye  the  bye  they  never  have 
dared  to  own,  '  and  have  always  disavowed  ' 
it  personally  to  our  ambassadors  ;  though  they 
have  never  discontinued  it  in  practice,  until 
general  J.  made  an  example  of  two  of  their  noto 
rious  assistants  ;  and  could  he  have  been  so 
fortunate  as  to  have  caught  the  two  principal 
agents,  col.  W — e  and  col  N — s,  and  made  them 
also  the  objects  of  '  exact  justice,'  we  should 
not  hear  for  a  length  of  time  of  any  more 
'  secret  schemes  for  the  depopulation  of  the 
frontiers  of  the  United  States" 

—Bost.  Pat. 


INTERESTING  ACCOUNT 

GIVEN  BY  THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  (FRANK 
LIN'S  SUCCESSOR  AT  VERSAILLES,)  OF  THE 
VENERATION  AND  ESTEEM  OF  THE  FRENCH 

PEOPLE  FOR  DR.  FRANKLIN. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  William 
Smith,  expresses  himself,  "  I  can  testify  that 
there  appeared  to  me  more  veneration  and  re 
spect  attached  to  the  character  of  Dr.  Franklin 
in  France,  than  to  that  of  any  other  person  in 
the  same  country,  foreign  or  native.  I  had  an 


482 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


opportunity  of  knowing  particularly  how  far 
these  sentiments  were  felt  by  the  foreign  am 
bassadors  and  ministers  at  the  court  of  Ver 
sailles.  The  fable  of  his  capture  by  the  Alger- 
ines,  propagated  by  the  English  newspapers, 
excited  no  uneasiness,  as  it  was  seen  at  once 
to  be  a  dish  cooked  up  to  please  certain  read 
ers  ;  but  nothing  could  exceed  the  anxiety  of 
his  diplomatic  brethren,  on  a  subsequent  report 
of  his  death,  which  although  premature,  bore 
some  marks  of  authenticity.  I  found  the  min 
isters  of  France  equally  impressed  with  his 
talents  and  integrity.  The  Count  de  Ver- 
gennes,  particularly,  gave  me  repeated  and 
unequivocal  demonstrations  of  his  entire  confi 
dence  in  him." 

"  When  he  left  Passy,  it  seemed  as  if  the  vil 
lage  had  lost  its  Patriarch.  On  taking  leave 
of  the  court,  which  he  did  by  letter,  the  king 
ordered  him  to  be  handsomely  complimented, 
and  furnished  him  with  a  litter  and  mules  of 
his  own,  the  only  kind  of  conveyance  the  state 
of  his  health  could  bear.  The  succession  to 
Dr.  Franklin  at  the  court  of  France,  was  an  ex 
cellent  school  of  humility  to  me.  On  being 
presented  to  any  one,  as  the  minister  of  Ameri 
ca,  the  common  place  question  was  '  Is  it  you, 
sir,  who  replace  Dr.  Franklin  ?  '  I  generally 
answered,  "  no  one  can  replace  him,  sir;  I  am 
only  his  successor," 


EULOGY  ON  DR.  FRANKLIN. 

ACTION  OF  THE  FRENCH  ASSEMBLY  ON  THE 
ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  HIS  DEATH  ;  GLOW 
ING  EULOGY  PRONOUNCED  BY  THE  ABBE 
FAUCHETT. 

The  people  of  France  have,  on  various  oc 
casions,  evinced  that  they  partook  of  our  politi 


cal  sentiments  and  feelings.  When  the  death 
of  Washington  was  announced,  Bonaparte  and 
the  national  representatives  wore  mourning. 
On  the  death  of  Franklin,  the  national  assembly 
put  on  the  emblems  of  grief,  and  appointed  one 
of  their  members,  Abbe  Fauchett,  to  pronounce 
his  eulogy  ;  the  place  in  which  he  spoke  was 
hung  with  black,  and  decorated  with  the  most 
expensive  devices.  In  the  course  of  the  oration 
the  orator  burst  forth  in  this  apostrophe : 
"  Thou  bright  luminary  of  freedom,  why  should 
I  call  thee  great  ?  Grandeur  is  too  often  the 
scourge  of  the  human  kind,  whose  felicity  thy 
goodness  was  ever  exerted  to  promote.  Thou 
hast  been  the  benefactor  of  the  universe ;  be 
thy  name  ever  revered.  May  it  be  the  com 
fort  of  the  wretched,  the  joy  of  the  free.  What 
man  is  more  entitled  to  our  gratitude  ?  It  was 
not  sufficient  to  control  the  lightning  of  Heaven 
and  to  avert  the  fury  of  the  growing  tempest  • 
thou  hast  rendered  unto  mankind  a  service 
still  greater ;  thou  extinguishes!  the  thunder 
of  earthly  despots,  which  was  ready  to  be 
hurled  upon  their  trembling  subjects. 

What  pleasure  must  it  have  been  to  thee  on 
earth,  to  perceive  others  profiting  by  thy  pre 
cepts  and  thy  example.  With  what  greater 
rapture  must  thou  now  contemplate  thy  own 
diffusion  of  light ;  it  will  illumine  the  world,  and 
man,  perceiving  his  natural  dignity,  will  raise 
his  soul  to  Heaven  and  bow  to  no  empire  but 
that  which  is  founded  on  virtue  and  reason. 
I  have  but  one  wish  to  utter  :  it  is  a  wish  dear 
to  my  heart ;  a  wish  always  cherished  in  thy 
virtuous  and  benevolent  bosom — surely  it  will 
derive  some  favor  from  the  throne  of  God, 
when  uttered  in  the  name  of  Franklin.  It  is 
that,  in  becoming  free,  men  may  become  also 
wiser  and  better— there  is  no  other  means  of 
deserving  liberty." 


THE    CONTINENTAL   NAVY. 


THE   FIRST  SEA  FIGHT. 

ACTION  BETWEEN  THE  CONTINENTAL  BRIG 
OF  WAR  TYRANNICIDE,  AND  THE  BRITISH 
SLOOP  OF  WAR  DESPATCH,  1776. 

The  late  rev.  Dr.  BENTLY,  of  Salem,  Mass., 
whose  decease  was  equally  deplored  by  the 
friends  of  religion,  patriotism  and  literature — 
who  for  many  years  enriched  the  columns  of 
the  "Essex  Register  "  with  his  remarks,  when 


speaking  of  the  revolutionary  pension  law, 
seized  the  opportunity  to  give  us  the  following 
interesting  scrap  of  history  : 

"  The  following  history  may  discover  how  a 
man  may  engage  in  the  public  service,  and  yet 
not  be  qualified  according  to  law  for  the  bounty 
of  a  term  short  of  one  year's  service.  Joshua 
Ward,  who  belonged  to  Salem,  but  who  has 
lived  many  years  in  Marblehead,  a  painter, 
marched  on  the  igth  of  April,  to  Charlcstown 


THE  CONTINENTAL  NAVY. 


483 


Neck,  as  a  fifer  of  the  first  company  in  colonel 
Timothy  Pickering's  regiment  of  militia,  com 
manded  by  capt.  William  Pickman,  and  soon 
after  entered  the  army  under  captain  Thomas 
Barnes.  From  Cambridge  he  was  ordered  to 
Watertown  to  guard  the  public  stores,  and 
remained  at  this  station  till  the  battle  of  Bun 
ker's  Hill.  He  then  joined  the  regiment  under 
colonel  Mansfield  on  Prospect  Hill,  in  Charles- 
town,  in  the  Massachusetts  line,  and  acted  as 
fife-major,  till  he  joined  gen.  Sullivan's  brigade, 
on  Winter  Hill,  when  he  was  promoted  as  fife- 
major  general.  He  continued  in  the  service 
till  the  first  day  of  January,  1776,  when  he  was 
discharged,  having  continued  the  time  of  his 
enlistment.  He  then  entered  captain  Benjamin 
Ward's  company,  and  performed  garrison  duty 
at  fort  William  and  Mary,  now  fort  Pickering, 
till  the  1 9th  of  June  following.  He  then  volun 
teered  with  the  first  lieutenant  Haraden,  a  well 
known  brave  and  able  officer,  with  others 
of  his  companions,  on  board  the  Tyrannicide, 
a  public  armed  brig  of  14  guns  and  75  men, 
commanded  by  captain  John  Fiske,  afterwards 
a  major  general  in  Massachusetts,  and  eminent 
by  his  public  services.  He  was  in  this  brig 
during  three  cruises,  and  was  at  the  taking  of 
eight  prizes,  the  first  of  which  was  the  king's 
armed  schooner  Dispatch,  belonging  to  lord 
Howe's  fleet,  then  on  their  passage  from  Hali 
fax  to  New  York,  it  being  loth  July.  In  the 
engagement  one  man  was  killed  in  the  Tyran 
nicide,  three  wounded,  and  one  died  of  his 
wounds.  He  continued  in  this  vessel  till  the 
I4th  of  February,  1777,  when  he  returned  from 
a  four  and  an  half  months'  cruise  in  the  West 
Indies,  and  all  were  discharged.  He  is  now 
72  years  of  age.  In  the  action  with  the  Dis 
patch,  which  lasted  7  glasses,  her  commander, 
John  Goodrich,  2d  lieut.  of  the  Renown  of  50 
guns,  then  in  the  fleet,  was  killed,  and  several 
men.  Mr.  Moore,  sailing  master,  was  wounded 
and  his  limb  amputated.  Mr.  Collingsin,  mid 
shipman,  had  his  limb  amputated  but  he  died. 
The  Dispatch  was  so  disabled  that  they  were 
obliged  to  take  her  in  tow,  and  they  brought 
her  into  Salem,  after  being  out  17  days.  The 
Dispatch  had  eight  carriage  guns,  12  swivels, 
and  a  complement  of  41  picked  men  from  dif 
ferent  ships  in  the  fleet.  This  was  the  first  sea 
fight.  The  Tyrannicide  was  the  first  vessel 
that  was  built  for  the  public  service,  and  her 
commission  was  signed  by  John  Hancock. 
The  Dispatch  was  no  prize  to  the  crew,  except 
ing  a  small  bounty  on  her  guns.  And  yet 
this  worthy  man  in  his  poverty,  comes  not 
within  the  letter  of  the  law,  and  instead  of  his 
bounty,  must  accept  a  hearty  recommenda 


tion  to  the  generous  care  of  his  fellow-citi 
zens." 


LIST   OF  NAVAL  FORCES 
ON  LAKE  CHAMPLAIN,  OCTOBER,  1776. 

BRITISH. 

Ship  Inflexible,  lieutenant  Schank,  18  twelve 
pounders.  Schooner  Maria,  lieutenant  Starke, 
14  six  pounders.  Schooner  Carleton,  lieuten 
ant  Dacres,  12  six  pounders.  Radeau  Thun 
derer,  lieutenant  Scott,  6  twenty-four,  6  twelve 
pounders,  2  howitzers.  Gondola  Loyal  Con 
vert,  lieutenant  Longcroft,  7  nine  pounders. 
Twenty  gun-boats,  each  a  brass  field  piece, 
some  twenty-fours  to  nines,  some  with  howit 
zers.  Four  long-boats,  with  each  a  carriage 
gun,  serving  as  armed  tenders.  Twenty-four 
long  boats  with  provisions. 

CONTINENTAL. 

Schooner  Royal  Savage,  8  six  pounders,  and 
4  four  pounders,  burnt  the  nth  of  October,  at 
Valicour.  Schooner  Revenge,  4  six  pounders, 
and  fours,  escaped  to  Ticonderoga  the  I3th 

of  October.     Sloop ,  10   four  pounders, 

escaped  to  ditto  the  I3th  of  October.  Cutter 
Lee,  i  nine  pounder  in  her  bow ;  i  twelve 
pounder  in  her  stern,  and  2  six  pounders  in  her 
sides  ;  abandoned  the  I3th  of  October.  Gal 
ley  Congress,  2  eighteen  pounders  in  her  bow, 
2  twelve  pounders  in  her  stern,  and  6  six 
pounders  in  her  sides  ;  run  on  shore  and  burnt 
the  is'th  of  October.  Galley  Washington,  i 
eight  and  i  twelve  pounder  in  her  bow,  2  nine 
pounders  in  her  stern,  and  6  six  pounders  in 
her  sides;  taken  the  I3th  of  October.  Galley 
Trumbull,  like  the  Washington,  escaped  to 
Ticonderoga  the  1 3th  October.  Eight  Gondo 
las,  carrying  i  eight  pounder  in  the  bow,  and  2 
nine  pounders  in  the  sides  ;  some  of  these  had 
4  guns  in  their  sides — one  taken  the  I2th,  one 
sunk  the  nth,  four  burnt  the  I3th ;  one  es 
caped,  and  one  missing.  Schooner , 

taken  from  major  Skeene,  was  gone  for  provis 
ions.  Galley  Gates,  expected  to  join  them  in 
a  few  days. 

A  LIST  OF  THE  SEAMEN  DETACHED  FROM 
THE  KING'S  SHIPS  AND  VESSELS  IN  THE 
RIVER  ST.  LAWRENCE,  TO  SERVE  ON  LAKE 
CHAMPLAIN. 

Isis,  100  seamen  ;  Blond,  70 ;  Triton,  60  ; 
Garland,  30  ;  Canceau,  40 ;  Magdalen,  Bruns 
wick,  Gaspee  18  seamen  each  ;  Treasury,  and 
armed  brigs,  90  men  each. 


484 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


Province  armed  vessels. — Fell,  30,  lately 
wrecked ;  Charlotte,  9 ;  volunteers  from  no 
ship,  9;  ditto  from  the  transports  214.  Total 
670,  exclusive  of  8  officers,  and  19  petty  of 
ficers. 


COMMODORE   PAUL  JONES, 

(CONTINENTAL  NAVY).    INTERESTING 

SKETCH  RELATING  TO  HIS  SERVICES,  FROM 

A  BRITISH  MAGAZINE. 

This  distinguished  person  was  the  son  of  a 
small  farmer  a  few  miles  from  Dumfries,  and 
impelled  by  that  love  of  enterprise  which  is  so 
frequently  to  be  met  with  among  the  peasantry 
of  Scotland,  he  seems  to  have  eagerly  embarked 
in  the  cause  of  the  colonies  against  the  mother 
country.  Whether  he  was  actuated,  in  any 
degree,  by  a  sense  of  the  injustice  of  Britain 
toward  America  at  the  outset  of  his  career,  or 
merely  availing  himself  of  the  opportunities  in 
which  revolutionary  warfare  so  greatly  abounds, 
to  rise  from  his  original  obscurity,  it  is  now,  per 
haps,  impossible  to  determine,  and  unnecessary 
to  inquire.  But  it  will  be  seen,  from  the  letters 
we  are  going  to  lay  before  our  readers,  that,  in 
the  progress  of  his  adventurous  life,  he  well 
knew  how  to  employ  the  language  of  men  in 
spired  with  the  love  of  liberty,  and  that  he  was 
honored  by  some  of  its  warmest  friends  in  both 
hemispheres. 

There  are  probably  few  instances,  especially 
among  adventurers  who  have  risen  from  the 
condition  in  which  Paul  Jones  was  originally 
placed — of  more  enlarged  views — more  gener 
ous  feelings — and  a  more  disinterested  conduct, 
than  the  following  letter  exhibits,  combined 
as  these  are  with  sentiments  of  relentless 
hostility  towards  the  claims  of  his  native 
country. 

In  the  progress  of  the  revolutionary  war, 
Paul  Jones  obtained  the  command  of  a  squad 
ron,  with  which,  1778,  he  undertook  to  annoy 
the  coasts  of  Great  Britain.  On  the  2d  of 
December,  1777,  he  arrived  at  Nantez,  and  in 
January  he  repaired  to  Paris,  with  the  view  of 
making  arrangements  with  the  American  min 
isters  and  the  French  government.  In  February 
he  convoyed  some  American  vessels  to  the  Bay 
of  Quiberon,  and,  on  his  return  to  Brest,  com 
municated  his  plan  to  Admiral  D'Aruillers,  who 
afforded  him  every  means  of  forwarding  it. 
He  accordingly  left  Brest,  and  sailed  through 
the  Bristol  Channel  without  giving  any  alarm. 
Early  in  the  morning  of  the  23d  of  April,  he 
made  an  attack  on  the  harbor  of  Whitehaven, 
in  which  there  were  about  three  hundred  sail. 


He  succeeded  in  setting  fire  to  several  vessels 
but  was  not  able  to  effect  anything  decisive 
before  daylight,  when  he  was  obliged  to  retire. 
The  next  exploit,  which  took  place  on  the 
same  day,  was  the  plunder  of  lord  Selkirk's 
house,  in  St.  Mary's  Isle,  near  the  town  of 
Kirkcudbright.  The  particulars  of  this  event, 
and  of  the  action  which  succeeded,  as  well  as 
the  motives  upon  which  Jones  acted,  are  well 
given  in  the  following  letter,  which  he  addressed 
to  Lady  Selkirk,  and  which  has  not  before  been 
printed : 

"  RANGER,  BREST,  &t&  May,  1778. 

"Madam — It  cannot  be  too  much  lamented, 
that,  in  the  profession  of  arms,  the  officer  of 
finer  feeling,  and  of  real  sensibility,  should  be 
under  the  necessity  of  winking  at  any  action 
of  persons  under  his  command  which  his  heart 
cannot  approve ;  but  the  reflection  is  doubly 
severe,  when  he  finds  himself  obliged,  in  ap 
pearance,  to  countenance  such  action  by 
authority. 

"  This  hard  case  was  mine,  when,  on  the  23d 
of  April  last,  I  landed  on  St.  Mary's  Isle. 
Knowing  lord  Selkirk's  interest  with  the  king, 
I  wished  to  make  him  the  happy  instrument  of 
alleviating  the  horrors  of  hopeless  captivity, 
when  the  brave  are  overpowered  and  made 
prisoners  of  war.  It  was  perhaps  fortunate  for 
you,  madam,  that  he  was  from  home,  for  it  was 
my  intention  to  have  taken  him  on  board  the 
Ranger,  and  to  have  detained  him,  until  through 
his  means,  a  general  and  fair  exchange  of  pris 
oners,  as  well  in  Europe  as  in  America,  had 
been  effected. 

"  When  I  was  informed  by  some  men  whom 
I  met  at  landing,  that  his  lordship  was  absent, 
I  walked  back  to  my  boat,  determined  to  leave 
the  island.  By  the  way,  however,  some  officers 
who  were  with  me,  could  not  forbear  express 
ing  their  discontent,  observing,  that  in  Amer 
ica  no  delicacy  was  shown  by  the  English,  who 
took  away  all  sorts  of  movable  property,  setting 
fire  not  only  to  towns,  and  to  the  houses  of  the 
rich  without  distinction,  but  not  even  sparing 
the  wretched  hamlets  and  milch-cows  of  the 
poor  and  helpless,  at  the  approach  of  an  inclem 
ent  winter.  That  party  had  been  with  me 
as  volunteers  the  same  morning  at  Whitehaven  ; 
some  complaisance,  therefore,  was  their  due. 
I  had  but  a  moment  to  think  how  I  might 
gratify  them,  and,  at  the  same  time,  do  your 
ladyship  the  least  injury.  I  charged  the  two 
officers  to  permit  none  of  the  seamen  to  enter 
the  house,  or  to  hurt  anything  about  it ;  to 
treat  you,  madam,  with  the  utmost  respect ,  to 
accept  of  the  plate  which  was  offered  ;  and  to 
come  away  without  making  a  search,  or  de- 


THE  CONTINENTAL  NAVY. 


485 


manding  anything  else.  I  am  induced  to 
believe  that  I  was  punctually  obeyed,  since  I 
am  informed  that  the  plate  which  they  brought 
away  is  far  short  of  the  quantity  which  is 
expressed  in  the  inventory  which  accompanied 
it.  I  have  gratified  my  men,  and  when  the 
plate  is  sold  I  shall  become  the  purchaser, 
and  will  gratify  my  own  feelings,  by  restoring 
it  to  you  by  such  conveyance  as  you  shall  please 
to  direct. 

"  Had  the  earl  been  on  board  the  following 
evening,  he  would  have  seen  the  awful  pomp 
and  dreadful  carnage  of  a  sea  engagement ; 
both  affording  ample  subject  for  the  pencil,  as 
well  as  melancholy  reflection  for  the  contem 
plative  mind.  Humanity  starts  back  at  such 
scenes  of  horror,  and  cannot  but  execrate  the 
vile  promoters  of  this  detested  war  : 

For  they,  twas  they,  unsheathed  the  ruthless  blade, 
And  Heaven  shall  ask  the  havoc  it  has  made. 

•'  The  British  ship  of  war  Drake,  mounting 
twenty  guns,  with  more  than  her  full  comple 
ment  of  officers  and  men,  besides  a  number  of 
volunteers,  came  out  from  Carrickfergus,  in 
order  to  attack  and  take  the  continental  ship  of 
war  Ranger,  of  eighteen  guns,  and  short  of 
her  complement  of  officers  and  men  ;  the  ships 
met,  and  the  advantage  was  disputed  with 
great  fortitude  on  each  side  for  an  hour  and 
five  minutes,  when  the  gallant  commander 
of  the  Drake  fell,  and  victory  declared  in  favor 
of  the  Ranger.  His  amiable  lieutenant  lay 
mortally  wounded,  besides  near  forty  of  the 
inferior  officers  and  crew  killed  and  wounded. 
A  melancholy  demonstration  of  the  uncertainty 
of  human  prospects.  I  buried  them  in  a  spa 
cious  grave,  with  the  honors  due  to  the  memory 
of  the  brave. 

"  Though  I  have  drawn  my  sword  in  the  pre 
sent  generous  struggle  for  the  rights  of  men,  yet 
I  am  in  arms,  merely  as  an  American,  nor  am  I  in 
pursuit  of  riches.  My  fortune  is  liberal  enough, 
having  no  wife  nor  family,  and  having  lived  long 
enough  to  know  that  riches  cannot  ensure  hap 
piness.  I  profess  myself  a  citizen  of  the  world, 
totally  unfettered  by  the  little  mean  distinctions 
of  climate  or  of  country,  which  diminish  the 
benevolence  of  the  heart,  and  set  bounds  to 
philanthropy.  Before  this  war  began,  I  had,  at 
an  early  time  of  life,  withdrawn  from  the  sea 
service,  in  favor  of  '  calm  contemplation  and 
poetic  ease.'  I  have  sacrificed,  not  only  my 
favorite  scheme  of  life,  but  the  softer  affections 
of  the  heart,  and  my  prospects  of  domestic 
happiness,  and  I  am  ready  to  sacrifice  my  life 
also,  with  cheerfulness,  if  that  forfeiture  would 
restore  peace  and  good  will  among  mankind. 


"  As  the  feelings  of  your  gentle  bosom  can 
not,  in  that  respect,  but  be  congenial  with 
mine^let  me  entreat  you,  madam,  to  use  your 
soft  persuasive  arts  with  your  husband,  to 
endeavor  to  stop  this  cruel  and  destructive  war, 
in  which  Britain  never  can  succeed.  Heaven 
can  never  countenance  the  barbarous  and 
unmanly  practices  of  the  Britons  in  America, 
which  savages  would  blush  at,  and  which,  if 
not  discontinued,  will  soon  be  retaliated  in 
Britain  by  a  justly  enraged  people.  Should 
you  fail  in  this,  (for  I  am  persuaded  you  will 
attempt  it — and  who  can  resist  the  power  of 
such  an  advocate  ?)  your  endeavors  to  effect  a 
general  exchange  of  prisoners  will  be  an  act  of 
humanity,  which  will  afford  you  golden  feelings 
on  a  death  bed. 

"  I  hope  this  cruel  contest  will  soon  be 
closed  :  but  should  it  continue,  I  wage  no  war 
with  the  fair !  I  acknowledge  their  power, 
and  bend  before  it  with  profound  submission  ! 
Let  not,  therefore,  the  amiable  countess  of 
Selkirk  regard  me  as  an  enemy ;  I  am  ambi 
tious  of  her  esteem  and  friendship,  and  would 
do  anything  consistent  with  my  duty  to 
merit  it. 

"The  honor  of  a  line  from  your  hand,  in 
answer  to  this,  will  lay  me  under  a  very  singu 
lar  obligation  ;  and  if  I  can  render  you  any 
acceptable  service,  in  France  or  elsewhere,  I 
hope  you  see  into  my  character  so  far  as  to 
command  me  without  the  least  grain  of  service. 
I  wish  to  know,  exactly,  the  behavior  of  my 
people,  as  I  am  determined  to  punish  them  if 
they  have  exceeded  their  liberty. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  much  esteem 
and  with  profound  respect,  madam,  your  most 
obedient  and  most  humble  servant, 

PAUL  JONES. 

"  To  the  Right  Hon.  the  countess  of 
Selkirk,  St.  Mary's  Isle,  Scotland." 


COMMODORE   SAMUEL   TUCKER, 

OF  MASSACHUSETTS.    His  SERVICES  IN  THE 
CONTINENTAL  NAVY. 

FROM  THE  EASTERN  ARGUS,  PORTLAND, ME.,  DEC.  12,1820. 

It  is  with  great  satisfaction  that  we  have  it  in 
our  power  to  state,  that  the  venerable  com 
modore  TUCKER  has  been  appointed,  by  the 
unanimous  votes  of  the  electoral  college  of  this 
state,  a  special  messenger  to  carry  the  votes 
for  president  and  vice  president  to  the  seat  of 
government.  And  a  gratifying  event  it  must 
be  to  this  war-worn  veteran,  now  in  the  seventy- 
fourth  year  of  his  age,  to  be  the  bearer  of  the 
unbought  suffrages  of  a  free  people  for  an 
other  revolutionary  worthy  to  fill  the  highest 


486 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


office  in  their  gift.  C"ommodore  Tucker  was 
among  the  most  distinguished  naval  com 
manders  in  the  war  of  the  revolution.  Through 
it  is  not  our  intention,  at  this  time,  to  give  an 
outline  of  the  interesting  adventures  of  this 
officer  through  our  eight  years'  struggle  for 
independence,  it  may  not  be  unacceptable  to 
our  readers  to  be  reminded  of  some  of  the  im 
portant  benefits  which  our  country  derived  from 
his  skill  and  courage  in  the  time  of  her  great 
est  need.  We  are  apt  in  the  unbroken  flow  of 
prosperity,  to  forget  the  merits  and  achieve 
ments  of  those  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  it. 

In  March,  1776,  after  the  British  army  had 
been  driven  from  Boston  in  shameful  flight,  and 
were  lying  with  the  fleet  at  Long  Island  point, 
a  transport,  loaded  with  powder,  for  use  of  the 
troops,  was  captured  by  a  vessel  under  the 
orders  of  Commodore  Tucker,  and  commanded 
by  one  of  his  officers,  just  before  she  arrived 
within  the  protection  of  the  British  guns.  The 
merits  of  the  arrangements  for  the  capture 
belonged  to  the  commodore,  and  he  received, 
if  we  are  not  mistaken,  the  thanks  of  general 
Washington.  Though  Boston  was  then  evacu 
ated,  it  will  be  recollected  by  those  who  are 
conversant  with  that  period  of  our  history,  that 
the  enemy  had  been  driven  from  his  post  by  a 
band  of  freemen,  armed  only  with  fowling 
pieces,  and  without  powder  or  ball.  The 
ammunition  at  the  disposal  of  the  American 
commander  at  one  time,  was  not  more  than 
sufficient  to  furnish  his  army  with  more  than 
four  or  five  rounds  to  each  man.  The  capture 
of  this  vessel,  though  not  an  event  calculated 
to  attract  attention  by  the  dazzling  lustre  of 
military  glory,  was,  in  fact,  one  of  the  most 
important  naval  occurrences  of  the  war. 

Another  event,  of  superior  interest,  and 
which  displayed  the  gallantry  of  the  commodore 
in  a  stronger  light,  was  the  preservation  of  the 
Eustatia  fleet  in  1779.  The  American  agents 
had  contracted  in  Holland  for  a  large  quantity 
of  clothing  for  the  army.  It  was  deposited  by 
the  Dutch  merchants  in  Eustatia,  and  put  on 
board  a  fleet  of  merchantmen  to  be  transported 
to  our  ports.  Commodore  Tucker  was  ordered 
to  sail  with  the  Boston  frigate  and  Confederacy 
to  meet  this  fleet  and  convoy  it  safe,  at  all 
events,  into  port.  The  salvation  of  the  army 
and  of  the  country,  depended  on  the  safe 
arrival  of  these  supplies,  the  soldiers  being  not 
only  without  pay,  but  destitute  of  clothing,  and, 
as  soldiers  always  will  be  in  such  cases,  irritated, 
refractory,  and  mutinous.  The  moment  of  the 
commodore's  meeting  this  fleet  was  most 
critical.  Two  British  frigates  were  then  in  the 
pursuit,  and  were  now  within  gun-shot  of  the 


hindermost  vessels,  when  two  strange  sail 
were  seen  bearing  down  upon  them  directly 
ahead.  A  signal  was  made  for  the  fleet  to  dis 
perse,  and  soon  after,  Tucker  having  come 
within  hailing  distance  of  one  of  the  foremost 
vessels,  discovered  that  it  was  the  fleet  of  which 
he  was  in  the  pursuit.  He  instantly  made  a 
signal  for  the  Confederacy  to  bear  down  upon 
and  attack  the  windward  sail,  while  he  wore 
ship  and  prepared  to  engage  the  vessels  at  the 
leeward.  The  enemy,  however,  though  supe 
rior  in  force,  declined  meeting  him.  He  fled  to 
New- York,  where  the  commander,  after  a  sham 
trial,  was  acquitted  on  the  excuse  that  his  crew 
was  mutinous  ;  and  the  American  commodore 
led  his  fleet  in  triumph  into  the  harbor  of  Phil 
adelphia,  without  the  loss  of  a  ship.  The  safe 
arrival  of  this  fleet  was  a  most  important  event 
to  the  country. 

Soon  after,  the  British  commander  fitted  out 
a  vessel  for  the  express  purpose  of  cruising  for 
Tucker,  and  bringing  the  rebel  into  the  harbor 
of  New  York.  His  ship  was  again  somewhat 
superior  to  the  Boston,  and  manned  with  fifty 
chosen  men,  in  addition  to  the  usual  crew.  He 
soon  had  the  good  or  ill  fortune  to  meet  with 
Tucker.  Such  was  the  skill  and  adroitness 
with  which  the  American  commander  man 
oeuvred,  that  he  brought  his  ship  within  half 
pistol  shot  under  the  quarters  of  the  British 
vessel,  before  the  captain  discovered  that  it  was 
an  enemy,  the  commodore  having  English 
colors  flying.  He  then  sent  up  the  stars  and 
stripes,  and  summoned  the  enemy  to  surrender. 
Such  was  the  commanding  position  that  the 
American  frigate  had  obtained,  that  the  British 
captain  thought  it  prudent  to  surrender  before 
a  gun  was  fired  on  either  side. 

Commodore  Tucker's  enterprise  and  naval 
talents  were  in  constant  requisition,  and  he  was 
in  active  service  during  the  whole  war.  He 
took  from  the  enemy  seventy  five  prizes,  and 
more  than  six  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY  mounted 
cannon,  a  greater  number,  we  believe,  than  was 
captured  by  any  other  naval  commander. 

When  the,  venerable  patriot  arrived  at  Wash 
ington  with  the  electoral  votes,  it  was  con 
templated  to  pass  a  resolution  to  admit  him 
within  the  bar  of  the  house  of  representatives. 
But  it  is  a  standing  rule  of  the  house,  that  all 
persons  to  whom  a  vote  of  thanks  has  been 
passed,  may  use  that  privilege,  and  it  was 
found  that  commodore  Tucker  might  claim  it 
from  a  vote  of  the  old  congress — and  the  house 
had  too  much  sensibility  on  the  subject,  in  any 
manner  to  depreciate  so  honorable  a  claim,  by 
acting  on  the  case,  except  to  permit  him  to 
take  a  seat  as  a  matter  of  right. 


THE   CONTINENTAL   NAVY. 


487 


His  presence  at  Washington  gave  rise  to  a 
publication  of  the  following  correspondence — 

QUINCY,  January  18,  1816. 

SIR — Samuel  Tucker,  esq.  a  member  of  our 
Massachusetts  legislature,  has  a  petition  to 
government  for  justice  or  customary  favor  to 
meritorious  officers,  which  will  be  explained 
before  the  proper  judges.  I  cannot  refuse  his 
request  to  certify  what  I  know  of  his  character 
and  history.  My  acquaintance  with  him  com 
menced  early  in  the  year  1776,  when  he  was 
first  appointed  to  a  command  in  the  navy,  in 
which  he  served  with  reputation  and  without 
reproach,  to  the  end  of  the  year  1783. 

His  biography  would  make  a  conspicuous 
figure  even  at  this  day,  in  the  naval  annals  of 
the  United  States.  I  can  be  particular  only  in 
one  instance.  In  1778,  he  was  ordered  to 
France  in  the  Boston  frigate.  He  sailed  in 
February,  and  soon  fell  in  with  three  British 
frigates,  sent  from  Rhode  Island  expressly  to 
intercept  him.  Fighting  of  one  against  three 
was  out  of  the  question.  In  a  chase  of  three 
days  and  three  nights,  he  baffled  all  the  inven 
tions,  and  defeated  all  the  manoeuvres  of  the 
enemy,  and  was  separated  from  him,  at  last, 
in  the  Gulf  Stream  by  a  furious  hurricane, 
which,  for  three  days  more,  threatened  him 
with  immediate  destruction.  Nor  was  this  his 
last  danger  from  seas  or  from  enemies.  He 
had  two  other  storms,  and  two  other  detach 
ments  of  British  men  of  war  to  encounter  ;  one 
in  the  English  Channel,  and  another  in  the  Bay 
of  Biscay.  He  arrived  in  Bordeaux  in  April. 

Nothing  but  vigilance,  patience,  and  perse 
verance,  added  to  consummate  nautical  skill, 
could  have  preserved  that  ship  through  so 
many  dangers  at  that  equinoctial  season,  and 
such  a  succession  of  irresistible  enemies. 

I  heartily  wish  captain  Tucker  success  ;  and 
beg  the  favor  of  you,  sir,  to  communicate  to 
any  committee,  who  may  be  charged  with  the 
examination  of  his  application,  this  letter  from 
your  friend  and  humble  servant, 

JOHN  ADAMS. 
Hon.  Mr.  Crowninshield, 

Secretary  of  the  navy  of  the  U.  S. 

The  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  of  the  original 
now  in  my  possession. 

MARK  L.  HILL. 

Connected  with  this  letter  is  an  anecdote  of 
the  now  venerable  writer,  which  we  do  not 
recollect  to  have  before  seen  in  print.  From 
the  unaffected  simplicity  with  which  the  letter 
is  written,  it  would  not  appear  that  Mr.  Adams 
was  on  board  the  vessel  commanded  by  captain 
Tucker,  in  the  cruise  of  which  he  speaks  :  but 


this  was  the  fact.  Captain  Tucker  then  com 
manded  the  Boston  frigate,  and  was  charged 
with  the  important  duty,  at  that  difficult  time, 
of  carrying  Mr.  Adams  out  as  ambassador  to 
France.  About  fifteen  days  before  their  arri 
val  at  Bordeaux,  there  hove  in  sight  a  large 
English  ship,  showing  a  tier  of  guns.  Tucker 
immediately  held  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Ad 
ams,  assured  him  he  could  take  her,  and  wished 
to  obtain  his  consent  to  run  down  for  her ;  this 
was  granted. — The  Boston  bore  down:  Mr. 
Adams  being  a  non-combatant,  was  desired 
to  retire  into  the  cock-pit,  below  water.  He 
descended,  at  this  request,  into  the  cabin. 
Tucker  returned  immediately  to  his  duty,  and 
in  fifteen  minutes  the  Boston  was  within  hail 
of  the  English  ship,  which  proved  to  be  the 
Martha,  and  had  been  lying  to,  to  meet  her 
enemy.  Upon  Tucker's  hailing  the  British 
ship,  she  answered  by  a  broadside,  which  shot 
away  a  piece  of  the  mizen  yard  of  the  Boston, 
which  fell  upon  Tucker's  shoulder,  and  brought 
him  flat  on  the  deck.  This,  for  a  moment, 
prevented  the  order  to  return  the  fire  ;  but  as 
he  leaped  from  the  deck  and  gained  his  legs, 
he  found  the  colors  of  the  Martha  hauled  down ; 
and  looking  forward,  observed  Mr.  Adams 
among  the  marines,  with  a  musket  in  his  hand, 
having  privately  applied  to  the  officer  of  the 
marines  for  a  gun,  and  taken  his  station  among 
them.  At  this  sight  captain  Tucker  became 
alarmed  ;  for  he  was  responsible  for  the  safety 
of  Mr.  Adams  ;  and  walking  up  to  the  ambas 
sador  desired  to  know  how  he  came  there? 
upon  which  the  other  smiled,  gave  up  his  gun, 
and  went  immediately  below. 


COMMODORE  JOSHUA  BARNEY, 
OF  MARYLAND,  CONTINENTAL  NAVY. 

INTERESTING  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS  CAPTURE  OF  THE 
BRITISH  SLOOP  OF  WAR  "GENERAL  MONK," 
APRIL^S,  1782. 

By  a  misprint,  we  presume,  the  late  commo 
dore  Barry  was  said  to  have  captured  the  Brit 
ish  ship  "  General  Monk,"  in  1782.  The  error 
brought  forth  in  the  Washington  City  Gazette, 
of  June  — ,  1820,  the  following  explanations  and 
remarks,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  editor  : 

I  have  observed  in  your  Gazette,  taken  from 
a  Philadelphia  paper,  an  account  of  a  gallant 
action  performed  by  the  late  commodore  Bar 
ney,  during  the  revolutionary  war.  I  allude  to 
the  action  between  the  American  vessel  Hyder 
Ally,  captain  Barney,  and  his  Britannic  Majesty's 


488 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE  REVOLUTION. 


sloop  of  war  General  Monk,  captain  Rogers,  in 
1782.  "Honor  to  the  brave."  My  only  object 
in  addressing  you  this  letter,  is  to  correct  an 
error  as  to  the  name  of  the  commander  of  the 
Hyder  Ally.  It  was  not  captain  Barry,  as  is 
erroneously  stated  in  the  papers.  It  was  the 
late  commodore  Barney  who  commanded  the 
Hyder  Ally,  the  same  who  received  a  severe 
wound  at  the  battle  of  Bladensburg,  and  who 
lately  died  at  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania.  I  was 
then  in  Philadelphia,  quite  a  lad,  when  the 
action  took  place.  Both  ships  arrived  at  the 
lower  part  of  the  city  with  a  leading  wind, 
immediately  after  the  action,  bringing  with 
them  all  their  killed  and  wounded.  Attracted 
to  the  wharf  by  the  salute  which  the  Hyder 
Ally  fired,  of  thirteen  guns,  which  was  then  the 
custom,  (one  for  each  state)  I  saw  the  two 
ships  lying  in  the  stream,  anchored  near  each 
other.  In  a  short  time,  however,  they  warped 
into  the  wharf  to  land  their  killed  and  wounded, 
and  curiosity  induced  me,  as  well  as  many 
others,  to  go  on  board  each  vessel.  The  Hyder 
Ally  was,  as  stated,  a  small  ship  of  16  six 
pounders.  The  Monk,  a  king's  ship  of  large 
dimensions,  of  18  nine  pounders.  The  difference 
in  the  size  and  equipments  of  the  two  ships 
was  matter  of  astonishment  to  all  the  beholders. 
The  Gen.  Monk's  decks  were,  in  every  direc 
tion,  besmeared  with  blood,  covered  with  the 
dead  and  wounded,  and  resembled  a  charnel 
house.  Several  of  her  bow  ports  were  knocked 
into  one — a  plain  evidence  of  the  well  directed 
fire  of  the  Hyder  Ally.  She  was  a  king's  ship, 
a  very  superior  vessel,  a  fast  sailer,  and  cop 
pered  to  the  bends.  I  was  on  board  during 
the  time  they  carried  on  shore  the  killed  and 
wounded,  which  they  did  in  hammocks. 

I  was  present  at  a  conversation  which  took 
place  on  the  quarter  deck  of  the  General  Monk, 
between  captain  Barney  and  several  merchants 
in  Philadelphia.  I  remember  one  of  them 
observing,  "  why,  captain  Barney,  you  have 
been  truly  fortunate  in  capturing  this  vessel, 
considering  she  is  so  far  superior  to  you  in 
point  of  size,  guns,  men  and  metal."  Yes,  sir, 
he  replied,  I  do  consider  myself  fortunate — 
when  we  were  about  to  engage,  it  was  the 
opinion  of  myself,  as  well  as  my  crew,  that  she 
would  have  blown  us  to  atoms ;  but  we  were 
determined  she  should  gain  her  victory  dearly. 
One  of  the  wounded  British  sailors  observed — 
"'  Yes,  sir,  captain  Rogers  observed  to  our  crew, 
a  little  before  the  action  commenced,  '  Now, 
my  boys,  we  shall  have  the  yankee  ship  in  five 
minutes  ; '  and  so  we  all  thought,  but  here  we 
are."  You  will  find,  by  recurrence  to  the 
journals  of  the  old  congress,  that  a  sword  was 


voted  to  captain  Joshua  Barney,  for  the  gal 
lantry  displayed  in  the  action  with  his  Britan 
nic  Majesty's  ship  General  Monk. 

I  can  readily  account  why  the  name  of  cap 
tain  Barry  should  have  been  inserted  instead  of 
captain  Barney.  Captain  Barry,  about  the  same 
time,  commanded  a  brig  of  16  six  pounders, 
called  the  Hibernia,  and  was  fortunate  in  cap 
turing  several  British  armed  vessels.  He  after 
wards  commanded  the  frigate  United  States, 
now  in  our  service,  and  then  on  the  West  India 
station,  and  was  very  successful  during  our 
short  war  with  the  French  republic.  He  died 
in  Philadelphia  in  1803.  I  feel  the  more  dis 
posed  to  set  this  matter  right,  as  commodore 
Barney  was  an  intimate  friend  of  mine.  If  you 
think  these  items  of  information  worthy  of  in 
sertion  in  your  Gazette,  they  are  at  your  service. 

I  am,  respectfully,  yours,  etc.,  Co. 


THE  "GENERAL   MONK." 
ACCOUNT  OF  HER  CAPTURE. 

On  the  8th  April,  1782,  an  action  took  place 
at  the  entrance  of  the  Delaware  bay,  between 
an  American  sloop  of  war,  commanded  by 
captain  Barney,  called  the  Hyder  Ally,  mount 
ing  1 6  six  pounders,  and  carrying  no  men; 
and  the  British  sloop  of  war  General  Monk, 
under  captain  Rogers,  of  20  nine  pounders, 
and  136  men.  The  former  had  four  men 
killed  and  eleven  wounded  ;  the  latter  twenty 
killed  and  thirty-three  wounded.  In  the  navy 
department  at  Washington  is  a  representation 
of  this  action.  On  the  left  of  the  painting  ap 
pears  Cape  Henlopen  light-house,  and  on  the 
right,  the  point  of  Cape  May.  In  the  centre  is 
seen  the  Hyder  Ally  and  General  Monk  en 
gaged,  the  latter  in  the  act  of  striking  her 
colors.  In  front  is  the  frigate  Quebec,  which, 
not  finding  sufficient  water  in  Cape  May 
channel,  was  obliged  to  go  around  the  Overfall 
Shoals  to  get  into  the  bay.  It  was  during  this 
time  that  the  action  took  place.  To  the  right 
of  the  fighting  ships,  the  English  brig  Fair 
American,  of  16  guns,  is  seen  chasing  and 
firing  at  one  of  the  Hyder  Ally's  convoy,  which 
escaped  under  the  Jersey  shore.  At  a  distance 
is  seen  the  vessels  convoyed  by  the  Hyder 
Ally  steering  up  the  bay. 


RECAPITULATION. 

guns   p.        Ibs.    men  kd. 

Hyder  Ally,     16    6    is    96     no  4 

guns     p.        Ibs.    men  kd. 


Gen.  Monk,    20     9 


men 
180      136    20 


wd 
n 

ivd. 
33 


THE  CONTINENTAL  NAVY. 
NAVAL  POWER  OF  SALEM,  BRIGS— CONTINUED. 


489 


MASS.,  FROM  MARCH  i  TO  Nov.  i,  1781. 

THE  following  list  of  PRIVATEERS,  fitted  out 
and  chiefly  owned  at  Salem  and  Beverly,  from 
March  I,  to  Nov.  I,  1781,  was  found  among 
the  papers  of  the  late  Mr.  James  Jeffry,  whose 
accuracy  was  well  known  to  those  by  whom  he 
is  remembered.  At  that  period,  privateering 
was  the  principal  business  of  the  town. — Salem 
Gazette. 

SHIPS. 


Ships'  Names. 

No.  of 
Guns. 

Weight 
of  Metal. 

No.  of 
Men. 

Pilgrim  

18 

Q&. 

1  2O 

Essex  

20 

6 

IIO 

Franklin  

18 

6 

IOO 

Scourge  

20 

6 

IIO 

Disdain  

20 

6 

IIO 

Congress  

20 

Q 

T7O 

Royal  Louis  

18 

6 

IOO 

Porus  

20 

no 

Grand  Turk  

24. 

6 

1  20 

Rattle  Snake  

2O 

A 

ne 

2O 

A 

QC 

Cromwell  

16 

6 

IOO 

Jason  

16 

6 

IOO 

Marquis  

16 

4 

7C 

Hendrick  

18 

6 

IOO 

Junius  Brutus  

20 

6 

IIO 

Rhodes  

20 

6 

IIO 

Harlequin  

20 

Qt 

Neptune  

16 

A 

7e 

Mohawk  

22 

6 

IIO 

Buccanier  

18 

Q 

1  20 

Cicero  

18 

1  20 

Rambler  

16    ' 

6 

OS 

Defence  . 

14 

6 

Re 

Independence  

16 

4 

70 

Jack  

12 

9 

60 

26  ships. 

476 

2645 

BRIGS. 


Brigs'  Nantes. 

Guns. 

Metal. 

Men. 

Tvcer  ..  , 

16 

4.1l>. 

7O 

Montgomery  

14 

A 

60 

Sturdy-Beggar  

14 

A 

60 

Captain  . 

IO 

0 

4.e 

New  Adventure  

14 

0 

EC 

14 

6O 

Hero  

8 

A 

4O 

Fortune  

14 

A 

60 

Swift  

14. 

60 

Blood-  Hound  

14 

<2 

ec 

Flying-Fish  

10 

3 

45 

Carried  forward  

142 

610 

Brigs'  Names, 

Guns. 

Metal. 

Men.    ' 

Brought  forward  .... 
Fox  

142 
14 

40 
•5 

610 

ec      ; 

Cato  

1/1 

3' 

S3      | 

CS       ' 

Chace  

10 

^ 

/tc 

12 

en 

Speedwell  

14' 

3 

55 

16  brigs. 

206 

870 

SCHOONERS. 


Schooners'  Names. 

Guns. 

Metal. 

Men. 

Greyhound  

8 

^  lb 

1C 

Lively  

8 

Shackle  

6 

•I 

10 

Pine  Apple  

6 

Languedoc  

6 

2 

2C 

Dolphin  

6 

•5 

7O 

A 

Panther  

4 

3 

3° 
20 

8  schooners. 

50 

235 

SLOOPS. 


Sloops'  Names. 

Guns. 

Metal. 

Men. 

Fish-Hawk  

8 

\lb 

An 

Hazard  

6 

3 

30 

2  sloops. 

14 

70 

7  shallops,  names  not  mentioned. 


RECAPITULATION. 


Vessels. 

Guns. 

Men. 

Ships  

26 

476 

264  <; 

Briers..  . 

16 

206 

870 

Schooners  

8 

CQ 

2-?C 

Sloops  

2 

14. 

70 

Shallops,  men  only  

1  20 

Total 

52 

746 

3940 

"MARINE  TURTLE." 

A  sub-marine  battery  invented  and  first 
used  for  the  destruction  of  British  ships  in  New 
York  harbor.  See  sketch  of  Captain  Ezra 
Lee,  Connecticut,  page  154. 


NAVAL  ENGAGEMENT 

In  Chesapeake  Bay,  between  Virginia  naval 
vessels  and  British  Barges,  1783.  See  sketch 
of  General  Cropper,  Virginia,  page  320. 


490 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


BOSTON  ORATIONS. 
INTRODUCTORY  NOTICE. 

[These  orations  which  will  be  found  on  pages 
17  to  79  were  inadvertently  separated  from 
this  introductory  notice.  They  were  first 
collected  and  published  in  a  volume,  by  Mr. 
Peter  Edes  of  Boston,  printer,  son  of  the 
MR.  EDES  of  that  town  whose  press  was  so 
notorious  for  its  fearless  devotion  to  the  lib 
erties  of  America ;  both  before  the  Revolu 
tion  commenced  and  during  the  time  of  its 
continuance.] 

TO   THE  INHABITANTS  OF   THE  TOWN  OF 
BOSTON. 

I  hope  my  collecting,  in  one  volume,  the 
following  orations,  which  were  first  severally 
printed  at  your  request,  but  many  of  which 
have  been  long  since  not  to  be  purchased,  will 
be  considered  in  the  mild  light  of  an  attempt 
to  please  the  public. 

Americans  have  been  reprehended  for  not 
preserving,  with  sufficient  care,  the  various 
pamphlets  and  political  tracts  which  this  coun 
try  has  afforded  during  the  late  war. 

Many  of  those  productions  which  appear 
trite  to  us,  who  live  on  the  spot  where  they 
grew,  may,  however,  be  considered  as  sources 
of  curiosity  to  strangers.  Many  of  these  ora 
tions  have  been  considered  as  the  sentiments 
of  this  metropolis,  from  time  to  time  touching 
the  revolution  ;  and  as  our  earliest  public  in 
vectives  against  oppression. 

As  the  institution  of  an  oration  upon  the 
fifth  of  March  is  now  superseded  by  the  cele 
bration  of  the  anniversary  of  independence, 
upon  the  fourth  of  July,  I  have  given  to  this 
volume  a  general  title,  which  will  apply  to  both 
institutions  :  so  that  if  hereafter  there  shall  be 
a  volume,  containing  the  orations  of  that  anni 
versary,  this  may  be  considered  the  first  and 
that  the  second  volume  of  Boston  orations. 

I  am,  with  the  greatest  respect,  your  obedi 
ent  humble  servant,  PETER  EDES. 

Boston,  'January,  1785. 


RECOLLECTIONS   OF   A    SOLDIER'S 
DAUGHTER. 

FROM  WOODWORTH'S  LITERARY  CASKET. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  revolutionary 


war,  my  father  had  attained  the  age  when  the 
mind  yields  most  easily  to  the  passion  for  mili 
tary  glory,  and  he  was  among  the  first  who 
were  enrolled  under  the  banner  of  American 
liberty. 

The  sentiment  of  freedom  was  electric,  and 
no  age  or  sex  was  exempt  from  its  influence. 
The  fond  mother  who  had  shrunk  from  expos 
ing  the  darling  of  her  bosom  to  the  slightest 
personal  danger,  now  beheld,  with  proud  satis 
faction,  that  son  decorated  with  the  knapsack 
her  own  hand  had  wrought,  and  cheerfully 
resigned  him  to  the  call  of  patriotism. 

Thus  do  the  sentiments  of  freedom  elevate 
the  mind  above  its  ordinary  exertions,  and  call 
forth  the  latent  energies  of  soul,  that  have  im 
mortalized  a  Cornelia.  My  venerable  grand- 
sire,  whom  I  can  just  remember  as  an  old  man 
with  snowy  locks,  who  used  to  pacify  my  infant 
clamors  with  tales  of  military  prowess,  was 
often  heard  to  boast  that  he  led  five  sons  to  the 
battle  of  Bunker-hill. 

The  third  of  these  sons  was  he  from  whom  I 
inherited  that  spirit  of  patriotism  which  has  ac 
companied  me  through  life.  With  feelings 
which  neither  time  nor  sorrow  can  obliterate,  I 
review  the  scenes  of  my  childhood,  and  while 
my  brave  parent,  bending  with  age  and  infir 
mity,  is  verging  to  the  grave,  a  desire  to  snatch 
his  memory  from  oblivion  prompts  me  to 
record  the  following  detail : 

Some  of  the  brightest  years  of  my  existence 
were  passed  in  the  vicinity  of  Bunker  hill,  and 
I  was  early  taught  to  venerate  that  spot,  as 
connected  with  a  display  of  that  magnanimous 
virtue.  It  was  to  that  spot  my  gallant  father 
led  his  family  of  sprightly  boys,  and,  over  the 
grave  of  Warren,  inculcated  lessons  of  heroism 
and  virtue.  Nor  was  I  always  excluded  from 
the  party,  for  though  my  father  believed  that 
nature  had  designed  me  for  a  domestic  sphere, 
he  did  not  believe  that  an  ardent  love  of  liberty 
and  thorough  estimate  of  its  value,  as  purchased 
by  the  blood  of  my  fathers,  could  unfit  me  for 
the  discharge  of  the  important  duties  which 
Providence  has  assigned  to  a  woman. 

It  was  a  fine  morning  in  May,  and  nature 
seemed  to  have  communicated  her  smile  to  the 
heart,  and  diffused  a  joyous  serenity  over  all  its 
feelings,  when  my  three  little  brothers  and 
myself  received  the  welcome  summons  to  pre 
pare  to  attend  our  parent  on  his  morning 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


491 


excursion. — "Whither  shall  we  walk?"  said 
he,  as  we  sallied  forth  with  all  the  eagerness  of 
childhood— "  To  Bunker-hill"  was  the  spon 
taneous  reply  of  every  little  voice,  and  to  Bun 
ker-hill  my  father  led  the  way. 

Days  of  artless  innocence,  alas  !  ye  are  fled 
forever.  Never  can  I  recal  the  sportive  hilarity 
with  which  we  lightly  bounded  over  the  adja 
cent  hills,  never  regain  the  innocent  gayety  and 
improvident  lightness  of  heart,  that,  under 
present  enjoyments,  shut  the  future  from  my 
view.  Yet  memory,  busy  memory,  oft  retards 
the  flowery  way,  and,  in  the  visions  of  the  past, 
loses  the  sense  of  the  present,  and  the  anticipa 
tions  of  the  future. 

With  that  buoyancy  of  spirit  which  refuses 
to  yield  to  weariness,  we  climbed  the  ascent, 
and  found  ourselves  on  the  summit,  from 
whence  we  were  presented  with  a  view  of  the 
whole  peninsula,  with  the  bay  and  harbor  of 
Boston.  My  father  pointed  out  the  relative 
positions  of  the  armies,  and  entered  into  a 
minute  detail  of  events,  which  abler  historians 
have  recorded :  they  will  not  therefore  occupy 
a  place  in  this  narration. 

His  own  personal  adventure,  and  narrow 
escape  from  a  living  grave,  are  all  that  filial 
piety  will  justify  this  feeble  attempt  to  per 
petuate. 

"  Pray,  papa,"  said  my  oldest  brother,  "  was 
it  here  that  you  received  that  ugly  wound  that 
had  nearly  cost  you  your  life  ?  " 

"  It  was  on  this  very  spot,  my  son,  behind 
this  breast-work — but  the  story  is  long — you 
must  have  patience,  and  let  me  commence  at 
the  beginning." 

Each  little  heart  beat  high  with  expectation, 
and  mutually  promising  profound  attention,  we 
listened  to  the  following  tale : 

"  You  see  that  narrow  speck  of  land  yonder 
that  unites  the  peninsula  of  Charlestown  to  the 
adjacent  country.  Over  that  isthmus,  it  be 
came  my  duty  to  lead  the  little  band  under  my 
command,  to  join  the  main  army,  in  the  in- 
trenchment,  where  we  now  stand.  You  see 
how  it  is  exposed  to  water — well  there  lay  the 
Glasgow  frigate,  which  kept  up  a  continual 
fire  of  shot  and  bombs  across  that  pass,  while 
several  floating  batteries,  and  the  fortification 
on  Copp's  hill,  endeavored  to  annoy  the  troops 
on  the  hill,  and  drive  them  from  the  entrench 
ment. 

"  My  little  band  had  each  the  spirit  of  a 
Leonidas,  and  not  a  murmur  was  heard,  when 
I  ordered  them  to  attempt  gaining  the  hill,  by 
running  singly  across  the  dangerous  pass. 
The  first  who  attempted  was  my  poor  drum 
mer,  who  was  killed  not  five  paces  from  me ; 


but  the  next,  not  at  all  deterred  by  the  fate  of 
his  comrade,  commenced  the  race,  and  got 
over  in  safety.  In  like  manner,  most  of  our 
heroic  band  succeeded,  and  one  honest  fellow, 
as  he  bowed  to  the  word  of  command,  thus 
addressed  me,  "  Captain,  I  see  it  is  close  dodg 
ing,  but  let  me  once  get  safely  over,  and  I'll 
spend  my  heart's  last  drop  for  you,  and  bring 
you  off  again  dead  or  alive,  that  I  will." 

"  This  honest  fellow  was  a  native  of  Ireland, 
and  about  six  months  previous  was  confined 
for  debt  in  the  prison  of  Salem,  whence  I 
released  him  on  condition  that  he  would  enlist ; 
and  never  man  was  blessed  with  a  more 
devoted  friend  than  Murphy  M'Culloch  proved 
to  me. 

"  I  was  the  last  to  make  the  adventurous 
attempt,  and  though  the  balls  showered  about 
my  head,  none  were  permitted  to  touch  me, 
and  we  gained  the  entrenchment,  and  passed 
into  the  line  of  battle. 

"On  this  spot  as  near  I  could  recollect,  I 
stood,  and  endeavored  to  do  my  duty  as  a 
soldier  of  liberty.  I  received  a  ball  through 
the  calf  of  my  leg,  and  another  through  my 
left  shoulder,  but  these  were  mere  trifles,  and 
I  stood  my  ground  in  spite  of  them. 

"  The  gallant  and  generous  Warren  was  on 
horseback,  pressing  from  one  end  of  the  line  to 
the  other,  animating  the  troops  to  a  vigorous 
defence,  and  every  heart  hailed  him  with  love 
and  gratitude. 

"  He  had  ever  distinguished  me  with  pecu 
liar  marks  of  friendship,  and  as  he  passed  the 
spot  where  I  stood,  he  condescended  to  address 
me  with  words  of  cordial  recognition.  I  know 
not-  whether  any  historian  has  recorded  the 
last  words  of  that  hero,  but  believed  they  were 
addressed  to  myself.  "My  young  friend, 
(said  he,  as  he  turned  to  leave  me),  do  your 
duty,  for  the  salvation  of  our  country  depends 
on  this  day's  action." 

"  He  had  not  moved  ten  paces  before  I  saw 
him  fall.  At  that  moment  a  shell  burst  by  my 
side,  and  was  thrown  several  feet  into  the  air, 
and  then  precipitated  violently  to  the  ground. 

"  A  fragment  of  the  broken  shell  struck  me  in 
the  breast,  and  caused  a  contusion  of  the 
sternum,  and  the  violent  shock  my  whole  sys 
tem  sustained  took  from  me  the  power  of 
motion. 

"Blood  gushed  from  my  mouth,  nose  and 
ears,  and  I  lay  covered  with  dust  unable  to 
speak  or  move,  but  for  some  time  perfectly 
conscious. 

"  I  remember  to  have  heard  col.  B — ,  who 
was  my  father's  friend,  exclaim  '  William  is 
dead  then !  well,  he  died  like  a  soldier.' 


492 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


"  I  felt  the  pressure  of  his  hand  upon  my 
forehead,  as  he  leaned  over  me ;  '  he's  gone, 
poor  fellow  !  but  I'll  take  his  sword — the  regu 
lars  shall  never  get  that.' 

"  This  sword  was  a  present  from  Warren, 
and,  though  in  that  awful  moment  my  soul 
seemed  fluttering  on  the  verge  of  eternity,  it 
gave  me  inexpressible  pleasure,  to  find  that  the 
gift  of  friendship  was  likely  to  be  preserved. 

"  A  faintness  now  came  over  me,  and  I 
heard  no  more,  and  for  what  succeeded  am 
indebted  to  the  observation  of  col.  B . 

"  The  Americans  fought  with  determination 
and  bravery  until  their  last  round  of  ammuni 
tion  was  expended,  and  they  were  reluctantly 
compelled  to  retreat. 

"  My  poor  Irish  soldier,  actuated  by  a  senti 
ment  that  should  immortalize  his  name,  now 
declared  that  the  British  should  never  have  his 
captain,  alive  or  dead.  He  sought  among  the 
slain  for  the  breathless  form  of  one  he  loved, 
and  at  last  recognized  the  object  of  his  search 
among  a  heap  of  human  bodies,  which  some 
resolute  soldiers,  where  the  breastwork  hap 
pened  to  be  too  high,  had  piled  up  to  stand  on. 

"  He  bore  the  inanimate  body  on  his  shoul 
der  from  the  scene  of  carnage ;  but  unable, 
thus  loaded,  to  keep  up  with  his  companions,  a 
shot  from  the  pursuers  terminated  his  life, 
when  the  main  body  of  the  retreating  army 
was  out  of  danger. 

"  Some  friends  who  knew  us,  passing  imme 
diately  after,  thought  they  discovered  in  me 
signs  of  returning  life,  and  by  their  means  I 
was  conveyed  to  the  hospital." 

By  this  time  the  little  auditors  were  in  tears, 
and  even  Warren  was  awhile  forgotten  in  ad 
miration  of  the  fidelity  of  the  Irish  soldier. 

My  father,  though  a  brave  man  and  a  sol 
dier,  wept — and  though  the  lapse  of  twenty 
years  has  presented  new  and  varied  objects  to 
my  mind,  I  am  not  ashamed  that  a  kindred 
tear  has  blotted  the  page  that  records  his  story. 

Recovering  his  usual  composure,  and  ad 
dressing  himself  particularly  to  me,  my  father 
thus  continued  : 

"  What  follows  is  an  example  of  female  he 
roism  and  tenderness,  if  recorded  on  the  page 
of  history,  might  form  a  counterpart  to  the 
story  of  the  Roman  mother,  who  died  from  the 
effect  of  joyful  surprise,  when  her  son,  whom 
she  thought  dead,  was  restored  to  her  arms. 

"  My  mother  received  the  news  that  her 
darling  had  fallen  in  battle, — but  shed  no  tears. 

"  Her  son  had  done  his  duty,  and  what  more 
in  these  times  of  peril  could  a  virtuous  mother 
desire  ?  Agreeably  to  the  primitive  custom 
of  our  fathers  the  whole  family  appeared  at 


church  the  next  Sabbath,  clothed  in  habili 
ments  of  sorrow,  and  in  the  note  which  the 
minister  read  for  the  deceased,  was  an  expres 
sion  of  triumph  that  he  had  fallen  for  liberty. 

"  The  next  morning  as  my  mother  sat  by 
her  window,  intently  watching  some  little 
shrubbery  which  the  hand  of  her  departed 
child  had  planted,  she  discovered,  through  the 
vista  of  the  trees  that  embowered  our  peace 
ful  dwelling,  a  litter,  slowly  winding  along  the 
road. 

"  The  hope  of  being  able  to  afford  relict  or 
refreshment  to  a  wounded  soldier,  drew  my 
mother  to  the  little  gate  that  separated  her 
own  cultivated  lawn  from  the  highway. 

"Will  you  stop  and  rest?"  said  she  to  the 
man  who  conducted  the  litter — "  We  go  no 
farther,"  was  the  reply.  She  heard  no  more — 
the  truth  flashed  across  her  mind  and  she 
fainted. 

"  Long  and  tenderly  was  I  nursed  by  that 
heroic  woman,  and  though  she  sympathized  in 
every  pain  I  felt,  she  never  breathed  a  regret 
for  the  part  I  had  acted,  and  when  I  was  again 
able  to  join  my  regiment,  she  mingled  with  her 
parting  blessing  a  fervent  prayer  that  all  her 
children  might  prefer  death  to  slavery."  Such 
was  my  father's  tale — could  I  hear  it  and  ever 
forget  that  I  am  a  soldier's  daughter?  Never, 
never.  Recollections  of  patriotism  are  im 
pressed  on  every  page  of  my  existence,  and 
sentiments  of  freedom  twined  with  every  fibre 
of  my  heart. 

Sadly  as  the  tenor  of  my  days  have  passed, 
and  sorely  as  the  storms  of  sorrow  have  beaten 
on  my  head,  there  are  hours  when  the  tide  of 
impetuous  feeling  rushes  back  to  the  scenes  of 
my  infancy,  and  finds,  in  tracing  the  lessons 
of  paternal  love,  a  kind  of  half  oblivion  to  my 
cares.  Then  it  is  that  the  spirit  of  my  father 
glows  with  undiminished  ardor,  and  it  is  my 
pride  and  my  boast  that  I  am  a 

SOLDIER'S  DAUGHTER; 


INTERESTING    ACCOUNT 

OF  MRS.  GANNETT,  OF  SHARON,  MASS., 
WHO  SERVED  AS  A  SOLDIER  IN  THE  CON 
TINENTAL  ARMY. 

FROM  THE   DEDHAM   (MASS)   REGISTER   OF  DEC.,    l8aO. 

We  were  much  gratified  to  learn  that  during 
the  sitting  of  the  court  in  this  town  the  past 
week,  Mrs.  Gannett,  of  Sharon,  in  this  coun 
try,  presented  for  renewal,  her  claims  for  ser 
vices  rendered  her  country  as  a  soldier  m  the 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


493 


revolutionary  army.  The  following  brief  sketch, 
it  is  presumed,  will  not  be  uninteresting.  This 
extraordinary  woman  is  now  in  the  6?d  year  of 
her  age ;  she  possesses  a  clear  understanding, 
and  a  general  knowledge  of  passing  events  ; 
fluent  in  speech,  and  delivers  her  sentiments  in 
correct  language,  with  deliberate  and  measured 
accent ;  easy  in  her  deportment,  affable  in  her 
manners,  robust  and  masculine  in  her  appear 
ance.  She  was  about  eighteen  years  of  age 
when  our  revolutionary  struggle  commenced. 
The  patriotic  sentiments  which  inspired  the 
heroes  of  those  days  and  urged  them  to  battle, 
found  the  way  to  a  female  bosom.  The  news 
of  the  carnage  which  had  taken  place  on  the 
plains  of  Lexington  had  reached  her  dwelling — 
the  sound  of  the  cannon  at  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill,  had  vibrated  on  her  ears  ;  yet  instead  of 
diminishing  her  ardor,  it  only  served  to  increase 
her  enthusiasm  in  the  sacred  cause  of  liberty, 
in  which  cause  she  beheld  her  country  en 
gaged.  She  privately  quitted  her  peaceful 
home  and  the  habiliments  of  her  sex,  and  ap 
peared  at  the  headquarters  of  the  American 
army  as  a  young  man,  anxious  to  join  his  efforts 
to  those  of  his  countrymen,  in  their  endeavors 
to  oppose  the  inroads  and  encroachments  of 
the  common  enemy.  She  was  received  and 
enrolled  in  the  army  by  the  name  of  Robert 
Shurtliffe.  For  the  space  of  three  years  she 
performed  the  duties  and  endured  the  hardships 
and  fatigues  of  a  soldier  ;  during  which  time, 
she  gained  the  confidence  of  her  officers  by  her 
expertness  and  precision  in  the  manual  exer 
cise,  and  by  her  exemplary  conduct.  She  was 
a  volunteer  in  several  hazardous  enterprises, 
and  was  twice  wounded  by  musket  balls.  So 
well  did  she  contrive  to  conceal  her  sex,  that 
her  companions  in  arms  had  not  the  least  sus 
picion  that  the  "  blooming  soldier  "  fighting  by 
their  side,  was  a  female ;  till,  at  length,  a 
severe  wound,  which  she  received  in  battle,  and 
which  had  well  nigh  closed  her  earthly  campaign, 
occasioned  the  discovery.  On  her  recovery  she 
quitted  the  army  and  became  intimate  in  the 
families  of  gen.  Washington,  and  other  distin 
guished  officers  of  the  revolution.  A  few  years 
afterwards  she  was  married  to  her  present  hus 
band,  and  is  now  the  mother  of  several  children. 
Of  these  facts  there  can  be  no  doubt.  There 
are  many  living  witnesses  in  this  country,  who 
recognized  her  on  her  appearance  at  the  court, 
and  were  ready  to  attest  to  her  services.  We 
often  hear  of  such  heroines  in  other  countries, 
but  this  is  an  instance  in  our  own  country  and 
within  the  circle  of  our  acquaintance. 


ESTIMATE  OF  THE  BRITISH  FORCES 
IN  AMERICA,  1775. 

The  following  was  the  estimate  which  general 
Gage  laid  before  the  British  ministry  in  1775, 
of  the  force  which  could  be  raised  in  the 
colonies,  and  maintained  in  the  field. 
New  England       -.        .        .  37,000 

New  York 11,000 

Pennsylvania  and  Jersey  .  .  16,000 
Virginia  and  Maryland  .  .  13,000 
Carolinas 5,000 


82,000 


ESTIMATE  OF  CONTINENTAL  TROOPS 
•       IN  THE  FIELD, MAY,  1776. 

The  following  was  thought  to  be  a  pretty  accu 
rate  state  of  the  provincial  forces  in  May,  \  776. 

In  Canada,  9000  continental  troops ;  com 
manded  by  major  general  Sullivan,  and  briga 
diers  Arnold  and  Wcedkle.  The  generals 
Schuyler  and  Wooster  are  at  Albany,  with  a 
body  of  militia,  number  not  exactly  known. 

At.  New  York,  12,000  continental  troops, 
11,000  militia,  and  the  New  Jersey  brigade 
consisting  of  3300  commanded  by  general 
Washington,  major  generals  Putnam,  and 
Gates,  and  brigadiers  Heath,  Greene,  lord  Ster 
ling,  Waterbury,  and  Mercer. 

In  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  a  flying  camp  of 
10,000  men,  commanded  by  brigadiers  Mifflin, 
Dean,  and  Johnson. 

In  Virginia,  8000  continental  troops.  In 
North  Carolina  4000  ditto.  South  Carolina 
looo  ditto.  Commanded  by  major  general 
Lee,  brigadiers  Armstrong,  Howe,  Moore,  and 
Lewis. 

At  Boston  2000  continental  troops,  com 
manded  by  major  general  Ward,  and  brigadier 
general  Spencer. 

By  this  account  there  were  36,000  continen 
tal  troops,  and  24,300  militia,  ready  for,  and  in 
the  field;  but  there  are  20,000  more  of  the 
militia,  the  stations  of  which  are  not  exactly 
known.  In  all  above  80,000  men. 

These  accounts  of  the  American  armies  were 
taken  about  the  latter  end  of  May,  1776.  But 
when  the  congress  were  informed,  that  for 
eigners  had  been  hired,  and  that  general  Howe 
intended  coming  to  New  York  (from  Halifax) 
they  ordered  the  number  of  the  continental 
troops  to  be  increased  to  seventy  thousand. 
At  the  same  time,  returns  of  the  minute  men 
were  made,  and  they  were  140,000. 


494 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


EXPENSE 

OF   THE  AMERICAN  CONTINENTAL  ARMY, 
STERLING  MONEY,  MAY  1776. 

STAFF — [STERLING  MONEY.] 
per  diem. 
1.  s.  d. 
Commander  in  chief,  general  ) 

Washington,  (for  table)      (200 
4  Aids-de-camp,  45. 6d.  each    18  o 
i  Adjutant  general. 
I  Quarter  master  general, 
I  Assistant  quarter  master 

general, 

i  Pay  master  general, 
6  Majors  brigade,  45.  6d. 
Secretary  to  commander 

in  chief  9 

Directors  of  hospitals,       1 8 


18 
12 

46 
136 

7 


4  Surgeons,  6s.  i     4 

1  Apothecary,  6 

2  Mates,  and  one  clerk,  33.       9 

1  Commissary  general,  12 

2  Major  generals  under 

commander  in  chief, 

243.  9d.  296 

4  Aid-de-camps,  45.  6d.  18 

6  Brigadier  generals,  i8s. 

9d,  5  12  6 

I  Engineer,  9 

4  Sub-engineers,  43,  6d.          18 
4  Major  generals,  com 

manding    separate 

armies,  493.  6d. 
8  Aid-de-camps,  43.  6d. 
8  Majors  brigade,  43.  6d. 
4  Secretaries,  45.  9d. 
4  Deputy  adjutant  gene 

rals,  95.  4d}£.  I  17  6 

4  Deputy  quarter  master 

generals,  6s.  i     4 

4  Deputy  commissary  ge 

nerals,  6s.  i 

8  Sub-engineers,  45.  6d.       I 

9  Brigadier  generals,  i8s. 


9  18 

i  16 

i  16 

19 


4 
16 


806 


5 


41  170 


60  REGIMENTS. 

60  Colonels,  135.  6d.  40  10 

60  Lieutenant  colonels,  93.  27 

60  Majors,  6s.  18 

540  Captains,  43.  6d.  121   10 

1080  Lieutenants,  33.  162 

540  Ensigns,  2s.  54 

2160  Sergeants,  is.  3d.  135 

*  Including  Thompson,  who  is  prisoner. 


1.  s.  d. 

2160  Corporals,  is,  id.  117 

540  Drums,  is.  id.  and  540 

fifes,  is.  id.  58  10 

30600  Privates,  is.  1530 

(Chaplains,  Surgeons, 


and  Surgeon's  mates, 
not  included) 


2263  10  o 


2313    8  6 

FLYING   CAMP. 

14  Colonels,  135.  6d.  9    9 

14  Lieutenant  colonels,  93.    6    6 
14  Majors,  6s.  4    4 

128  Captains,  43.  6d.  28  16 

256  Lieutenants,  33.  38    8 

128  Ensigns,  2s.  12  1 6 

512  Sergeants,  is.  3d.  32 

512  Corporals,  is.  id.  27  14  8 

256  Drums  and  fifes,  Is.  Id.    13    74 
8692  Privates,  Is.  434  12 

520  10  o 

JERSEY  BRIGADE. 

5  Colonels,  133.  6d.  376 

5  Lieutenant  colonels,  95.   2     5 

5  Majors,  6s.  i  10 

42  Captains,  43.  6d.  9    9 

84  Lieutenants,  33.  12  12 

42  Ensigns,  2s.  4    4 

168  Sergeants,  is.  3d.  10  10 

1 68  Corporals,  is.  id.  9    2 

84  Drums  and  fifes,  is.  id.  4  n 

2856  Privates,  is.  142  16  • 

200  6  6 

MILITIA  (in  pay.) 
44  Colonels,  i8s.  6d.  29  14 

44  Lieutenant  colonels,  93.  19  16 
400  Captains,  43.  6d.  90 

800  Lieutenants,  33.  120 

400  Ensigns,  2s.  40 

1600  Sergeants,  is.  3d  100 

1600  Corporals,  is.  id.  86  13  4 

800  Drums  and  fifes,  is.  id.  43    68 
27000  Privates  is.  1350 

1892  14  o 


5014  12  o 


DAILY  ALLOWANCE  OF  PROVISIONS. 

I  lb.  fresh  beef,  or  I  Ib.  salt 
fish  ;  %  lb.  pork,  or  20  oz.  salt 
beef;  i  lb.  bread,  flour,  i  pint 
milk,  i  quart  cider  or  spruce 
beer,  per  diem  each — 3  lb.  can 
dles,  8  lb.  hard  soap,  per  week 
for  100  men — 3  pints  pease,  I 
pint  Indian  meal,  6  oz.  butter, 
per  man  a  week.  This  is  about 
rod.  sterling  ration  per  day. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


495 


1.  s.  d. 

Rations  on  an  average  3  per 
day,  for  general  and  other 
officers,  4898  at  2s.  6d.  612  5  o 

Non-commissioned  officers, 
and  privates,  80,248,  at  rod.  3343  13  4 

3955  18  4 


Clothing  for  continental  ar 
my,  flying  camp,  and  Jersey 
brigade,  49,248,  3d,  per  day. 


8970  10  4 


410    8 


Daily  expenses,  9380  18  4 
Nothing  of  the  navy  contin 
gencies,  or  army  extraordina- 
ries,  are  included. 


GENERAL  WAYNE'S  ORDERS, 

ISSUED  ON  THE  EVENING  PREVIOUS  TO  THE 
ATTACK  ON  STONY  POINT. 

HEADQUARTERS,  FORT  MONTGOMERY. 

Light  Infantry — July  15,  1779. 

The  troops  will  parade  on  beating  the  as 
semble.  Taking  it  from  the  right,  they  will 
march  on  beating  the  troop,  and  move  by  the 
right.  Proper  halting  places  will  be  fixed  and 
every  officer  and  non-commissioned  officer  will 
remain  with  and  be  accountable  for  every  man 
of  their  platoons.  No  soldier  to  be  permitted 
to  quit  the  ranks  on  any  pretence  whatever 
until  a  general  halt  is  made,  and  then  to  be  at 
tended  by  one  of  the  officers  of  the  platoons. 
As  soon  as  the  troops  assemble,  this  order  to 
be  read  at  the  head  of  each  : 

The  troops  will  march  from  Clement's  to 
Stony  Point,  at  1 1  o'clock,  and  move  by  the 
right.  Every  officer  and  non-commissioned 
officer  will  remain  with  and  be  accountable  for 
every  man  in  his  platoon.  No  soldier  to  be 
permitted  to  quit  the  ranks  on  any  pretence 
whatever,  until  a  general  halt  is  made,  and 
then  to  be  attended  by  one  of  the  officers  of  the 
platoon. 

When  the  van  of  the  troops  arrive  in  the 
rear  of  the  hill,  col.  Fabager  will  form  his  regi 
ment  in  a  solid  column  of  half  platoons,  in 
front,  as  fast  as  they  come  up ;  col.  Meigs 
will  form  next  in  Fabager's  rear  and  major 
Hull  in  the  rear  of  Meigs,  which  will  be  the 
right  column  ;  col.  Butler  will  form  a  column 
on  the  left  of  Fabager,  and  major  Murphy  in 
his  rear — every  officer  and  soldier  will  then 
fix  a  piece  of  white  paper  in  his  hat  or  cap,  to 
distinguish  him  from  the  enemy. 

At  the  word  march,  col.  Flury  will  take 
charge  of  100  determined  and  picked  men, 


properly  officered,  with  their  guns  unloaded, 
their  whole  dependence  to  be  on  their  bayonets, 
will  move  20  paces  in  front  of  the  column  by 
the  rout  No.  i,  enter  the  sally  port  C.,  he  is 
to  detach  an  officer  and  20  men  a  little  in  front 
of  him,  whose  business  it  will  be  to  secure  the 
sentries,  and  remove  the  abattes,  and  other 
obstructions,  for  the  column  to  pass  through. 
The  column  will  follow  close  in  the  rear,  with 
shouldered  arms,  under  the  command  of  col. 
Fabager,  with  gen.  Wayne  in  person ;  when 
the  works  are  forced,  (and  not  before)  the  vic 
torious  troops  will  as  they  enter  give  the  watch 
word,  the  Fort's  our  own,  with  repeated  and 
loud  voice,  driving  the  enemy  from  their  works 
and  guns,  which  will  favor  the  pass  of  the 
whole  ;  should  the  enemy  refuse  to  surrender, 
or  attempt  to  make  their  escape  by  water  or 
otherwise,  vigorous  means  must  be  used  to 
compel  them  to  the  former,  and  prevent  their 
accomplishing  the  latter.  Col.  Butler  will  move 
by  the  rout  No.  2,  preceded  by  100  men  with 
fixed  bayonets  and  unloaded  muskets,  under 
the  command  of  major  Stewart,  who  will 
observe  a  distance  of  20  paces  in  front  of  the 
column,  which  will  immediately  follow  under 
the  command  of  col.  Butler,  with  shouldered 
muskets,  and  will  enter  the  sally-port  C.  or  D . 

The  officer  commanding  the  above  100  men 
will  also  detach  a  proper  officer,  with  20  men,  a 
little  in  front,  to  remove  the  obstructions — as 
soon  as  they  gain  the  work,  they  will  also  give 
and  continue  the  watch-word,  which  will  pre 
vent  confusion  and  mistakes. 

Major  Murphy  will  follow  colonel  Butler  to 
the  first  figure,  No.  3,  where  he  will  divide  a 
little  to  the  right  and  left  and  wait  the  attack 
on  the  right,  which  will  be  a  signal  to  begin  and 
keep  up  a  perpetual  and  galling  fire,  and  en 
deavor  to  enter  between,  and  pass  the  work 
A.  A.  If  any  soldier  presumes  to  take  his  mus 
ket  from  his  shoulder,  attempts  to  fire  or  begin 
the  battle  till  ordered  by  his  proper  officers,  he 
shall  be  immediately  put  to  death  by  the  officer 
next  to  him  ;  for  the  cowardice  and  misconduct 
of  one  man  is  not  to  put  the  whole  in  danger 
and  disorder  with  impunity.  After  the  troops 
begin  to  advance  to  the  works,  the  strictest 
silence  must  be  observed  and  the  greatest  at 
tention  paid  to  the  command  of  the  officers  ;  as 
soon  as  the  lines  are  secured,  the  officers  of 
the  artillery,  with  their  commands,  will  take 
possession  of  the  cannon,  to  the  end  that  the 
shipping  may  be  secured  and  the  Fort  at  Ver- 
plank's  Point  annoyed,  so  as  to  facilitate  the 
attack  upon  that  quarter.  The  general  has  the 
fullest  confidence  in  the  bravery  and  fortitude 
of  the  corps  he  has  the  happiness  to  command. 


496 


PRINCIPLES   AND  ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


The  distinguished  honor  conferred  on  every 
officer  and  soldier  who  has  been  drafted  into  this 
corps,  by  his  excellency  general  Washington, 
the  credit  of  the  states  they  respectively  belong 
to,  and  their  own  reputation  will  be  such  power 
ful  motives  for  each  man  to  distinguish  him 
self,  that  the  general  cannot  have  the  least 
doubt  of  a  glorious  victory  :  And  further,  he 
solemnly  engages  to  reward  the  first  man 
who  enters  the  works  with  $500  and  immediate 
preference,  to  the  second  400,  to  the  third  300, 
to  the  fourth  200  to  the  fifth  100,  and  will 
report  the  conduct  of  every  officer  and  soldier 
who  distinguishes  himself  on  this  occasion, 
in  the  most  favorable  point  of  view,  to  his 
excellency,  who  always  takes  the  greatest 
pleasure  in  rewarding  merit.  But  should  there 
be  any  soldier  so  lost  to  every  feeling,  every 
sense  of  honor,  as  to  attempt  to  retreat  one 
single  foot,  or  shrink  from  the  places  of  danger, 
the  officer  next  to  him  is  to  put  him  immediately 
to  death,  that  he  may  no  longer  disgrace  the 
name  of  a  soldier,  the  corps  or  the  state  to 
which  he  belongs. 

As  the  general  is  determined  to  share  the  dan 
gers  of  the  night,  so  he  wishes  to  participate 
the  glory  of  the  day,  in  common  with  his 
brother  soldiers. 

(Signed)  A.  WAYNE. 


GRATITUDE  OF  GENERAL  GATES. 

From  the  genuine  letter  of  an  officer. 

An  old  soldier  of  the  royal  regiment  of  artil 
lery,  who  served  me  while  the  i8th  regiment 
was  at  Fort  Pitt  and  the  Illinois,  on  our  return 
from  that  country  to  Philadelphia,  1772,  came 
to  me  with  a  happy  smile  on  his  countenance, 
and  told  me  he  had  the  honor  to  receive  a  let 
ter  from  major  Gates,  and  begged  me  to  read 
it.  I  asked  him  how  he  came  to  correspond 
with  major  Gates.  Please  your  honor,  said 
the  old  man,  major  Gates  was  dangerously 
wounded  at  Braddock's  defeat,  and  was  left 
among  the  slain.  I  was  wounded  also,  but  made 
a  shift  to  carry  the  worthy  captain  Gates  (he 
was  then  a  captain)  off  the  field.  He  has  often 
told  me  since  that  he  owed  his  life  to  me,  and 
charged  me  at  parting,  that  whenever  I  thought 
he  could  in  any  instance  serve  me,  to  write  to 
him  without  reserve ;  so  please  your  honor, 
(this  is  a  soldier's  dialect  to  all  officers)  I  am 
now  grown  old,  and  worn  out  in  the  service, 
and  expect  to  be  invalided  and  sent  home,  but 
have  been  long  in  America,  and  I  like  America, 
please  your  honor ;  I  accordingly  took  the  lib 


erty  to  write  to  major  Gates  for  his  advice,  and 
this  is  his  answer.  He  has  also  wrote  to  major 
Hay,  to  give  me  every  indulgence  the  service  will 
admit  of.  I  hope  your  honor  will  give  me  your 
opinion  what  is  best  to  be  done.  I  read  the 
letter ;  but  had  not  read  far,  before  I  was  sensi 
bly  touched  with  the  sentiments  of  the  writer. 
After  re-capitulating  the  service  the  veteran 
had  rendered  him  at  Braddock's  field,  he  says, 
"do  as  you  please,  respecting  your  small  pit 
tance  of  pension.  Thou  hast  served  long,  but 
thy  service  has  not  brought  thee  rest  for  thy 
wounds  and  infirmities.  I  find  by  your  letter 
that  you  wish  to  continue  in  America,  there 
fore  make  yourself  easy ;  when  you  receive 
your  discharge,  repair  to  my  plantation  on 
Potomac  river.  I  have  got  a  fine  tract  of  land 
there,  which  not  only  furnishes  me  with  all  the 
necessaries,  but  all  the  comforts  of  life  ;  come 
and  rest  your  firelock  in  my  chimney  corner  and 
partake  with  me ;  while  I  have,  my  saviour 
Penfold  shall  not  want ;  and  it  is  my  wish,  as 
well  as  Mrs.  Gates's  to  see  you  spend  the  even 
ing  of  your  life  comfortably.  Mrs.  Gates  de 
sires  to  be  affectionately  remembered  to  you." 


CAPTAIN   CHEESEMAN, 

HIS   DEATH   AT  QUEBEC. 

In  storming  the  works  of  Quebec  by  general 
Montgomery,  the  gallant  captain  Cheeseman, 
of  New  York,  aid  to  Montgomery,  being  as 
active  as  he  was  brave,  the  moment  he  reached 
the  picket,  placed  his  hand  on  one  of  the  pali- 
sadoes,  exclaiming  to  his  comrades,  "  If  there 
be  any  honor  in  being  the  first  man  in  Quebec, 
I  have  it."  He  sprung  over  and  fell  by  a  shot 
within  the  picket. 


GALLANTRY 

OF  THE  REV.  MR.  PAYSON,  OF  CHELSEA, 
MASSACHUSETTS. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Payson,  of  Chelsea,  near 
Boston,  a  gentleman  of  the  mildest  manners, 
soundest  learning,  and  most  amiable  character, 
who  has  ever  been  so  warm  on  the  side  of 
government,  that  parson  Treadwell,  and  others, 
on  the  side  of  the  people,  have  repeatedly  re 
fused  to  let  him  preach  in  their  pulpits  :  being 
at  Lexington,  and  with  his  own  eyes  seeing 
that  the  king's  troops  had  fired  first,  and  com 
mitted  murder — and,  being  himself  a  witness 
of  other  of  their  barbarities,  could  not  endure 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


497 


the  sight  without  taking  vengeance  ;  he  there 
fore  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  party,  and 
with  his  musket,  led  them  on  to  the  attack — 
engaged,  and  killed,  or  wounded,  and  took 
prisoners,  the  whole  party  mentioned  in  one  of 
the  accounts,  as  going  up  with  provisions  and 
ammunition  for  the  main  body.  What  will 
government  say  to  this  desertion  of  one  among 
many  of  their  warmest  friends  ? — It  seems  as 
if  the  cause  was  such  that  no  honest  man 
could  appear  in  it. 


COLONEL    GARDNER. 

HIS   DEATH  AT  BUNKER  HlLL. 

When  Colonel  Gardner  of  Brookline  was 
brought  off  from  Bunker's  Hill,  where  he  was 
mortally  wounded,  he  was  asked  if  he  did  not 
wish  to  see  his  son,  who  had  been  also  in  the 
battle.  '  If  my  son  has  done  his  duty,  I  shall 
be  glad  to  see  him.'  He  was  answered  that 
his  son  had  done  his  duty.  He  saw  and  em 
braced  him.  Bost.  Patriot. 


BRAVERY 

AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  GERMANTOWN. 

Among  numberless  feats  of  valor  performed 
by  individuals  of  the  American  revolutionary 
army,  none  has  pleased  me  more  than  the  fol 
lowing,  related  by  an  eye  witness  : — "  During 
the  heat  of  the  battle  at  Germantown,  while 
bullets  flew  as  thick  as  hail-stones,  one  Barke- 
lew  (of  Monmouth)»was  levelling  his  musket  at 
the  enemy,  when  his  lock  was  carried  away  by 
a  ball. — Undismayed,  he  caught  up  the  gun  of 
a  comrade  just  killed  by  his  side,  and  taking 
aim,  a  bullet  entered  the  muzzle,  and  twisted 
the  barrel  round  like  a  corkscrew  !  Still  un 
daunted,  our  hero  immediately  kneeled  down, 
unscrewed  the  whole  lock  from  the  twisted 
barrel,  screwed  it  on  to  the  barrel  from  which 
the  lock  had  been  torn,  and  blazed  away  at  the 
enemy."  Can  ancient  Sparta  or  modern  Brit 
ain  boast  a  more  brilliant  display  of  cool, 
deliberate,  unshaken  courage  ?  This  hero  is 
still  living. 


BENEDICT  ARNOLD'S 

LETTER  TO  GENL.  WASHINGTON,  PALLIAT 
ING  HIS  TREASON. 

"  ON   BOARD   THE    VULTURK,5V//.   2$,    1780. 

"  Sir — The  heart  which  is  conscious  of  its 
own  rectitude  cannot  attempt  to  palliate  a  step 

32 


which  the  world  may  censure  as  wrong  ;  I  have 
ever  acted  from  a  principle  of  love  to  my  coun 
try,  since  the  commencement  of  the  present 
unhappy  contest  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  colonies  ;  the  same  principle  of  love  to  my 
country  actuates  my  present  conduct,  however 
it  may  appear  inconsistent  to  the  world,  who 
very  seldom  judge  right  of  any  man's  actions. 

"  I  have  no  favor  to  ask  for  myself.  I  have 
too  often  experienced  the  ingratitude  of  my 
country  to  attempt  it ;  but  from  the  known 
humanity  of  your  excellency,  I  am  induced  to 
ask  your  protection  for  Mrs.  Arnold,  from  every 
insult  and  injury  that  the  mistaken  vengeance 
of  my  country  may  expose  her  to.  It  ought  to 
fall  only  on  me  ;  she  is  as  good  and  as  innocent 
as  an  angel,  and  is  incapable  of  doing  wrong. 
I  beg  she  may  be  permitted  to  return  to  her 
friends  in  Philadelphia,  or  to  come  to  me  as 
she  may  choose ;  from  your  excellency  I  have 
no  fears  on  her  account,  but  she  may  suffer 
from  the  mistaken  fury  of  the  country. 

"  I  have  to  request  that  the  enclosed  letter 
may  be  delivered  to  Mrs.  Arnold,  and  she  per 
mitted  to  write  to  me. 

"  I  have  also  to  ask  that  my  clothes  and  bag 
gage,  which  are  of  little  consequence,  may  be 
sent  to  me  ;  if  required,  their  value  shall  be 
paid  in  money. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  regard 
and  esteem,  your  excellency's  most  obedient  hum 
ble  servant, 

B.  ARNOLD. 
"His  excellency, general  Washington." 

"  N.  B.  In  justice  to  the  gentlemen  of  my 
family,  col.  Varrick  and  major  Franks,  I  think 
myself  in  honor  bound  to  declare,  that  they, 
as  well  as  Joshua  Smith,  esq.,  (who  I  know  are 
suspected)  are  totally  ignorant  of  any  transac 
tions  of  mine,  that  they  had  reason  to  believe 
were  injurious  to  the  public." 


ANN  SEWARD, 

REFLECTING  ON  THE  CHARACTER  OF  WASH 
INGTON. 

Ann  Seward,  in  her  monody  on  the  death  ot 
Major  Andre,  thus  speaks  of  the  character  of 
Washington : 

Oh  Washington  !  I  thought  thee  great  and  good, 
Nor  knew  thy  Nero  thirst  for  guiltless  blood  : 
Severe  to  use  the  power  that  fortune  gave, 
Thou  cool  determined  murderer  of  the  brave. 
Remorseless  Washington  !  the  day  shall  come 
Of  deep  repentance  for  this  barbarous  doom  ; 
When  injured  Andre's  mem'ry  shall  inspire, 
A  kindling  army  with  resistless  fire. 


498 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


Each  falchion  sharpen  that  the  Britons  wield, 

And  lead  their  fiercest  lion  to  the  field  ; 

Then,  when  each  hope  of  thine  shall  end  in  night, 

When  dubious  dread,  and  unavailing  flight 

Impel  your  haste,  thy  guilt  up-braided  soul 

Shall  wish,  untouch'd,  the  precious  life  you  stole  ; 

And  when  thy  heart,  appall'd  and  vanquish'd  pride, 

Shall  vainly  ask  the  mercy  you  denied  : 

With  horror  shalt  thou  meet  the  fate  thou  gave, 

Nor  pity  gild  the  darkness  of  thy  grave. 

Thus  does  poetic  petulance  dispense  its  in 
vectives.  We  will  now  ask  who  accelerated 
the  death  of  Andre  ?  Who  made  the  extension 
of  mercy  toward  him  an  act  of  mistaken  mercy 
and  of  criminal  indulgence?  Unquestionably 
sir  Henry  Clinton?  Unquestionably  the  man 
who  was  propagating  these  false  alarms  of 
treason  in  the  American  camp.  He  rendered 
this  severe  measure  for  common  security  per 
fectly  indispensable,  as  the  commander  in  chief 
could  not,  at  that  time,  know  but  what  those 
who  shared  his  confidence  were  the  most  deeply 
implicated  in  Arnold's  machinations.  Was  he 
to  reprieve  the  victim,  and  thus  sanction  to  his 
surrounding  officers  the  treason  of  Arnold,  by 
his  own  signature,  or  to  mitigate  the  severity 
of  his  fate,  and  teach  them  by  this  example  to 
hope  for  mercy  if  detected  ?  It  is  not  meant 
to  criminate  sir  Henry  Clinton.  Such  artifices 
are  justifiable  in  war.  That  he  did,  however, 
by  the  promulgation  of  such  reports,  render  the 
death  of  Andre  inevitable,  it  is  conceived  im 
possible  to  doubt.  The  solicitude  of  Washing 
ton  to  save  the  life  of  this  unfortunate  man  was 
such,  that  he  hazarded  one  of  the  bravest  of  his 
own  soldiers  in  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  for  that 
purpose  :  and  nothing  but  a  concurrence  of 
unpropitious  circumstances,  that  could  not 
have  been  foreseen  by  mortal  eye,  or  guarded 
against,  if  they  could  have  been,  prevented  its 
accomplishment.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  while 
the  British  commander  was  hastening  the 
death  of  Andre,  Washington  was  exerting  him 
self  to  ward  off  that  calamity. 


ORIGIN  OF  "YANKEE  DOODLE." 

INTERESTING  HISTORY. 

It  is  known  as  a  matter  of  history,  that  in 
the  early  part  of  1755,  great  exertions  were 
made  by  the  British  ministry,  at  the  head  of 
which  was  the  illustrious  earl  of  Chatham,  for 
the  reduction  of  the  French  power  in  the  pro 
vinces  of  the  Canadas.  To  carry  the  object 
into  effect,  general  Amherst,  referred  to  in  the 
letters  of  Junius,  was  appointed  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  British  army  in  North  Western 
America  ;  and  the  British  colonies  in  America 


were  called  upon  for  assistance,  who  contrib 
uted  with  alacrity  their  several  quotas  of  men, 
to  effect  the  grand  object  of  British  enterprise. 
It  is  a  fact  still  within  the  recollection  of  some 
of  our  oldest  inhabitants,  that  the  British  army 
lay  encamped,  in  the  summer  of  1755,  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Hudson,  a  little  south  of 
the  city  of  Albany,  on  the  ground  now  belong 
ing  to  John  I.  Van  Rensselaer,  esq.  To  this 
day  vestiges  of  their  encampment  remain  ;  and 
after  a  lapse  of  sixty  years,  when  a  great  pro 
portion  of  the  actors  of  those  days  have  passed 
away,  like  shadows  from  the  earth,  the  inquisi 
tive  traveller  can  observe  the  remains  of  the 
ashes,  the  places  where  they  boiled  their  camp 
kettles.  It  was  this  army,  that,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Abercrombie,  was  foiled,  with  a 
severe  loss,  in  the  attack  on  Ticonderoga, 
where  the  distinguished  Howe  fell  at  the  head 
of  his  troops,  in  an  hour  that  history  has  con 
secrated  to  his  fame.  In  the  early  part  of 
June,  the  eastern  troops  began  to  pour  in,  com 
pany  after  company,  and  such  a  motley  assem 
blage  of  men  never  before  thronged  together 
on  such  an  occasion,  unless  an  example  may 
be  found  in  the  ragged  regiment  of  sir  John 
Falstaff,  of  right  merry  and  facetious  memory. 
It  would,  said  my  worthy  ancestor,  who  relates 
to  me  the  story,  have  relaxed  the  gravity  of  an 
anchorite,  to  have  seen  the  descendants  of  the 
Puritans,  marching  through  the  streets  of  our 
ancient  city,  to  take  their  station  on  the  left  of 
the  British  army — some  with  long  coats,  some 
with  short  coats,  and  others  with  no  coats  at 
all,  in  colors  as  varied  as  the  rainbow,  some 
with  their  hair  cropped  like.the  army  of  Crom 
well,  and  others  with  wigs  whose  curls  flowed 
with  grace  around  their  shoulders.  Their 
march,  their  accoutrements,  and  the  whole 
arrangement  of  the  troops,  furnished  matter  of 
amusement  to  the  wits  of  the  British  army. 
The  music  played  the  airs  of  two  centuries  ago, 
and  the  tout  ensemble,  upon  the  whole,  exhib 
ited  a  sight  to  the  wondering  strangers  that 
they  had  been  unaccustomed  to  in  their  own 
land.  Among  the  club  of  wits  that  belonged 
to  the  British  army,  there  was  a  physician 
attached  to  the  staff,  by  the  name  of  Doctor 
Shackburg,  who  combined  with  the  science  of 
the  surgeon,  the  skill  and  talents  of  a  musician. 
To  please  brother  Jonathan  he  composed  a 
tune,  and  with  much  gravity  recommended  it 
to  the  officers,  as  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
airs  of  martial  music.  The  joke  took,  to  the 
no  small  amusement  of  the  British  corps. 
Brother  Jonathan  exclaimed  it  was  nation  fine, 
and  in  a  few  days  nothing  was  heard  in  the 
provincial  camp  but  the  air  of  Yankee  Doodle. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


499 


Little  did  the  author  or  his  coadjutors  then 
suppose,  that  an  air  made  for  the  purpose  of 
levity  and  ridicule,  should  ever  be  marked  for 
such  high  destinies  ;  in  twenty  years  from  that 
time  our  national  march  inspired  the  hearts  of 
the  heroes  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  less  than  thirty, 
lord  Cornwallis  and  his  army  marched  into 
the  American  lines  to  the  tune  of  Yankee 
Doodle.  —  Albany  Statesman. 


TARRING  AND  FEATHERING, 

ORIGINALLY  A  YANKEE  TRICK. 

FROM  THE  AMERICAN  MERCURY. 

This  appears  from  the  speech  of  M'Fingal, 
the  tory  Sagamore,  to  the  Yankee  mob. 

"  Was  there  a  Yankee  trick  ye  knew, 
They  did  not  play  as  well  as  you  ? 
Did  they  not  lay  their  heads  together, 
And  g&inyour  art  to  tar  and  feather  ?  " 

TARRING  AND   FEATHERING  LAWFUL  ! 

This  appears  by  the  authority  of  the  sen 
tence  which  was  pronounced  on  M'Fingal — 
(M'Fingal,  by  John  Trumbull,  esq.  page  60 — 
i).  This  sentence,  be  it  remembered,  though 
seemingly  the  order  and  decree  of  a  committee, 
in  fact,  had  its  origin  in  the  brain  of  a  man 
who  was  a  judge  of  the  supreme  court,  of  the 
state  of  Connecticut.  Whether  appointed 
judge  from  this  specimen  of  his  judicial  knowl 
edge,  or  not,  is  not  now  in  question — but  let 
us  hear  the  sentence  pronounced  on  M'Fingal, 
king  of  the  tories. 

"  Meanwhile  beside  the  pole,  the  guard 

A  bench  of  justice  had  prepared, 

Where,  sitting  round  in  awful  sort, 

The  grand  committee  hold  the  court : 

While  all  the  crew  in  silent  awe, 

Wait  from  their  lips  the  lore  of /ao/. 

Few  moments  with  deliberation, 

They  hold  the  solemn  consultation, 

When  soon  in  judgment  all  agree, 

And  clerk  declares  the  dread  decree  : 
41  That  squire  M'Fingal,  having  grown 

The  vilest  tory  in  the  town, 

And  now  on  full  examination, 

Convicted  by  his  own  confession, 

Finding  no  token  of  repentance, 

This  court  proceed  to  render  sentence : 

That  first  the  mob  a  slip-knot  single, 

Tie  round  the  neck  of  said  M'Fingal ; 

And  in  due  form  do  tar  him  next, 

And  feather,  as  the  LAW  DIRECTS  : 

Then  thro'  the  town  attendant  ride  him, 

In  cart  with  constable  beside  him. 

And  having  held  him  up  to  shame, 

Bring  to  the  pole  from  whence  he  came." 

Vision  and  prediction  of  M'Fingal,  king  of  the 
tories,  when  in  his  coat  of  tar  and  feathers. 

"  Tar  yet  in  embryo  in  pine 
Shall  run  on  tories'  backs  to  shine  ; 


Trees  rooted  fair  in  the  groves  of  fallows, 
Are  growing  for  our  future  gallows  : 
And  geese  unhatched,  when  pluck'd  in  fray, 
Shall  rue  the  feath'ring  of  that  day." 

M'Fingal  by  J.  Trumbull,  esq.  page  60. 


LORD  EFFINGHAM 

To  THE  BRITISH  SECRETARY  OF  WAR,  RE 
SIGNING  HIS  COMMISSION  IN  PREFERENCE 
TO  TAKING  ARMS  AGAINST  THE  AMERI 
CAN  COLONIES. 

April  12,  1775. 

To  LORD  BARRINGTON,  Secretary  at  -war. 

My  lord: — I  beg  the  favor  of  your  lord 
ship  to  lay  before  his  majesty  the  peculiar  em 
barrassment  of  my  present  situation. 

Your  lordship  is  no  stranger  to  the  conduct 
which  I  have  observed  in  the  unhappy  disputes 
with  our  American  colonies. 

The  king  is  too  just  and  too  generous  not  to 
believe,  that  the  votes  I  have  given  in  parliament 
have  been  given  according  to  the  dictates  of  my 
conscience.  Whether  I  have  erred  or  not,  the 
course  of  future  events  must  determine.  In 
the  mean  time,  if  I  were  capable  of  such 
duplicity,  as  to  be  any  way  concerned  in  enforc 
ing  those  measures  of  which  I  have  so  publicly 
and  solemnly  expressed  my  disapprobation,  I 
should  ill  deserve  what  I  am  most  ambitious  of 
obtaining,  the  esteem  and  favorable  opinion 
of  my  sovereign. 

My  request  therefore  to  your  lordship  is  this, 
that  after  having  laid  those  circumstances 
before  the  king,  you  will  assure  his  majesty, 
that  he  has  not  a  subject  who  is  more  ready 
than  I  am  with  the  utmost  cheerfulness  to  sac 
rifice  his  life  and  fortune  in  support  of  the 
safety,  honor,  and  dignity  of  his  majesty's 
crown  and  person.  But  the  very  same  princi 
ples  which  have  inspired  me  with  these  unal 
terable  sentiments  of  duty  and  affection  to  his 
majesty,  will  not  suffer  me  to  be  instrumental 
in  depriving  any  part  of  his  people  of  those 
liberties  which  form  the  best  security  for  their 
fidelity  and  obedience  to  his  government.  As 
I  cannot,  without  reproach  from  my  own  con 
science,  consent  to  bear  arms  against  my  fellow 
subjects  in  America,  in  what,  to  my  weak  dis 
cernment,  is  not  a  clear  cause  ;  and  as  it  seems 
now  to  be  finally  resolved,  that  the  22d  regi 
ment  is  to  go  upon  American  service,  I  desire 
your  lordship  to  lay  me  in  the  most  dutiful 
manner  at  his  majesty's  feet,  and  humbly  beg 
that  I  may  be  permitted  to  retire. 

Your  lordship  will  also  be  so  obliging  to 
entreat,  that  as  I  wave  what  the  custom  of  the 


500 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


service  would  entitle  me  to  the  right  of  selling 
what  I  bought,  I  may  be  allowed  to  retain  my 
rank  in  the  army,  that  whenever  the  envy  or 
ambition  of  foreign  powers  should  require  it,  I 
may  be  enabled  to  serve  his  majesty  and  my 
country  in  that  way,  in  which  alone  I  can  ex 
pect  to  serve  them  with  any  degree  of  effect. 

Your  lordship  will  easily  conceive  the  regret 
and  mortification  I  feel  at  being  necessitated  to 
quit  the  military  profession,  which  has  been 
that  of  my  ancestors  for  many  generations,  to 
which  I  have  been  bred  almost  from  my  infancy, 
to  which  I  have  devoted  the  study  of  my  life  ; 
and  to  perfect  myself  in  which,  I  have  sought 
instruction  and  service  in  whatever  part  of  the 
world  they  were  to  be  found. 

I  have  delayed  this  to  the  last  moment,  lest 
any  wrong  construction  should  be  given  to  a 
conduct  which  is  influenced  only  by  the  purest 
motives.  I  complain  of  nothing  ;  I  love  my 
profession,  and  should  think  it  highly  blame- 
able  to  quit  any  course  of  life,  in  which  I  might 
be  useful  to  the  public,  so  long  as  my  consti 
tutional  principles,  and  my  notions  and  honor, 
permitted  me  to  continue  in  it. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect, 
your  lordship's  most  obedient,  and  most  hum 
ble  servant, 

EFFINGHAM. 
Adelphi  Buildings,  April  12,  1775. 


THE  GUILD  OF  MERCHANTS  OF  DUBLIN, 
IRELAND,  TENDERING  THEIR  THANKS  TO 
LORD  EFFINGHAM,  FOR  HIS  PATRIOTISM. 
JULY  17,  1775. 

At  Guildhall,  Dublin,  I7th  of  July,  1775,  being 
quarter-day  of  the  guild  of  merchants  of  the 
said  city,  the  following  resolutions  were 
agreed  to : 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  the  sincere 
thanks  of  this  Guild  be  presented  to  the  right 
honorable  the  earl  of  EFFINGHAM,  in  testimony 
of  our  approbation  of  his  public  conduct,  particu 
larly  exemplified  in  his  refusing  to  draw  that 
sword  which  had  been  employed  to  the  honor 
of  his  country,  against  the  lives  and  liberties 
of  his  fellow  subjects  in  America :  and  honestly 
and  spiritedly  resigning  a  commission  which  he 
could  no  longer  hold  consistent  with  the  princi 
ples  of  a  true  Englishman,  or  of  a  real  friend  to 
the  interest  of  Britain." 

"  Resolved,  That  the  sincere  thanks  of  this 
Guild  be  presented  to  the  right  honorable 
JOHN  WILKES,  lord  mayor  of  the  city  of  Lon 
don,  for  the  essential  services  which  he  has 
rendered  his  king  and  country,  by  his  strenuous 


efforts  in  the  cause  of  freedom  ;  and  for  his 
able,  spirited,  and  judicious  defence  of  the 
right  of  the  people  to  petition  the  throne." 

There  was  to  the  last  resolution  a  single 
negative  given  by  a  Scotchman,  who  has  an 
employment  in  our  stamp  office. 

"  Resolved  unanimously,  That  an  address  of 
thanks  from  the  Guild  be  presented  to  the 
several  peers,  who  (in  support  of  our  constitu 
tion,  and  in  opposition  to  a  weak  and  wicked 
administration)  protested  against  the  Ameri 
can  restraining  bills."  And  the  following 
gentlemen  were  appointed,  with  the  masters 
and  wardens,  a  committee  to  prepare  the  same: 


James  Napper  Tandy, 
Henry  Hawison, 
Sir  Ew'd  Newenham, 
John  Pere, 


Samuel  Gamble, 
Samuel  Stephens, 
Hugh  Crothers, 


Who  prepared  the  following  : 

"We,  the  masters,  wardens,  and  brethren 
of  the  guild  of  merchants  in  the  city  of  Dublin, 
in  common  hall  assembled,  with  the  most 
unfeigned  respect,  beg  leave  to  offer  to  your 
lordship  the  just  tribute  of  our  thanks  for  your 
noble  and  spirited,  though  hitherto  ineffectual 
exertions  in  the  cause  of  liberty  and  of  your 
country,  fully  evinced  in  your  opposition  to 
the  oppressive  and  unconstitutional  proceedings 
of  a  corrupt  administration. 

"  With  equal  grief  and  indignation,  we  have 
for  years  beheld  repeated  innovations  on  the 
free  constitution  of  these  realms,  and  daily 
invasions  of  the  dearest  rights  and  immunities 
of  the  subject.  We  have  seen  with  astonish 
ment  popery  established  by  law  in  one,  and 
encouraged  in  every  part  of  the  empire,  in  the 
reign  of  a  Protestant  prince  ;  and  despotism  and 
arbitrary  power  promoted  by  every  insidious 
machination  and  open  violence,  by  the  servants 
of  the  crown,  in  the  reign  of  a  monarch  who, 
from  the  throne  declared  he  gloried  in  being  a 
Briton  born  ;  and  whose  family  was  called  to 
the  throne  of  these  kingdoms  to  protect  the 
Protestant  religion,  and  preserve  that  constitu 
tion  inviolate  for  which  our  ancestors  so  freely 
bled,  and  for  the  invading  of  which,  a  tyrant 
was  expelled  the  throne. 

"  But  while  we  contemplate  with  horror  the 
universal  ruin  and  devastation  in  which  the 
empire  is  nearly  involved  by  the  wicked  devices 
of  evil  men,  we  with  pleasure  survey  the  steady, 
incorruptible,  and  patriotic  virtues  which  adorn 
you  and  shield  us :  while  we  boast  of  such  a 
noble  band  of  patriots,  while  we  see  united  in 
the  cause  of  freedom  such  a  number  of  the  true 
hereditary  guardians  of  liberty,  and  of  the  princi 
ples  of  the  glorious  revolution,  we  cannot,  we 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


501 


will  not  despair  of  seeing  once  more  the  valua 
ble  constitution  of  these  countries  restored  to 
its  primitive  purity. 

"  Permit  us  therefore  to  offer  your  lordship 
our  warmest,  our  most  grateful  acknowledg 
ments  as  Protestants,  for  your  steady  opposi 
tion  to  the  establishment  of  popery  and  slavery 
in  Canada ;  as  freemen,  for  your  manly  and 
spirited  opposition  to  the  several  restraining 
bills ;  and  your  noble  efforts  in  the  support  of 
American  liberty,  and  in  the  cause  of  our  suf 
fering  and  much  oppressed  brethren  and  fel 
low  subjects  there  :  and  we  have  the  fullest  re 
liance  on  your  steady  perseverance  in  the  same 
principles  which  have  so  strongly  endeared 
you,  not  only  to  us,  but  to  every  real  friend 
of  the  British  empire  and  its  constituents." 

In  testimony,  whereof,  we  have  caused  the 
seal  of  our  corporation  to  be  hereunto  affixed, 
this  1 7th  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
1775-  (Seal). 


RESOLUTION   OF    THANKS 

TENDERED  BY  THE  SHERIFFS  AND  COMMONS 
TO  LORD  EFFINGHAM,  JULY  21,  1775. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  sheriffs  and 
commons  be  presented  to  lord  Effingham,  for 
having  chosen  gloriously  to  resign  his  commis 
sion,  rather  than  imbrue  his  hands  in  the  blood 
of  his  innocent  and  oppressed  fellow  subjects." 

Which  being  enclosed  to  his  lordship  by  the 
proper  officer,  the  following  answer  was  re 
ceived  : 


LORD  EFFINGHAM'S  ANSWER,  AUGUST  14, 
1775- 

"  Sir: — I  have  been  favored  with  your  letter 
of  the  2  ist  of  July  last  enclosing  the  copy  of  a 
resolution  of  the  sheriffs  and  commons  of  the 
city  of  Dublin. 

"Next  to  the  testimony  of  a  man's  own  con 
science  is,  in  my  opinion,  his  greatest  happi 
ness  to  have  the  approbation  of  the  wise  and 
honest  among  his  fellow  subjects. 

"  The  former  of  these  can,  I  think,  be  no 
other  way  enjoyed,  than  by  a  strict  adherence 
to  those  principles,  which,  at  the  revolution, 
established  our  civil  and  religious  liberties  ; 
and  it  is  easy,  sir,  for  you  to  conceive,  but 
beyond  my  abilities  to  express  what  I  felt,  at 
my  conduct's  being  judged,  by  so  independent 
and  respectable  an  assembly  as  the  sheriffs  and 


commons  of  the  city  of  Dublin,  deserving  o! 
the  latter. 

"  I  am,  with  truth  and  respect,  sir,  your  most 
obedient  humble  servant,  EFFINGHAM. 

The  Holmes,  Aug.  14,  1775. 


LETTER 

FROM    A     GENTLEMAN    IN     AMERICA    TO    t 
MEMBER  OF  THE  BRITISH   PARLIAMENT. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Dec.  34,  1774- 

The  following  letter  from  a  gentleman  i» 
America,  to  a  member  of  the  British  parlia 
ment  may  be  depended  upon  as  authentic  : 

"  The  proclamation  forbidding  the  exporta 
tion  of  gunpowder  and  fire  arms  to  America 
seems  intended  to  take  away  from  the  colo 
nies  the  power  of  defending  themselves  by 
force.  I  think  it  my  duty  to  inform  you,  thai 
the  said  proclamation  will  be  rendered  ineffec 
tual  by  a  manufactory  of  gunpowder,  which 
has  lately  been  set  on  foot  in  this  province,  the 
materials  of  which  may  be  procured  in  great 
perfection  among  ourselves,  and  at  an  easier 
rate  than  they  can  be  imported  from  Great 
Britain.  There  are  moreover  gun-smiths 
enough  in  this  province,  to  make  one  hundred 
thousand  stand  of  arms  in  one  year,  at  28s. 
sterling  a-piece,  if  they  should  be  wanted.  It 
may  not  be  amiss  to  make  this  intelligence  as 
public  as  possible,  that  our  rulers  may  see  the 
impossibility  of  enforcing  the  late  acts  of  par 
liament  by  arms.  Such  is  the  wonderful  mar 
tial  spirit  which  is  enkindled  among  us,  that 
we  begin  to  think  the  whole  force  of  Britain 
could  not  subdue  us.  We  trust  no  less  to  the . 
natural  advantages  of  our  country  than  to  our 
numbers,  and  military  preparations,  in  the  con 
fidence  and  security  of  which  we  boast.  The 
four  New  England  colonies,  together  with 
Virginia  and  Maryland,  are  completely  armed 
and  disciplined.  The  province  of  Pennsylvania 
will  follow  their  example  in  a  few  weeks.  Our 
militia  will  amount  to  not  less  than  60,000  men. 
Nothing  but  a  total  repeal  of  the  acts  of  parlia 
ment  of  which  we  complain,  can  prevent  a 
civil  war  in  America.  Our  opposition  has  now 
risen  to  desperation.  It  would  be  as  easy  to 
allay  a  storm  in  the  ocean,  by  a  single  word,  as 
to  subdue  the  free  spirit  of  Americans,  without 
a  total  redress  of  their  grievances.  .  May  a 
spirit  of  wisdom  descend  at  last  upon  our 
ministry,  and  rescue  the  British  empire  from 
destruction  !  We  tremble  at  the  thoughts  of  a 
separation  from  Great  Britain.  All  our  glory 


502 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


and  happiness  have  been  derived  from  you. 
But  we  are  in  danger  of  being  shipwrecked 
upon  your  rocks.  To  avoid  these,  we  are  wil 
ling  to  be  tossed,  without  a  compass  or  guide, 
for  a  while,  upon  an  ocean  of  blood.  Wish 
ing  you  success  in  your  disinterested  labors  to 
promote  the  happiness  of  this  country,  I  am, 
sir,  with  much  esteem  for  your  firmness,  your 
most  obedient  humble  servant." 

— Al man's  Remembrancer. 


PETITION  * 

OF  THE  NATIVE  AMERICANS   RESIDING   IN 
LONDON   TO   HIS    BRITANNIC    MAJESTY, 

IN    1774. 

FROM    THE    BOSTON     PATRIOT. 

Messrs.  Editors: — Having  recently  been 
employed  in  searching  for  old  records,  I  met 
with  a  manuscript  copy  of  the  following  petition 
of  a  number  of  native  Americans,  who  were 
then  in  London,  to  his  Britannic  majesty,  in 
the  year  1774.  If  you  think  it  sufficiently  in 
teresting  to  publish,  you  are  at  liberty  to  do  it. 
Among  the  number  of  signers  is  the  late  Arthur 
Lee,  of  Virginia,  a  gentleman  whose  life  and 
character  seem  to  be  but  little  known  at  the 
present  day,  although  he  was  one  of  the  firmest 
patriots  of  the  revolution,  and  his  services, 
though  not  conspicuous,  yet  were  eminently 
beneficial  to  the  cause  he  had  espoused. 

It  will  be  remembered,  that  the  bills  there 
alluded  to  are  the  last  of  the  series  of  those 
acts  of  the  British  parliament  which  produced 
a  crisis,  and  were  the  immediate  cause  of  the 
war  of  the  revolution  • 

To  the  king's  most  excellent  majesty, 

The  petition  of  several  natives  of  America, 
most  humbly  sheweth : 

That  your  petitioners,  being  your  majesty's 
most  faithful  subjects,  are  obliged  to  implore 
your  gracious  interposition,  to  protect  them  in 
the  enjoyment  of  those  privileges  which  are  the 
right  of  all  your  people. 

Your  majesty's  petitioners,  have  already 
seen,  with  unspeakable  grief,  their  earnest 
prayers  rejected,  and  heavy  penalties  inflicted, 
even  on  the  innocent  among  their  countrymen, 
to  the  subversion  of  every  principle  of  justice, 
without  their  being  heard.  By  this  alarming 
procedure  all  property  was  rendered  insecure ; 
and  they  now  see  in  two  bills  (for  altering  the 
government  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  the 
impartial  administration  of  justice  there)  the 
intended  subversion  of  the  two  other  grand 


objects  of  civil  society  and  constitutional  pro 
tection,  to  wit,  liberties  and  life. 

Your  petitioners  most  humbly  represent  to 
your  majesty,  that,  to  destroy  or  assume  their 
chartered  rights,  without  a  full  and  fair  hearing, 
with  legal  proof  of  forfeiture,  and  the  abrogat 
ing  of  their  most  valuable  laws,  which  had 
duly  received  the  solemn  confirmation  of  your 
majesty's  royal  predecessors,  and  were  thence 
deemed  unchangeable,  without  the  consent  of 
the  people,  is  such  a  proceeding  as  renders  the 
enjoyment  of  every  privilege  they  possess 
totally  uncertain  and  precarious.  That  an  ex 
emption  of  the  soldiery  from  being  tried  in  the 
Massachusetts  Bay,  for  murder  or  other  felony, 
committed  upon  your  majesty's  subjects  there, 
is  such  an  encouragement  to  licentiousness 
and  incentive  to  outrage,  as  must  subject  your 
majesty's  liege  people  to  continued  danger. 

Your  petitioners  and  their  countrymen  have 
been  ever  most  zealously  attached  to  your 
majesty's  person  and  family.  It  is  therefore 
with  inexpressible  affliction  that  they  see  an 
attempt,  in  these  proceedings  against  them,  to 
change  the  principle  of  obedience  to  govern 
ment,  from  the  love  of  the  subjects  towards 
their  sovereign,  founded  on  the  opinion  of  his 
wisdom,  justice  and  benevolence,  into  the  dread 
of  absolute  power  and  laws  of  extreme  rigor, 
unsupportable  to  a  free  people. 

Should  the  bills  above  mentioned  receive  your 
royal  sanction,  your  majesty's  faithful  subjects 
will  be  overwhelmed  with  grief  and  despair. 

It  is  therefore  our  most  earnest  prayer  that 
your  majesty  will  be  graciously  pleased  to  sus 
pend  your  royal  assent  to  the  said  bills. 

And  your  petitioners,  etc., 
Stephen  Sayre,  Willliam  H.  Gibbs, 

William  Lee,  William  Blake, 

Arthur  Lee,  Isaac  Motte, 

Edmund  Jennings,        Henry  Lawrence, 
Joshua  Johnson,  Thomas  Pinckney, 

Daniel  Bowley,  John  T.  Grimpke, 

Benjamin  Franklin,      Jacob  Reade, 
Thomas  Buston,  Philip  Neyle, 

Edward  Bandcroft,       Edward  Fenwicke, 
Thomas  Brondfield,      Edward  Fenwicke.  jr. 
John  Boylston,  John  Peroneauf, 

John  Ellis,  William  Middleton, 

John  Williams,  William  Middleton,  jr. 

John  Alleyne,  Ralph  Irard,  jr., 

Ralph  Irard,  William  Heyward. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


503 


LETTER 

From  a  late  London  paper,  copied  from  the 
Maryland  Gazette  of  date  1776,  ridiculing 
the  idea  that  manufactures  could  be  carritd 
on  in  America. 

All  the  articles  of  news  lately  published, 
that  seem  improbable,  are  not  mere  inventions. 
Some  of  them,  I  can  assure  you,  on  the  faith  of 
a  traveller,  are  serious  truths.  And  here  give 
me  leave  to  instance  the  various  numberless 
accounts  the  news  writers  have  given  us  (with 
so  much  honest  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  poor 
old  England  !)  of  the  establishing  manufactures 
in  the  colonies  to  the  prejudice  of  those  of  this 
kingdom.  It  is  objected  by  superficial  readers, 
who  yet  pretend  to  some  knowledge  of  those 
countries,  that  such  establishments  are  not 
only  improbable  but  impossible  ;  for  that  their 
sheep  have  but  little  wool,  not  in  the  whole 
sufficient  for  a  pair  of  stockings  a  year  to  each 
inhabitant ;  and  that,  from  the  universal  dear- 
ness  of  labor  among  them,  the  working  of  iron 
and  other  materials,  except  in  some  few  coarse 
instances,  is  impracticable  to  any  advantage. 
Dear  sir,  do  not  let  us  suffer  ourselves  to  be 
amused  with  such  groundless  objections.  The 
very  TAILS  of  the  American  sheep  are  so 
laden  with  wool,  that  each  has  a  cart  or  wagon, 
on  four  little  wheels,  to  support  and  keep  it 
from  trailing  on  the  ground.  Would  they 
caulk  their  ships  ?  Would  they  fill  their  beds  ? 
Would  they  even  litter  their  horses  with  wool, 
if  it  was  not  both  plenty  and  cheap  ?  And 
what  signifies  dearness  of  labor,  where  an 
English  shilling  passes  for  five  and  twenty  ? 
Their  engaging  three  hundred  silk  throwsters 
here  in  one  week  for  New  York  was  treated  as 
a  fable,  because,  forsooth,  they  have  no  silk 
there  to  throw.  Those  who  made  this  objec 
tion,  perhaps,  did  not  know,  that,  at  the  same 
lime  the  agents  from  the  king  of  Spain  were  at 
Quebec  contracting  for  1000  pieces  of  cannon, 
to  be  made  there  for  the  fortifications  of 
Mexico,  with  25,000  axes  for  their  industrious 
/ogwood  cutters,  and  at  New  York  engaging 
an  annual  supply  of  warm  floor  carpets  for 
their  West  India  houses — other  agents  from 
<he  emperor  of  China  were  at  Boston,  in  New 
England,  treating  about  the  exchange  of  raw 
silk  for  wool,  to  be  carried  on  in  Chinese  junks 
thro*  the  straits  of  Magellan.  And  yet  all  this 
ts  as  certainly  true  as  the  account,  said  to  be 
n-om  Quebec,  in  the  papers  of  last  week,  that 
the  inhabitants  of  Canada  are  making  prepara 
tions,  for  a  cod  and  whale  fishery  this  summer 
m  the  upper  lakes.  Ignorant  people  may 


object  that  the  upper  lakes  are  fresh,  and  that 
cod  and  whale  are  salt  water  fish  :  But  let 
them  know,  sir,  that  cod,  like  other  fish,  when 
attacked  by  their  enemies,  fly  into  any  water 
they  think  they  can  be  safest  in ;  that  whales, 
when  they  have  a  mind  to  eat  cod,  pursue  them 
wherever  they  fly  ;  and  that  the  grand  leap  of 
the  whale  in  that  chase  up  the  falls  of  Niagara 
is  esteemed  by  all  who  have  seen  it,  as  one  of 
the  finest  spectacles  in  nature  ! — Really,  sir, 
the  world  is  grown  too  incredulous  :  Pendulum- 
like,  it  is  ever  swinging  from  one  extreme  to 
another.  Formerly,  every  thing  printed  was 
believed,  because  it  was  in  print  :•  Now  things 
seem  to  be  disbelieved,  for  just  the  very  same 
reason.  Wise  men  wonder  at  the  present 
growth  of  infidelity  !  They  should  have  con 
sidered,  when  they  taught  people  to  doubt  the 
authority  of  newspapers,  and  the  truth  of  pre 
dictions  in  almanacs,  that  the  next  step  might 
be  a  disbelief  in  the  well-vouched  accounts  of 
ghosts  and  witches,  and  doubts  even  of  the 

truth  of  the  A n  creed. 

Your  humble  servant, 

A  TRAVELLER. 


AN  ADDRESS, 

OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS  TO  THE  KING  AND 
PARLIAMENT,  1782. 

FROM  THE  LONDON  CHRONICLE,  March  9,  1783. 
The  humble  and  dutiful  declaration  and  ad 
dress  of  his  majesty's  American  loyalists,  to 
the  king's  most  excellent  majesty,  to  both 
houses  of  parliament  and  the  people  of  Great 
Britain. 

We,  his  majesty's  most  dutiful  and  faithful 
subjects,  the  loyal  inhabitants  of  America,  who 
have  happily  got  within  the  protection  of  the 
British  forces,  as  well  as  those  who,  though 
too  wise  not  to  have  foreseen  the  fatal  tendency 
of  the  present  wanton  and  causeless  rebellion, 
yet,  from  numberless  obstacles,  and  unexam 
pled  severities,  have  hitherto  been  compelled 
to  remain  under  the  tyranny  of  the  rebels,  and 
submit  to  the  measures  of  congressional  usur 
pation  ;  animated  with  the  purest  principles  of 
duty  and  allegiance  to  his  majesty  and  the 
British  parliament,  beg  leave,  with  the  deepest 
humility  and  reverence,  on  the  present  calami 
tous  occasion  of  public  and  national  misfortune 
in  the  surrender  of  lord  Cornwallis,  and  the 
army  under  his  lordship's  command,  at  York- 
Town,  humbly  to  entreat  that  your  majesty, 
and  the  parliament,  would  be  graciously 


504 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


pleased  to  permit  us  to  offer  this  renewed  testi 
mony  of  loyalty  and   attachment  to  our  most 
gracious  sovereign,  and  the  British  nation  and 
government ;  and  thus  publicly  to  repeat  our 
most  heart-felt  acknowledgments  for  the  infinite 
obligations  we   feel  ourselves  under  for  the 
heavy  expenses  that  have   been  incurred,  and 
the  great  national   exertions  that  have   been 
made,  to  save  and  rescue  us,  and  your  Ameri 
can   colonies,  from   impending  ruin,  and  the 
accumulated  distresses  aud  calamities  of  civil 
war.     For  such  distinguished  proofs  of  national 
ease  and  regard,  we  confess  ourselves  unable 
to  make  that  adequate  return  which  our  hearts, 
replete  with  the  most  dutiful  and  grateful  sen 
sations,  most  willingly  offer,  but  which  we  have 
not  words  sufficient  to  express.     Our  sufferings 
as  men,  and   our  duty  as  loyal  subjects,  point 
out  to  us  at  once,  the  propriety,  in  our  present 
situation,  of  thus  publicly  repeating  our  assur 
ances,  that  we   revere,  with   a   kind   of  holy 
enthusiasm,   the   ancient    constitution   of   the 
American    colonies  ;   and  that   we  cannot  but 
lament  every  event,  and  be  anxiously  solicitous 
to  remove  every  cause  of  suspicion,  that  might 
have  the  most  distant  tendency  to  separate  the 
two  countries,  or  in  any  remote  degree  to  lessen 
the  claim  we  have  to  the  present  aid  and  con 
tinued  exertions  of  Great  Britain  ;  especially  if 
it  should  arise  from  any  misrepresentation  or 
distrust,  either  of  our  fidelity  or  numbers,  to 
entitle  us  to  the  future  countenance  and  pro 
tection  of  that   sovereign   and   nation,  whose 
government  and  laws,  we  call  God  to  witness, 
that,  in  the  integrity  of  our  souls,  we  prefer  to 
all  others.     The  local  prejudices  of  birth  and 
education,  and  the  weight  of  past  and  happy 
experience,  conspire  together  to  render,  in  our 
breasts,  most  sacred  and  inestimable,  our  rela 
tion  to  British  subjects  and  British  laws.     We 
deem   it    more   valuable   than   life  itself,  and 
under    the   most   trying  circumstances,    have 
invariably  resolved,,  in  defiance  of  every  hazard, 
to   assert  our   rights  ;   and,  as    far  as   in   our 
power,  in   opposition   to  every  other  state  and 
kingdom  in  the  world,  to  adhere  to  the  nation 
and   country  from   which  we  sprung  ;   and  to 
which   with   honest   pride   and   gratitude,   we 
acknowledge  that  we  owe  both  our  natural  and 
political  existence. 

Unhappy,  indeed,  for  ourselves,  and  we  can 
not  but  think  unfortunately  too  for  Great 
Britain,  the  number  of  well  affected  inhabitants 
in  America  to  the  parent  country,  cannot,  for 
obvious  reasons,  be  exactly  ascertained.  But 
there  are  facts  from  which  the  most  undoubted 
and  undeniable  conclusions  may  be  inferred, 
and  to  which,  for  want  of  other  evidence,  we 


must  recur,  resting  our  appeal  upon  such  proofs 
to  the  unerring  and  unbiased  decision  of  truth 
and  candor. 

The  penalty  under  which  any  American  sub 
ject  enlists  into  his  majesty's  service,  is  no 
less  than  the  immediate  forfeiture  of  all  his 
goods  and  chattels,  lands  and  tenements  ;  and 
if  apprehended,  and  convicted  by  the  rebels,  of 
having  enlisted,  or  prevailed  on  any  other  per 
son  to  enlist  into  his  majesty's  service,  it  is  con 
sidered  as  treason,  and  punished  with  death  : 
Whereas,  no  forfeiture  is  incurred,  or  penalty 
annexed,  to  his  entering  into  the  service  of  con 
gress  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  his  property  is 
secured,  and  himself  rewarded. 

In  the  former  case,  he  withdraws  himself 
from  his  family  and  relations,  without  any  pos 
sibility  of  receiving  any  assistance  from  or 
affording  any  relief  to  either.  In  the  latter,  he 
is  subject  to  no  such  peculiar  self-denials,  and 
real  distresses. — The  embodying  provincial 
corps  in  New- York,  and  sending  them  on  ser 
vices  to  Savannah — or  in  Philadelphia,  and 
ordering  them  to  Pensacola,  when  they  might 
be  more  usefully  employed  in  the  province 
where  they  were  raised  ;  the  drafting  troops 
from  the  corps,  and  from  under  the  command 
of  officers  with  whom  they  enlisted,  to  form 
new  corps,  and  to  give  a  command  to  other  offi 
cers,  are  all  measures  which  have  had  their  dis 
couraging  effects  on  the  recruiting  service. 

The  desultory  manner  also  in  which  the  war 
has  been  carried  on,  by  first  taking  possession 
of  Boston,  Rhode  Island,  Philadelphia,  Ports 
mouth,  Norfolk,  in  Virginia,  Wilmington,  in 
North  Carolina,  etc.,  etc.,  and  then  evacuating 
them,  whereby  many  thousand  inhabitants  have 
been  involved  in  the  greatest  wretchedness  is 
another  substantial  reason  why  more  loyalists 
have  not  enlisted  into  his  majesty's  service,  or 
openly  espoused  and  attached  themselves  to 
the  royal  cause ;  yet,  notwithstanding  all 
these  discouraging  circumstances,  there  are 
many  more  men  in  his  majesty's  provincial 
*-egiments  than  there  are  in  the  continental 
service.  Hence  it  cannot  be  doubted  but 
that  there  are  more  loyalists  in  America  than 
there  are  rebels ;  and  also,  that  their  zeal 
must  be  greater,  or  so  many  would  not  have 
enlisted  into  the  provincial  service,  under  such 
very  unequal  circumstances.  Other  reasons 
might  be  enumerated,  why  many  more 
lave  not  enlisted  into  his  majesty's  provincial 
service,  if  we  were  not  prevented  from  it  by 
motives  of  delicacy  and  tenderness  to  the  char-  . 
acter  of  the  person  to  whose  management  the 
jusiness  of  that  department  was  principally 
committed. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


505 


We  also  infer  from  the  small  number  of 
militia  collected  by  general  Greene,  the  most 
popular  and  able  general  in  the  service  of  con 
gress,  in  the  long  circuitous  march  he  took 
through  many  of  the  most  populous,  and  con 
fessedly  the  most  rebellious  counties  in  that 
country,  that  there  must  be  a  vast  majority  of 
loyalists  in  that  part  of  America,  as  well  as 
elsewhere.  The  presumption  becomes  stronger 
from  a  consideration  of  the  well  known  seduc 
tion  and  compulsion  which  were  made  use  of 
by  the  rebel  generals,  and  other  officers,  in 
order  to  embody  the  militia,  as  well  as  from  the 
manner  in  which  the  militia  are  there  mentioned 
by  general  Greene,  in  his  public  despatches  in 
the  course  of  one  month.  In  that  of  the  loth 
of  March,  he  says : — "  Our  militia  have  been 
upon  such  loose  and  uncertain  footing,  ever 
since  we  crossed  the  Dan,  that  I  could  attempt 
nothing  with  confidence."  In  his  next  of  the 
1 6th,  in  giving  his  account  of  two  brigades  of 
militia,  consisting  of  three  captains,  ten  subal 
terns,  and  561  rank  and  file,  he  returns  two 
captains,  nine  subalterns,  and  592  rank  and 
file  missing,  besides  one  regiment,  of  which  he 
could  get  no  return,  and  adds,  "those  missing 
are  supposed  to  have  gone  home."  According 
to  the  report  of  the  generals  and  field  officers, 
very  few  were  killed  or  taken  ;  most  of  them 
having  thrown  away  their  arms,  and  aban 
doned  the  field  early  in  the  action.  In  that  of 
the  soth,  he  writes,  "that  nothing  but  blood 
and  slaughter  have  prevailed  among  the  whigs 
and  tories  ;  and  their  inveteracy  against  each 
other  must,  if  it  continues,  depopulate  this  part 
of  the  country."  Surely,  whole  brigades  throw 
ing  away  their  arms,  and  returning  home,  and 
all  that  sort  of  conduct,  must  carry  with  it  the 
most  presumptive  evidence,  not  only  of  their 
disaffection  to  the  measures  of  congress,  but  of 
their  loyalty  and  attachment  to  his  majesty,  and 
the  British  nation  and  government ;  especially 
if  you  take  into  the  account  this  well  known 
fact,  that  the  rebels  have  recruited  the  conti 
nental  army,  and  in  all  instances  assembled  the 
militia,  by  deceiving  some,  terrifying  many,  and 
driving  more,  to  assist  in  their  military  opera 
tions.  On  the  contrary,  the  service  of  the  loy 
alists  has  in  all  cases  been  ready  and  vol 
untary  ;  and  in  many  unsolicited,  and  in  some 
unnoticed,  if  not  rejected. 

If  it  should  be  said,  if  such  is  the  number  and 
disposition  of  the  loyalists  in  America,  how 
comes  it  to  pass  that  they  have  not  been  of 
more  importance  to  his  majesty's  service  ?  We 
answer,  might  it  not  with  equal  propriety  be 
enquired  why  his  majesty's  forces  have  not 
more  fully  answered  the  just  expectations  of 


the  nation  ?  And  might  not  the  question  with 
greater  propriety  be  put  to  his  majesty's  com 
manders  in  America?  A  due  deference  to 
whom,  we  trust,  will  be  thought  the  most 
decent  apology  for  our  waiving  the  mention  of 
many  more  of  the  true  and  undeniable  causes 
which  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  assign.  And 
permit  us  to  add,  that  it  is  only  from  modesty, 
and  a  wish  to  avoid  both  the  appearance  and 
imputation  of  selfish  ostentation,  that  we  de 
cline  entering  into  a  particular  enumeration  of 
such  proofs  of  allegiance  and  fidelity,  from  the 
conduct  and  sufferings  of  American  loyalists, 
as  have  never  been  equalled  by  any  people,  in 
any  age,  or  in  any  country.  We  cannot,  how 
ever,  refrain  from  hinting  at  some  incontestible 
advantages  the  loyalists  have  been  of,  in  afford 
ing  supplies  to  the  royal  army, — by  acting  as 
guides  and  pilots,  and  (independent  of  those 
employed  in  the  provincial  line)  as  militia  and 
partisan  troops.  As  corps  of  Refugees,  they 
have  been  too  often  distinguished  by  the  zeal 
and  gallantry  of  their  behavior,  to  need  the 
mention  of  any  particular  instance  ;  if  they  did, 
we  might  refer  to  the  affair  of  the  Block-house, 
opposite  Fort  Knyphausen,  where  captain 
Ward,  with  about  70  Refugees,  withstood  and 
repulsed  the  attack  of  general  Wayne,  at  the 
head  of  three  chosen  brigades  of  continentals. 
As  a  militia,  acting  by  themselves  (for  we  take 
no  notice  of  the  many  thousands  that,  at  differ 
ent  times,  particularly  in  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina,  have  attached  themselves  to  the  royal 
army)  a  small  party  some  time  ago,  under  the 
command  of  one  Bunnion,  went  from  Long 
Island  to  Connecticut,  and  there  surprised  and 
took  prisoner  a  rebel  major  general,  named 
Silliman,  and  several  other  officers. 

A  party  of  militia  also  not  long  ago  went 
from  Wilmington,  in  North  Carolina,  60  or  70 
miles  into  the  country,  and  took  major  general 
Ashe,  with  two  or  three  field  officers,  and  some 
other  persons,  and  brought  them  prisoners  to 
his  majesty's  garrison  at  Wilmington.  Another 
party  of  militia  lately  went  near  200  miles  up  into 
the  country  from  Wilmington,  to  a  place  called 
Hillsborough,  and  with  a  body  of  6  or  700 
militia,  attacked  a  party  of  rebel  troops,  who 
were  there  as  a  guard  to  the  rebel  legislature, 
then  sitting  at  that  place,  and  took  the  rebel 
governor,  Mr.  Burke,  several  of  his  council, 
ii  continental  officers,  and  about  120  of  the 
troops  prisoners,  whom  the  militia  delivered  to 
major  Craig,  who  commanded  the  king's  troops 
at  Wilmington.  Other  more  voluntary  alerts, 
performed  by  the  loyalists  in  South  Carolina 
and  elsewhere,  might  be  mentioned  without 
number.  Surely  such  are  not  timid friends ! 


506 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


We  defy  the  most  incredulous  opposer  of 
American  loyalty,  as  well  as  the  most  deter 
mined  advocate  for  congressional  usurpation,  to 
point  out  a  single  instance  wherein  the  likes 
has  been  done,  or  attempted  by  the  rebel  militia; 
or  that  they  have  in  any  instance  voluntarily 
assembled  in  such  numbers,  or  attempted  any 
military  achievements  whatever,  without  the 
express  orders  and  coercion  of  their  tyrannical 
rulers. 

The  establishing  civil  government,  and  form 
ing  a  militia  in  a  colony  as  soon  as  the  rebel 
army  is  drove  out  of  it,  is  the  best  measure 
that  can  be  adopted  to  make  the  loyal  inhabit 
ants  importantly  useful  to  the  king's  interest. 
It  is  the  highest  political  absurdity  that  ever 
was  thought  of,  to  imagine  that  a  colony  is  to 
be  retained,  and  the  peace  and  good  order  of 
government  restored  by  the  force  of  arms  and 
martial  law,  and  that  too  without  the  partial  aid 
and  concurrence  of  its  inhabitants.  And  it  is 
equally  preposterous  to  expect  that  aid  and 
concurrence,  without  some  regard  is  paid  to 
the  prejudices  and  inclinations  of  the  people. 
They  should  be  treated  with  confidence  and 
honored  with  notice,  by  being  appointed  to  all 
offices  of  civil  government.  The  protective 
authority  and  persuasive  influence  of  which  is 
the  only  measure  that  can  extend  to,  and  con 
nect  the  people  of  a  British  province  in  one 
common  interest  and  voluntary  submission.  A 
province,  thus  restored  to  the  influence  of  civil 
government  and  the  exertions  of  the  militia, 
the  natural  force  of  the  country,  the  royal 
army  might  proceed  to  the  next,  ever  keeping 
the  rebel  forces  in  front.  Thus  province  after 
province  might  and  would  be  speedily  reclaimed 
to  their  former  happy  and  most  eligible  situa 
tion  of  British  subjects. 

The  policy  of  prosecuting  the  American  war 
is  strikingly  obvious  for  more  reasons,  but 
particularly  as  it  affords  the  most  encouraging 
hope  that  can  possibly  be  held  out  to  his  ma 
jesty's  loyalists  to  persevere  in  their  principles 
and  exertions,  at  the  same  time  that  it  affords 
a  number  of  safe  ports  to  the  royal  navy  during 
the  war.  It  is  also  political,  in  order  to  pre 
vent  vast  numbers  of  distressed  people  from 
going  to  England,  and  throwing  themselves 
and  families,  helpless  and  ruined,  upon  na 
tional  bounty  for  maintenance  and  support. 
It  is  humane  and  just,  from  a  consideration  of 
the  repeated  declarations  that  have  been  made, 
that  "  it  was  the  gracious  and  firm  resolution 
of  his  majesty  and  the  British  nation  to  pre 
serve,  in  every  just  and  necessary  measure,  for 
the  redemption  of  his  majesty's  faithful  Ameri 
can  subjects  from  the  tvranny  and  oppression 


of  congress,  and  restoring  them  to  the  protec 
tion  and  benefit  of  British  laws."  The  impor 
tance  the  possession  of  some  part,  if  not  the 
whole  of  the  revolted  colonies,  must  be  of,  as 
an  asylum  for  loyalists,  as  well  as  the  weight  it 
would  be  of  in  fixing  the  preliminary  articles, 
and  influencing  the  definitive  treaty,  whenever 
such  an  event  should  take  place,  strongly  en 
forces  the  political  propriety  and  necessity  of 
the  American  war.  It  also  appears  to  be  a 
political  and  necessary  measure,  in  order  to  de 
tain  the  rebel  forces  in  the  revolted  colonies ; 
for  there  can  be  no  doubt,  if  his  majesty's 
troops  were  withdrawn  from  thence,  but  their 
views  and  operations  would  be  immediately 
turned  towards  the  province  of  Quebec  to  the 
northward,  and  the  British  West-India  islands 
to  the  southward,  and  when  the  contiguity  of 
the  one,  and  the  proximity  of  the  others  to  the 
revolted  colonies  is  considered,  it  is  not  im 
probable  to  suppose,  from  the  connection  now 
subsisting  between  America  and  France,  Spain 
and  Holland,  but  that,  by  the  united  forces  of 
those  powers  in  those  adjacent  islands,  co 
operating  with  the  Americans,  that  the  British 
islands  must  be  immediately  taken  ;  and  that 
all  the  continental  possessions  of  Great  Brit 
ain  would  soon  after  be  irrecoverably  lost.  If 
we  take  into  our  view  the  effect  the  evacuation 
of  America  must  have  upon  the  minds  of  peo 
ple,  and  the  unavoidable  intercourse  there  has 
been,  and  must  continue  to  be,  from  the  mutual 
wants  and  supplies  of  each  other,  it  would  be 
folly  to  imagine,  but  that  many  of  the  inhabi 
tants  of  Quebec,  and  the  Islands,  would,  from 
various  motives,  and  with  different  views,  under 
such  circumstances,  contribute  in  some  meas 
ure  towards  facilitating  their  own  reduction, 
and  hastening  the  surrender  to  some  other 
power.  If  Great  Britain  can  maintain  a  naval 
superiority  in  the  American  seas,  the  continent, 
with  proper  conduct,  is  undoubtedly  retainable. 
If  she  cannot,  her  insular  possessions  in  Ameri 
ca  are  still  less  tenable  than  her  continental ; 
for  this  plain  reason,  that  the  former  are  more 
assailable  by  naval  force  than  the  latter.  Con 
sequently,  the  prosecution  of  the  American 
war  with  magnanimity  and  vigor  appears  to  us 
the  best,  if  not  the  only  measure  for  re-anima 
ting  his  majesty's  loyalists  in  America,  to  a 
strenuous  exertion,  of  their  most  distinguished 
endeavors,  for  discouraging  the  efforts  of  the 
rebels — for  dispiriting  the  hostile  powers  of 
Europe,  and  for  maintaining  the  dignity,  and 
preserving  the  exterior  territories  of  the  British 
nation  and  empire. 

Relying  with  the  fullest  confidence  upon  na 
tional  justice  and  compassion  to  our  fidelity 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


SO/ 


and  distresses,  we  can  entertain  no  doubts  but 
that  Great  Britain  will  prevent  the  ruin  of  her 
American  friends,  at  every  risk  short  of  certain 
destruction  to  herself.  But  if  compelled,  by 
adversity  of  misfortune,  from  the  wicked  and 
perfidious  combinations  and  designs  of  nu 
merous  and  powerful  enemies  abroad,  and 
more  criminal  and  dangerous  enemies  at  home, 
an  idea  should  be  formed  by  Great  Britain  of 
relinquishing  her  American  colonies  to  the 
usurpation  of  congress,  we  thus  solemnly  call 
God  to  witness,  that  we  think  the  colonies  can 
never  be  so  happy  or  so  free  as  in  a  constitu 
tional  connection  with,  and  dependence  on 
Great  Britain  ;  convinced,  as  we  are,  that  to  be 
a  British  subject,  with  all  its  consequences,  is 
to  be  the  happiest  and  freest  member  of  any 
civil  society  in  the  known  world — we,  there 
fore,  in  justice  to  cur  members,  in  duty  to  our 
selves,  and  in  fidelity  to  our  posterity,  must  not, 
cannot  refrain  from  making  this  public  declara 
tion  and  appeal  to  the  faithful  subjects  of  every 
government,  and  the  compassionate  sovereign 
of  every  people,  in  every  nation  and  kingdom 
of  the  world,  that  our  principles  are  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  virtuous  and  free  ;  that  our  suffer 
ings  are  the  sufferings  of  unprotected  loyalty, 
and  persecuted  fidelity  ;  that  our  cause  is  the 
cause  of  legal  and  constitutional  government, 
throughout  the  world  ;  that,  opposed  by  princi 
ples  of  republicanism,  and  convinced,  from 
recent  observation,  that  brutal  violence,  merci 
less  severity,  relentless  cruelty,  and  discretion 
ary  outrages  are  the  distinguished  traits  and 
ruling  principles  of  the  present  system  of  con 
gressional  republicanism,  our  aversion  is  un 
conquerable,  irreconcilable.  —  That  we  are 
attached  to  monarchical  government,  from 
past  and  happy  experience — by  duty,  and  by 
choice.  That,  to  oppose  insurrections,  and  to 
listen  to  the  requests  of  people  so  circum 
stanced  as  we  are,  is  the  common  interest  of 
all  mankind  in  civil  society.  That  to  support 
our  rights,  is  to  support  the  rights  of  every 
subject  of  legal  government ;  and  that  to 
afford  us  relief,  is  at  once  the  duty  and  secu 
rity  of  every  prince  and  sovereign  on  earth. 
Our  appeal,  therefore,  is  just ;  and  our  claim  to 
aid  and  assistance  is  extensive  and  universal- 
But  if,  reflecting  on  the  uncertain  events  of 
war,  and  sinking  under  the  gloomy  prospect 
of  public  affairs,  from  the  divisions  and  con 
tests  unhappily  existing  in  the  great  councils 
of  the  nation,  any  apprehensions  should  have 
been  excited  in  our  breasts  with  respect  to  the 
issue  of  the  American  war,  we  humbly  hope  it 
cannot,  even  by  the  most  illiberal,  be  imputed 
to  us  as  an  abatement  of  our  unshaken  loyalty 


to  our  most  gracious  sovereign,  or  of  our  unal 
terable  predilection  in  favor  of  the  British  nation 
and  government,  whom  may  God  long  protect 
and  preserve,  if,  in  consequence  thereof,  we 
thus  humbly  implore  that  your  majesty,  and 
the  parliament,  would  be  graciously  pleased,  in 
the  tenderness  of  our  fears,  and  in  pity  to  our 
distresses,  to  solicit,  by  your  ambassadors  at 
the  courts  of  foreign  sovereigns,  the  aid  of 
such  powerful  and  good  allies,  as  to  your 
majesty  and  parliament,  in  your  great  wisdom 
and  discretion,  may  seem  meet.  Or  if  such  a 
measure  should  in  any  manner  be  thought  in 
compatible  with  the  dignity  and  interest  of  our 
sovereign  and  the  nation,  we  most  humbly  and 
ardently  supplicate  and  entreat,  that,  by  depu 
ties  or  ambassadors,  nominated  and  appointed 
by  your  majesty's  suffering  American  loyalists, 
they  may  be  permitted  to  solicit  and  obtain 
from  other  nations  that  interference,  aid  and 
alliance,  which,  by  the  blessing  of  Almighty 
God,  may,  in  the  last  fatal  and  ultimate 
extreme,  save  and  deliver  us,  his  majesty's 
American  loyalists,  who,  we  maintain,  in  every 
one  of  the  colonies,  compose  a  great  majority 
of  the  inhabitants,  and  those  too  the  first  in 
point  of  opulence  and  consequence,  from  the 
ruinous  system  of  congressional  independence 
and  republican  tyranny,  detesting  rebellion  as 
we  do,  and  preferring  a  subjection  to  any 
power  in  Europe,  to  the  mortifying  debase 
ment  of  a  state  of  slavery,  and  a  life  of  insult, 
under  the  tyranny  of  congressional  usurpation. 


HISTORY  OF  JOHN  BULL'S  CHILDREN. 

[We  find  the  following  in  the  "Maryland 
Gazette,"  of  August,  1776,  into  which  it  was 
copied  from  the  "  London  Chronicle."  Those 
who  have  read  the  history  of  the  "  Foresters," 
will  easily  take  up  the  idea,  that  the  design 
of  one  of  those  articles  may  have  been  copied 
from  the  other.  We  have  followed  the  copy, 
as  it  was  printed  at  the  time.  It  will  amuse 
those  who  know  enough  of  history  to  under 
stand  it,  and  perhaps  provoke  some  to  read 
that  they  may  understand.] 

I,  sir  Humphry  Polesworth,  who  formerly 
gave  the  world  a  true  and  faithful  account  of 
John  Bull,  and  of  his  mother,  and  sister,  and 
wives,  and  his  servants,  now  write  the  history 
of  his  children,  and  how  they  were  got,  and 
how  they  were  educated,  and  what  befel  them. 
Courteous  reader,  if  thou  hast  any  curiosity  to 
know  these  things,  read  the  following  chapters 
and  learn. 


5o8 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


Chap.  I.  Of  seven  natural  children,  which 
John  Bull  had  in  his  younger  days  by  Doll 
Secretary,  his  mother's  maid  ;  namely,  three 
boys,  John,  jun.  or  Master  Jacky,  Yorky,  and 
Jerry  ;  four  girls,  Penelope,  Mary,  Virgey,  and 
Caroline.  How  the  old  lady  would  suffer  no 
bastards  in  her  family  ;  and  how  the  poor  in 
fants  were  turned  adrift  on  the  fish  ponds  as 
soon  as  born  ;  how  they  landed  on  the  western 
shore,  and  were  there  nursed  by  a  wild  bear,  all 
under  the  green  wood  tree. 

Chap.  II.  How  John  disowned  them,  and 
left  them  to  get  over  the  children's  disorders 
the  best  way  they  could,  without  paying  a  far 
thing  for  nurses,  or  apothecary  bills  ;  and  how, 
as  soon  as  they  had  cut  their  eye  teeth,  and 
were  able  to  walk  alone,  John  claimed  them 
for  his  own. 

Chap.  III.  How  Master  Jacky  turned  fisher 
man  and  ship-carpenter ;  Yorky  and  Jerry  drove 
a  great  trade ;  Miss  Penny  dealt  in  flour,  called 
the  Maid  of  the  Mill,  and  never  courtseyed  to 
any  body:  How  Mary  and  Virgey  set  up  a 
snuff-shop,  and  Caroline  turned  dry-salter,  and 
sold  indigo  ;  how  they  all  flourished  exceed 
ingly,  and  laid  out  every  penny  they  earned  in 
their  father's  warehouse. 

Chap.  IV.  Of  two  children  more,  which  John 
had  afterwards  in  lawful  wedlock,  viz.,  a  boy 
which  he  called  Georgey,  after  his  great  patron, 
and  a  girl,  which  he  called  Peg,  after  his  sister 
Margaret ;  how  he  crammed  them  with  sugar 
plums,  and  how  they  remained  sickly,  ricketty 
brats  at  this  day. 

Chap.  V.  How  young  Master  Baboon,  old 
Louis'  only  son,  fell  in  love  with  Miss  Virgey  ; 
and  how  he  came  behind  with  intent  to  ravish 
her  ;  how  she  squealed  and  alarmed  her  dad. 

Chap.  VI.  How  John  called  for  his  stick 
and  his  barge,  and  crossed  the  pond  to  save 
his  daughter's  virtue ;  how  young  Louis  gave 
him  a  confounded  rap  on  his  fingers,  and  drove 
him  back,  and  then  at  his  daughter  again. 

Chap.  VII.  How  her  brother  Jack  came  to 
her  assistance,  and  threw  young  Louis  on  his 
back ;  how  old  Louis  Baboon  flew  to  help  his 
son,  and  carried  lord  Strutt  along  with  him  ; 
how  John  Bull  returned  and  mustered  all  his 
children  at  his  back,  and  to  it  they  went. 

Chap.  VIII.  How  they  had  a  long  tustle ; 
how  John's  children  saved  their  old  dad  from 
a  broken  head,  and  helped  to  seize  young 
Louis  and  tie  him ;  how  the  old  folks  agreed 
to  leave  young  Louis  in  custody,  and  drink 
friends  themselves  ;  and  how  John  made  his 
children  pay  a  share  of  the  reckoning  without 
giving  them  any  of  the  drink. 

Chap.  IX.     How  John  in  his  cups  bragged 


of  his  exploits,  and  said  he  had  done  all  him 
self,  and  his  children  nothing ;  how  he  made 
choice  of  fair  George,  the  gentle  shepherd,  for 
his  house  steward,  because  he  could  tell,  with 
out  the  book,  that  two  and  three  made  five, 
and  had  the  multiplication  table  by  heart. 

Chap.  X.  The  whole  stewardship  of  fair 
George  ;  how  he  neglected  to  protest  Louis 
Baboon's  note  of  hand  on  the  day  of  payment, 
released  lord  Strutt  from  a  mortgage  on  his 
manor  of  Eastland  ;  how  h|  took  an  aversion 
to  cider,  and  would  allow  none  to  be  drank  in 
his  family ;  how  he  rummaged  every  man's 
chest  for  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  and  obliged  those 
he  catched  writing  to  stand  a-top  of  the  table, 
with  a  wooden  neckcloth  under  their  chin, 
while  he  .  counted  sixty  times  sixty :  and  how 
this  is  called  the  gentle  shepherd's  benefit  of 
clergy  unto  this  day. 

Chap.  XI.  How  fair  George  took  an  antip 
athy  to  John's  children,  because  he  said  they 
put  nothing  into  the  box  at  Christmas  ;  and 
when  they  came  to  pay  their  shop  accounts, 
they  brought  in  their  money  at  the  back  door ; 
how  he  advised  John  to  brand  them  on  the  far 
buttock,  as  they  do  stray  cattle,  that  he  might 
know  them  to  be  his  own. 

Chap.  XII.  How  John's  children  rode  res- 
tiff,  and  swore  they  would  not  have  the  broad 
R.  stampt  on  their  b-ck  s-des :  how  John,  in 
heating  the  irons,  burnt  his  own  fingers  most 

d ly ;  how  all  his  neighbors  laughed,  and 

fair  George  could  not  find  him  a  plaster. 

Chap.  XIII.  How  John,  in  a  passion, 
kicked  fair  George  down  stairs,  and  rung  up 
other  servants  ;  how  they  advised  him  to  con 
sult  his  wife  ;  and  how  Mrs.  Bull  bid  him  let 
his  children  alone  ;  that,  tho'  born  in  sin,  they 
were  his  own  flesh  and  blood,  and  needed  no 
stamp  to  shew  it ;  how  John  took  her  advice, 
and  let  the  irons  cool  again  ;  and  how  some 
suspected  if  John's  fingers  had  not  smarted,  he 
would  not  have  complied  so  soon. 

Chap.  XIV.  A  dialogue  on  education,  be 
tween  fair  George  and  lame  Will ;  how  Will 
proved  it  to  be  both  cruel  and  impolitic  to  pinch 
children  till  they  cry,  and  then  pinch  them  for 
crying ;  and  how  George  answered  and  said 
nothing. 

Chap.  XV.  How  John,  by  means  of  his 
new  servants,  became  beloved  of  his  children, 
and  respected  by  his  neighbors ;  how  he 
obliged  Louis  Baboon  to  beat  down  the  wall  of 
Ecclesdown  castle,  because  it  overlooked  his 
pond,  and  harbored  sea-gulls  to  gobble  up  his 
fish  ;  how  he  made  him  also  pay  up  his  note  ot 
hand,  and  how  lord  Strutt — 

But,  Mr.  Printer,  I  have  given  you  enough  to 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


509 


judge  of  the  general  plan  of  this  history. 
Pray  let  me  have  your  opinion  as  to  the  publi 
cation.  My  notion  at  present  is,  to  send  it 
abroad'in  six-penny  numbers,  and  engage  the 
country  carriers  to  take  it  down  ;  it  may  pass 
for  political  an  hundred  miles  from  town. 


CASE   OF  ASGILL, 

AN  OFFICER  IN  THE  ENGLISH  GUARDS,  CON 
DEMNED  TO  DEATH  BY  THE  AMERICANS 
IN  REPRISAL  FOR  THE  EXECUTION  BY  THE 
BRITISH,  OF  CAPT.  HUDDY. 

The  following  narrative  and  letters  we  have 
copied  from  the  correspondence  of  baron 
Grimm.  The  baron  was  led  to  notice  it 
from  its  being  made  the  ground-work  of  a 
French  tragedy  called  Abdir,  by  Saimigny, 
represented  at  Paris  in  January,  1789. 

— Bost,  Dai.  Adv. 

You  can  well  remember  the  general  interest 

which  sir Asgill  inspired,  a  young  officer 

in  the  English  guards,  who  was  made  prisoner 
and  condemned  to  death  by  the  Americans  in 
reprisal  for  the  death  of  captain  Huddy,  who 
was  hanged  by  order  of  capt.  Lippincott.  The 
public  prints  all  over  Europe  resounded  with 
the  unhappy  catastrophe,  which  for  eight 
months  impended  over  the  life  of  this  young 
officer.  The  extreme  grief  of  his  mother,  the 
sort  of  delirium  which  clouded  the  mind  of  his 
sister,  at  hearing  the  dreadful  fate  which  men 
aced  the  _  life  of  her  brother,  interested  every 
feeling  mind  in  the  fate  of  that  unfortunate 
family.  The  general  curiosity  in  regard  to  the 
events  of  the  war,  yielded,  if  I  may  say  so,  to 
the  interest  which  young  Asgill  inspired,  and 
the  first  question  asked  of  all  vessels  that  ar 
rived  from  any  port  in  North  America,  was 
always  an  enquiry  into  the  fate  of  that  young 
man.  It  is  known  that  Asgill  was  thrice  con 
ducted  to  the  foot  of  the  gibbet,  and  that  thrice 
general  Washington,  who  could  not  bring 
himself  to  commit  this  crime  of  policy  without 
a  great  struggle,  suspended  his  punishment : 
his  humanity  and  justice  made  him  hope  that 
the  English  general  would  deliver  over  to  him 
the  author  of  the  crime  which  Asgill  was  con 
demned  to  expiate.  Clinton,  either  ill  advised, 
or  insensible  to  the  fate  of  the  young  Asgill, 
persisted  in  refusing  to  deliver  up  the  barba 
rous  Lippincott.  In  vain  the  king  of  England, 
at  whose  feet  this  unfortunate  family  fell  down, 
had  given  orders  to  surrender  up  to  the  Amer 
icans  the  author  of  a  crime  which  dishonored 


the  English  nation ;  George  III.  was  not 
obeyed.  In  vain  the  states  of  Holland  en 
treated  the  United  States  of  America  the  par 
don  of  the  unhappy  Asgill.  The  gibbet, 
erected  in  front  of  his  prison,  did  not  cease  to 
offer  to  his  eyes  those  dreadful  preparatives 
more  awful  than  death  itself.  In  these  cir 
cumstances,  and  almost  reduced  to  despair, 
the  mother  of  the  unfortunate  victim  bethought 
herself  that  the  minister  of  a  king  armed 
against  her  own  nation  might  succeed  in  ob 
taining  that  which  was  refused  to  her  king. 
Madame  Asgill  wrote  to  the  count  de  Ver- 
gennes  a  letter,  the  eloquence  of  which,  inde 
pendent  of  oratorical  forms,  is  that  of  all 
people  and  all  languages,  because  it  derives  its 
power  from  the  first  and  noblest  sentiment 
of  our  nature. 

The  two  memorials  which    are    subjoined 
merit  being  preserved  as  historical  monuments. 

LETTER  FROM  LADY  ASGILL  TO  THE  COMPTE 
DE  VERGENNES. 

"  Sir — If  the  politeness  of  the  French  court 
will  permit  a  stranger  to  address  it,  it  cannot 
be  doubted  but  that  she  who  unites  in  herself, 
all  the  more  delicate  sensations  with  which  an 
individual  can  be  penetrated,  will  be  received 
favorably  by  a  nobleman,  who  reflects  honor 
not  only  on  his  nation,  but  on  human  nature. 
The  object  on  which  I  implore  your  assistance 
is  too  heart-rending  to  be  dwelt  upon ;  most 
probably  the  public  report  of  it  has  already- 
reached  you  ;  this  relieves  me  from  the  burden 
of  so  mournful  a  duty.  My  son,  my  only  son, 
dear  to  me  as  he  is  brave,  amiable  as  he  is  be 
loved,  only  nineteen  years  of  age,  a  prisoner  of 
war,  in  consequence  of  the  capitulation  of  York 
Town,  is  at  present  confined  in  America  as  an 
object  of  reprisal.  Shall  the  innocent  suffer 
the  fate  of  the  guilty  ?  Figure  to  yourself,  sir, 
the  situation  of  a  family  in  these  circumstances. 
Surrounded,  as  I  am,  with  objects  of  distress, 
bowed  down  by  fear  and  grief,  words  are  want 
ing  to  express  what  I  feel,  and  to  paint  such  a 
scene  of  misery  ;  my  husband,  given  over  by 
his  physicians  some  hours  before  the  arrival  of 
this  news,  not  in  a  situation  to  be  informed  of 
it ;  my  daughter,  attacked  by  a  fever  accompa 
nied  by  delirium,  speaking  of  her  brother  in 
tones  of  distress,  and  without  an  interval  of 
reason  unless  it  be  to  listen  to  some  circum 
stance  which  may  console  her  heart.  Let  your 
sensibility,  sir,  paint  to  you  my  profound,  my 
inexpressible  misery,  and  plead  in  my  favor  ;  a 
word  from  you,  like  a  voice  from  heaven, 
would  liberate  us  from  desolation,  from  the 
last  degree  of  misfortune.  I  know  how  far 


5io 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


general  Washington  reveres  your  character. 
Tell  him  only  that  you  wish  my  son  restored  to 
liberty,  and  he  will  restore  him  to  his  despond 
ing  family ;  he  will  restore  him  to  happiness. 
The  virtue  and  courage  of  my  son  will  justify 
this  act  of  clemency.  His  honor,  sir,  led  him 
to  America;  he  was  born  to  abundance,  to  in 
dependence,  and  to  the  happiest  prospects. 
Permit  me  once  more  to  intreat  the  interfer 
ence  of  your  high  influence  in  favor  of  inno 
cence,  and  in  the  cause  of  justice  and  hu 
manity.  Despatch,  sir,  a  letter  from  France  to 
general  Washington,  and  favor  me  with  a  copy 
of  it  that  it  may  be  transmitted  from  hence.  I 
feel  the  whole  weight  of  the  liberty  taken  in 
presenting  this  request.  But  I  feel  confident, 
whether  granted  or  not,  that  you  will  pity  the 
distress  by  which  it  is  suggested ;  your  hu 
manity  will  drop  a  tear  upon  my  fault  and  blot 
it  out  forever. 

"May  that  heaven  which  I  implore,  grant 
that  you  may  never  need  the  consolation  which 
you  have  it  in  your  power  to  bestow  on 

"  THERESA  ASGILL." 

It  was  to  this  letter  that  young  Asgill  owed 
his  life  and  liberty.  His  mother  was  informed 
almost  at  the  same  instant,  that  the  minister  of 
the'  king  of  France  had  written  to  general 
Washington  to  procure  the  pardon  of  her  son, 
and  that  his  request  had  been  granted.  If  any 
thing  can  convey  an  idea  of  the  mournful  sen 
timents  to  which  this  parent  was  a  prey  during 
eight  months,  it  is  that  sentiment  which  her 
gratitude  inspires  in  the  letter  addressed  to  the 
count  de  Vergennes,  on  hearing  she  owed  the 
restoration  of  her  son  to  his  interference ;  the 
greatest  talents  never  produced  any  thing 
more  noble  or  equally  affecting. 

SECOND    LETTER    OF    LADY    ASGILL    TO 
THE  COMPTE  DE  VERGENNES. 

"Exhausted  by  long  suffering,  overpowered 
by  the  excess  of  unexpected  happiness,  con 
fined  to  my  bed  by  weakness  and  languor,  bent 
to  the  earth  by  what  I  have  undergone,  my 
sensibility  alone  could  supply  me  with  strength 
sufficient  to  address  you. 

"  Condescend,  sir,  to  accept  this  feeble  effort 
of  my  gratitude.  It  has  been  laid  at  the  feet 
of  the  Almighty  ;  and  believe  me,  it  has  been 
presented  with  the  same  sincerity  to  you,  sir, 
and  to  your  illustrious  sovereign  ;  by  theiraugust 
and  salutary  intervention,  as  by  your  own,  a  son 
is  restored  to  me,  to  whom  my  life  was  attached. 
I  have  the  sweet  assurance,  that  my  vows  for 
my  protectors  are  heard  by  heaven,  to  whom 
they  are  ardently  offered.  Yes,  sir,  they  will 


produce  their  effect  before  the  dreadful  and 
last  tribunal,  where  I  indulge  the  hope  that  we 
shall  both  appear  together;  you  to  receive  the 
recompense  of  your  virtues  ;  myself,  that  of  my 
sufferings.  I  will  raise  my  voice  before  that 
imposing  tribunal.  I  will  call  for  those  regis 
ters,  in  which  your  humanity  will  be  found 
recorded.  I  will  pray  that  blessings  may  be 
showered  on  your  head,  upon  him  who,  avail 
ing  himself  of  the  noblest  privilege  received 
from  God,  a  privilege  no  other  than  divine,  has 
changed  misery  into  happiness,  has  withdrawn 
the  sword  from  the  innocent  head,  and  restored 
the  worthiest  of  sons  to  the  most  tender  and 
unfortunate  of  mothers. 

"  Condescend,  sir,  to  accept  the  just  tribute 
of  gratitude  due  to  your  virtuous  sentiments. 
Preserve  this  tribute,  and  may  it  go  down  to 
your  posterity  as  a  testimony  of  your  sublime 
and  exemplary  beneficence  to  a  stranger,  whose 
nation  was  at  war  with  our  own,  but  whose 
tender  affections  had  not  been  destroyed  by 
war.  May  this  tribute  bear  testimony  to  my 
gratitude  long  after  the  hand  that  expresses 
it,  with  the  heart,  which  at  this  moment  vi 
brates  with  the  vivacity  of  grateful  sentiments, 
shall  be  reduced  to  dust ;  it  shall  bear  out  to 
offer  you  all  the  respect  and  all  the  gratitude 
with  which  it  is  penetrated. 

"THERESA  ASGILL." 


CONFESSION 

OF  CAPTAIN  WILLIAM  CUNNINGHAM,  FOR 
MERLY  BRITISH  PROVOST  MARSHAL,  NEW 
YORK  CITY. 

The  following  is  copied  from  the  American 
Apollo,  No.  7,  Friday,  February  17,  1792, 
vol.  I.  printed  at  Boston,  by  Belknap  and 
Young,  State  street,  (a  weekly  paper  in  form 
of  a  pamphlet.) 

"  The  life,  confession,  and  last  dying  words 
of  captain  William  Cunningham,  formerly  Brit 
ish  provost  marshal,  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
who  was  executed  in  London,  the  loth  of 
August,  1791. 

"  I,  William  Cunningham,  was  born  in  Dub 
lin  barracks,  in  the  year  1738.  My  father  was 
trumpeter  to  the  Blue  dragoons,  and  at  the 
age  of  8  years  I  was  placed  with  an  officer 
as  his  servant",  in  which  position  I  continued 
until  I  was  1 6,  and  being  a  great  proficient  in 
horsemanship,  was  taken  as  an  assistant  to  the 
riding  master  of  the  troop,  and  in  the  year  1761, 
was  made  sergeant  of  dragoons  ;  but  the  peace 
coming  the  year  following,  I  was  disbanded. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Being  bred  to  no  profession,  I  took  up  with  a 
woman  who  kept  a  gin  shop  in  a  blind  alley, 
near  the  Coal  Quay;  but  the  house  being 
searched  for  stolen  goods,  and  my  doxy  taken 
to  Newgate,  I  thought  it  most  prudent  to  de 
camp  ;  accordingly  set  off  for  the  North,  and 
arrived  at  Drogheda,  where,  in  a  few  months 
after,  I  married  the  daughter  of  an  exciseman, 
by  whom  I  had  three  sons. 

"  About  the  year  1772,  we  removed  to  New- 
ry,  where  I  commenced  the  profession  of  a 
scowbanker,  which  is  that  of  enticing  the  me 
chanics  and  country  people  to  ship  themselves 
for  America,  on  promises  of  great  advantage, 
and  then  artfully  getting  an  indenture  upon 
them  ;  in  consequence  of  which,  on  their  arrival 
in  America,  they  are  sold  or  obliged  to  serve  a 
lerm  of  years  for  their  passage.  I  embarked 
at  Newry  in  the  ship  Needham  for  New  York, 
and  arrived  at  that  port  the  fourth  day  of  Au 
gust,  1774,  with  some  indented  servants  I 
kidnapped  in  Ireland,  but  were  liberated  in 
New  York,  on  account  of  the  bad  usage  they 
received  from  me  during  the  passage.  In  that 
city  I  used  the  profession  of  breaking  horses, 
and  teaching  ladies  and  gentlemen  to  ride,  but 
rendering  myself  obnoxious  to  the  citizens  in 
their  infant  struggles  for  freedom,  I  was  obliged 
to  fly  on  board  the  Asia  man  of  war,  and  from 
thence  to  Boston,  where  my  own  opposition  to 
the  measures  pursued  by  the  Americans  in 
support  of  their  right  was  the  first  thing  that 
recommended  me  to  the  notice  of  gen.  Gage  ; 
and  when  the  war  commenced,  I  was  appointed 
provost  marshal  to  the  royal  army,  which  placed 
me  in  a  situation  to  wreak  my  vengeance  on 
the  Americans.  I  shudder  to  think  of  the  mur 
ders  I  have  been  accessory  to,  both  isjith  and 
•without  orders  from  government,  especially 
while  in  New  York,  during  which  time  there 
were  more  than  two  thousand  prisoners  starved 
in  the  different  churches  by  stopping  the  ra 
tions,  which  I  sold. 

"  There  were  also  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  American  prisoners  and  obnoxious  persons 
executed,  out  of  all  which  number  there  were 
only  about  one  dozen  public  executions,  which 
chiefly  consisted  of  British  and  Hessian  de 
serters.  The  mode  for  private  executions  was 
thus  conducted  ; — A  guard  was  dispatched  from 
the  provost,  about  half  after  12  at  night,  to  the 
Barrack  street,  and  the  neighborhood  of  the 
upper  barracks,  to  order  the  people  to  shut 
their  window  shutters  and  put  out  their  lights, 
forbidding  them  at  the  same  time  to  presume 
to  look  out  of  their  windows  and  doors,  on 
pain  of  death ;  after  which,  the  unfortunate 
prisoners  were  conducted,  gagged,  just  behind 


the  upper  barracks,  and  hung  without  cere 
mony,  and  there  buried  by  the  black  pioneer 
of  the  provost. 

"  At  the  end  of  the  war  I  returned  to  Eng 
land  with  the  army,  and  settled  in  Wales,  as 
being  a  cheaper  place  of  living  than  in  any  of 
the  populous  cities,  but  being  at  length  per 
suaded  to  go  to  London,  I  entered  so  warmly 
into  the  dissipations  of  that  capital,  that  I  soon 
found  my  circumstances  much  embarrassed. 
To  relieve  which,  I  mortgaged  my  half  pay  to 
an  army  agent,  but  that  being  soon  expended,  I 
forged  a  draft  for  three  hundred  pounds  ster 
ling  on  the  board  of  ordnance,  but  being  de 
tected  in  presenting  it  for  acceptance,  I  was 
apprehended,  tried  and  convicted,  and  for  that 
offence  am  here  to  suffer  an  ignominious  death. 

"  I  beg  the  prayers  of  all  good  Christians, 
and  also  pardon  and  forgiveness  of  God  for  the 
many  horrid  murders  I  have  been  accessory  to. 
"  WILLIAM  CUNNINGHAM." 


ADVANCE  OF  INSURANCE 
IN  LONDON,  NOVEMBER,  1776. 

INSURANCE. 

London,  Nov.  1776. — The  great  number  of 
captures  raised  the  insurance  on  vessels  home 
ward  bound,  from  the  West  Indies,  to  twenty- 
three  per  cent.  The  losses  upon  the  West 
India  trade,  amount,  at  this  time,  to  sixty-six 
per  cent,  viz : 

Insurance,  /.  23 

Fall  in  price  of  rum  and  sugars,  owing  i 
to  the  North  American  demand  be-  >  1 1 
ing  cut  off.  ; 

One  fourth  of  ships  taken,  25 

Delays  to  market,  7 

/.'66 


WASHINGTON 

IN  SEARCH  OF  A  PEN-KNIFE. 

In  Caldwell's  life  of  Greene,  p.  65,  there  is  a 
fac  simile  of  the  following  curious  epistle  : 

October  ^th,  1779. 

"  Dear  sir,  I  have  lost — and  cannot  tell  how — 
an  old  and  favorite  pen-knife,  and  am  much 
distressed  for  want  of  one — if  you  have  any  in 
your  stores,  please  send  me  one — if  you  have 
not,  be  so  good  as  to  get  one  immediately. 
Perhaps  Mr.  Bailey  could  furnish  me.  One 
with  two  blades  I  should  prefer,  when  choice 
can  be  had.  I  am,  dear  sir, 
"  Your  most  obedient,  • 

"  GEO.  WASHINGTON." 


512 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


WEIGHT  OF  GREAT  CHARACTERS. 

AUGUST  19,   1783. 

Weight  at  the  SCALES  at  West  Point. 

General  Washington,  209  Ibs. 

General  Lincoln,  224 

General  Knox,  280 

General  Huntington,  132 

General  Greaton,  166 

Colonel  Swift,  219 

Colonel  Michael  Jackson,  252 

Colonel  Henry  Jackson,  238 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Huntington,  232 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Cobb,  186 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Humphreys,  221 
The  above  memorandum  was  found  in  the 
pocketbook  of  a  deceased  officer  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  line. 


TICONDEROGA. 

The  following  is  not  a  revolutionary  docu 
ment,  but  an  article  that  may  well  be  preserved 
in  this  collection ;  and,  being  specially  re 
quested,  we  insert  it  with  pleasure. ' 

From  the  Hartford  Times, — The  following 
statement  or  return,  exhibiting  a  minute  and 
accurate  account  of  the  loss  in  killed  and 
wounded  sustained  by  the  British  and  Ameri 
can  forces  under  the  command  of  general  Aber- 
crombie,  in  the  memorable  disaster  or  defeat 
at  Ticonderoga,  July,  17-58,  was,  as  it  purports, 
made  out  soon  after  the  battle,  by  Judah  Wood 
ruff,  who  was  a  captain  of  the  provincial  forces, 
and  belonging  to  Farmington,  in  this  county. 
The  original  document  has  been  preserved  in 
the  family,  as  a  precious  memorial  of  their  an 
cestor,  for  sixty  years,  and  was  handed  to  us 
by  his  son.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  most  authen 
tic  and  correct  statement  of  that  unfortunate 
affair,  which  exposed  our  frontiers  to  the  mur 
derous  and  cruel  outrages  of  a  savage  foe,  and 
filled  the  whole  colonies  with  consternation 
and  dismay,  which  at  this  day  is  to  be  found  ; 
and  in  every  point  of  view  is  worthy  of  preser 
vation.  We  recommend  its  insertion  to  the 
editor  of  the  Baltimore  Weekly  Register,  as 
that  work  is  probably  the  most  permanent  and 
valuable  place  in  which  it  can  be  deposited. 

We  have  printed  it  verbatim,  and  preserved 
the  same  orthography,  to  exhibit  an  idea  of 
the  provincial  dialect  of  that  day. 

The  British  regiments  are  distinguished 
numerically,  and  by  their  commanders.  The 
ist  and  4th  battalions  called  "  royal  Ameri 
cans,"  were  troops  enlisted  in  the  colonies  by 
British  officers.  The  "  Prouinshals,"  or  pro 


vincials,  consisted  of  the  militia  of  the  colonies 
which  were  detached,  or  volunteered  for  the 
service.  It  will  be  seen  that,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  lord  Murray's  regiment,  which  was 
nearly  cut  to  pieces,  the  loss  of  the  provincials 
was  as  great  as  that  of  any  one  regiment. 
They  must  therefore  have  been  actively  en 
gaged. 

A  return  of  the  killed,  wounded,  and  missing 
of  his  Majesty  s  forces  at  Carelong  or  Ticon 
deroga,  July  %th,  1758. 


Sum  Total  

ayth—  Lord  Blakeney's 
42d  —  Lord  Murray's.. 
44th  —  Gen.  Abercroml 
46th  —  Gen.  Murray's.. 
S5th  —  Lord  How's  .... 
ist  Batal.  Royal  Amer 

4th  Bat.  Royal  Americ 
Prouinshals  

Batal.  Broad  Street... 

REGIMENTS. 

* 

:  :  :  gS:  :  «:  : 

Killed. 

Brigadier 
Generals. 

10 

» 

Killed. 
Wounded. 

Colonels. 

10 

Killed. 

III 

:  :  :  :  Ml  HM:  i 

Wounded. 

0, 

:  „:  :  MHM-  „: 

Killed. 

10 

O\HUU>   »    kJ  -t*  -t-  *• 

Wounded. 

M 

:     : 

Killed. 

• 

. 

g 

Si   **„:.,   KM 

Wounded. 

<J\ 

Killed. 

*0 

H|    iooMMJ    MH 

Wounded. 

Ensigns. 

- 

::::::::"• 

Killed. 
Wounded. 

Adjutants. 

10 

H 

o 

•   in  •          •    M  tn  w  o\* 

Wounded. 
Killed. 

Quarter 
Masters. 

tn 

O 

•    **4   •     O\*>  *•    O\  O\W  OJ 

Wounded. 

*. 

*  Cn          U   fc>  OJ  Ui  -*•  >0    (0 

O\fji  Ui  Ui   M  in  (si   O   O   M 

Killed. 

Rank  and 

H 
•2 

H            M            H    H    H    Id 
OJOJ    w    M    OOMUJOJ    O\*O 
vi  «H  tA  O  •*»•    O\  •-•  in  t/i  (0 

Wodnded. 

File. 

w 

O 

*     10*     •     •     UJ    w  >O    •    W 

Missing. 

The  number  killed,  515  men.     The  number 

wounded,    1269. — The   number   missing   39 — 

Sum  total  1823.     This  drawn  out  by  me,  Judah 

Woodruff,   August    ye     15 :    1758— Att  lake 

zeorge. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


513 


INDEPENDENCE  OF  THE  YANKEES. 

About  the  time  of  the  burning  the  British 
government  schooner  Gaspee,  at  Newport,  a 
few  years  previous  to  the  revolution,  admiral 
Montague,  who  then  commanded  the  ships  of 
war  at  Boston,  took  several  of  his  officers  and 
proceeded  to  Newport,  to  make  personal  in 
quiry  into  the  affair.  On  his  return  to  Boston, 
not  far  from  Dedham,  a  charcoal  cart  obstructed 
the  passage  of  the  coach,  when  the  coachman, 
feeling  much  consequence  from  his  exalted 
station,  in  driving  a  British  admiral,  and  know 
ing  that  his  master  was  to  dine  that  day  with 
Mr.  B.,  called,  in  an  insolent  manner,  to  the 
collier  to  turn  out  and  make  way  for  admiral 
Montague  ! — who,  (not  at  all  intimidated  by 
the  splendid  equipage,  imposing  manner,  and 
rich  livery  of  the  knight  of  the  whip,)  replied 
that  he  was  in  the  king's  highway,  and  that 
he  should  not '  turn  out '  for  any  one  but  the 
king  himself,  and  thanked  fortune  that  he  had 
the  law  to  support  him.  The  admiral,  finding 
an  altercation  had  taken  place,  on  discovering 
the  cause,  told  his  coachman  to  get  down  and 
give  the  fellow  a  thrashing,  but  the  coachman 
did  not  seem  disposed  to  obey  his  commander. 
One  of  the  officers  in  the  coach,  a  large  athletic 
man,  alighted,  reproached  the  coachman  with 
being  a  coward,  and  was  proceeding  to  take 
vengeance  of  the  coal  driver,  who,  perceiving 
so  potent  an  adversary  advancing,  drew  from 
his  cart  a  stake,  to  use  as  a  weapon  of  defence, 
and  placing  himself  between  his  oxen,  in  an 
attitude  of  defence,  he  exclaimed — "  Well,  I  vow, 
if  I  must,  darn  me!  but  I'll  tarnish  your  laced 
jacket  if  you  don't  keep  of." — By  this  time  the 
admiral  and  the  other  officers  had  left  the 
coach,  and  finding  that  no  laurels  were  to  be 
obtained  in  such  a  contest,  he  made  a  concilia 
tory  proposition,  and  condescended  to  ask  that 
as  a.  favor,  which  he  had  ordered  his  coachman 
to  obtain  by  force. — "  Ah  !  now,"  said  the  collier, 
"you  behave  like  a  gentleman,  as  you  appear, 
and  if  you  had  been  as  civil  at  first,  I  vow  I 
would  have  driven  over  the  stone  wall  to  oblige 
you.  But  I  won't  be  drove  ;  /  vow  I  won't" — 
The  coal  driver  made  way,  and  the  admiral 
passed  on. 

When  he  arrived  at  Mr.  B.'s  he  related  the 
occurrence  with  much  good  humor,  and  ap 
peared  much  gratified  with  the  spirit  and  in 
dependence  of  the  man.  Mr.  B.  assured  the 
admiral,  that  "  the  collier  had  exhibited  a  true 
character  of  the  American  people,  and  that  the 
story  he  had  then  related  was  an  epitome  of 
the  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and  her 
colonies.  Let  the  king  ask  of  us  our  aid,  and 


we  will  grant  more  than  he  will  demand  ;  but 
we  will  not  be  '  drove,'  we  will  not  be  taxed  by 
the  parliament." 

Had  the  government  of  Great  Britain  been 
as  conciliatory  to  Americans,  as  the  honest 
good  hearted  Montague  was  to  the  collier,  we 
should  probably  now  be  subjects  of  George 
IVth  ! — "  The  ways  of  heaven  are  dark  and 
intricate." — We  should  still  be  servile  depend 
ents.  We  should  not  have  a  beautiful  star- 
spangled  banner,  peeping  into  every  port  in  the 
world,  in  pursuit  of  enterprise  and  wealth. — We 
should  not  now  have  merchants  whose  capital 
in  trade  is  equal  to  that  of  a  province,  and 
making  magnificent  presents  in  support  of 
literature  and  science  that  would  do  honor  to 
princes.  Let  Americans  be  thankful  for  these 
mercies,  and  a  thousand  others,  and  study  to 
appreciate  them. 


GENERAL  PUTNAM; 

IN  THE  COLONIAL  WAR  WITH  THE 
FRENCH. 

During  the  late  war,  when  general  Amherst 
was  marching  across  the  country  to  Canada, 
the  army  coming  to  one  of  the  lakes,  which 
they  were  obliged  to  pass,  found  the  French 
had  an  armed  vessel  of  twelve  guns  upon  it. 
He  was  in  great  distress :  his  boats  were  no 
match  for  her ;  and  she  alone  was  capable  of 
sinking  his  whole  army  in  that  situation. 
While  he  was  pondering  what  should  be  done, 
Putnam  comes  to  him,  and  says,  "general, 
that  ship  must  be  taken."  Aye,  says  Amherst, 
I  would  give  the  world  she  was  taken.  "  I'll 
take  her,"  says  Putnam. — Amherst  smiled,  and 
asked  how  ?  "  Give  me  some  wedges,  a  beetle, 
(a  large  wooden  hammer,  or  maul,  used  for 
driving  wedges)  and  a  few  men  of  my  own 
choice."  Amherst  could  not  conceive  how  an 
armed  vessel  was  to  be  taken  by  four  or  five 
men,  a  beetle,  and  wedges.  However,  he 
granted  Putnam's  request.  When  night  came, 
Putnam,  with  his  materials  and  men,  went  in 
a  boat  under  the  vessel's  stern,  and  in  an  in 
stant  drove  in  the  wedges  behind  the  rudder, 
in  a  little  cavity  between  the  rudder  and  ship, 
and  left  her.  In  the  morning,  the  sails  were 
seen  fluttering  about ;  she  was  adrift  in  the 
middle  of  the  lake  ;  and  being  presently  blown 
ashore,  was  easily  taken. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


KOSCIUSCO. 

The  following  is  not  a  revolutionary  paper,  but 
it  relates  to  a  noble  volunteer  in  the  cause  of 
liberty  in  the  new  world,  and  a  fearless  advo 
cate  for  the  freedom  of  his  native  land  in  the 
old ;  and  a  preservation  of  the  eulogium  upon 
him  is  due  to  his  services.  It  was  delivered 
at  Warsaw  on  the  I4th  Nov.  1817,  by  M. 
Von  Neimcewisez,  who  was  his  bosom  friend. 
The  translation  here  used  was  made  for  the 
"  Republican  Citizen,"  published  at  Fred- 
ericktown,  Maryland. 

This  mournful  solemnity,  these  funeral  rites  ; 
these  blazing  tapers,  this  assembly  of  dejected 
knights  and  people,  the  doleful  voice  of  the 
venerable  divine,  all,  all  conspire  to  impress 
upon  us,  a  strong  perception  of  our  great,  our 
irreparable  loss.  What  can  I  add  to  the  acute- 
ness  of  your  feelings,  or  how  dilate  upon  the 
ardent  expressions  of  the  reverend  ministers 
of  religion  ?  Alas  it  does  not  appertain  to 
these  grey  hairs,  to  this  enfeebled  voice,  to  a 
mind  blunted  with  years,  and  weakened  byr 
infirmities,  to  eulogize  the  man,  who  was  coura 
geous  and  generous  in  war,  and  amiable  in 
peace.  But  such  was  your  desire  ;  unmindful 
of  the  restraints  and  difficulties  under  which  I 
labor,  I  will  endeavor  to  comply,  and,  although 
myself  overwhelmed  with  grief,  will  become 
the  interpreter  of  this  universal  mourning. 

Great  and  destructive  have  been  the  losses 
sustained  by  our  country  in  the  lapse  of  a  few 
years  ;  but  we  have  felt  none  with  such  keen 
anguish,  as  that  which  we  now  bewail  in  the 
decease  of  our  beloved  Kosciusco.  To  men 
tion  the  name  of  Kosciusco,  the  pattern  of  vir 
tuous  citizenship  ;  to  depict  his  love  of  country, 
which  continued  to  blaze  out  whilst  there  was 
a  breath  of  life  remaining ;  his  fearless  intre 
pidity  in  battle  ;  his  manly  fortitude  in  adver 
sity  ;  his  patient  endurance  of  suffering ;  his 
Roman  uprightness  of  deportment ;  his  delicate 
modesty, — that  inseparable  accompaniment  of 
real  worth — is  to  awaken  a  thousand  pleasing, 
but  alas  !  also  numberless  painful  emotions  in 
the  breast  of  every  native  of  Poland. 

Ere  history  shall  record  our  misfortunes, 
and  exhibit,  in  their  true  light,  the  merits  of 
this  truly  great  man,  be  it  permitted  to  us,  his 
contemporaries,  to  notice,  in  condensed  brevity, 
his  noble  actions,  and  the  principal  incidents  of 
his  life. 

THADDEUS  Kosciusco,  descended  from  an 
ancient  family  in  the  palatinate  of  Brescia,  in 
Lithuania  proper,  received  the  rudiments  of  his 
education  in  the  military  academy  founded  by 
Stanislaus  Augustus.  The  commandant  of 


that  academy,  prince  Adam  Czatorski,  soon 
remarked  the  uncommon  military  genius  of 
the  youth,  together  with  his  predilection  for 
the  science  of  war,  and  in  consequence,  sent 
him  into  France  to  complete  his  studies.  Tc 
the  latest  moments  of  his  life,  Kosciusco  grate 
fully  remembered  the  obligations  which  he 
owed  to  the  bounty  of  his  benefactor.  The 
abject,  impotent  and  submissive  situation  of 
Poland,  at  that  period,  engendered  dejection 
and  despair  in  his  youthful  breast.  He  left  his 
country  and  repaired  to-  a  foreign  land,  there  to 
fight  the  battles  of  independence,  when  he 
found  that  her  standard  would  not  be  raised 
in  the  land  of  his  birth.  As  the  companion  of 
the  immortal  WASHINGTON,  he  fought  bravely 
from  the  Hudson  to  the  Potomac,  from  the 
shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  lakes  of  Canada. 
He  patiently  endured  incredible  fatigue  ;  he 
acquired  renown,  and,  what  was  infinitely  more 
valuable  in  his  estimation,  he  acquired  the  love 
and  gratitude  of  a  disenthraled  nation.  The 
flag  of  the  United  States  waved  in  triumph  over 
the  American  forts,  and  the  great  work  of  lib 
eration  was  finished  ere  Kosciusco  returned  to 
his  native  country. 

Just  at  that  period  Poland  awoke  ;  but  alas  ! 
awoke  too  late  from  her  deplorable  lethargy. 
She  had  proclaimed  the  memorable  constitu 
tion  of  the  third  of  May,  and  determined  to 
acknowledge  no  laws  but  her  own.  Hence  the 
inimical  attack,  hence  the  desolating  wars 
which  ensued.  Say,  ye  few  remaining  wit- 
. nesses — say,  ye  fields  of  Zielenice  and  Dubinki, 
did  not  Kosciusco,  did  not  the  Poles  contend 
with  a  valor  worthy  the  sons  of  Poland?  It 
was  not  that  our  feeble  force  was  overpowered  : 
No — it  was  by  the  stratagems  and  wiles  of  our 
enemies  that  our  arms  were  wrested  from  our 
hands,  and  the  burning  desire  for  the  combat 
smothered  ;  aye,  smothered  !  for  in  a  short  time 
the  dismemberment  of  our  territory,  and  the 
contemptuous,  the  scornful  treatment  which  we 
received,  exasperated  the  feelings  of  our  people. 
The  excess  of  their  misfortunes  and  sufferings 
roused  them  to  an  effort  of  noble  and  almost 
frenzied  desperation.  His  enraged  countrymen 
grasped  the  sword  and  placed  it  in  the  hands 
of  Kosciusco  ! 

The  fraternal  bonds  which  unite  us  to  another 
nation,  the  protection  of  one  common  sove 
reign,  and  the  gratitude  due  to  Alexander,  for 
bid  that  I  should  enlarge  upon  the  occurrences 
of  the  memorable  war  which  followed.  The 
army  of  Kosciusco  was  not  composed  of  war 
riors,  arrayed  in  '  the  pride  of  military  pomp.' 
No  !  he  led  troops  of  irritated  peasantry  to  the 
field  of  glory,  peasantry,  armed  with  the  imple- 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


515 


ments  of  husbandry,  against  experienced  and 
veteran  soldiers  !  How  many  battles,  sieges, 
dreadful  nocturnal  sallies  and  skirmishes  did 
they  sustain?  The  earth  was  ensanguined 
with  the  blood  of  the  commandants  ere  it 
furnished  them  with  graves. 

The  result  of  all  these  sacrifices,  sufferings 
and  exertions,  were  inhuman  fetters.  The  cap 
tivity  continued  two  years,  and  would  have 
lasted  yet  longer  ;  norwouldstthou,  Kosciusco, 
have  ended  thy  days  in  Solothurn's  free  walls — 
nor  would  you,  ye  weeping  sons  of  Poland,  have 
again  enjoyed  the  sweet  smiles  of  liberty,  but 
would  have  dragged  out  the  miserable  remnant 
of  your  lives  in  dark  and  mouldering  dungeons, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  magnanimous  interfer 
ence  of  PAUL  I.  The  first  act  of  his  reign  was 
to  burst  the  fetters  of  twenty  thousand  Poles. 
Thanks  to  the  venerable  shade  !  The  name 
of  Paul  cannot  be  mentioned  by  a  native  of 
Poland,  without  feelings  of  genuine  gratitude  ! 

When  Kosciusco  was  liberated,  he  did  not 
turn  his  steps  to  that  depressed  and  mourning 
country,  which  had  already  become  as  a  strange 
land  to  him.  No  ;  he  turned  his  eyes  to  that 
distant  shore,  where  in  his  youth,  he  had  min 
gled  in  the  combat  for  liberty  and  independ 
ence  ;  to  that  land  which  he  knew  would  re 
ceive  him  as  one  of  her  own  children.  Although 
covered  with  scars  and  crippled,  he  did  not 
permit  the  fatigues  and  dangers  of  the  voyage 
to  dishearten  him.  He  embarked  for  America ; 
and,  during  this  voyage,  the  ocean  had  nearly 
become  the  grave  of  our  hero.  A  vessel, 
belonging  to  a  fleet  of  merchantmen,  returning 
from  Jamaica,  was  separated  from  her  com 
pany  in  a  dark  night,  and  whilst  sailing  with 
the  greatest  rapidity,  struck  the  American  ship. 
Masts,  rigging  and  sails  were  instantly  entan 
gled.  Two  large  vessels  lay  beating  forcibly 
against  each  other.  Great  was  the  tumult, 
noise  and  disorder  upon  deck — death  stared  us 
in  the  face  Kosciusco  viewed  the  scene,  at 
this  dismaying  and  terrifying  moment,  with  his 
usual  serenity  and  composure  ;  but  his  last  hour 
had  not  yet  arrived.  Providence  had  ordained 
that  he  should  survive  to  see  that  day  on  which 
the  generous  Alexander  proclaimed  the  resto 
ration  of  the  kingdom  of  Poland.  We  escaped 
this  imminent  danger  with  the  loss  of  the  main 
mast,  and  torn  sails,  but  the  voyage  was,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  disaster,  protracted  to  seventy 
days.  At  length  we  espied  the  happy  shores 
of  the  land  of  freedom.  Pennsylvania,  the 
country  of  PENN  and  FRANKLIN,  received 
Kosciusco  into  her  bosom.  After  suffering 
such  accumulated  miseries,  this  was  the  first 
happy  and  joyful  moment.  The  members  of 


congress,  then  in  session — his  old  compatriots 
in  arms — his  friends  and  acquaintances,  and 
the  citizens  generally,  hailed  his  arrival  with 
unaffected  pleasure.  The  people  surrounded 
the  carriage  of  him  who  had  been  one  of  their 
favorite  chiefs,  who  had  suffered  so  much  in 
their  cause,  accompanied  him  to  his  lodgings. 
Not  only  in  America,  but  in  every  European 
city  through  which  he  passed  after  his  libera 
tion,  in  Stockholm,  in  London,  and  in  Bristol,  all 
those  who  cherished  in  their  hearts  a  love  of 
liberty,  and  a  regard  for  her  defenders,  thronged 
about  him  and  gave  him  the  most  lively  demon 
strations  of  their  esteem.  Oh  !  it  was  grateful 
to  the  heart  of  a  Polander  to  perceive,  in  the 
honor  and  respect  with  which  his  chief  was 
received,  esteem  and  commiseration  for  the 
fate  of  an  unjustly  destroyed  nation. 

Was  it  the  delusion  of  hope  or  the  wish  to 
have  the  advantage  of  the  best  medical  advice, 
that  induced  Kosciusco  to  visit  the  shores  of 
Europe  once  more  ?  If  it  was  hope,  soon,  alas! 
did  he  perceive  its  fallaciousness  and  vanity, 
and  the  inutility  of  human  exertions.  He 
rejected  the  bustle  and  applause  of  the^world, 
and,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  enclosed  him 
self  in  the  mantle  of  his  own  virtues  and  re 
tired  to  the  rural  solitude  of  a  farm.  Here 
agriculture  was  his  employment,  his  solace, 
and  his  delight. — He  left  his  peaceful  retire 
ment,  for  the  first  time,  to  thank  the  illustrious 
Alexander  for  the  restoration  of  the  Polish 
name.  His  aversion  to  public  employment, 
which  had  increased  with  age,  his  love  of  sol 
itude  and  quiet,  led  him  into  Switzerland. 
There  in  the  city  of  Solothurn,  it  pleased  the 
Almighty  to  call  his  virtuous  soul,  from  the 
scene  of  his  sufferings  and  trials,  to  the  abode 
of  the  blessed.  He  died  as  it  became  a  Christian 
and  a  soldier,  with  a  firm  reliance  on  his  God, 
with  complacency  and  manly  fortitude.  Poor 
as  his  prototypes,  Phocion  and  Cincinnatus, 
he  forbade  all  pomp  and  show  at  his  funeral ; 
and  that  man,  who  in  the  field  of  battle  had 
commanded  thousands  of  armed  warriors,  was 
carried  to  the  last  repository  of  frail  mortality, 
upon  the  shoulders  of  six  poor  old  men. 

Peace  to  thy  ashes,  thou  virtuous  man ! 
receive  the  last  and  parting  laments  of  thy 
sorrowing  countrymen  ;  receive  the  parting 
address  of  him,  in  whose  arms  thou  hast  so 
often  reposed  thine  aching  head.  If  thy  native 
country  do  not  receive  thy  mortal  remains  into 
her  lap,  while  thy  liberated  spirit  dwells  in  the 
same  abode  with  THE  LAST;.ROMAN,*  then  may 
thy  memory  be  immortal  amongst  us.  May  thy 

*  Ultimus  Romanorum,  Marcus  Junius  Brutus  has  been 
so  called. 


5i6 


PRINCIPLES    AND  ACTS  OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 


statue  be  placed  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord, 
in  order  to  perpetuate  the  lineaments  of  thy 
face,  the  benevolence  of  thy  heart,  and  the 
purity  of  thy  soul.  May  thy  cenotaph  be  like 
ihy  life,  plain  and  unostentatious,  with  no 
inscription  but  thy  name  ;  that  will  be  all  suffi 
cient  !  Whenever  a  native  or  stranger  shall 
with  tearful  eyes  behold  it,  he  will  be  compelled 
to  exclaim,  "  That  was  the  man  who  did  not 
permit  his  countrymen  to  die  ingloriously,  and 
whose  virtues,  magnanimity,  intrepidity  and 
patriotism,  immortalized  himself  and  his  be 
loved  country. 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GORDON'S 
HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

I  believe  it  is  Voltaire  who  says,  that  the 
publishing  of  history  does  not  depend  on  its 
triith.  The  only  question  the  publishers  ask, 
is — "  Will  it  sell,"  which  brings  to  my  recol- 
lection^ome  circumstances  relative  to  Gordon's 
history  of  the  American  Revolution. 

In  the  year  1784,  I  became  acquainted  with 
an  English  gentleman,  whose  prejudices  against 
our  country  were  as  violent  as  they  had  been 
previous  to  his  emigration  in  favor  of  it.  One 
clay  when  he  was  inveighing  most  bitterly 
against  our  conduct  and  institutions,  he  men 
tioned,  with  great  asperity,  the  tarring  and 
feathering  of  John  Malcom,  (a  British  custom 
house  officer),  before  the  revolution,  whose 
only  crime  he  said,  was  chastising  an  impudent 
boy.  I  told  him,  that  if  Mr.  Malcom  had  not 
have  drawn  his  sword  on  the  boy,  no  notice 
would  have  been  taken  of  his  conduct.  I  did 
not  however  attempt  to  justify  the  deed,  as  it 
was  condemned  by  good  men  of  both  parties  ; 
yet  I  insisted,  that  the  character  of  the  town 
or  country  ought  not  to  be  implicated,  as  it 
was  done  in  the  night  by  a  very  few  disorderly 
persons  in  disguise,  who,  if  they  had  been  dis 
covered,  would  have  been  amenable  to,  and 
punished  by  the  laws.  I  then  related  to  him 
the  conduct  of  colonel  Nesbit,  of  the  47th  Brit 
ish  regiment,  who  caused  an  innocent  country 
man  to  be  tarred  and  feathered,  and  carted 
publicly  through  the  streets  at  noon  day,  with 
a  guard  of  grenadiers,  and  the  band  of  the 
regiment  playing  "  Yankee  doodle,"  and  him 
self  tit.  the  head  of  the  party,  in  defiance  of 
those  laws  he  was  sent  to  protect  and  enforce. 
My  English  friend  seemed  to  think  I  was  mis 
taken  in  the  person  of  col.  Nesbit,  and  thought 
it  impossible  that  a  colonel  of  one  of  his  ma 


jesty's  regiments  could  be  guilty  of  such  an 
outrageous  act.  A  few  days  after  this  conver 
sation,  we  met  at  Dr.  Gordon's  (the  author  of 
the  history  of  the  American  Revolution),  who 
then  lived  at  Roxbury.  I  introduced  the  sub 
ject  again,  when  Dr.  Gordon  spoke  of  Nesbit's 
conduct  in  the  strongest  terms  of  reprobation, 
and,  on  being  asked  whether  he  had  noticed 
the  event  in  his  history,  he  produced  the  manu 
script,  and  read  to  me  a  detail  of  that  transac 
tion,  which,  with  the  observations  and  reflec 
tions  connected  with  it,  would  make  three  or 
four  pages  of  his  work. 

In  1790  I  embarked  for  England,  where  I 
was  introduced  to  a  relation  of  Dr.  Gordon,  of 
whom  I  inquired  how  the  doctor  had  succeeded 
in  his  history  ?  He  smiled  and  said,  "  It  was 
not  Dr.  Gordon's  history  !  "  On  my  requesting 
an  explanation,  he  told  me,  that  on  the  Doctor's 
arrival  in  England,  he  placed  his  manuscript  in 
the  hands  of  an  intelligent  friend,  on  whom  he 
could  depend,  who,  (after  perusing  it  with  care) 
declared  that  it  was  not  suited  to  the  meridian 
of  England,  consequently  would  never  sell. 
The  style  was  not  agreeable — it  was  too  favor 
able  to  the  Americans — above  all,  it  was  full 
of  libels  against  some  of  the  most  respectable 
characters  in  the  British  army  and  navy — and 
that  if  he  possessed  a  fortune  equal  to  the  duke 
of  Bedford's,  he  would  not  be  able  to  pay  the 
damages  that  might  be  recovered  against  him, 
as  the  truth  would  not  be  allowed  to  be  pro 
duced  in  evidence.  The  doctor  had  returned 
to  his  native  country,  and  expected  to  enjoy 
"  otiutn  cum  dignitate."  Overwhelmed  with 
mortification,  and  almost  with  despair,  he  asked 
the  advice  of  his  friend,  who  recommended 
him  to  place  the  manuscript  in  the  hands  of  a 
professional  gentleman,  that  it  might  be  new 
modelled,  and  made  agreeable  to  English 
readers ;  this  was  assented  to  by  the  doctor, 
and  the  history  which  bears  his  name  was  com 
piled  and  written  from  his  manuscript,  by  an 
other  hand, 

If  any  of  our  historical  or  antiquarian  socie 
ties  could  obtain  Gordon's  original  manuscript, 
it  would  be  an  invaluable  document. 

On  hearing  the  foregoing  narration,  I  had 
the  curiosity  to  look  into  Gordon's  history  to 
learn  what  the  " prof essional gentleman  "  had 
said  of  col.  Nesbit  and  his  exploits,  when,  to 
my  surprise,  I  found  he  had  devoted  only  a  few 
lines  to  that  subject,  vol.  I,  page  307,  American 
edition.  The  whole  of  this  statement  evinces 
that  all  histories  published  in  England,  in 
which  that  country  is  concerned,  cannot  con 
tain  the  whole  truth. 

[Another  writer  agrees  generally  in  the  fact, 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


517 


as  to  certain  alterations  in  Gordon's  history — 
but  states  that  the  author,  indignant  at  the 
purgation,  went  to  work  and  re-wrote  his  his 
tory  ;  the  latter  is  thought  to  have  been  much 
less  perfect  than  the  original  copy.  The  writer 
last  alluded  to,  says—] 

"  If  Dr.  Gordon  was  compelled  to  leave  out 
of  his  book  some  atrocious  truths  from  dread 


of  the  pains  and  penalties  of  the  British  laws 
and  customs,  he  on  the  other  side,  voluntarily, 
left  out  some  matters  to  the  discredit  of  Amer 
ica,  which  things  he  read  to  me  from  his  man 
uscript  at  his  residence  in  Roxbury.  I  refer 
here  particularly  to  the  subject  of  negro  slavery. 
He  was  also  persuaded  to  soften  his  harsh 
picture  of  the  illustrious  Exempt." 


INDEX. 


PACK 

Adams,  John 101, 103, 104, 105,  106,  107,  487 

Adams,  Mrs.  John 105,  106 

Adams,  Samuel 94>  95,  122 

Address  to  people  of  New  Hampshire i3>  J4 

"         Provincial  Congress,  New  York i?3 

"        Mechanics,  New  York 174 

"         Legislature,  New  York 182 

"        Assembly,  New  York 182 

"        citizens  to  Washington 187 

"         citizens  to  Gov.  Clinton 188 

"        of  inhabitants  of  New  Jersey 191 

"        of  County  Commissioners  of  Penn 204 

11        M.  L'Abbe  Bandoll 232 

"        by  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush 234 

"        to  people  of  Maryland 268,  269 

"•         to  the  British  Empire 316 

"         to  inhabitants  U.  S.,  by  Congress 405-408 

Aggressions  of  Great  Britain,  resistance  to,  in  S.  C...  321 

Alexander,  Mathew 315 

Ally,  Hyder,  ship 488,  489 

Americans,  Native,  address  to  the  King 502 

American  Loyalists,  address  to  the  King 503-507 

Amherst,  General..... 513 

Appeal  to  be  released  from  military  service 241 

Appropriation  of  money  by  people  of  New  Jersey. ...  191 

Arrest  of  citizens  in  Philadelphia 235 

Arrest  of  a  member  of  Legislature  of  Delaware 243 

Arms  of  the  U.  S 409,  410 

Arnold,  Benedict 144,  232,  497 

Articles,  staple,  reduction  in  value  in  Conn 142 

Asgil,  Sir 5°9,  S'o 

Asgil,  Theresa 509,  510 

Assembly  of  N.  C.,  address  to  Governor 312,  313 

Astley,  Sir  Edward 417 

Austin,  Jonathan  W 5r>  56 

A  very,  Ebenezer 143 


Bancker,  Evert 186 

Bandoll,  M.  L'Abbe 232 

Baptists,  of  Va.,  Patriotic  address  of 285,  286 

Barlow,  Joel,  oration  of. 145 

Barney,  Commodore  Joshua 488 

Bartlett ,  Josiah 13 

Battle  of  Lexington 113,  117 

Benson,  Robert 177 

Bentley,  Rev.  Dr 482 

Boston ,  massacre  of  citizens 15-17 

"        Orations 17-79,  49° 

"        Destruction  of  tea 96 

"        Proscribed  of in 

"        Old  South  Church 112 

"        Offensive  treatment  of  citizens 117 

"        Evacuation  of. 128 

"        Possession  of,  by  Washington 129 

"        Speeches  of  inhabitants  of,  to  representatives 

in  Congress. 133 


Boston,  address  of  Independent  Sons  of. 133 

Boston  Port  Bill,  action  thereon  in  Maryland 258,  259 

Botetourt  County,  Va.,  address  of  Freeholders 286 

Boudinot,  Elias 195 

Boyer,  John 286 

Breckinridge,  "Judge 229 

British  troops,  outrages  committed  by,  in  Virginia. . . .  290 

British  forces,  estimate  of. 493 

British  Parliament 410-460 

Bullock,  Gov.  Archibald 103 ,  391-393 

Bull's,  John,  children,  history  of. 508,  509 

Burgoyne,  Gen 118,122,  178,  179,  197 

Burke,  Edmund,  speech  of 429,  453 

Burning  of  Benedict  Arnold  in  effigy 333 

C. 

Cambden,  Ship,  Lord 257 

Campbell,  Lord  Win.,  S.  C.,  address  of. 320 

Caswell,  Richard 314 

Champe,  John 307-310 

Chase,  Mr ! 103 

Charge  of  Judge  Jay  to  Grand  Jury,  N.  Y 180-182 

Charges,  Judge  Drayton,  Grand  Juries,  S.  C 327-374 

Chatham,  Earl,  speeches  of. 410,  411,  455-460 

Cheesman,  Capt 496 

Christie,  James,  memorial  of. 262-264 

Church,  Dr.  Benjamin,  oration  of 34-37 

Church,  Old  South,  Boston 112 

Churches  of  New  York 190 

Clark,  Abraham 195 

Clarke,  Gen.  George  Rogers 307 

Clinton,  Gov.  George 188 

Colcock,  John 327 

Committee  of  New  York  to  Lord  Mayor  of  London..  171 

Commons,  House  of 414 

Congress,  Provincial,  Mass 99 

"  "  "   address  of 109,117,118 

Congress,  Stamp  Act,  New  York  Journal  of 155-169 

"         Continental 395-410 

"         Eloquent  speech  delivered  in 395,  396 

"         Declaration  of  Independence  discussed.. 397-402 
"         Retaliation  on  Prisoners  of  War,  Resolu 
tions  of. 402,  403 

Connecticut i4I~I55 

"          Pensioners,  Revolutionary 150 

Continental  Navy 482-489 

"  Congress 395--*10 

11          troops,  estimate  of 493 

"          Army,  expense  of 494,  495 

Convention  of  Va.,  proceedings  of. 288,  290,  291 

Cooper,  Dr.  Samuel 103 

Cooper,  Mr 475 

Cornwallis,  Lord 232 

Cortland,  Pierre  Van 186 

Court  Martial,  Providence,  R.  1 14° 

Cranch,  Richard  102 

Cropper,  Gen.  John 3IO>  3". 

Cumberland  Co. ,  Va.,  Freeholders  of. 276 


520 


INDEX. 


Cunningham,  Win.,  confession  of. » 510,  511 

Curtis,  Major 152 

Gushing,  Thomas .-; 95 

Gushing,  Mr 94 

Cushman,  Rev.  Mr.,  address  of. 151 

Cults,  Samuel 13 

D. 

Dalrymple ,  Col 16 

Dartmouth,  Earl  of,  letter 264 

Davenport,  Mat 284 

Davie,  Gen.  Wm.  R 315 

Dawes,  Tliomas,  Jr.,  oration  of.., 67-72 

Dayton,  Stephen,  Jr 391 

Deane,  Silas 476 

Debate,  exciting,  in  Congress . 397-402 

Debate  in  Legislature  of  Virginia 277-280 

Declaration  of  resistance,  Mass 127 

"  Deputies,  Pa 223 

"  Rights,  Va , 301,  302 

"  Independence,  N.  C 313-316 

"  Independence  discussed  in  Congress 

397-402 

Delaware 239-255 

Delegates,  elected  by  General  Court  of  Mass 98 

Despatch,  Sloop  of  War 482 

Dickinson,  John 253 

Dickinson,  Jonathan 239 

Domestic  manufactures  recommended  in  Mass no 

"  Conn 141 

"  Penn 208 

"Md 260 

"  "  "  "  Va 281,282 

Drayton,  Wm.  Henry,  Chief  Justice,  S.  C 327-374 

Duckett,  John .260,  261 

Dunmore,  Lord,  proclamation  of. 286-288 

"      His  letter  to  Gen.  Howe 287 

Dutch  Church 190 

Dwight,  President,  address  of 153 


E. 


Edes,  Peter 490 

Effingham,  Lord 499-501 

Election  sermon,  Connecticut 145 

Ellery,  Wm.  R.  J 141 

Elliott,  Sir  Gilbert 418 

Ellis,  Welbore 415 

Elmer,  Doctor 239 

Elmer,  Jonathan 195 

Enthusiasm  of  people  of  Pennsylvania 211,  212 

Estaing,  Count  de 136 

Eulogium  delivered  by  Judge  Breckenbridge 229 

Expenses,  Continental  Army 494 


F. 


Fanchett,  Abbe 482 

F'armer,  John 114 

Farmer,  speech  of 220 

Fasting  and  Prayer,  day  of,  Georgia 391 

Female,  Patriotic 116 

First  sea  fight 282,  283 

Flag,  Union 292 

Fleming,  Wm 276 

Folsom,  Nathaniel 13 

Fox,  C 418 

Franklin,  Benjamin 225,  474-482 

Franklin,  Gov.  William 203 

Franklin,  Wm 475 

Fredericksburg,  Va.,  Patriotic  action  of  Council  of..  283 

Freeholders,  Botetourt  Co. ,  Va. ,  meeting  of. 203 

Frenchmen  in  America 136 

Fuller,  Mr , ..-. .  414 


G. 

PAGE 

Gadsden,  Christopher,  Georgia 374 

Gage,  Gen.  Thomas 99,  i22,  142,  462 

Gannett,  Wm 492,493 

Gardner,  Col 4g7 

Gates,  Gen.  Horatio I24,  496 

General  Assembly,  S.  C 3js 

ijeorgia 390-394 

Germantown,  Bravery  at  Battle  of 497 

Gifts,  citizens  of  Penn 236 

Goodrich,  Mr IS 

Gordon's  History  of  the  Revolution  in  America... 516,  517 

Graham,  Gen.  Joseph 31g 

Grand  Juries,  S.  C 327-353 

Gray,  Mr I5 

Greene,  General 22s 

Griswold,  Fort,  massacre  cjf  troops  at 143 

Groton,  Connecticut i43 

H. 

Hackborn,  Benjamin,  oration  of. 46-51 

Hale,  Capt.  Nathan I53 

Hall,  John a6o 

Hallowell,  Mr I5 

Hamilton,  Andrew 239 

Hancock,  John 396,  464 

"        excluded  from  pardon 122 

"       oration  of 38-42 

Hand,  Col.  Elijah I99 

Hanover  County,  Va 285,  286 

Harris,  James 315 

Harris,  Mr 4I7 

Harrison,  Col 388 

Hartford,  Conn JSO 

Harvard  College , .  131 

Harvey,  Capt.,  speech  of 427-429 

Haslett,  Col.  John 248 

Hawley ,  Major  Joseph 107,  137 

Henry,  Patrick 238,  277,  285,  292,  293 

Hill,  Henry 238 

Hill,  Mark  L 487 

Home  manufactures  recommended  in  Mass no 

"  Conn 141 

"  Maryland 260 

"  "  "  Va 281, 282 

Hooper,  Wm 3I4 

Hostilities  commenced  by  king's  troops,  Va 285,  286 

House  of  Representatives,  Mass 87,  94,  98,  99,  129 

Howard,  Benjamin 258 

Howe,  Gen.  Wm 287,  353,  354,  476 

Howe,  Viscount  Richard 353,  354 

Hughes,  Jos 314 

Humiliation,  day  of,  ordered 396 

Hunter,  Mr.  Darlington,  S.  C 389,  390 

Hutchinson,  Gov.,  of  Mass 16,  79,  87,  96 

I. 

Importation  of  British  goods,  opposition  to 255 

Indians,  Mohawk 98 

Independent  Sons  of  America 133 

Inhabitants,  N.  Y,,,  meeting  of. 170 

Insurance,  advance  of 511 

J. 

Jack,  James 314 

Jasper,  Sergeant 393,  394 

Jay,  Judge,  charge  of 180-182 

Jay,  John 468 

Jefferson,  Thomas 282-284,  4Sl 

Jenkinson,  C 416 

Johnston,  Capt,  John 258 

Johnston,  Gov 411,  414,  416,  417 

Jones,  Commodore  Paul 484 

Jury,  an  honest » 100 


INDEX. 


52I 


K. 

PAGE 

Kent,  Benjamin I02 

Kosciusko,  Gen.  Thaddeus. 5'4-Si6 

L. 

Lacey,  Gen 227-229 

Ladd,  Dr.,  oration  of 383-385 

La  Fayette,  Gen 27° 

Langdon,  John T3 

Laurens,  Henry 320 

Ledyard,  Col.  Wm 143 

Lee,  Capt.  Ezra 154 

Lee,  Gen 118-122,  140 

Lee,  Richard  H..... 280,397,400 

Lee,  Thos.  S 272 

Letter  to  a  friend  in  London in 

"      of  Committee  of  New  York  to  Lord  Mayor  of 

London i?1!  T?a 

Lexington,  Battle  of. 113-117 

Lines  dedicated  to  Revolutionary  pensioners 153 

Little,  Mr 257 

Livingston,  Dr 190,  200 

Livingston,  Gov.  Wm 177, 192,  197 

Livingston,  P.  V.  B 173 

Lloyd,  Judge 239 

Logan,  James. .................... 239 

Lords,  House  of 455 

Louis,  Col.  Andrew 286 

Lovell.  James,  address  of 17-20 

Lux,  Win 259 

M. 

Maiden,  Mass. ,  resolutions  of  inhabitants  of. 131 

Manifesto,  Patriotic 404,  405 

Manufactures,  Home,  recommended  Mass no 

"-  Conn 141 

lt  '«  "  Penn 208 

"  "  "  Va 281,282,503 

Marine  battery 489 

Marion,  Gen 388,  389 

Mary  and 255-272 

Massachusetts 15-140 

"       House  of  Representatives 73-94 

"       General  Court  of 99 

"       Provincial  Congress 109,  no 

1 '      Recommending  domestic  manufactures no 

"      Address  to  inhabitants  of. 117,  134 

"       Resolution  of 118 

"       Proclamation  General  Court 125 

Massacre  of  citizens  of  Boston 15-17 

Massacre  of  troops  at  Fort  Griswold,  or  Groton,  Conn.  143 

Mason,  George,  of  Va 300-307 

Mason,  Jonathan,  Jr.,  oration  of 61-67 

Masonic  Lodge,  Phila 225 

Mawhood,  Col.  Chas 198 

Mays,  John 276 

McEwen,  M 176 

McKean,  Thomas 223,  409 

M cM  aster s,  Samuel 242 

Mechanics  of  New  York 174-176 

Mecklenberg  Co.,  Va.,  resolutions  of S^-S1^ 

Memento  to  Americans 220 

M erryman,  John ,v. 255 

Middleton,  Henry 321 

Miller,  Capt 152 

Militia,  act  to  establish 240 

Militia  officers,  resignation  of." 177 

Minot,  George  Richard,  oration  of. 67-72 

Minister,  Church  of  England,  letter  of. 264-268 

Miscellaneous  Articles 490-517 

M'Knitt.  J 3I5 

Monk,  General,  ship 488 

Moore,  Wm.,  Jr 257 

Morris,  Col ~ . . .  464 

Morris,  John,  Jr 324,  225 

Morton,  Perez,  oration  of 30-32 


N. 


Naval  engagements 482-489 

Naval  forces,  Continental 483 

"  "  British 483 

Naval  Power,  Salem,  Mass 489 

Navy,  Continental 482-489 

New  Hampshire 13 j  14 

New  Jersey 191-201 

"  "  Legislature 195 

New  York 155-190 

"  "  Stamp  Act  Congress  held  at 155-168 

Nicola,  Nicholas 226 

Niles,  Hezekiah 98,  107,  300 

Nixon,  Thomas,  Jr 241 

North  Carolina 312-318 

North,  Lord 416 


o. 

Oath,  prescribed  by  Gen.  Lee  in  R.  1 140 

"  "   Lord  Dunmore  in  Va 290,291 

"  "  the  Committee  of  Virginia 293 

Ordinance  relating  to  treason 224 

Outrages  committed  by  British  troops,  Va 290 


P. 

Palmer,  Anthony 239 

Palmer,  J 102 

Parliament,  British 410-460 

Parsons,  James 324,  325 

Pastoral  letter,  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  173, 

Patriotic  gifts  of  people  of  Pennsylvania 236 

Patriotic  sentiments  of  an  American  woman 212 

Patterson,  Wm 191 

Paxton,  Charles 15 

Payson,  Rev.  Mr 496,  497 

Pendleton,  Edmund 291 

Pendleton,  Judge , 386,  387 

Penn,  Gov.,  examination  of 453-455 

Penn,  William 238 

Pennsylvania 201-239 

Pensioners,  Revolutionary,  gathering,  Hartford,  Conn.  150 

Persons  scrupulous  of  bearing  arms 219 

Petition  of  Native  Americans  to  his  Britannic  Majesty.  502 

Philadelphia,  proceedings  relative  to  tea 201 

Pickering,  John 13 

Pitt,  Wm. ,  speech  of. 455-460 

Powell,  G.  G 324,  325 

Pownal,  Gov 417,  418 

Presentments,  Grand  Jury,  S.  C 327-374 

Preston,  Capt 16 

Private  beneficence 237 

Prisoners  of  war,  retaliation  on 402,  403 

Proceedings  General  Assembly,  S.  C 322-324 

Proclamation  of  thanksgiving,  Mass 124 

"  General  Court,  Mass 125 

"  Gen.  Washington 129,  177 

Proscribed  of  Boston in 

Providence,  R.  I. ,  Court  Martial  held  at 140 

Provincial  Congress,  N.  C 316 

"         S.  C 320,321 

"         Georgia 391 

Putnam,  Gen.  Israel 513 


R. 

Ramsey,  Dr.  David,  oration  of. 374-383 

Randolph,  John 283 

Randolph,  Peyton 238 

Recantation  in  Delaware 240 

Reduction  in  value,  staple  articles,  Conn 142 

Reed,  Joseph  L 229 

Reminiscences  of  olden  times,  Boston 138 

"              "     "         "      Philadelphia 238 


522 


INDEX.. 


PAGE 

Remonstrance  of  citizens  of  Phila.  against  arrest 225 

Resignation  of  militia  officers 177 

Resolutions  Provincial  Congress,  S.  C 321,  322 

Retaliation  on  prisoners  of  war 402,  403 

"          Recommended  to  the  people 403 

Revolution,  American,  Gordon's  History  of. 516,  517 

Revolution,  enthusiasm  of  people  in  support  of. 211 

Rhode  Island 140,  141 

Ridgely,  Capt.  Charles , 259 

Robertson,  Gen.  James 177 

Rochambeau,  Count  de 270-272 

Rodney,  Caesar 155,  243,  254 

"         Caesar  R 245,  254 

"        Thomas 245,  254 

Royal  proclamation,  Gov.  Josiah  Martin,  N.  C...-3I7,  318 

Russell,  Mr 16 

Rush,  Dr.  Benjamin,  address  of. 234 

Rutledge,  John 321,  327 


S. 


Salt,  opposition  to  monopoly 224 

Saville,  Sir  George 414 

Scudder,  Nathaniel 195 

Seamen,  list  of  British 483 

Selkirk,  Lady 484 

Sermon  on  situation,  American  affairs 213 

Seward,  Ann 497,  498 

Shipley,  Rev.  Dr.  Jonathan 419 

Small,  Dr 283 

Smith,  John 357 

Smith,  Rev.  Win.,  D.D.,  sermon  of 213 

Soldier's  daughter,  recollections  of  a 490-492 

Soldier,  Female   492,  493 

Soldiers,  Revolutionary,  of  Conn 153 

Sons  of  Liberty,  Association  of. 169,  170 

South  Carolina 319-390 

Speech  of  an  honest  farmer 220 

Stamp  Act  Congress  held  in  N.  Y ; 153-168 

Stamp  Act  Congress 245 

Stamp  Act,  resistance  to,  S.  C 319 

Stay  of  Proceedings  of  civil  suits,  Va 280,  281 

Stevens,  John 197 

Stiles,  President,  election  sermon 143 

Submarine  battery 154 

Sullivan,  John 13 

Sutton,  Sir  Richard 418 


T. 

Tarleton,  Col.,  the  Tory, 388 

Tarring  and  feathering 499 

Tazwell,  John 291 

Tea,  action  in  Delaware  in  relation  to 239 

Tea,  destruction  of,  Boston  Harbor 96-98 

Tea,  opposition  to  importation  of,  in  Philadelphia  ....  202 

Thanksgiving  Proclamation,  Mass 124,  409 

Congress 408,  409 

Thatcher,  Peter,  oration  of 43-46 

Thompson,  Charles 208,  238,  403 

Thompson,  Ebenezer j. 13 

Ticonderoga 512 

Tilton ,  Dr.  James 239-342 

Timothy,  Peter 321,325 


Toasts  drank,  gathering  Revolutionary  pensioners ...  152 

Toppan,  Christopher 13 

Treason,  defining  it 324 

Treasury,  Public,  N.  J 191 

Trumbull,  John 101,  499 

Trumbull,  Jonathan,  Gov 141,  143 

Tryon,  Wm 142 

Tudor,  Mr 16 

Tudor,  Wm.,  oration  of. 56-61 

Tucker,  Commodore  Samuel..., 483,  486 

Tucker,  Samuel 191 

Turtle,  marine 489 

Tustin,  Dr 188 

Tyrannicide,  Brig  of  War 483 

u. 

United  States,  Coat  of  Arms 409,  410 

"         "       Flag 292 


V. 

Vergennes,  Compte  de 5*0 

Virginia 277-311 

"       called  to  arms 292,  293 

Voltaire 480,  516 


W. 

Ward,  Mr 4i7 

Warren,  Dr.  Joseph 20,,  24  30,  32,  33 

Washington,  Gen.  George 129,  130,  131,  173, 

I74i  i?7,  187,  227,  250,  351,  292,  299,  461,  474,  497,  498,  511 

Wayne,  Gen.  Anthony 228,  493,  496 

Weare,  Meseach 13 

Weight  of  great  characters 312 

Welsh,  Dr.  Thos.,  oration  of 73 

Wentworth,  Hon.  John 13 

Whipple,  Wm 13 

Wilkes,  John,  speech  of 425-427 

Williams,  John 143 

Williamsburg,  Va.,  delegates  assembled  at 272-275 

"      Instructions  to  delegates 275,  276 

"      Removal  of  arms 284 

"      Patriotic  demonstration  of  con 
vention 392 

Williamson,  Hugh 313 

Witherspoon,  John 193 

Wraxall,  Sir  N.  W 296 

Wright,  Sir  James,  Governor  of  Georgia 313,  390,  391 

Wyley ,  John 388 

Wyley,  Samuel 388 


Yankee  Doodle,  origin  of. 498,  499 

Yankees,  Independence  of. 313 

Yorktown,  Va.,  Battle  of 293-295 

"     Surrender  at 295 

11  "     Anecdote  relating  to  same 296 

"     Effect  of  intelligence  of  surrender  in 

England 296-298 

"            "    Letter  of  Washington  relating  to  same  299 
Young,  Sir  George 416 


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